History Webcomic / Concession

-->'''Richard''': HAHAHAHAHAHA!
->'''Joel''': How many were there...
->'''Richard''': Three!
->'''Joel''': How old did they look?
->'''Richard''': No older than five, dude!
->'''Joel''': Think they'll bother with a lawsuit? Or will Artie just shoot me?

->'''Artie''': ''[Not even bothering with HandOrObjectUnderwear]'' Very funny, guys. What if a customer saw?
->'''Kate''': ''[[[CameraFiend taking pictures of Artie's crotch]]]'' We'd charge admission fees.
->'''Joel''': Aren't you going to pull your pants up?
->'''Artie''': ... They don't pay me enough to pull my pants up.

'''Joel''': How many were there...
'''Richard''': Three!
'''Joel''': How old did they look?
'''Richard''': No older than five, dude!
'''Joel''': Think they'll bother with a lawsuit? Or will Artie just shoot me?

'''Artie''': [Not even bothering with HandOrObjectUnderwear] Very funny, guys. What if a customer saw?
'''Kate''': [[[CameraFiend taking pictures of Artie's crotch]]] We'd charge admission fees.
'''Joel''': Aren't you going to pull your pants up?
'''Artie''': ... They don't pay me enough to pull my pants up.

* NiceHat: Roland's ever-present beret.
* NoFourthWall: Joel and Artie make sure of this fact.

* ReedRichardsIsUseless: Nicole's father invented a mind control ray but would rather use it to be a supervillain ([[http://concessioncomic.com/index.php?pid=20100905 Yes, really]]). Lampshaded.
** That said, the debate on whether "converting" criminals with this is unambiguously good is still open, so he still has a point.

* TitleDrop: Comic [[http://concessioncomic.com/index.php?pid=20081017 #200]] is titled "Concession" [[spoiler:though it's not the definition you might expect]].
* TransparentCloset: Matt. [[http://concessioncomic.com/index.php?pid=20081010 "You've been in denial. Everyone else has figured this out, and has grown to accept it. Everybody but you."]]

* IncestIsRelative:
** BrotherSisterIncest: Rick and Kate (who are also a womanizing drug dealer and a pedophile respectively). It was just implied for awhile, but it was recently outright confirmed. [[spoiler: Also Joel and his sister Miranda appear to have been very close, her spirit form is usually shown wrapped around Joel's like a cloak. And there is a scene in which she anally rapes him.]]
*** Melusine and her sister Palatyne are seen making out, right before they have a foursome with Artie and their brother-in-law Ronin
** IncestSubtext: In a Halloween special in Immy's other webcomic, Joel has a sudden fantasy of his brother's "shapely ass". [[NoYay And then has a heart attack.]]
** ParentalIncest: [[spoiler:Nicole and his father, Tom.]] Also Joel's mom won't stop sneaking a peak and taking photos of her son's naked ass, so... Let's just say, if there isn't some kind of incest going on in a character's family, they just haven't been revealed yet.

* JustBetweenYouAndMe: Played entirely straight.

* {{Callback}}: [[http://concessioncomic.com/index.php?pid=20101224 Isn't this where]] [[http://concessioncomic.com/index.php?pid=20060701 we came in?]] Note the alt text - this is the ''same customer''.

** the appropriately named [[http://concessioncomic.com/index.php?pid=20090331 "It's a Trap!"]] happens during an occasion where Joel, Matt, and Aaron "Nicole" O'Connor meet with a crude ursine associate of Matt's who initially believes Nicole is a girl after Joel introduces them. Needless to say, said ursine friend is moving to kick Joel's ass when he finds out the truth of Nicole's gender.

-->'''Father Tim''': [[MediumAwareness Is the webcomic coming to an end?]]\\
'''Joel''':...Yes.

-->'''Angie''': "Do I hear ''MANSEX''?!"

