History Webcomic / QuentynQuinnSpaceRanger

* AerithAndBob: The first panel of [[http://www.rhjunior.com/quentyn-quinn-space-ranger-0115/ this strip]] seems to be a [[GenreSavvy knowing]] [[ShoutOut reference]] to the trope.

** The Patoodines have a rather unique legal system: They launch criminals from a catapult a distance calculated by adding up the total and severity of your crimes. If you live, you're free to go. But if your crimes are severe enough, well...

* DigitalPiracyIsOkay: [[http://www.rhjunior.com/quentyn-quinn-space-ranger-0054/ The RIAA Wars]]. [=RH=] throws an [[{{Anvilicious}} anvil]] here - his opinion is that we either chill out about it or let the regulators eat our brains - ''literally''. [[FlameBait It Makes Perfect Sense]] - [[ItMakesSenseInContext In Context]].

* BiotechIsBetter: No, [[http://rhjunior.com/QQSR/QQSR0000.html#Comic=76 it isn't.]] The strip points out that the easy replication and self-repair of biotech is attractive, its relative fragility, vulnerability to disease, incompatibility with conventional technology and need for constant care(not to mention the BodyHorror factor) make it ''usually'' more trouble than it's worth.
-->Fragile, vulnerable, high maintenance, almost impossible to store long-term, breakdowns are effectively permanent--so yeah, not exactly a real hot seller out here.

-->Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, ''lipids-for-brains....''

--->"Pirates and gangsters and other "outlaws" are nothing but ''arrogant children.'' They think that the rules are just there to spoil their fun, and that only wimps and losers live by them. And so they figure that being an outlaw makes them the biggest, baddest predators in the universe. They're dead wrong. What it makes them is ''rightful prey'' of the civilization they spurned- and of the things civilization ''protected them from'' without them ever knowing. There are powers and principalities out there that ''pick their teeth'' with the bones of "big, bad outlaws" that wander out past the fence. Our three-eyed little buccaneers just learned their worst nightmare is true: that the ''bars'' on the cage ''aren't there'' to protect the ''tiger''. And the tiger ''isn't them.''"

* MyGreatestFailure: Cmdr Quinn gave Kalufrax replicator technology so they could weather their economic collapse and fight back against oligarchs attempting to maintain the status quo, [[spoiler: but one nation of religious extremists used the tech to bring down one of the planet's {{Floating Continent}}s, and the other nations nuke-glassed them in response. Quinn needs a [[CigaretteOfAnxiety Seda-stick]] before telling the story.]]

* AuthorTract: Large swaths of the comic are summed up as long {{Take That}}s to various sci-fi franchises, with some strong libertarianism on the side. "The Cold Equations" is a good example of both, starting out as a deconstruction of the original short story ''Literature/TheColdEquations'' and segueing into blaming the whole thing on a government butting into private enterprise. Indeed, the author is quite aware of this, and claims to do it on purpose to get past the "defense mechanisms" of fans of the aforementioned franchises....The problem is that not only his knowledge about the various subjects he talks about is...[[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment Debatable]], he often don't quite think through the actual message of his tracts, who will come as BrokenAesop to readers knowledgeable on the subject or sensitive to Fridge. The quoted exemple, "The Cold Equations" we learn said government who was supposed to be the source of the problems accepted bribes from corporations to forbid the use of zero-point power or other advanced technologies who would concurrence theirs, making it more a message about getting the money of big businesses out of politics than anything else.

* TakeThat: A ''big'' one directed at ''Franchise/StarTrek'' runs from [[http://www.rhjunior.com/quentyn-quinn-space-ranger-0014/ Page 14]] to Page 44. The author's politics are on full display. Most of the subjects he brings up were addressed by either ''Deep Space Nine'' or the TNG movies. Along with a generous helping of AuthorAppeal: [=RH=] obviously feels that [[CreatorsPet Wesley Crusher]] SugarWiki/NeedsMoreLove.

** Also, in a later arc regarding The Seven Systems judicial system, when the "Prime Directive" is taken to its natural conclusion (meaning that nobody interferes, even if it would save an entire sentient species, when a comet strikes a planet), the Prime Directive gets dissected, and stated to be racist, hypocritical, and downright unethical. Followed up by another low blow when the official name of Pidorq's (a blow with the subtlety of an avalanche in and of itself) race is revealed to be "[[http://www.rhjunior.com/quentyn-quinn-space-ranger-0117/ the Fedorks]]."
*** That last might be in-universe as well, since we know the ESS has a governmental department dedicated to coming up with appropriate names for things.
** The [[http://www.rhjunior.com/quentyn-quinn-space-ranger-0118/ next strip]] has ones to ''Franchise/StarWars'', ''Film/MarsAttacks'', ''Film/TheAngryRedPlanet'', and TheGreys (the page has to be seen to be fully understood).

