Webcomic / Evil Diva

Evil Diva is a webcomic by Peter Menotti and Joe Cashman —drawn by Cassandra Wedeking and inked by Severin Piehl. It's set in a modern world where angels and demons go to school and work together. Starring the titular Diva Beelze, an average 12-year-old girl who although being a devil, can only find herself doing good things for others.

And then things get complicated wacky when she gets Magical Girl powers. Things get complicated a few chapters later when the way she uses those powers catches up with her. And indeed, there's more to said powers than she assumed at first...

Or this was the initial plot of the comic. After losing a staff member on the production team, there has since been a Time Skip. The comic is now about a fifteen year-old girl in a new setting. The comic, which was previously light-hearted, is now about the serious business of being a Super Hero in issue seven, complicated teen romance in issue nine, and tricky personal introductions in issue ten. Officially, the comic is about fighting crime with the power of balance.

Not to be confused with the trope Evil Diva.

The first two chapters seemed to have returned, retconning the rest of the deleted chapters.

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Provides examples of:

• Alternate Universe: When the comic first entered the Time Skip, it did so while simultaneously entering an Alternate Universe. The comic skipped ahead three years to a place where the entire social dynamic of the world was reversed. It proved as confusing to Diva as it may have been to some readers. Ultimately, Diva discovers the new world is programmed to love anything she does, but the cost is that Diva's mother is no longer good at her job, and Diva's petty rival, Angela, is now modestly happy. Diva rights the wrong by mercilessly beating Angela until the universe changes back again.

• Art Evolution: Very notable through Brinson's run. Compare the first pages of Issue One with the first pages of Issue Six. All of those pages and all the ones intervening were drawn by Brinson, and they are VERY different from beginning to end (for example, Gabriel and Angela always had pointy noses, but somehow by the end of Brinson's run they became enormous).
• Art Shift: Although Hollywooodartchick and Cassandra and Severin worked hard to emulate Brinson's art style, the results were mixed at best. Now that a new issue has started, they've given up all pretense. Note that the significantly different art is not necessarily bad; rather, the new art is less simplistic and cartoony, which is convenient given that it marks a reversal of the comic's former whimsy.
• Attempted Rape: Diva's sister Tia introduces her to an older guy friend named Tommy at a party. After leaving them alone together for seven brief panels, during which Diva explains she is underage, Tommy decides he may as well rape Diva right there in front of everybody. Diva is forced to break free on her own, as the rest of the party goers are too busy eating pancakes to help.

• Bad Is Good and Good Is Bad: Diva is treated as weird for being a devil and good at times.

• Balance Between Good and Evil/Order And Chaos: Except the emphasis is more on the "balance" part. When Virgil has control of the staff, he specifically seeks out a Trickster Archetype to complement his Lawful with Chaos.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: This occurs once in issue seven, where Diva and Angela accidentally wish themselves into an Alternate Universe. It happens again in issue ten, when Diva wishes she could see her sister, Tia, and she is teleported to a college campus that is actually a horrible, pancake-filled nest of derranged, stinging, half-naked, sex hornets that laugh at the idea of being imprisoned for statutory rape.

• Cerebus Syndrome: Although it still retains a bit of light-hearted comedy, things became notably more serious after Angela's trial. Prior to the Time Skip, the comic author suggested killing off Diva's rival, Angela, but the decision was turned after meeting overwhelming fan resistance. After the Time Skip, the plot takes a seriously sharp turn in this direction by addressing topics such as Attempted Rape.
• Conflicting Loyalty: Diva wants to do good, against her parents' wishes.

• "Freaky Friday" Flip:
  • For reasons never fully explained to the reader, Diva chooses to switch bodies with her friend Michelle before going to a party, which creates conflict.
  • Diva, who has a Major Crush on Gabe, is afraid,as seen here, that if she kisses Gabe at the party, she'll mess everything up due to having never kissed a boy. So she swaps with Michelle who has kissed boys - at least Gabe during the alternate universe sequence, anyway. This backfires, though, when Gabe recognises Michelle by her kiss.

