History ComicBook / ElvisShrugged

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Creator/{{CNN}}'s Wolf Blitzer is rendered as a [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent Wolfman]] named Wolf ''Blitzen.''

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed:
** For the most part. Porter, Parker, Peters and Guber do all die.
** Creator/{{CNN}}'s Wolf Blitzer is rendered as a [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent Wolfman]] named Wolf ''Blitzen.''

* {{Bald Wom|en}}an: Music/SineadOConnor, of course, though she dons a blonde wig after her accidental HeelFaceTurn. See below under HollywoodScience.

** The "Reactor Room.": "Potential Definition: where uncontrollable forces of matter and anti-matter clash." See above under FightScene.

-->'''[[Literature/TheFountainhead "And in the end there was only the sea and the sky and Madonna and Elvis Presley. THE END."]]'''

* ThoseTwoBadGuys: Movie producers Joel Peters and Peter Guber.

[[quoteright:252:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elvisshrugged_9377.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:252: "The most shocking epic ever!"]]

Patrick [=McCray=]'s 1993 three-part comic '''''Elvis Shrugged''''' is, of course, an AffectionateParody of Creator/AynRand's epic ''Literature/AtlasShrugged.'' The story targets the music industry and Creator/{{MTV}}, with the premise that the Music/ElvisPresley everyone ''thought'' had died in 1977 was actually a clone created by Presley's manager Col. Tom Parker, and that the ''real'' Elvis had gone into hiding and had convinced many other musicians to join him. Because so many quality musicians have disappeared, the recording industry, which has become a conglomerate called Time-Warner-Creator/{{Sony}}, has largely collapsed.

* GreenEyedMonster: Sinatra, after Madonna chooses Elvis over him, until Sinéad shows up and Sinatra completes his HeelFaceTurn. The irony is that one of Sinatra's nicknames was "Ol' Blue Eyes".
* GroinAttack: Sinatra, to Zappa, who has come to recruit him, after Zappa asks, "Why is that the toughest son of a bitch in showbiz is indulging in more self-pity than I've seen, outside of a Henry Jaglom film festival?"

* AntiquatedLinguistics: In response to Madonna explaining how Parker was reduced to an animated head by an angry crowd of fans for using a robot duplicate of Elvis Presley Sinatra says that the [="L-7"=][[note]]"Square"[[/note]] Parker "had it coming."

* OpeningACanOfClones: Along with the 1970s one of Elvis, we later see that the MadScientist has created several mini Elvis clones called "[=Elvii=]".

* TheSmurfettPrinciple: Madonna is one for the heroes' side, until Sinéad makes her HeelFaceTurn. She and Sinéad are the only really significant female characters.

** ThoseTwoBadGuys: Movie producers Joel Peters and Peter Guber.

* YokoOhNo: PlayedForLaughs, as Elvis tells John specifically NOT to tell Yoko that he was going to fake his own death and disappear.

* BlackBestFriend: Sammy Davis Jr., naturally.

* BigBad: Col. Parker, who back in the 1970s was trying to keep Elvis from abandoning his status as "the King of Rock N Roll" in order to perform in Sondheim's ''Theatre/{{Company}}'', and, when he couldn't keep Elvis under his control, created a clone from skin samples.

* AffectionateParody
* AlternateHistory

* BadassGrandpa: Frank Sinatra. He's '''bionic''' now.
* BaldOfEvil: The MadScientist.

* TheChick: Madonna is one for the heroes' side, until Sinéad makes her HeelFaceTurn. She and Sinéad are the only really significant female characters.

* DarkChick: Sinéad was the only woman on the villains' side until she makes an accidental HeelFaceTurn when Sinatra accidentally pushes her into the brainwashing chair.

* TheDragon: Andrew Lloyd Webber serves as one to Col. Parker, as the EvilCounterpart to Sondheim.
* ElvisLives: Spoken word for word by Parker when Elvis shows up on the screen to interrupt his New Year's Eve broadcast.
* EvilBrit: Creator/AndrewLloydWebber.
* EvilGenius: The MadScientist, Dr. Hilarious Pants.

