Line #14 ComicBook/AllRoads


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/allroadscover.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:''"Then we walked the road to Vegas, all the lights of the Old World still glowing, shining pretty as you please..."'']]
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4	->''"The year is 2281. In the aftermath of a nuclear war, humanity has struggled to survive. In the Mojave wasteland, great tribes have again taken on the trappings of civilization, building communities, towns, and even cities... but their more brutal instincts aren't so easily left behind."''
5	-->-- '''[[OpeningScroll Opening Text]]'''
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7	''All Roads'', or ''Fallout: New Vegas: All Roads'', is a 2011 graphic novel set in the ''Franchise/{{Fallout}}'' universe, written by Creator/ChrisAvellone and published by Creator/DarkHorseComics with cover art by Creator/GeofDarrow. Originally released as a Collector's Edition bonus for ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'', it was later made available for purchase on Dark Horse Digital for a limited period.
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9	The comic serves as a prequel to the events of ''New Vegas'', expanding on the backstory of a few major characters and factions in the game and detailing the planning and execution of the ambush the protagonist falls into in the game's intro. Of particular importance is the contrast and conflict between Benny, a ruthless former tribal who tries to bury his past for a brighter future, and Chance, a Great Khan unable to let go of the tragedy at Bitter Springs.
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11	While the comic has since been unlisted from Dark Horse's store, used physical copies can still be found through various online retailers.
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13	!!''All Roads'' contains examples of the following tropes:
14	* BackToBackBadasses: The battle with the Fiends culminates in Benny and the Khans pulling this, standing in a circular firing line against waves of drugged-up melee fighters, while Chance fights their flamethrower-wielding leader one-on-one.
15	* CentralTheme: Letting go of the past, or rather, being unable to. Benny and Chance are both, in their own ways, unable to escape their past: Chance is DrowningHisSorrows due to his inability to move on from the tragedy at Bitter Springs, while Benny is so determined to bury his tribal origins that it paradoxically becomes an obsession. This theme is explored at various points throughout ''New Vegas'', but is ''especially'' prevalent in its DLC expansions, which Avellone also wrote.
16	* ColonCancer: The comic's full title, ''Fallout: New Vegas: All Roads''.
17	* CurbStompBattle: Benny and a small handful of Khans vs an entire Fiend raid party. After a [[{{Pun}} heated]] battle, the guys in the checkered suit and leather jackets stand victorious over a mountain of dead chem addicts.
18	* DeathGlare: Benny earns several of these from the Khans over the course of the comic, usually in response to him [[StopBeingStereotypical disparaging their traditions or lifestyle.]]
19	* DrowningHisSorrows: Chance is shown doing this with chems at the beginning of the comic, and Benny later tells him a story about a Chairman who sang at the Aces Theater who did the same. [[spoiler:Both of them die of a psycho overdose due to Benny's meddling.]]
20	* DueToTheDead: Near the end, the Khans insist on giving [[spoiler:Chance]] a proper burial. Benny objects, but their [[DeathGlare looks of silent fury]] at his disrespectful attitude leads him to back down.
21	* ExtremelyShortTimespan: The whole story takes place over the course of a few days before Benny and his hired muscle ambush the Courier at Goodsprings. Most of the climax is even implied to be set in the final 24 hours before the start of [[VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas New Vegas.]]
22	* FunctionalAddict: Despite having fallen hard into drug abuse after the Bitter Springs Massacre, Chance remains an incredible fighter; his issues mainly stem from his trauma rather than his addiction.
23	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: The Fiend with the flamer who burnt down an entire settlement is killed by Chance bending the nozzle around to roast his face off.
24	* KillItWithFire: Near the halfway point of the story the group comes across a wild band of Fiends burning up a small village. Benny wants to just avoid them but Chance grabs their attention which leads to a brutal fight.
25	* LetMeTellYouAStory: When Chance is severely injured after the battle with the Fiends, Benny comes to him while the others are sleeping to tell him about a member of his old tribe, a lounge singer at the Aces Theater, who couldn't adapt to "civilized" life and wanted the Chairmen to return to their nomadic origins. He claims that the singer ultimately died of a drug overdose trying to escape into the past (a lie of omission, as we saw earlier in the comic that Benny killed him with a spiked dose). [[spoiler:He closes by leaving Chance a dose of psycho -- the same one he gave to the singer -- and subtly implying that he needs to stop holding the others back, be it by shaping up and letting go of Bitter Springs or by [[DrivenToSuicide ending his own suffering]]. Chance chooses the latter.]]
26	* TheMillstone: Benny considers Chance to be this due to his drug habit and shellshock, and it's not an unfair assessment -- the group is forced into a dangerous fight with a Fiend warband because Chance flew into a rage at the sight of them razing a tribal village. The rest of the Khans seem on some level aware of this, but refuse to cut him loose because he's "family," [[spoiler:leading Benny to take matters into his own hands.]]
27	* SeriesContinuityError: Though in regards to an unresolved series ShrugOfGod. An NCR soldier is seen riding a horse due to the artist not being instructed not to do so, however [[https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Horse#Behind_the_scenes Chris Avellone stated]] this was an error and that the status of horses should be considered ambiguous, not wanting them to tease players with their non-presence as a game mechanic, and the narrative questions raised by their absence in the games are not addressed by ''New Vegas''.
28	* SoMuchForStealth: When the group finds a tribal village being razed by the Fiends, they debate whether to sneak past or wait out the rampage, reasoning that negotiating or fighting would be too risky given how drugged-up they are. This goes out the window when Chance [[TraumaButton suffers a Bitter Springs flashback]] and recklessly charges the raiders. Benny suggests ditching him and nearly convinces the others, but Jessup refuses and charges in on his own to help, convincing the others to follow suit.
29	* StopBeingStereotypical: Benny was born a wasteland nomad from the Boot-Riders tribe, but after getting a taste of "civilized" life in Vegas he's become utterly disdainful of that lifestyle and considers it savage and undignified. At several points in the story, he reacts with disdain or even outright rage when people from similar backgrounds insist on keeping to their traditions instead of "getting with the times" like he did.
30	* ThoseTwoGuys: Jessup and [=McMurphy=] fill this role, being ancillary to Chance and Benny's stories and mainly serving as a collective voice for the rest of the Khans in the group. They do get some degree of characterization to differentiate them -- [=McMurphy=] is more malleable to Benny's suggestions and less patient with Chance, while Jessup is a ride-or-die Khan who refuses to give up on their friend.
31	* ToBeContinued: Ends on one, naturally, due to the whole graphic novel being a prequel set in the days leading up to the start of VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas where Benny has a fateful encounter with a random wasteland courier...
32	* TraumaButton: Fire is this for Chance, reminding him of the NCR's massacre at Bitter Springs. The sight of Benny's lighter causes him to suffer a minor flashback early in the comic, and when the gang runs into a group of Fiends burning a tribal village to the ground, it sends him into a blind rage.
33	* VillainEpisode: The whole comic focuses on what Benny and the Great Khans he hired did on the journey to Goodsprings in the days leading up to to his [[BoomHeadshot first]] [[BuriedAlive meeting]] with the [[PlayerCharacter Courier.]]
34	* TheVoiceless: Chance never speaks throughout the comic. It's implied that he hasn't spoken since the massacre at Bitter Springs.
35	----
36	->''"My kinda town..."''

Context ComicBook / AllRoads