History Webcomic / DeadWinter

** Arlen, big time, which leads to KickTheSonOfABitch.

* KickTheSonOfABitch: Yeah, we get that [[spoiler:Johnny Rhythm]] is a bad guy, and we know that [[spoiler: Arlen's kids]] are going to miss him, but ''damn'' if seeing [[spoiler: Arlen]] get his comeuppance for [[spoiler: [[MoralEventHorizon convincing Chantelle to throw out the group, then disabling their car so they can't get past the zombies]]]] isn't satisfying.

Created by Allison Shabet, '''Dead Winter''' is a ([[SlidingScaleOfSillinessVersusSeriousness mostly]] lighthearted) webcomic chronicling the ZombieApocalypse starting from two points of view: Lizzie, an English major college student working as a waitress, and badass hitman Black Monday Blues.

* CoolGuns: Plenty of them to go around due to the ZombieApocalypse. Despite the comic's artstyle, quite a lot of them are drawn in careful detail; if you have a keen enough eye, you can easily identify what kind of gun is being used.
** The crew has quite a bit of this to go around, but most definitely Monday's different handguns, Alice's Kel-Tec SUB-2000 and Lou's O/U (Over and Under) sawed-off shotgun.

** Also notable effects of the ArtEvolution are the CoolGuns, whom at first look [[http://deadwinter.cc/page/12 servicable]] and slightly recognizeable to slowly getting more and more detailed to the point that it's not only GunPorn but with a keen eye, some can be identifiable.

** [[https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/758776616573730856/860015890132500511/080.png "Mix-Ups"]] has Sally and Monday play a fighting game that's clearly based off of Franchise/StreetFighter.

* BoobsOfSteel: While Liz doesn't have the biggest bust of the cast, she's at an ample C-cups and can kick a lot of ass.

* SurpriseCreepy: The mini-comics are normally more brighter and light-hearted than the main series [[https://twitter.com/deadwintercomic/status/1340018238059634689 but it's not afraid]] [[https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/758776616573730856/789029848231182356/022.png to catch you off guard]].

* GardeningVarietyWeapon: The hat-wearing member of the trio of raiders led by Marv uses the seldom seen [[https://www.deadwinter.cc/page/581 manual polesaw]] as a weapon, wielding it like a [[SerratedBladeOfPain Serrated]] [[BladeOnAStick spear]] with [[http://www.deadwinter.cc/page/588 pretty good efficiency]] in a fight.

A videogame about the Webcomic is also under developemnt. You can follow it's dev cycle through the aforementioned [[https://twitter.com/deadwintercomic twitter account]], or you can join the author's Discord server: [[https://discord.com/invite/y3A7aHm Lucky Raven Games]].

* ImprobableAimingSkills: [[http://deadwinter.cc/page/478 Alice has them.]] [[ShootTheRope Shooting the Rope]] while hanging out the window of a moving car? That's driving across the grass in the middle of a ''park?'' [[Literature/FenimoreCoopersLiteraryOffences Natty Bumppo]] would be impressed!

* AssholeVictim: [[http://deadwinter.cc/031 The old man that Monday bonked]], then [[http://deadwinter.cc/033 stole his home]] and [[http://deadwinter.cc/034 left to die a horrible death]]? [[spoiler:Turns out to be a pedophile who was [[http://deadwinter.cc/040 keeping a young girl named Sally in his closet]].]] You might've felt pity for him at first, but that reveal just throws it all out the window.

* {{Gainaxing}}: [[http://deadwinter.cc/page/300.htm Here]], a teensy bit.

** Fittingly enough, this is also [[http://deadwinter.cc/page/317 Dale's]] WeaponOfChoice.

* BroomstickQuarterstaff: Lizzie's iconic WeaponOfChoice is a mop she's grown proficient with not only in her days as a waitress but also being forced to use it throughout the zombie apocaylpse. While Frank does break the one she used throughout her time in his Diner, she picks up a replacement when going out of Chantelle's Birch Street Apartment.

** After losing her [[FryingPanOfDoom frying pan]] and Lizzie being needed to get into [=OmniMart=] through the [[AirVentPassageway air vents]], Alice [[http://www.deadwinter.cc/page/278 borrows]] her girlbro's WeaponOfChoice for [[http://www.deadwinter.cc/page/280 a while]] to [[http://www.deadwinter.cc/page/295 fend off]] the undead.

* WeaponOfChoice: Many characters tend to stick to weapons they really seem to like, which makes sense as using a weapon they are familiar with is key to surviving.

** Hilariously, there are alternate win animations with their alternate weapons that involve fumbling their [[WeaponOfChoice Weapons Of Choice]].

* HandCannon: A few to go around, like Yuri's obrez,[[note]]''A sawed-off Mosin Nagant''[[/note]] Chantelle's revolver, and Clark's new handgun, which appears to be a [[RareGuns Smith and Wesson Model .500 revolver]].

* AwesomeMcCoolname: A few to go around, such as: ''Black Monday Blues''. That is all.

* DenserAndWackier: While the main comic itself isn't exactly exempt from comedy and silliness, the mini-comics on the other hand crank it UpToEleven.

* ShoutOut: The main comic has quite a few references, but the mini-comics however crank these UpToEleven.