* FightScene: Two, in fact.
** Sondheim vs. Lloyd Webber in the Reactor Room.
** Elvis vs. Col. Tom. See PoweredArmor below.
* FinishingEachOthersSentences: Peters and Guber do this.

* HeelFaceTurn: Sinatra, Sinéad.
* TheHero: Elvis Presley, of course. [[ProtagonistTitle His name is even in the title]].

* TheLancer: Stephen Sondheim and Mojo Nixon both take this role, until Parker abducts Elvis and he, through a video message, names Sinatra as his second-in-command.

* LostWorld: "Blue Hawaii"
* MayDecemberRomance: First Sinatra and Madonna, then Madonna and Elvis, and Sinatra and Sinéad.
* MegatonPunch: Sinatra destroys Peters and Guber's jet with one.

* NewscasterCameo: Connie Chung, Wolf Blitzer (see below.)

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Rendered by Elvis in a song called "Rock No More."

* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: Set in 1997.
* UnusuallyUninterestingSight[=/=]WhoNamesTheirKidDude: None of the villains (Col. Tom, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Peters/Guber, etc.) seem to find anything odd about the MadScientist being named ''Dr. Hilarious Pants.''
* ViewersAreMorons[=/=]DumbIsGood: InUniverse: Col. Parker preaches this on TV, before Elvis interrupts. The setting is a CrapsackWorld where all libraries are closed.

* AntiquatedLinguistics: Sinatra says that the [="L-7"=][[note]]"Square"[[/note]] Parker "had it coming." (See {{Oracular Head}}s below.)

* [[BigBad The Big Bad]]: Col. Parker, who back in the 1970s was trying to keep Elvis from abandoning his status as "the King of Rock N Roll" in order to perform in Sondheim's ''Theatre/{{Company}}'', and, when he couldn't keep Elvis under his control, created a clone from skin samples.
** TheDragon: Andrew Lloyd Webber, as the EvilCounterpart to Sondheim.
** [[EvilGenius The Evil Genius]]: The MadScientist, Dr. Hilarious Pants.
** [[DarkChick The Dark Chick]]: Sinéad, of course, until her face turn.
** ThoseTwoBadGuys: Movie producers Joel Peters and Peter Guber.
** {{Mooks}}: Michael Jackson and Prince, who are just there and don't actually do anything.

* CoolShades: Elvis, Sinatra, Roy Orbison...It ''is'' about musicians, after all.

* EvilBrit: Creator/AndrewLloydWebber
* FakingTheDead: Elvis and John Lennon

* [[TheGoodGuysAlwaysWin The Good Guys Win]][=/=]HappyEnding: James Brown conducts the double-wedding ceremony for Elvis[=/=]Madonna and Sinatra[=/=]Sinéad. Sinatra says that he has some friends in the construction business who have been hired to rebuild the Art/StatueOfLiberty (see below under TakeThat), and they are cutting Sinatra and co. a "sweet check for the opportunity," with Madonna pointing out how that's enough to buy up 100% of Time-Warner-Sony, now that they're just about bankrupt. Elvis talks about how he had been waiting for the right time to return to the world and had never really considered the responsibility he had. Madonna says that they've stuck with him this long, and they aren't going to let him down now.
-->'''ELVIS PRESLEY''': "Madonna, I just can't help falling in love with you. The airwaves are free. We are going back to work."
* GreenEyedMonster: Sinatra, after Madonna chooses Elvis over him, until Sinéad shows up and Sinatra completes his HeelFaceTurn.
** {{Irony}}: One of Sinatra's nicknames was "Ol' Blue Eyes."

* TheHero[=/=]BigGood: Elvis, of course.
** TheLancer: Stephen Sondheim and Mojo Nixon both take this role, until Parker abducts Elvis and he, through a video message, names Sinatra as his second-in-command.
** TheChick: Madonna (She and Sinéad are the only really significant female characters.)

-->'''SONDHEIM''': [[LampshadeHanging "You're going to Garden Weasel me to death?"]]

