History SeriousBusiness / ComicBooks

* Bowling is apparently a huge deal in ''Manhua/BowlingKing''. No, seriously. Professional bowlers are all either incredibly badass or {{Bishonen}} prettyboys. Oh, and then there's how main character Shautieh Ley's ultimate goal seems to involve taking over the world with bowling somehow; while this isn't explicitly stated, chapter opening pages tend to feature things like a RushmoreRefacement where ''all'' of the faces are Shautieh (and similar ones with the Sphinx, etc.) and Shautieh disrupting other sports events.

* ''ComicBook/{{Bookhunter}}'' takes place in an alternate-universe 1970s where books and libraries are so important that a branch of the police is devoted to investigating library-related crime.
-->'''Agent Bay:''' In many respects the American Library has become the most basic First Amendment institution. We are guards, yet we guard no less than the sum of human knowledge. We are the library police.
* In ''ComicBook/WelcomeToTranquility'' Captain Cobra and Mongoose Man are not just enemies, but "enemies to the DEATH." Unfortunately, their advancing years are actually bringing them pretty close to that goal line and they have both retired from super-activities, heroic and villainous alike. So, what is left for them to be enemies over? Why, the apple tree that looms over both their properties, and who has proper ownership over the apples that fall down on either side of their fence. Just ask Sheriff Lindo, apples are ''serious business''.

* One ''Cthulhu Tales'' comic had an unnamed "Maine Cheetahs" baseball fan ([[BlandNameProduct according to Google, no such team exists]]) for whom baseball was ''such'' serious business, he went so far as to ''invoke Cthulhu'' in order to win them their first World Series in seventy years. [[EldritchAbomination It doesn't appear to end well for anyone concerned]].
* In the German comic ''ComicBook/{{Werner}}'': Brewing beer, tuning bikes %% This entry was added automatically by FELH2. In case the wording doesn't make sense, rewrite it as you like, remove this comment and tell this troper.