* SexByProxy: A rather horrible version happens when [[spoiler:Artie uses his spiritual powers to MindRape Joel while having sex]].

The series originally started out as smart remarks the author Immelmann could never make when he worked at a concession stand, but it gradually evolved into a complex story, with a fair amount of MindScrew. The plot centers on a rather small cast, the main characters eventually being: Joel, the {{Villain Protagonist}}; Artie and Matt.

On October 8, 2010, it was announced that the comic was coming to an end. Immelmann cited the [[KudzuPlot often nonsensical and convoluted plot]] as the main reason. He does have a new stand-alone gag comic called ''Webcomic/BallerinaMafia'' that began about a month before the end was announced, and a storyline oriented comic ''Webcomic/TheBlackDogs'' that started April 2012. The [[GrandFinale final comic]] was posted February 11, 2011, and a "ten-year anniversary" epilogue was posted in July 2016.

-->'''Artie:''' This feels weird. It's like I'm about to watch cannibalism.\\
'''Melusine:''' Dolphins are mammals, Artie.\\
'''Artie:''' I know! I know. But it's still weird, you know?\\
'''Melusine:''' You know what's weird? Furries that have dogs for pets. I think that's weirder than anything we do.

* HeWhoFightsMonsters: [[spoiler: Artie, committed genocide to avenge his girlfriend's HonorKilling after learning to use his powers. Defied by him later after his WhatTheHellHero by Matt.]]

** Later [[spoiler: Artie]] gives in to it after [[spoiler:his girlfriend's murder]], though afterwards he still works hard to save lives (especially from Joel). Getting called out by [[spoiler:Matt]] helps him realize he's on a dangerous slope, and that [[spoiler:Melusine's ghost]] is NotSoDifferent from [[spoiler:Miranda's]].

* CreepyChild: Chelsie Warner appears to be a cuddly anthropomorphic lamb-girl in a pink dress. On her first appearance, she stabs Artie Crowley in the eye with a crayon. Shortly thereafter, [[spoiler:she has sex with him when he's too delirious to realize what he's doing. When he wakes up, he is horrified not only because of what he's done, but because "Chelsie is actually a '''[[UnsettlingGenderReveal boy]]'''." It's recently been revealed that Chelsie's hypersexual behaviour is related to a form of childhood bipolar disorder. She became significantly less creepy with proper medication and hormone treatment, after being adopted by the local (quite definitely ''non''-pedophile) preacher. The WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue shows her in her late teens, [[{{Transgender}} fully transitioned]], apparently recovered from her unfortunate past, and calling Father Tim "Dad".]]

* {{Transgender}}: WordOfGod is that [[spoiler:Chelsie Warner]] identifies as female, but since [[spoiler:she's ten years old and, going by her behavior, suffering from a LOT of sex-related issues]], it's unclear in the comic. The WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue shows [[spoiler:her at the age of eighteen, fully transitioned and apparently recovering from her traumatic childhood]].

* ModestyBedsheet: Incredibly disturbing variation with [[spoiler:Artie and Chelsie]] (http://concessioncomic.com/index.php?pid=20070309 link is not worksafe or brainsafe]]). [[spoiler:Technically [[UnsettlingGenderReveal there was no need for the modesty bedsheet]], either.]]

* TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: Chelsie Warner [[spoiler:suffers from gender dysphoria, and was born "Charles" until her parents allowed her to start dressing and living as a girl. This itself isn't what's troubling, but she displays violent tendencies in her very first appearance by stabbing Artie in the eye with a crayon. She then rapes him when he's too delirious to know what's going on. It's later revealed that her hypersexual behavior is related to a form of bipolar disorder, and she joins a harem of preteen boys run by the practicing pedophile Kate, who specifically seeks out children with this disorder because she believes that allowing them to give in to urges which are already there doesn't count as abuse. The author points out that he knows that it does count, but Kate does not know that or refuses to believe it. Luckily, the WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue shows that by the time Chelsie's an adult she's transitioned fully to female and is much more mentally stable under the care of her adopted father, [[GoodShepard the local priest Father Tim]].]]