* MayDecemberRomance: First Sinatra and [=Madonna=], then Madonna and Elvis, and Sinatra and Sinéad.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: For the most part. Porter, Parker, Peters and Guber do all die.

* {{Oracular Head}}s: Madonna tells Sinatra that, in 1996, Col. Tom and a psychic had predicted Elvis would return to Graceland on July 4, 1996. That day, Parker brought out "Elvis" at Graceland and everything seemed OK until a freak rainstorm started and "Elvis" was struck by lightning, revealing it to be merely a robot. This sparked a fan riot that saw Parker get his head chopped off as punishment.

* PutOnABus: Sinéad essentially disappears from the story after her accidental face turn, which is explained [[TheBusCameBack 18 pages later]] by Creator/{{CBS}} News' Connie Chung announcing that she had escaped from her mental asylum.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Sinatra smashes the wall of his dressing room after Zappa had convinced him to join the cause. Sinead, of all people, tries to stop him, but he pushes her aside, causing her to land in the [=brainwashing=] chair.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Rendered by Elvis in a song called "Rock No More."

** Letters2Numbers: Music/{{Prince}}, of course, to Sinéad after she accidentally gets converted to a Sinatra fan:
-->"Sinéad? Sinéad honey? U going 2 B OK?"

----------------------------------------------------

* AllStarCast: Elvis, Music/FrankSinatra, Music/{{Madonna}}, Music/MichaelJackson, Music/{{Prince}}, Music/SineadOConnor, Music/StephenSondheim, Creator/AndrewLloydWebber, Music/RoyOrbison, Music/JohnLennon, Music/FrankZappa, Music/ElvisCostello, Music/MojoNixon, Creator/SammyDavisJr, [[Music/GunsNRoses Axl Rose]], Creator/SpikeLee, [[Creator/DavidLetterman Paul Schaffer]], Regis Philbin, Music/JamesBrown, Music/PaulSimon, Creator/JodieFoster, Creator/SeanPenn, [[Series/EntertainmentTonight Mary Hart and John Tesh]], Creator/SeanYoung, [[Series/{{Today}} Bryant Gumbel and Katie Couric]]..... [[ItMakesSenseInContext And]] the disembodied, animate heads of Music/ColePorter and Col. Tom Parker.

* RealitySubtext: Sinatra's hostility to Elvis, since, in 1956, he said, "His kind of music is deplorable, a rancid, smelling aphrodisiac." In a case of DeadArtistsAreBetter, after Elvis' death in 1977, Sinatra said, "There have been many accolades uttered about Elvis' talent and performances through the years, all of which I agree with wholeheartedly."

-->'''''[[ArcWords "Is Elvis alive?"]]'''''

!!! "'Is Elvis alive?' Yes, and so are these tropes":

* AllStarCast: Elvis, Music/FrankSinatra, Music/{{Madonna}}, Music/MichaelJackson, Music/{{Prince}}, Music/SineadOConnor, Creator/StephenSondheim, Creator/AndrewLloydWebber, Music/RoyOrbison, Music/JohnLennon, Music/FrankZappa, Music/ElvisCostello, Music/MojoNixon, Creator/SammyDavisJr, [[Music/GunsNRoses Axl Rose]], Creator/SpikeLee, [[Creator/DavidLetterman Paul Schaffer]], Regis Philbin, Music/JamesBrown, Music/PaulSimon, Creator/JodieFoster, Creator/SeanPenn, [[Series/EntertainmentTonight Mary Hart and John Tesh]], Creator/SeanYoung, [[Series/{{Today}} Bryant Gumbel and Katie Couric]]..... [[ItMakesSenseInContext And]] the disembodied, animate heads of Music/ColePorter and Col. Tom Parker.

* [[TheGoodGuysAlwaysWin The Good Guys Win]][=/=]HappyEnding: James Brown conducts the double-wedding ceremony for Elvis[=/=]Madonna and Sinatra[=/=]Sinéad. Sinatra says that he has some friends in the construction business who have been hired to rebuild the UsefulNotes/StatueOfLiberty (see below under TakeThat), and they are cutting Sinatra and co. a "sweet check for the opportunity," with Madonna pointing out how that's enough to buy up 100% of Time-Warner-Sony, now that they're just about bankrupt. Elvis talks about how he had been waiting for the right time to return to the world and had never really considered the responsibility he had. Madonna says that they've stuck with him this long, and they aren't going to let him down now.