* KnifeNut:
** Although not a nut (although that depends on how you view him), Monday always carries a butterfly knife around on his person and is more than willing to use it when the rotters or anyone else gets too close for comfort. Although at times he likes brandishing and playing with it when he's bored.
** ''Frank'', who puts the "nut" in KnifeNut; he [[DisproportionateRetribution goes crazy]] when Lizzie abandons him, then becomes ''[[SerialKiller absolutely unhinged]]'' after Lizzie and her group escape him a second time.
** Derrick (one of the [[CarnivalOfKillers hitmen competing throughout the city]]) has a couple dozen of them and is quite proficient with throwing them, too.

You can find and read the comic on it's website [[http://www.deadwinter.cc here]]. The series can get pretty NSFW (obviously because of all the gore) but the comic includes some nudity, [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness especially in the early parts]]. The comic also has a [[https://twitter.com/deadwintercomic twitter account]] and a [[https://deadwintercomic.tumblr.com/ tumblr blog]], both post Dead Winter mini-comics (which according to WordOfGod, may be canon to the series itself). You can now check them out in the comic's archive page as well.

** On the one hand, the zombies are still a threat and are the main catalyst for why society has broken down. On the other hand, it's ''that'' reason why everyone seems to be living much differently, some better than others. Thanks to a massive case of ZombieGait and most of the undead being rotten enough to be easily taken care of, they're usually not that much of a threat. (In fact, this comic has a big case of BewareTheLiving.) Some shelters seemingly try to live their lives normally, although still knowing that they have to be careful with limited resources.
** Nothing exemplifies this trope more than ''Tombstone'', a settlement where survivors have managed to at least find the next best thing to normality in the ZombieApocalypse. People still have to do their parts and work jobs to help keep the town running; Tombstone even has their own currency.

* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Lou is a naive BigFun plumber, but when it comes down to it, he's pretty damn good at being crafty and fending off the [[NotUsingTheZWord diseased cannibals]].

* DecapitationPresentation: Frank, after his SanitySlippage into an AxCrazy SerialKiller obsessed with Liz, begins decapitating and then attaching the heads of his victims to his belt. The [[http://deadwinter.cc/page/093 first of them was Jack]], and he is very eager to have Liz be the next one.

* DividedWeFall: Though the [[NotUsingTheZWord zombies/shufflers/infected]] are a serious threat, the cast often have more problems with other survivors being either [[BewareTheLiving overtly hostile]] or just unwilling to share resources. The Military, the Police ''and'' the Yellow Ponchos are prime examples of this, as demonstrated [[http://deadwinter.cc/page/247 here]].

* FingerGun: Lizzie makes one as she gets behind Clark and does the StickEmUp trope.
* {{Fingore}}: Hinted at when Liz knocks on the Omnimart door.

** Lizzie herself uses this trope twice, using one zombie's head as a soccer ball against another zed. Another has her [[http://www.deadwinter.cc/page/587 her lifting a zombie]] (that soon turns into a corpse thanks to Alice's support) before slamming it down into one of the Yellow Poncho members.

* GoodOldFisticuffs: Quite a few characters are willing to get their knuckles dirty when fighting the undead and other survivors. Most of them even have the strength and badass-ery to back it up (though a looter in one of the early comics [[http://www.deadwinter.cc/page/79 wasn't so lucky]]).

* GunsAkimbo: Monday really loves this trope as a part of his EstablishingCharacterMoment. He steals a would-be assassin's revolver and [[http://deadwinter.cc/page/011 begins raining hot lead]]. He also [[http://deadwinter.cc/page/041 pulls out his signature glocks (with extended magazines)]] when bringing Sally back to her folks.

** Also, Sixgun Johnny Rhythm, who has been brought in to go after Monday, looks like he stepped right out of a Western.
* GunTwirling: Due to being the main crew's gunslingin' assassin (although the other three don't know about that). Monday has pulled this [[http://deadwinter.cc/page/013 trick]] off a few times. Even his [=WIP=] [[https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/621102038310453268/861058067365625866/mondaywin.gif win animation]] has him spinning his pistols.

* HandwrapsOfAwesome: Both Yuri and Dale both have their hands wrapped in cloth/bandages, although for differing reasons. Yuri uses it to protect his [[http://deadwinter.cc/page/569 fists]] when engaging in GoodOldFisticuffs against ''zombies'' (one notable moment has him punching a zombie's head off), while Dale has a few cuts on his arms [[http://deadwinter.cc/page/347 which Alice patches up]] but it definitely increases his badass-ery.

* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Trenton pulls this for both Alice and Lizzie, getting most of the horde's attention and opening them a path so they could escape while he mows as much of them down. He pulls this due to being a ZombieInfectee thanks to a zombie on the ground biting him on the leg.]].
* HiddenDepths: At first glance Lou's just a fat plumber, but he knows ''[[MotorMouth a lot]]'' about Roman history.

** While operating on a patient in [[https://twitter.com/deadwintercomic/status/1357766128446173185 "Sunny Side Up"]] Alice finds [[VideoGame/TeamFortress2 a bird inside of someone's intestines]].

* DeliberatelyMonochrome: Except for epic red accessories, and Lizzy's dreams. Actually played with when Lizzy [[https://www.deadwinter.cc/page/558 gets her third headband]], turning red as she puts it on.

* DeliberatelyMonochrome: Except for epic red accessories, and Lizzy's dreams.