*** Rather appropriate, considering that story only ended up a tragedy due to ExecutiveMeddling -- the writer knew at least three ways to save everyone, but the editor insisted on a tragedy.
** Add ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer40000}}'' to the [[http://www.rhjunior.com/quentyn-quinn-space-ranger-15/ list]].

* [[ApocalypseHow/ClassX2 Apocalypse How: Class X-2]]: Stellar annihilation.

* [[spoiler: HeroicSacrifice: Upon learning that her being a stowaway on the shuttle put a medical delivery that thousands were depending on in jeopardy, Miss Blackcat jettisoned herself to prevent that from happening. Somewhat subverted in that Quinn saved her at the last second.]]

** The step-by-step dissection of [[http://www.rhjunior.com/quentyn-quinn-space-ranger-0123/ the deathtrap shuttle]] in "The Cold Equations" arc; all the events in the issue were caused because big corporations whose products would have been severly concurrenced by the Empire's zero-point power and other more advanced technologies lobbied/bribed the government officials in charge of building and using the shuttles to not use them, wich ended up making them a deathtrap. Kinda like irl coal and oil companies lobby as hard as they can to prevent development and use of renewable energies.

** The step-by-step dissection of [[http://www.rhjunior.com/quentyn-quinn-space-ranger-0123/ the deathtrap shuttle]] in "The Cold Equations" arc; all the events in the issue were caused because big corporations whose products would have been severly concurrenced by the seven system's zero-point power and other more advanced technologies lobbied/bribed the government officials in charge of building and using the shuttles to not use them, wich ended up making them a deathtrap. Kinda like irl coal and oil companies lobby as hard as they can to prevent developpement and use of renewable energies.
* AnachronismStew: Of a sort. For the Federation expies, the tech, philosophies, and crew are all pretty blatantly based on those of ''The Next Generation,'' but the design of their ship more closely resembles that of the first six movies' ''Enterprise'' rather than the ''Enterprise-D''.
** Likewise, while most of the crew are instantly recognizable as the TNG version (and the WorfEffect is in full swing), the medical officer is plainly based on "Bones" from TOS. This resulted in irony when fans of the comic -- and the series -- pointed out that a Bones Expy would have heard Quentyn lambasting the transporter and ''joined in.''

** The step-by-step dissection of [[http://www.rhjunior.com/quentyn-quinn-space-ranger-0123/ the deathtrap shuttle]] in "The Cold Equations" arc; the cause for all the events in the issue was caused because big corporations whose products would have been severly concurrenced by the seven system's zero-point power and other more advanced technologies lobbied/bribed the government officials in charge of building and using the shuttles to not use them, wich ended up making them a deathtrap. Kinda like irl coal and oil companies lobby as hard as they can to prevent developpement and use of renewable energies.

** TruthInTelevision: [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitational_time_dilation gravitational time dilation]] is a very real phenomenon. Relative to Earth's age in billions of years, Earth's core is effectively 2.5 years younger than its surface. To give the reader some perspective, the mere gravitational difference between the Earth's surface and orbit is high enough that it is ''proven'' that time moves faster in orbit; the atomic clocks on GPS satellites have to be readjusted by software on a continual basis, otherwise the satellites would be off by 38 microseconds -- and their coordinate readings by ''10 kilometers'' -- in a single day.

* AuthorTract: Large swaths of the comic are summed up as long {{Take That}}s to various sci-fi franchises, with some strong libertarianism on the side. "The Cold Equations" is a good example of both, starting out as a deconstruction of the original short story ''Literature/TheColdEquations'' and segueing into blaming the whole thing on a government butting into private enterprise. Indeed, the author is quite aware of this, and claims to do it on purpose to get past the "defense mechanisms" of fans of the aforementioned franchises....The problem is that not only his knowledge about the various subjects he talks about is...[[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment Debatable]], he often don't quite think through the actual message of his tracts, who will come as BrokenAesop to readers knowledgeable on the subject or sensitive to Fridge. The quoted exemple, "The Cold Equations" we learn said governement who was supposed to be the source of the problems accepted bribes from corporations to forbid the use of zero-point power or other advanced technologies who would concurrence theirs, making it more a message about getting the money of big businesses out of politics than anything else.

** Because Pidorg let a pre-FTL civilization die, the ''entire'' Federation is barred from interstellar travel until they rebuild said civilization and assist the Empire in getting it modernized. In addition, the Federation is to be assigned another cosmic entity, that is implied to not be as lient with them as Cue, as its guardian.

* FunnyAnimal: Quinn is a Racoon-like example, and his race is far shorter than the humans on the Sapphire Star.