* SpiritWorld: The astral plane of Concession has been compared to the [[http://concessioncomic.com/index.php?pid=20090925 internet]]; locations within it seem to be created by the spiritually aware. And considering that most of the time it's shown so that the VillainProtagonist can MindRape [[http://concessioncomic.com/index.php?pid=20100321 someone]]...

* GoodShepherd: Father Tim.

* JerkAss: Joel

* OfficialCouple: [[spoiler:Matt and Joel]]

* OurGhostsAreDifferent: Ghosts are usually after revenge, and can bond to a living person (like a relative or lover) and give them [[PowersViaPossesion enhanced psychic powers]]. They also seem to be AlwaysChaoticEvil and prone to committing MindRape.

* PlotTumor: The comic was originally about stupid customers who appeared at a concession stand, then alternating between concession-stand gags and Joel's life in college, a subplot about a dinosaur family, and nowadays is almost the original comic InNameOnly with how little the Concession stand has to do with the actual plot. (The author is of course aware of this and states this in the "About" section.)
** ... as a [[IncrediblyLamePun Concession]] to new readers.

** Then there's [[spoiler:Artie's incident with Chelsie - since Chelsie is a small child with bipolar-related hypersexuality and Artie was in a trance, technically * both* of them were raped by Joel, who arranged for the incident to happen]]. Borderline example, since Artie is clearly traumatised by the incident and it turns out to be related to ThePlan, but the deeper implications on his psyche aren't brought up in much detail and it's often brought up again for a gag strip.

* RightThroughTheWall: [[http://concessioncomic.com/index.php?pid=20080321 This strip - not work safe.]]
* SeldomSeenSpecies: Roland the pangolin.

* SplitPersonality: Clive/Ernest. Naturally Clive is straight while Ernest is gay, makes for [[http://concessioncomic.com/index.php?pid=20090825 some rather awkward morning afters]].
* StraightGay: Cecil.

* LionsAndTigersAndHumansOhMy: Humans exist in the Concession world, but don't interact with furries much: "Yeah, for most humans it's a bit of a culture shock. Not to mention the allergies..."

* MistakenforPedophile: Joel is mistaken to be having sex with Chelsie by Artie after he hears both of them giggling from behind a counter,[[spoiler: but it turns out he is just coloring with him]]
* ModestyBedsheet: [[spoiler: Used with Artie and Chelsie.]]

* NonMammalMammaries: Averted; Dave protests Angie walking around topless, and she complains "What's there to reveal? I don't have breasts! I don't even have nipples!"

* OnlySixFaces: At first, pretty much all the characters looked the same regardless of species. Once the big character redesign rolled around, faces and head shapes were much more diversified.
* OurGhostsAreDifferent: [[EldritchAbomination They're mockeries of the natural order]] who [[EmotionEater feed on despair.]]
* OutOfClothesExperience: Happens when using spiritual energy (except to Joel, who wears a black cloak, [[spoiler: which is actually the ghost of his sister Miranda]]).
** BarbieDollAnatomy: Goes even further than usual for dolphins -- their ''legs'' also disappear.

* DontExplainTheJoke: "See, it's funny because you're a pedophile. Kate's 25, so I'm implying you'd be happier dating a 10-year-old."

* EroticEating: [[http://concessioncomic.com/index.php?pid=20090331 Nicole]].

* EveryoneIsBi: A lot of characters are, even characters that are supposed to be ''straight'', like Artie, tend to have sex with the same gender, though [[spoiler:the first time he was being mind controlled and the second time he was really drunk]] not to mention [[spoiler:the time Artie literally MindRaped Joel]]. And of course there's Thomas, who is described as heterosexual but is shown flirting with men and having sex with his own son. And another time Rick admitted to having gay sex with another fat model, which for some reason made Angie jealous. This may be related to the fact that the author is also bi. Or just an extreme case of coincidence.
* EvilGloating: Joel probably shouldn't have told Artie that he had [[InstantExpert powers]] while he was killing him.

