Miss Melee is a Super Hero webcomic about the adventures of the title hero, returning to superheroics after a hiatus. Her old partner is serious about staying retired, and her husband and teen daughter are unaware of her history.
Can be found here.
Tropes features
- Action Girl: The titular Miss Melee, obviously. Also her daughter Jackie and many of the villains so far.
- Awesome, but Impractical: Jan's boss Mr. Keng's proposed Powered Armor prototype for the military lost the bid, despite being, as he put it, 10 times better than the winning company's design, because it was also, as Jane lampshades, 100 times more expensive.
- Badass Biker: Miss Melee gets around on her Melee-Cycle.
- Badass Boast: Guerreira spouts one of these before getting thoroughly thrashed, along with her minions.
- Badass Family: All of Jan's family. She herself being Miss Melee, her daughter decides to take up the mantle of Kid Melee and become her sidekick (largely on a whim when she hears Melee say her name despite not meeting her). And her husband, Mark, knows full well their identities but stays silent until Jan's eventually confesses as much, but works on Jan's bike when needed and eventually gives Jackie one herself.
- Badass Normal: Miss Melee is highly skilled, highly trained, and highly motivated, but is a human with no super powers. Both her allies and enemies are also normal humans.
- Berserk Button: It's "Bouncy Belle," not "Bouncing Belle", as in "bouncy ball." She threatened kids who got it wrong with physical harm.
- Crush Blush: She remembers when she first asked her husband out; they were both blushing.
- Domino Mask: Miss Melee. Doubles as Sinister Shades, though in Miss Melee's case they don't seem very sinisternote .
- Expressive Mask:
- Miss Melee's Domino Mask follows her facial expressions.
- Guerreira's mask is selectively expressive.
- Kid Melee's mask. Not the eyes, but the tied-off ends of the mask seem expressive.
- Gadgeteer Genius: Jan/Miss Melee's husband Mark. He's the one who made her Melee-Cycle.
- Hartman Hips: Queen Evil and Evil Lass are both particularly bottom heavy. Any pinups drawn for the former is certain to highlight her large butt.
- Heroic Lineage: Miss Melee's daughter becomes a hero just like her mom did at her age.
- Hollywood Hacking: Vanessa Kennedy here.
- Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Night Lion is a tall guy, and Lotus Lynx is a very short girl.
- Kid Hero All Grown-Up: Miss Melee was only 14 when she first started her career as a superhero, and she's still going strong. (Albeit having spent some time as a Retired Badass.)
- Lantern Jaw of Justice: General Frank Ironwood. Also his battle-suited minions.
- Likes Clark Kent, Hates Superman: Jan is friends with Queen Evil's civilian identity.
- Little Bit Beastly: She faces a pride of criminals with manes and fangs.
- Little Miss Badass: Jackie as Kid Melee can certainly hold her own, thanks to her gymnastics and Teen Genius status.
- Male Gaze: The artist expresses his affinity for butts by putting some focus on a characters curves in almost every page.
- Ninja: Brazilian Ninjas are her first foe in the comic.
- Technicolor Ninjas at that.
- Offhand Backhand: Miss Melee takes on an entire biker gang while chatting on the phone.
- Powered Armor: SABR. General Ironwood also has some of his soldiers outfitted.
- Pre-Asskicking One-Liner: Guerreira tries one for size. It doesn't work.Guerreira: Your mask will make an excellent trophy!
- Retired Badass: Miss Melee spent some time as this as she raised her daughter.
- Secret Identity: Miss Melee keeps her identity a secret from everyone, except Osakan Riot and Master Chin.
- Secret Secret-Keeper: Mark Jones is well aware that he's married to a superhero, and that his daughter has become her sidekick, but he plays along with their hasty cover stories whenever they go out, with little more than a knowing smile and unheard words of encouragement.
- Miss Melee is also aware of Kid Melee’s actual identity, as is Osakan Riot; Kid Melee doesn’t realise this, and it is a plot point between MM and OR. Whether Mark or Jackie know Osakan Riot’s identity isn’t clear, but probably not.
- Smoke Out: Guerreira. Well... she is a ninja, after all. Throws in a parting Badass Boast for good measure.
- Stealth Hi/Bye: GONE! A trademark move of Miss Melee's.
- Stripperific:
- Guerreira's outfit includes a bikini top and a Cleavage Window.
- Miss Melee's outfit is form-fitting and boasts a Cleavage Window but covers most of her body.
- Osakan Riot's form-fitting spandex outfit covers nearly everything while leaving very little to the imagination.
- Strong Girl, Smart Guy: Jan is superhero Miss Melee. Her husband Mark is something of a Gadgeteer Genius.
- Teen Genius: Jackie, considering she made her superhero gear herself.
- Training Montage: In a flashback to Miss Melee's early days.
- Wham Episode: Issue 10: Ms. Melee finally reveals her true identity to Jackie at the end of the issue. She had attempted it before in a previous one, but Jackie had fell asleep before she could.
- Wax On, Wax Off: Osakan Riot appears to be using this to start Kid Melee's training.
- Where the Hell Is Springfield?: We know Metrovale is in the United States, but that's about it.
- Written Sound Effect: Generously sprinkled throughout the comic, especially during battles when it reaches Batman levels of use.