Line #35 Creator/CharlesAddams


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/4f267233b6ede6d4841496084725de15.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:Charles Addams and [[Franchise/TheAddamsFamily his famous family]].]]
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4	->''"Normal is an illusion. What is normal for the spider is chaos for the fly."''
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6	A long-time contributor of cartoons to ''Magazine/TheNewYorker'' magazine, Charles Samuel Addams[[note]]or "Chas Addams", as he usually signed his artwork[[/note]] (January 7, 1912 – September 29, 1988) specialized in whimsically grotesque scenes, which was evidently [[CollectorOfTheStrange something of a case]] of [[WriteWhoYouKnow Drawing What He Knew]].
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8	One set of his recurring characters became the basis for the television series (and later movies) ''Franchise/TheAddamsFamily'', while Addams also drew such classic one-off cartoons as [[ObstacleSkiCourse a skier somehow going around a tree on both sides at once]]; a [[DastardlyWhiplash moustachioed villain]] with a young damsel slung over his shoulder heading down into a subway kiosk, presumably to [[ChainedToARailway tie her to the tracks]]; and a {{banana peel}} lying on a busy city sidewalk, cordoned off by "caution" signs.
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10	(''Fun fact: he actually was distantly related to UsefulNotes/JohnAdams and his family, despite the differences in surname spelling.'')
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13	!!Works by Charles Addams with their own pages:
14	* ComicStrip/TheAddamsFamily cartoons
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16	!!Other works by Charles Addams provide examples of the following tropes:
17	* ArtisticTitle: Addams provided these for the films ''Film/{{The Old Dark House\|1963}}'' (1963) and ''Film/MurderByDeath'' (1976).
18	* AwfulWeddedLife: Pretty much any depiction of a husband and wife involves one or the other either fantasizing about, actively plotting, or cleaning up after doing their spouse in.
19	* BananaPeel: One of his more famous strips has a banana peel lying on a sidewalk, surrounded by barricades and Caution signs.
20	* BlackComedy: It's basically his trademark.
21	* CeilingBanger: One cartoon depicts a man angrily tapping his ceiling with his cane... while above him is a completely ransacked apartment with the owner {{bound and gagged}}.
22	* ChainedToARailway: Used as a gag more than once.
23	* CollectorOfTheStrange: Addams himself. He had his ultimately fatal heart attack while seated behind the wheel of one of his (parked) classic automobiles.
24	* ConjoinedTwins: Sometimes showed up.
25	* DadaComics: Occasionally ventures into this territory.
26	* DeathAsComedy: Again, done numerous times. One typical example has a woman inviting her husband to enter the house, while she has a gun aimed at the door.
27	* DeliberatelyMonochrome: Most cartoons are in black-and-white and take place in dark settings.
28	* DrosteImage: Subverted in one cartoon, where an ordinary-looking man is reflected in a pair of barbershop mirrors to this effect... but one of the reflections shows a [[MirrorMonster demonic-looking horned monster]] in his place.
29	* EnfantTerrible: Shows up often, even besides the Addams family kids.
30	* ForHalloweenIAmGoingAsMyself: One cartoon depicts an AlienInvasion, with one of the invaders being greeted by a homeowner and told, "I'm sorry, sonny. We've run out of candy."
31	* FurIsClothing: One cartoon depicts a bear leaving a fur-storage place in boxer shorts and sunglasses.
32	* HumanHeadOnTheWall: An [[http://photobucket.com/gallery/user/danolson/media/cGF0aDpCbG9nIHN0dWZmL0Jsb2cgc3R1ZmYwMDIvZmlyZXBsYWNlYnVzdG1vZGVsX3pwczgyYWEzNjI2LmpwZw==?ref= unusual]] divorce settlement.
33	* MultipleHeadCase: Pretty common.
34	* NightmareFetishist: The man was openly into the dark and macabre.
35	* ObstacleSkiCourse: He may have been the first to depict a single set of ski tracks going around both sides of a large tree.
36	* OurGargoylesRock: They show up on occasion.
37	* RuleOfFunny: Bizarre situations without explanation are common.
38	* SlaveGalley: A recurring setting for gags.
39	* SurrealHumor / SurrealHorror: Go hand in hand in his cartoons.
40	* UrbanFantasy: Many of his cartoons had this feel, with the strange and supernatural happening amidst crowded cities.
41	* WhatCouldHaveBeen: At one time Addams and Creator/RayBradbury planned to collaborate on an anthology book involving Bradbury's own fictional monster family, the Elliotts, but the project never came to fruition.
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Context Creator / CharlesAddams