Space Case
(also available on Tumblr here) is a humorous science-fiction webcomic created by Rachel Ordway. It began February 2015 and currently updates on Saturday.
Shortly after Earth makes First Contact with alien life, an accountant named Ted Musagi, having always dreamed of going into space, applies for a job with an alien fuel company. Unfortunately, an accounting job on a space station turns out to be roughly the same as an accounting job on Earth...just with lots of weirder co-workers.
Not to be confused with the 90's TV series Space Cases, or the children's novel of the same name.
This webcomic provides examples of:
- Aliens Steal Cable: Phranc's species, the Zedzelnines, apparently pioneered the study of Earth television, which helps explain their cultural similarities.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": The Boss.
- First Contact: The series begins with Ted watching TV as aliens make contact with Earth.
- Green-Skinned Space Babe: Parodied with Phranc, a curvy, bikini-clad alien who would fulfill this trope perfectly...except that he's a macho man from a culture where gender tropes tend to be reversed.
- Hypercompetent Sidekick: Though technically only the head of accounting, Imel is actually the only who keeps the whole space station running.
- Interchangeable Asian Cultures: When Japanese-American Ted first meets Imel, she tries to address him in Chinese. To be fair, that's pretty close for someone not experienced with humans.
- Pointy-Haired Boss: The Boss, apparently—Imel claims that even if Ted could understand his language, he probably just said gibberish anyway.
- Punny Name/My Nayme Is: "Phranc."
- Starfish Language: The Boss speaks a language too obscure for the Universal Translator.
- Straight Man: Imel."If your remark was meant to be humorous, I can assure you it was lost in translation."
- Token Human: The plot is basically about one of these in an alien company.
- Universal Translator: Name tags can translate alien languages, allowing everyone at the Fantastic Speed Fuel Company to understand each other. (Except the Boss.)
- Un Sound Effect: UNCEREMONIOUS.