* According to the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' "Mad Love" comic, ComicBook/TheJoker takes comedy ''very'' seriously. Only ''he'' gets to tell jokes during his crimes; he throws a tantrum if anyone else makes a crack. And if people don't understand one of his gags and [[DontExplainTheJoke he has to tell them why it is funny]], that takes all the fun out of it - even if it involves killing Batman.
-->'''Joker''' ''[angrily, to Harley Quinn]'': My jokes are elegant in their simplicity. You see them, you get them, you laugh - end of joke! You should have remembered when I told you that a long time ago; it's one of the few real truths of comedy!...''You're always taking shots from folks who just don't get the joke!'' [[note]] Admittedly, this is a very sensitive IronicEcho for the Joker because it was, verbatim, what he had told Harley earlier after relating to her the story of his father [[AbusiveParents breaking his nose and putting him in the hospital]] when he was a boy because he was angered by a prank the young Joker tried to play on him - but then again, Batman points out that the story is most likely a lie. [[/note]] ''[strikes Harley repeatedly with a large fish, [[DisproportionateRetribution sending her crashing through a high window and down to the street far below]], nearly killing her]''
** There's also the ''Adventures of Batman & Robin'' (a Saturday morning spinoff show of the above) episode "Make 'Em Laugh." The Joker is outraged because a panel of three comedians won't give him the annual trophy for best comic in Gotham City (despite the fact that he wasn't even eligible to compete because registration had already ended), so he 1) steals the Mad Hatter's mind-control microchips at Arkham and puts the Hatter himself in a microchip-induced coma from which he might never wake up; 2) kidnaps and brainwashes the three comedian-judges, turning them into super-criminals and indirectly getting one of them sent to the hospital with life-threatening injuries; and 3) replaces the judges with three of his own men, forces the emcee to introduce him as the ''only'' contestant, and terrifies the audience by juggling grenades until Batman and Robin show up. Batman scolds him for ruining so many people's lives just because he couldn't get a cheap trophy.
* The ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'' comics - and, by extension, almost all ''Batman'' media - have this as their unspoken premise. Other cities are plagued merely by gangsters, drug dealers and riots; Gotham City has all those problems ''and'' a relatively large segment of the population consisting of the most psychopathic and vicious men and women on the face of the earth - [[PsychopathicManchild who also have childishly costumed alter egos]]. In a way, [[FridgeLogic it's sad when you think about it]]: not only are the lives of Gothamites constantly in danger, but [[SubvertedInnocence their innocence has also been destroyed]]. They will never be able to find clowns funny, to think penguins are charming, or to consider riddles an entertaining mental exercise. (And in the [[Creator/TimBurton Burton]]/[[Creator/JoelSchumacher Schumacher]] movies, too: How will those people ever again be able to see a parade balloon or a Christmas tree-lighting without suffering psychological trauma? [[ParanoiaFuel How can they ever even watch TV, now that they know that some megalomaniac could literally be using their cable box to read their brainwaves?]]) And all the while, Batman and the Gotham police alike have to treat all of this ''very'' seriously, perhaps at the risk of losing their sanity. Harvey Bullock once pointed out that [[HeWhoFightsMonsters it was a miracle they all weren't as crazy as the nutjobs they fought]]. Commissioner Gordon once suggested that various members of the Rogues Gallery (in this instance, Maxie Zeus, who literally believes he is a Greek god) would be [[NotSoHarmlessVillain really absurd and even pathetic if they weren't so dangerous]]. And Batman himself has remarked that, [[LampshadeHanging as cheesy as the concept of Ra's Al-Ghul destroying the world might sound]], he is dead serious about doing just that - and one terrible day, he might succeed.
* ''ComicBook/MarvelAdventures: ComicBook/TheAvengers'':
** [[ComicBook/TheWasp Giant-Girl]] will ''not'' let that creep, Ego the Living Planet, romance Earth. He's clearly some kind of planetary pickup artist who doesn't have her best interests in mind.
** In Issue #33, we see the last half of a conversation between Wolverine and a hot dog vendor that treats a crazy food idea like a technological leap forward for humanity.
---> '''Wolverine:''' ...all I'm saying is that if we can put a man on the moon, and send spacecraft to Mars, it seems like we ought to be able to get ''this'' job done. \\
'''Vendor:''' [[AsYouKnow You mean]]... create a '''[[CordonBleughChef deep-fried sausage pretzel]]'''? I don't know. Maybe [[ThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow this is one boundary man was not meant to cross]].
* ''ComicBook/PS238'':
-->"You have wronged innocents, Charles. I formally challenge you to a game of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_square four-square]]. The loser will be given over to the lords of this realm to do with as they please!"
* One issue of ''Comicbook/AtomicRobo'' shows that Robo and his Action Scientists treat appearing at the National Science Fair as celebrities as a life-or-death mission. Come to think of it, they treat it ''more'' seriously than a lot of their life-or-death missions.
