Nick Knatterton

"I conclude: I am a classic!"

Nick Knatterton is a German Newspaper Comic by a Manfred Schmidt that ran from 1950 to 1959.

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Provides examples of:

• Alliterative Name: Barbara Beerbottle, Felix Finster...
• Arm Cannon: One villain in a Western setting has a flesh-colored gun barrel for an artificial index finger. The gun is semi-automatic, and it is never explained how he can reload it.
• Badass Normal: Nick.
• Bald of Awesome: Nick.
• Bedsheet Ghost: And real ghosts who look like this exist too!
• Bleached Underpants: In a different way. During the war, the author drew propaganda for The Nazis.
• But Not Too Foreign: Mi-Tse, recurring half-Chinese female villain.
• Catch Phrase: "Kombiniere..." ([I] conclude...)
• Celibate Hero: Nick used to say: "My bride is justice." Later, he marries though.
• Chekhov's Gun
• Cool Guns
• Crazy Prepared: Nick wears an artificial back-head in case someone wants to shoot him there, and has a fake beard which also contains a parachute, just in case of.
• Dating Catwoman: With Virginia Peng (German for bang). Although rather one-sided.
• Disguised in Drag: Nick did this more than once.
• Distracted by the Sexy: Nick once, by a movie poster.
• Everything's Better with Monkeys: One story is about two chimps who were taught to steal. One of them ends up as Nick's housemaid, having learned to do that job.
• Fan Service: The comic has many buxom women. In some countries, their breasts were removed by the censors. In Turkey however, they were enlarged because they weren't fanservicey enough.
• The Fifties: Obviously.
• Film Felons
• Gentleman Detective
• Good Smoking, Evil Smoking: Nick smokes pipe.
• Great Detective: Guess who.
• It Is Pronounced "Tro-PAY": Mi-Tse's name is not pronounced "Mieze" (typical name for cats in Germany).
• Kid Sidekick: Toni Knatter, in one story. The Meaningful Name is lampdshaded by our hero.
• Mad Scientist: Prof. Bartap invents a shaving foam which is also a very effective explosive. Unintentionally.
• Narrative Profanity Filter: "The ladies accuse each other of having un-ladylike jobs." (during a Cat Fight)
• New Powers as the Plot Demands: Nick's skills are revealed this way.
• No Knees: In an interesting subversion, not only do the characters have knees, but their knees are always bent, no matter whether they're standing, lying, sitting, walking or whatever.
• Obfuscating Insanity: Prof. Bartap, to fool the gangsters.
• Private Detective
• Punny Name
• Sherlock Scan
• Speech Bubbles: Schmidt commented that they were a primitive tool in his POV - "bubbles coming from the heads, eyes, ears, noses or mouths of characters to indicate what they think, see, hear, smell or say".
• Take That: Several to German politics.
• Unmoving Plaid: Nick Knatterton's suit and hat.
• Upper Class Wit: Nick Knatterton's real name is Nikolaus Kuno Freiherr von Knatter. He chose the pseudonym because private detective isn't an appropriate work for (German) noblemen, and while becoming detective was his dream, he didn't want to shame his family.
• Writer Revolt: Manfred Schmidt told that finally, he was so fed up with making the strip, he couldn't make his fingers draw the pictures anymore.