Schindelschwinger

File:Schindel 7251.gif

Our hero... er, protagonist!

Schindelschwinger (or Schindel-Schwinger) is a German 5-volume comicbook series from 1975-77, written by Peter-Torsten Schulz and drawn by Michael Ryba.

The Backstory: In the beginning, God created the world (apparently, with a literal finger snap). With his work done, he took a deep swig of his favorite drink and fell asleep — next to the clay pit where he had formed the animals (including man) of Earth. In the aforesaid clay pit, the "prototypes" he had made before he had formed the real things beings were still lying around. When his breath fell upon them, they came to life and scurried away the very same night.

When God saw this in the morning, he wanted his prototypes back (because otherwise, people could get a wrong impression of him) and thus told his sons, Saint Peter and Lucifer (wait, sons? And where's that Jesus guy gone?), that the one who'd bring the prototypes back would rule the Earth. So they started to search, which took several years (off-panel). Meanwhile, the prototypes had settled in a nice valley, founding the city of Flohheim ("Flea-home"); Lucifer and his red devils settled in a volcano next door, while Saint Peter and his blue(ish) angels built a skyscraper on the opposite side.

Tropes used in Schindelschwinger include:

• The Alcoholic: Bimmel-Beule, mayor of the prototypes (played for laughs). Also, hell apparently has several brigades of alcoholics.
• Amazing Technicolor Population
• Author Guest Spot: In the first album, they interact with the characters and even have a small b-plot. In the second one, it's just a short cameo. Later, they don't appear at all anymore.
• The Big Guy: Schindel-Schwinger (although he prefers to think of himself as The Hero).
• Brats with Slingshots: Kuller-Knie.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: The comic (leaving aside the backstory) starts with the prototypes exclaiming "he's coming!" and welcoming the reader at the next page.
• By the Lights of Their Eyes: Where we are reminded that Pinke-Po has coins instead of eyes.
• Camp Gay: Musen-Rüssel, who's a theatre actor. And gets paired during the story with a Straight Gay devil.
• Can't Have Sex Ever: The angels, probably. (Although they still can be aroused.) Saint Peter even says that being able to control weather is better than anything a woman could give him.
• Catgirl: The non-human half of the female prototypes. More like Funny Animals than anime-style cat girls, but probably it is no coincidence that there are only female cats.
• Celestial Bureaucracy (even more fitting, they also live in a big skyscraper)
• Chew Toy: Saulus, Gabriel (an angel who repeatedly gets kicked in the ass by Saint Peter)
• Color Coded for Your Convenience: The angels are blue, the devils are red.
• Damsel in Distress: All the female prototypes are abducted by the devils in the first album and have to be saved.
• The Dragon: Robespierre (not the historical one) for Lucifer
• Drop the Hammer: Biber-Backe, the worker(s). "Sischer ist sischer!" (Safe is safe!)
• Cute Kitten: Schmuse-Tatze
• Everything Sounds Sexier in French: Dito. Well, she has a French accent.
• Everything's Worse with Bees: The Wiesen-Sohle prototypes carry giant bee hives on their heads, and use their bees to attack the angels.
• Fan Service: Most of the female prototypes and some of the female devils are cute (in the former case) or very sexy (the latter).
• Fantastic Caste System: Every Biber-Backe is a menial worker. Every Trommel-Ohr is a musician. And so on. Exception: Every Brems-Pläte is either a doctor or an elementary school teacher.
• Flowery Curses: The devils use curses like "Adultery and bestiality!" or "Mumps and measles!" The angels OTOH curse(?) like "Chastity and humility!"
• Funny Animal: All of the prototypes.
• Furry Confusion: This universe has cat girls. The authors have an ordinary cat. Which apparently can think, but not speak however.
• German Dialects: Bavarian and Westphalian for some of the devils, Berlinian and Swabian for some of the prototypes.
• God: Created the whole mess, but doesn't interfere in the story.
• Grandma's Boy: Lucifer.
• The Gunslinger: Red Jesse (James?) for the devils, Blue Gary (Cooper? But he has a Badass Moustache...) for the angels.
• Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal: Schindel-Schwinger only wears his boxing gloves.
• Horny Devils
• Idiot Hero: Schindel-Schwinger is close to this.
• Insane Troll Logic: Used by one devil to make the prototypes join his test for washing powder:

Devil: "Is this [pointing to prototype's apron] white?" Female prototype: "Nope, that's blue!" Devil: "Aahh, you see it too!"

• Kavorka Man: Schindel-Schwinger has a horse's head with long blond hair, a human-sized lizard body (with big scales), but manages to seduce many female devils.
• Luke Nounverber: The eponymous protagonist.
• Mad Scientist: Denk-Dätz, somewhat. In his first panel, he's shown preparing an experiment involving a bunny - while having a Playboy Bunny in mind. (The bunny lampshades this asking: "What are you planning, playboy?")
• Meaningful Name: Several of the prototypes.
• Mix-and-Match Critters: All the prototypes, of course. (Some of them even are partly plant!)
• Ms. Fanservice: Many prototypes look just like attractive human women.
• Napoleon Delusion: One devil seems to suffer from this, for whatever reason.
• One-Gender Race: The angels.
• Parental Bonus
• Pinch Me
• Plant Person: Trudel-Blume.
• Scenery Censor: In the first book, two witches fly on their broomsticks over two angels. The first one is young and very hot, and in the next panel you see the angels blushing. The second one is an old crone, and in the next panel the angels seem to want to vomit. Now guess what they saw.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Money: The Pinke-Pos bribe the angels(!) so they won't fight.
• The Slacker / The Stoner: Many of the prototypes.
• The Smart Guy: Clever-Clou. Subverted with Denk-Dätz whom everyone thinks is super-smart, but in one situation where they need an idea, he thinks very hard - and comes up with the great solution of human ladders. Which works, but honestly, anyone could've come up with. (And later, in an unrelated similar situation, someone does.)
• Solid Gold Poop: Literally the case with the Pinke-Pos. In coin form.
• Speech Bubbles: One in the shape of Schindel-Schwinger's head when he's in the dark.
• Spoonerism: Schindel-Schwinger is prone to this.
• Sweet Tooth: Schleck-Zahn (all of them)
• Theme Naming: All of the prototypes.
• Verbal Tic: For Schindel-Schwinger, everything is Egregious "extraordinary"! Whether it fits or not.
• Weather Control Machine: Saint Peter has one.
• Welcome to Marklar: Some prototypes like the titular protagonist are individuals, others... there are several of them, all of which look the same, have the same name and do the same job.
• Worthy Opponent: Red Jesse and Blue Gary, for each other.
• Zany Scheme: What the devils and angels try to get the prototypes.