-->'''Robo:''' Status report.\\
'''Jenkins:''' We lost Jeff.\\
''[cut to Jeff getting swarmed by children fanboying over him]''\\
'''Robo:''' We don't leave agents behind. Take Julie and ''get him back.''
* ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse examples:
** For magic users, UsefulNotes/AssociationFootball:
*** Magica De Spell made the MidasTouch her life goal and for that she needs to steal Scrooge's NumberOneDime, but if Italy's national team is playing she'll leave Scrooge alone (to the point that Scrooge knows UsefulNotes/TheWorldCup is a safe period... Except in 2018, when Italy failed to qualify). In the 1994 edition she had decided to fix the tournament and went to Duckburg only because the team was residing there... And ''completely forgot about Scrooge'' until right before he (thinking she was attacking) opened fire on her. She did not retaliate, as she had more important things to do.
*** Magica's attempt at fixing the tournament failed because ''every team had one mage or witch trying the same for them and they were neutralizing each other''. She was told that by an archmage that had come to America specifically to insure that such tricks failed (and was very pleased he could enjoy the tournament without neutralizing the various magics).
*** In a later occasion Magica gets in hot waters with the archmage Mondor, that decides that the best way to make an example out of her is to have her coach Scrooge and family for a football match against eleven champions taken from various times and places on pain of being stripped of her powers - and choose that specific method because part of what got Magica in trouble with him was the series of humiliations she had just inflicted on him in normal and table football before finding out who she was dealing with. [[spoiler:Magica proves herself such an amazing coach that Mondor has to resort to ''cheating''... And for cheating in the Beautiful Game ''he'' gets stripped of his position and powers by the other archmages]].
** Scrooge loves money. He'll always try and spend as little as possible, he'll always try to make more money, and at one point he decided that [[InsaneTrollLogic since money moves everything and everyone a rocket propellant made from it would be incredibly powerful]] ([[CrazyEnoughToWork and he was right]]).
** Gus Goose is one of the nicest persons around... Unless you try and deny him food, or, even worse, try to take it from him, with a bear that tried the latter being ''beaten up and forced to flee''. The only one who can get away with denying him food is Grandma Duck... As she's the one who ''cooks'' for him most of the time and [[SupremeChef she's the best cook around]], and she only does it if there's health concerns anyway.
** Scrooge once tried to become a sponsor for the Formula One team [[BlandNameProduct Perrari]], a Ferrari {{Expy}}. At first the management was willing... Then Scrooge suggested to replace their famous red paintjob with one similar to the one of his product, on the logic that it's a common thing in American auto racing (and done by many Formula One teams). Perrari's CEO and the racing team's engineers try and lynch him on the spot, chasing him out of their workshop, as you do ''not'' touch the red paintjob.[[note]][[TruthInTelevision This is true to the actual Ferrari]]: where most other teams gave up the [[ColorCodedForYourConvenience national racing colors]] and started adopting paintjobs based on their sponsors, Ferrari remained true to Italy's ''Rosso Corsa'' (Racing Red) and instead started accepting sponsors whose products were red or had red packaging[[/note]]
* During the election for Class President in ''ComicBook/SpyBoy'', Schweitzer's father hires a hitman to take out both Alex and his ex-girlfriend. Even Schweitzer thought this was an overreaction.
* ''ComicBook/SensationComicsFeaturingWonderWoman'': In "Generations" Philippus organizes a party for Hippolyta and treats it like a military operation. Hippolyta seems to find it endearing, and Philippus is quite obviously flirting with the queen at some points. Evidently this is how Philippus treats all parties she organizes as Diana is determined to avoid it for just this reason.
* ''{{ComicBook/Chew}}'' takes place in a universe where chicken is illegal and the FDA is the most powerful government agency. As a result, people sell chicken meat illegally like it's a drug.
* The food and restaurant industry in ''ComicBook/GetJiro'' are treated as this. L.A. is ruled by two warring culinary moguls -- International and The Farm -- who run the city like competing mobs, Jiro decapitates a foodie for asking for a california roll in his sushi restaurant (and the cops, who witnessed the whole thing, do nothing about it), a street of fast food joints act as the RedLightDistrict, Rose kills one of her chefs for serving a tomato dish out of season and so on.
* ''ComicBook/Robin1993'': When Tim is transferred to Brentwood Academy by his father as punishment for not trying out for football, and supposedly lying about having done so even though Tim was intentionally vague when his dad asked, he's amused to hear that the school doesn't have a football team. Brentwood is a ''soccer'' school he's told, all other sports be dammed, and students that display physical aptitude for soccer can be forced onto the team.

