The Long Tomorrow is a comic book short story by writer Dan O' Bannon and Mœbius. The story was serialized into two parts for French sci-fi magazine Metal Hurlant (known as Heavy Metal in the US). The creators developed the comic while working on the failed Alejandro Jodorowsky Dune project. The two would later work on Alien together.
Private Investigator Pete Club in a distant future on a space colony is hired by a beautiful wealthy woman to retrieve a special item for her from a dangerous side of the city. However, that turns out to be the least of Club's worries as he's dragged into a plot of interplanetary espionage and murder.
The Long Tomorrow is noted as a highly influential work on late 70's-80's sci-fi, seen as a major Trope Maker for Cyberpunk and its aesthetics. The art design directly influenced Blade Runner and George Lucas directly copied a robot's design in the story for the look of the probe droid for The Empire Strikes Back.
There are a million tropes in the city. This was twelve of them.
- Brain in a Jar: The MacGuffin is the President's brain in a jar inside the suitcase.
- Chase Scene: Club chases an assassin who tried to kill him through the city.
- City Noir: Moebius's architecture in this story was a major influence on noir-flavored sci-fi afterwards, especially Blade Runner.
- Cyberpunk: One of the earliest examples.
- Femme Fatale: Dolly Vook Von Katterbar is a pretty straightforward one. Except also a Femme Fatale Spy. Also, a shape shifting alien.
- Film Noir: The story borrows a lot of elements.
- Friend on the Force: Lieutenant 3 who also happens to be a robot like everyone else on the force.
- Good Is Not Nice: Club ultimately does the right thing but that doesn't mean he won't kill someone when threatened.
- Hardboiled Detective: Pete Club.
- In Love with the Mark: Dolly tries to convince Pete she fell in love with him as he prepares to kill her after it's revealed she's the Arcturian spy. Whether she actually did or not, Club doesn't buy it and kills her.
- Laser Blade: Some criminals have laser knives called quiver shivs.
- Male Frontal Nudity: Complete with an erection and cum.
- Multi-Armed and Dangerous: The presumably alien thug that tries to mug Pete had four.
- Professional Killer: One tries to kill Club who then chases the assassin through the city.
- Screw Yourself: Dolly tries to stop Pete from killing her by saying she can turn into any lover he wants, including a duplicate of himself.
- Shapeshifting Seducer: Dolly, the Arcturian attempts to sway Pete with offers of doing this.
- Starfish Aliens: The Arcturians.
- Stuffed In A Fridge: Dolly is brutally murdered as soon as Club gets the MacGuffin. Except it's a robot double.
- Voluntary Shapeshifter: The Arcturians.
- Weaponized Exhaust: Pete gives the assassin who tries to kill him a chance to survive by making him run across a spaceport launchpad, but he gets killed by the exhaust of a spaceship taking off.
- Wham Shot: Dolly revealed as the Arcturian spy.