• Hourglass Plot: The arc with Diva being popular, and people picking on Angela, is an exact reversal of their past positions, socially. Angela actually wished it that way.

• Light Is Not Good:

• Angelic students often act Holier Than Thou in the main student body, but are similarly nasty, under the right circumstances, to devil students.

• Meaningful Echo: Issue Seven's first pages are a Meaningful Echo of the first pages of the comic. In the beginning, Diva was shy and scared to go to school. In Issue Seven, Diva is the exact opposite. However, it is later revealed that this is only because Diva's mind has been altered by entering an Alternate Universe, which is hard to tell at first because the comic also began a Time Skip at the exact same time.

• Paper-Thin Disguise: Diva's disguises as a result of her Magical Girl powers still allow Angela to recognize her.

• Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: "Leave. Her. Alone!"

• The Reveal:
  • The end of Really Old Man Adventures: Loki when we find out Hypno Bishie's identity, which might also count as a Trick Twist.
  • Most recently, the revelation that it was Dad rather than Loki who erased Hell's security footage.

• See No Evil, Hear No Evil: In issue ten, Diva is brought to an extremely crowded party. Bodies are pressed against one another so tightly that she and her sister, Tia, practically need a snowplow to get through in some panels. However, after Diva sits down with compulsive rapist Tommy, the action focuses on the two of them. The massive clusters of other people vanish from the room mysteriously, and soon Tommy decides now would be as good a time as any to go to prison for raping a little girl. The struggle goes on for a whole page without a single other person in the room noticing, even with Diva shouting at the top of her lungs (although Tia, who went outside, can hear Diva just fine). Then, miraculously, Diva summons her magical wand into her hand, an action that creates a small popping noise. We get a reaction shot from the other partygoers. The ones that were standing there next to the entire thing the whole time. Now that the audience can see them, suddenly they're shocked about a rape situation going on ten feet from where they're standing.
• Serious Business: Pretty much the entire comic after the Time Skip. Diva fights guys with katanas on their backs who are wandering around perfectly ordinary city streets, discusses life with Hippie Jesus, discovers she can do anything she wants in a universe made just for her, switches bodies with a friend for no reason, and just generally proceeds from one insane situation to the next without ever cracking a smile or a joke. The comic is about the serious life consequences of these actions and the drama that occurs because of them. Super serious business. This is likely due to the comic's setting not originally being intended for emotional drama, which is another reason why the Time Skip has caused a great deal of Mood Whiplash.
• Shout-Out:
  • This page features two characters of The Meek.
  • Strictly speaking, though it would probably be easier to list comics that don't contain a shout out or reference to Greek/Roman or Norse Mythology.
  • To Clue, here.

• The Easy Way or the Hard Way: In issue eight Diva finds she needs her rival, Angela, to wish away an Alternate Universe plot. Angela politely makes the wish, but it fails, prompting Angela to explain that she's actually quite happy in the new universe and didn't mean the wish in the first place. Diva then drags Angela into the street and beats her until Angela wishes she were in a universe where Diva isn't beating her.

• Time Skip: When the original artist of the comic left, the production team decided to explain this with a time skip. The skip was also used to explain a change in the overall tone of the comic.

• Tomboy and Girly Girl: Michelle and Diva respectively. As a point of reference, Michelle is grossed out when in a skirt or dress; Diva's main complaint when Brinson was away is how uncute she was drawn.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Mrs. Beelze can always be seen with a martini in her hand. Always. To the point that her pouring it out serves as a way to show readers things are going to get serious.
  • Also serves as the final straw of just how wrong things are to some readers in the new world. Mrs. Beelze doesn't drink.
• Tranquil Fury: Diva here doesn't look like she's about to brutalize someone.
  • Diva does this again on this page to off a guy sexually assaulting/harrassing her.

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