* LostInTransmission: ''why'' he should keep an assassin alive.

* MegaCorp: The RIAA, eventually they started destructively uploading elderly scientists and artists and the Empire declared war.

** The step-by-step dissection of [[http://www.rhjunior.com/quentyn-quinn-space-ranger-0123/ the deathtrap shuttle]] in "The Cold Equations" arc; the cause for all the events in the issue was caused because big corporations whose products would have been severly concurrenced by the seven system's zero-point power and other more advanced technologies lobbyed/bribed the governement officials in charge of building and using the shuttles to not use them, wich ended up making them a deathtrap. Kinda like irl coal and oil companies lobby as hard as they can to prevent developpement and use of renewable energies.

* BadassGrandpa: Quentin's been in the job for about fifty years, so age estimates put him at at least 70. Not that it means much to a Racconan's natural longevity and rejuvenation technology.

* AuthorTract: Large swaths of the comic are summed up as long {{Take That}}s to various sci-fi franchises, with some strong libertarianism on the side. "The Cold Equations" is a good example of both, starting out as a deconstruction of the original short story ''Literature/TheColdEquations'' and segueing into blaming the whole thing on a government butting into private enterprise. Indeed, the author is quite aware of this, and claims to do it on purpose to get past the "defense mechanisms" of fans of the aforementioned franchises....The problem is that not only his knowledge about the various subjects he talks about is...[[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment Debatable]], he often don't quite think through the actual message of his tracts, who will come as BrokenAesop to readers knowledgeable on the subject or sensitive to Fridge. The quoted exemple, "The Cold Equations" we learn said governement who was supposed to be the source of the problems accepted bribes from corporations to forbid the use of zero-point power or other advanced technologies who would concurrence theirs, making it more a message about getting the money of big businesses out of politics than anything else.

* AuthorTract: Large swaths of the comic are summed up as long {{Take That}}s to various sci-fi franchises, with some strong libertarianism on the side. "The Cold Equations" is a good example of both, starting out as a deconstruction of the original short story ''Literature/TheColdEquations'' and segueing into blaming the whole thing on a government butting into private enterprise. Indeed, the author is quite aware of this, and claims to do it on purpose to get past the "defense mechanisms" of fans of the aforementioned franchises....The problem is that not only his knowledge about the various subjects he talks about is...[[WaveMotionGun Debatable]], he often don't quite think through the actual message of his tracts, who will come as BrokenAesop to readers knowledgeable on the subject or sensitive to Fridge. The quoted exemple, "The Cold Equations" we learn said governement who was supposed to be the source of the problems accepted bribes from corporations to forbid the use of zero-point power or other advanced technologies who would concurrence theirs, making it more a message about getting the money of big businesses out of politics than anything else.

** [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment Stellar Lance.]]

* AuthorTract: Large swaths of the comic are summed up as long {{Take That}}s to various sci-fi franchises, with some strong libertarianism on the side. "The Cold Equations" is a good example of both, starting out as a deconstruction of the original short story ''Literature/TheColdEquations'' and segueing into blaming the whole thing on a government butting into private enterprise. Indeed, the author is quite aware of this, and claims to do it on purpose to get past the "defense mechanisms" of fans of the aforementioned franchises....The problem is that not only his knowledge about the various subjects is...Debatable, he often don't quite think through the actual message of his tracts, who will come as BrokenAesop to readers knowledgeable on the subject or sensitive to Fridge. The quoted exemple, "The Cold Equations" we learn said governement who was supposed to be the source of the problems accepted bribes from corporations to forbid the use of zero-point power or other advanced technologies who would concurrence theirs, making it more a message about getting the money of big businesses out of politics than anything else.

** [[WaveMotionGun Stellar Lance.]]

* AuthorTract: Large swaths of the comic are summed up as long {{Take That}}s to various sci-fi franchises, with some strong libertarianism on the side. "The Cold Equations" is a good example of both, starting out as a deconstruction of the original short story ''Literature/TheColdEquations'' and segueing into blaming the whole thing on a government butting into private enterprise. Indeed, the author is quite aware of this, and claims to do it on purpose to get past the "defense mechanisms" of fans of the aforementioned franchises....The problem is that not only his knowledge about the various subjects are...Debatable he often don't quite think through the actual message of his tracts, who will come as BrokenAesop to readers knowledgeable on the subject or sensitive to Fridge.

* AuthorTract: Large swaths of the comic are summed up as long {{Take That}}s to various sci-fi franchises, with some strong libertarianism on the side. "The Cold Equations" is a good example of both, starting out as a deconstruction of the original short story ''Literature/TheColdEquations'' and segueing into blaming the whole thing on a government butting into private enterprise. Indeed, the author is quite aware of this, and claims to do it on purpose to get past the "defense mechanisms" of fans of the aforementioned franchises.