* FreudianExcuse: Joel was treated harshly as a child by his father and his brother. [[spoiler:Then his brother killed his sister, and his parents thought Joel did it, so he was put in a mental hospital and appears to have been sexually abused by a doctor and then released before he was ready to face the outside world again.]]

* FunWithSubtitles: Artie's cousin worked in closed captioning at CNN, on her last day she decided to [[http://concessioncomic.com/index.php?pid=20061215 have some fun]].

* GenderReveal: Artie's incident with Chelsie, after which he reveals Chelsie's real sex.
** Also the appropriately named [[http://concessioncomic.com/index.php?pid=20090331 "It's a Trap!"]]

* HonorRelatedAbuse: [[spoiler:Melusine]] was murdered by her brother-in-law for [[spoiler:getting impregnated by a land-dweller. Said land-dweller (Archie) reacted rather badly, willfully causing a disaster that destroyed her community's entire seaside city, while she came back as an insane, vengeful ghost (who, in retrospect, may have influenced the former).]]

** BrotherSisterIncest: Rick and Kate. It was just implied for awhile, but it was recently outright confirmed. [[spoiler: Also Joel and his sister Miranda appear to have been very close, her spirit form is usually shown wrapped around Joel's like a cloak. And there is a scene in which she anally rapes him.]]

* ImportantHaircut: Artie, [[spoiler: after the cancer arc]]. It eventually grew back.

** This [[http://concessioncomic.com/index.php?pid=20090327 later]] happens during an occasion where Joel, Matt, and Aaron "Nicole" O'Connor meet with a crude ursine associate of Matt's who initially believes Nicole is a girl after Joel introduces them. Needless to say, said ursine friend is [[http://concessioncomic.com/index.php?pid=20090331 moving to kick Joel's ass]] when he finds out the truth of Nicole's gender.
* TheUnSmile: Joel. Really should have seen it coming.
** The horror! [[http://concessioncomic.com/index.php?pid=20090317 THE HORROR!]]

* {{Confessional}}: Multiple characters talk to Father Tim in the confessional.
** [[spoiler: Father Tim and Joel even have a battle within it, although it's a BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind]]

* CreepyChild: Chelsie.

**

* MediumAwareness: "...Why are your memories all sketchy?" "I don't know, to show mental unrest? Be quiet and pay
attention."
* MistakenforPedophile: Joel is mistaken to be having sex with Chelsie by Artie after he hears both of them giggling from behind a counter]],[[spoiler: but it turns out he is just coloring with him]]

* {{Transgender}}: Chelsie is one, rather than just a crossdresser.

* TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: Chelsie

* VaginaDentata: [[http://concessioncomic.com/index.php?pid=20091009 Last panel.]]

* AnythingThatMoves: Joel, probably Angie.

* BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind: [[spoiler: Joel attacks Father Tim in the confessional, and Artie in the hospital]] inside their minds using his CombatTentacles.

%% * CrapsackWorld

* FurryConfusion: Discussed in [[http://concessioncomic.com/index.php?pid=20090807 this comic:]]
-->'''Artie:''' ''(about to eat fish and crab with Melusine)'' This feels weird. It's like I'm about to watch cannibalism.\\

** [[spoiler: Melusine appears to be NotSoDifferent]]

* HonorRelatedAbuse: Melusine was murdered by her brother-in-law for getting impregnated by a land-dweller. Said land-dweller (Archie) reacted rather badly, willfully causing a disaster that destroyed her community's entire seaside city, while she came back as an insane, vengeful ghost (who, in retrospect, may have influenced the former).