* TakeThat: To the music industry, which has combined into one MegaCorp, Time-Warner-Sony, and to Creator/{{MTV}}, who has transformed the UsefulNotes/StatueOfLiberty into the "Statue of Equality."

** [[Series/EntertainmentTonight Mary Hart and John Tesh]] plug Creator/OliverStone's new film ''[[JosefStalin Stalin]]: A Loving Portrait''.

** TheObiWan: Cole Porter

* AllStarCast: Elvis, Music/FrankSinatra, Music/{{Madonna}}, Music/MichaelJackson, Music/{{Prince}}, Sinéad O'Connor, Creator/StephenSondheim, Creator/AndrewLloydWebber, Music/RoyOrbison, Music/JohnLennon, Music/FrankZappa, Music/ElvisCostello, Music/MojoNixon, Creator/SammyDavisJr, [[Music/GunsNRoses Axl Rose]], Creator/SpikeLee, [[Creator/DavidLetterman Paul Schaffer]], Regis Philbin, Music/JamesBrown, Music/PaulSimon, Creator/JodieFoster, Creator/SeanPenn, [[Series/EntertainmentTonight Mary Hart and John Tesh]], Creator/SeanYoung, [[Series/{{Today}} Bryant Gumbel and Katie Couric]]..... [[ItMakesSenseInContext And]] the disembodied, animate heads of Music/ColePorter and Col. Tom Parker.

* {{Bald Wom|en}}an: Sinéad O'Connor, of course, though she dons a blonde wig after her accidental HeelFaceTurn. See below under HollywoodScience.

* EvilBrit: Andrew Lloyd Webber

* {{Sitcom}}: When Frank Zappa asks Elvis why he can't drop out too since he feels the same way Elvis does, Elvis says that he's going to need outside help, and suggests that Zappa "star in a sitcom or somethin'...That'll lull folks into a false sense of security toward you." He does, called ''Who Invited the Nazis?''
* TakeThat: To the music industry, which has combined into one MegaCorp, Time-Warner-Sony, and to Creator/{{MTV}}, who has transformed the StatueOfLiberty into the "Statue of Equality."

* [[TheGoodGuysAlwaysWin The Good Guys Win]][=/=]HappyEnding: James Brown conducts the double-wedding ceremony for Elvis[=/=]Madonna and Sinatra[=/=]Sinéad. Sinatra says that he has some friends in the construction business who have been hired to rebuild the StatueOfLiberty (see below under TakeThat), and they are cutting Sinatra and co. a "sweet check for the opportunity," with Madonna pointing out how that's enough to buy up 100% of Time-Warner-Sony, now that they're just about bankrupt. Elvis talks about how he had been waiting for the right time to return to the world and had never really considered the responsibility he had. Madonna says that they've stuck with him this long, and they aren't going to let him down now.

** [[CableNewsNetwork [=CNN=]]]'s Wolf Blitzer is rendered as a [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent Wolfman]] named Wolf ''Blitzen.''

Patrick [=McCray=]'s 1993 three-part comic '''''Elvis Shrugged''''' is, of course, an AffectionateParody of Creator/AynRand's epic ''Literature/AtlasShrugged.'' The story targets the music industry and Creator/{{MTV}}, with the premise that the Music/ElvisPresley everyone ''thought'' had died in 1977 was actually a clone created by Presley's manager Col. Tom Parker, and that the ''real'' Elvis had gone into hiding and had convinced many other musicians to join him. Because so many quality musicians have disappeared, the recording industry, which has become a conglomerate called Time-Warner-Sony, has largely collapsed.

* ElvisLives

** Also, [[Series/EntertainmentTonight Mary Hart and John Tesh]] plug Creator/OliverStone's new film ''[[JosefStalin Stalin]]: A Loving Portrait''.