[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/GetJiro https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bourdain_get_jiro_20.jpg]]]]
%%[[caption-width-right:350:]]

* The ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' comics - and, by extension, almost all ''Batman'' media - have this as their unspoken premise. Other cities are plagued merely by gangsters, drug dealers and riots; Gotham City has all those problems ''and'' a relatively large segment of the population consisting of the most psychopathic and vicious men and women on the face of the earth - [[PsychopathicManchild who also have childishly costumed alter egos]]. In a way, [[FridgeLogic it's sad when you think about it]]: not only are the lives of Gothamites constantly in danger, but [[SubvertedInnocence their innocence has also been destroyed]]. They will never be able to find clowns funny, to think penguins are charming, or to consider riddles an entertaining mental exercise. (And in the [[Creator/TimBurton Burton]]/[[Creator/JoelSchumacher Schumacher]] movies, too: How will those people ever again be able to see a parade balloon or a Christmas tree-lighting without suffering psychological trauma? [[ParanoiaFuel How can they ever even watch TV, now that they know that some megalomaniac could literally be using their cable box to read their brainwaves?]]) And all the while, Batman and the Gotham police alike have to treat all of this ''very'' seriously, perhaps at the risk of losing their sanity. Harvey Bullock once pointed out that [[HeWhoFightsMonsters it was a miracle they all weren't as crazy as the nutjobs they fought]]. Commissioner Gordon once suggested that various members of the Rogues Gallery (in this instance, Maxie Zeus, who literally believes he is a Greek god) would be [[NotSoHarmlessVillain really absurd and even pathetic if they weren't so dangerous]]. And Batman himself has remarked that, [[LampshadeHanging as cheesy as the concept of Ra's Al-Ghul destroying the world might sound]], he is dead serious about doing just that - and one terrible day, he might succeed.

** [[ComicBook/TheWasp Giant-Girl]] will ''not'' let that creep, ComicBook/EgoTheLivingPlanet, romance Earth. He's clearly some kind of planetary pickup artist who doesn't have her best interests in mind.

** Scrooge once tried to become a sponsor for the Formula One team [[BlandNameProduct Perrari]], a Ferrari {{Expy}}. At first the management was willing... Then Scrooge suggested to replace their famous red paintjob with one similar to the one of his product, on the logic that it's a common thing in American auto racing (and done by many Formula One teams). Perrari's CEO and the racing team's engineers try and lynch him on the spot, chasing him out of their workshop, as you do ''not'' touch the red paintjob.[[note]]This is true to the actual Ferrari: where most other teams gave up the [[ColorCodedForYourConvenience national racing colors]] and started adopting paintjobs based on their sponsors, Ferrari remained true to Italy's ''Rosso Corsa'' (Racing Red) and instead started accepting sponsors whose products were red or had red packaging[[/note]]

* In the ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse, Magica De Spell is fixated with stealing Scrooge's NumberOneDime to cast the spell that will give her the Midas' Touch... Unless Italy's UsefulNotes/AssociationFootball's national team is playing. She'll ''ignore'' the Number One Dime for the duration of UsefulNotes/TheWorldCup if Italy's in it, and during the 1994 edition she went to Duckburg only because the team was residing there during the tournament and she had decided to fix the tournament in their favor, completely ignoring the Money Bin-and not retaliating when Scrooge tried to shoot her down.
** Apparently, Association Football is serious business for ''all'' magic users:
*** At the 1994 World Cup Magica's attempt at fixing the tournament failed because ''every team had one mage or witch trying the same for them and they were neutralizing each other'', and she was told that by an archmage that had come to America specifically to insure that such tricks failed (and was very pleased he could enjoy the tournament without neutralizing the various magics).
*** In a later occasion Magica gets in hot waters with the archmage Mondor, that decides that the best way to make an example out of her is to have her coach Scrooge and family for a football match against eleven champions taken from various times and places on pain of being stripped of her powers-and choose that specific method because part of what got Magica in trouble with him was the series of humiliations she had just inflicted on him in normal and table football before finding out who she was dealing with. [[spoiler:Magica proves herself such an amazing coach that Mondor has to resort to ''cheating''... And for cheating in the Beautiful Game ''he'' gets stripped of his position and powers by the other archmages]].

** Apparently, Association Football is serious business for ''all'' magic users: at the 1994 World Cup Magica's attempt at fixing the tournament failed because ''every team had one mage or witch trying the same for them and they were neutralizing each other'', and she was told that by an archmage that had come to America specifically to insure that such tricks failed (and was very pleased he could enjoy the tournament without neutralizing the various magics).