** IncestSubtext: In a Halloween special in Immy's other webcomic, Joel has a sudden fantasy of his brother's "shapely ass"
*** [[NoYay And then has a heart attack.]]

* PowersViaPossession: [[spoiler: The reason Joel is so powerful is because of his sister's vengeful spirit.]]

* AuthorAppeal: Immelmann's fetishes tend to pop up alot throughout the series.

** Joel used to be this early on as a representation of how the author wished he could act if not for fear of persecution or retaltiation at his movie theater job ... until the plot shifted and Joel became more of a villian/anti-villian.
* BarefootCartoonAnimal: The entire cast.

* BestialityIsDepraved: Even anthro animals consider sex with non-anthro animals taboo--for instance, Artie strongly remembers an incident involving Joel and a feral dog. The Church of Gaia is frowned upon as it not only condones zoophilia but performs marriages between anthros and ferals.

* BigScrewedUpFamily: Joel's, Chelsie's, and Kate and Rick's, plus the Jansen clan in particular.

* CampGay: Nicole is a fluttery cross dresser. Matt as well, though to a lesser extent, and he doesn't crossdress regularly like Nicole does.

* LionsAndTigersAndHumansOhMy: Humans exist in the Concession world, but don't interact with furries much: "Yeah, for most humans it's a bit of a culture shock. Not to mention the allergies ..."
* MeanBoss: Dave, to an extent.
** Dave? Look at ''Millicent''.
** Millicent is just there to watch over the strip's pet murderous sociopath. Her mean boss thing was just a cover.

On October 8, 2010, it was announced that the comic was coming to an end. Immelmann cited the [[KudzuPlot often nonsensical and convoluted plot]] as the main reason. He does have a new stand-alone gag comic called ''Webcomic/BallerinaMafia'' that began about a month before the end was announced, and a storyline oriented comic ''Webcomic/TheBlackDogs'' that started April 2012. The [[GrandFinale final comic]] was posted February 11, 2011.

* BittersweetEnding: All the main characters fail in everything they intended to accomplish, the only main character with a chance to redeem the others [[spoiler: (Matt)]] turns into a [[VampiricDraining psychic addict]]. However, what Joel "intended to accomplish" involved mass murder as a ploy to get power; Artie managed to stop ''that'' and [[spoiler:Matt]] did save him from becoming another Joel.

* DownerEnding: All the main characters fail in everything they intended to accomplish, the only main character with a chance to redeem the others [[spoiler: (Matt)]] turns into a [[VampiricDraining psychic addict]], and this is apparently the upbeat ending to how things ''could'' have gone.

** Unless [[spoiler:he imagined it all.]]

** Minor example. [[spoiler:While Artie may or may not have intentionally committed mass murder with his powers, Matt's really in no position to preach the higher road when he's aiding his [[VillainProtagonist boyfriend]] and [[FaceHeelTurn turning]] into a [[VampiricDraining monster of the like]] himself.]]

* KarmaHoudini: All [[spoiler: Joel]] gets for his machinations, rapes, and murders is [[spoiler: the knowledge that it was all pointless and a few days in a coma.]] And [[spoiler: Artie]] destroyed a small city and essentially gets off scot-free.

** And now [[spoiler: Artie]]

* WhatTheHellHero: Finally delivered to [[spoiler: Artie by Matt]].

* MediumAwareness: "...Why are your memories all sketchy?" "I don't know, to show mental unrest? Be quiet and pay attention."

* {{Transsexual}}: Chelsie is one, rather than just a crossdresser.

On October 8, 2010, it was announced that the comic was coming to an end. Immelmann cited the [[KudzuPlot often nonsensical and convoluted plot]] as the main reason. He does have a new stand-alone gag comic called ''BallerinaMafia'' that began about a month before the end was announced, and a storyline oriented comic ''Webcomic/TheBlackDogs'' that started April 2012. The [[GrandFinale final comic]] was posted February 11, 2011.