Two Rooks is a crime noir webcomic by Alice Fox, set in the dystopian future. There we have the subterranean city of Haven: a refuge built in response to a deadly plague devastating humanity. Those lucky enough to get in may have escaped the plague, but now must live in a crime-ridden, poverty-stricken city under the rule of a tyrannical government. The president is corrupt, the Suits control Nadir, and the police who patrol Haven know no mercy.
The story centers around Deatoura O'Malley, a snarky Irish social engineer who's been contacted by the Queen of Hearts to take on the simple job of assassinating the president. He happens to have experience with this. Opposing him is Keeper Serus Eden, the president's right-hand man and a far more decent individual than Dea could ever hope to be.
Read the comic here
. Recommended for mature audiences due to violence and harsh language. Also highly recommended for those who enjoy great art and writing; it's very high-quality in both areas.
This webcomic provides examples of:
- After the End: the comic takes place about fifteen years after the arrival of a plague that seems to have destroyed most of civilization. The lucky made it into Haven, where they now survive. There is still life outside Haven, but exactly what state the rest of the world is in is unclear.
- Chromatic Arrangement:
- The Suits have four subdivisions, with members identified by what color tie they wear. Spades are black, Hearts are red, Diamonds are blue, and Clubs are green.
- Though technically, Clubs don't wear the uniform, so Uena's the only one in green.
- Deliberately Monochrome: Limited pallete. The art is done in a very striking color scheme of black, white, and red, with the last used mostly on Dea's hair and shoes, Serus' visor, and blood. Touches of green are also used to a much lesser extent, and occasionally other colors are used to establish lighting, but for the most part, it's black-white-red.
- Eye Scream:
- Dea cheats an iris recognition scan...by plucking out the eye of the Sweeper he's just killed.
- Also happens when someone gets stabbed in the head with an arrow.
- How We Got Here: Story starts In Medias Res, and it's up to Dea to narrate us up to speed.
- Oireland: Parodied. While Dea is from Naas originally, he's otherwise entirely American; but even so, he puts on an exaggerated Irish accent, just to mess with people who don't know any better (this is Lampshaded by Juniper). Otherwise subverted, as other Irish stereotypes just piss Dea off.
- Scary Black Man: Ritz. Six foot seven, carries a gun, used to run blood diamonds and, ahem, "terrorize small villages"? Yepp, scary black man.
- Significant Anagram: Deatoura certainly has nothing whatsoever to do with Aeradout.