** RidiculousFutureInflation in the Kallifrax arc; the planet's most popular currency [[http://www.rhjunior.com/quentyn-quinn-space-ranger-8/ losing 95% of its face value]] in less than a century as a result of oligarchs buying up all the physical resources with paper. Most don't realize that ''this is happening in real life'' -- '''in the United States''' -- what cost a grand in 1900 would cost ''thirty'' grand in 2016, AKA a thousand modern dollars is the equivalent of '''thirty five''' 1900 dollars!

** The step-by-step dissection of [[http://www.rhjunior.com/quentyn-quinn-space-ranger-0123/ the deathtrap shuttle]] in "The Cold Equations" arc; TheGovernment asked for something cheap and environmentally friendly which could be built, maintained, and supplied solely by low-bid government contractors. Leave out the "cheap" and "environmentally friendly" parts and that's the design statement of NASA's '''Shuttle Transportation System.''' And when it comes to "dangerously-designed government-sponsored technology", there's ''loads'' of evidence to file alongside it; look up the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brewster_F2A_Buffalo Brewster F2A Buffalo]], the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M16_rifle M16 rifle]], and the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradley_Fighting_Vehicle Bradley Fighting Vehicle]](see ''Film/ThePentagonWars'' for the step-by-step design process of the last of these lemons) - all so horribly defective that there was only one possible buyer, one which not only bought countless numbers but ''asked'' for them to be built in the ''first place'': '''TheGovernment.'''

** According to WordOfGod, sympathizers for the defendant can pile up pillows at the impact site if they wish.

** Because Pidorg let a pre-FTL civilization die, the ''entire'' Federation is barred from interstellar travel until they rebuild said civilization and assist the Empire in getting it modernized. In addition, the Federation is to be assigned another cosmic entity that, implied to not be as lient with them as Cue.

* DisproportionateRetribution: When the Kvrk-chk ate a Racconan colony ship's passengers, the Empire retaliated by roasting one of the more populated Kvrk-chk star systems with a [[StarKilling stellar lance]].

* FantasticRacism: not so much subverted or inverted as turned completely inside out with the W'naybeans, a race of behavioral and cultural mimics (modeled on the real life [[http://youtu.be/t-LTWFnGmeg Mimic Octopus.]]) Their habit of imitating not just other races and ethnicities but other race and ethnic STEREOTYPES caused them a great deal of trouble with various easily offended PC types, but eventually they became so ubiquitous that they are routinely employed in various tourist traps preferentially over the very natives they imitate as being "more authentic." The author's point is that "[[http://www.rhjunior.com/quentyn-quinn-space-ranger-0071/ nobody seemed to be too upset as long as it was SOMEBODY ELSE being mimicked...]]" Ergo, if seen humorously, both racism AND ethnic hypersensitivity are easy to recognize as ridiculous.

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Chief Justice Bob has been known to [[BloodOnTheDebateFloor hurl his gavel]] at the ''exceedingly'' guilty, but the other justices manage to restrain themselves even in the case of the aforementioned negligent genocide. So it tells you just how incredibly screwed [[spoiler:Mister Clotworg]] is that ''all three'' of them throw their gavels at ''him''.

* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: Subverted with the Fedorks' Worf counterpart. Groonch evidently knows very little about his home planet, which Quentyn says has no thriving warrior races. In fact, Quentyn suspects that Groonch's exact culture is one best known for macrame.

* MoralDissonance: "The Coldest Equation" is a TakeThat against government regulations and bureaucracy. Which is resolved by a higher government going in and taking over the Parodian government. That said, the judges cite the events of the case as a GodzillaThreshold: they don't get involved in another peoples' unless they've messed up ''that'' badly.

* MoralDissonance: "The Coldest Equation" is a TakeThat against government regulations and bureaucracy. Which is resolved by a higher government going in and taking over the Parodian government.

* NeverMyFault: Quentyn discusses this trope with Omnibus, saying that some poeople find it easier to blame those who cleaned the mess up than take responsibility for their own actions.

* AlienNonInterferenceClause: The original TropeNamer, the Prime Directive, at least the version utilized in ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', is dissected, and called racist, unethical, and immoral. [[note]] In other versions of ''StarTrek'', the Prime Directive is intended to prevent direct interference. TNG takes it further.[[/note]]

** [[http://www.rhjunior.com/quentyn-quinn-space-ranger-0044/ At the end]] of the arc parodying ''StarTrek'' Cmdr. Quinn tells a member of a species that the Federation left to the mercy of a PlanetEater because they were pre-spaceflight that the Empire will help them rebuild, and that their presence will no doubt screw up what was left but at least they'll treat them like people.