Overboard
is a long-running newspaper comic strip (dating back to 1990) by Chip Dunham, about the adventures of a crew of comically inept pirates in a wildly anachronistic setting in which a wooden pirate ship with sails (the Revenge) co-exists with a lot of elements from modern life. The comic was rather darker in tone in its early years, with plenty of strips playing up the pirates as pathetic losers with no life, or the hostility between the crew and their hopelessly incompetent captain (albeit all in a darkly humorous way), and a general tone of Comedic Sociopathy. There were also a lot of implied deaths (although these were pretty much never permanent). In recent years, it has become considerably Lighter and Softer, with some characters (Boof, "the crow's nest guys") being phased out, and a number of anthropomorphized animals being introduced. The Captain, Henry Crow, and Nate, the First Mate, have been present from the start.
Overboard provides examples of:
- Adult Sleeps with Stuffed Toy: Nate apparently still sleeps with his teddy bear. One of the Green Ship Pirates takes a picture of this to post on social media in order to embarrass Nate with, but then wisely deletes the photo, because — teddy bear or not — it is still Nate.Green Ship Pirate holding the Revenge's treasure chest: "So you're going to post that on your socials to embarrass Nate?"
Green Ship Pirate holding his smartphone: "Yeah!"
Green Ship Pirate holding the Revenge's treasure chest: "Wow. I did not know you had a death wish." - All Witches Have Cats: When a witch (complete with flying broomstick and pointed hat) shows up at the Revenge in the Halloween strip for 2024, she of course has her cat with her (who is grateful to find the litter box of Scratch, the ship's anthropomorphized cat).
- Anachronism Stew: The strip is set on the pirate ship Revenge, a wooden ship with sails and old-fashioned cannons. The strip also regularly features such elements as videotapes and IRS audits.
- Androcles' Lion: Subverted in the strip for June 17, 2020; turns out Nate was not the guy who saved that shark from a fishing net all those years ago. Sure looked like him, though! (CHOMP!)
- Audible Sharpness: In the strip for January 18, 2001, the Captain hears "the unmistakable sound of a sword being drawn from its scabbard" ("ZHING"). Overboard being Overboard, it's one of the crew attempting to grab a slice of cake before dinner. ("That cake is for dessert, Charley.")
- Balloonacy: An early strip (for February 23, 1992) has the Captain put in a cage and lifted into the air by a bunch of children's balloons."Well, it's certainly one of the more gentle mutinies I've seen..."
- Bee Afraid: In the strip for April 14, 1997, the entire crew is stymied from protecting their treasure from a rival gang of pirates by a bee on the handle of the door.
- The Big Guy: Nate, the First Mate of the Revenge. Varies between being the typical big tough guy, to being a Gentle Giant. Over the years, the strip has tended to emphasize the latter side of the character, but Nate was always prone to occasionally being a Bruiser with a Soft Center or Lovable Coward (mostly for comic effect).
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: The characters are at least sometimes aware that they are characters in a comic strip. The author of the strip also occasionally appears, sitting at a desk at "Overboard, Inc." and drawing the strip.
- Cats Are Mean: Scratch the (thoroughly anthropomorphized, bipedal, clothes-wearing) cat is consistently portrayed as a Jerkass, albeit with occasional flashes of Jerk with a Heart of Gold.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: The strip had several pirate characters early on that just sort of disappeared over time. To replace them, Dunham has increasingly relied on Talking Animal characters (dogs, mice, and rabbits) to serve as foils to lead character Captain Crow and remaining shipmates Charley and Nate.
- Decoy Damsel: The strip for April 7, 2003, kicks off a lengthy arc introducing Cecilia, the beautifulnote but devious member of the crew of "the Green Ship" (arch-rivals to the Revenge) as she pulls a classic Decoy Damsel ploy on the Captain — who is instantly (and unwisely) smitten with her — in order to break into the Revenge's safe and steal all their loot.
- Dogs Hate Squirrels: Louie the Labrador Retriever has a mutually antagonistic relationship with squirrels, who are frequently shown pelting him with acorns from the treetops whenever he's on land.
- Dogs Love Fire Hydrants: And Nate is willing to (leaving a geyser of water shooting into the air) in order to bring it back to the ship for Louie's sake.
- Dual Wielding: Fairly commonly portrayed from the early days of the strip on, though never seriously — characters are more likely to be shown dual wielding swords for such pirate-y reasons as keeping each other from peeking at the Christmas presents or to protest against the Christmas tree being taken down.
- Eek, a Mouse!!: Before the introduction of the anthropomorphized mice to the strip, Nate, the "Big Guy" First Mate of the ship, was sometimes portrayed as being so comically afraid of mice that he would pull the classic "stand on the table" move if someone simply yelled "Mouse!!!".
- Exact Words: In the strip for March 4, 1996, the Captain has baked some brownies for his crew, but they are for after dinner, so he sternly orders that "no one sets a foot" in the kitchen. Not one foot! Cue a couple of the pirates walking on their hands into the kitchen.
- Flexing Those Non-Biceps: In the strip for October 8, 1997, the Captain flexes...something (two teeny and not very bicep-shaped lumps on his arms) in an attempt to intimidate and frighten off the crew of a rival pirate ship. The enemy immediately attacks.
- Follow Your Nose: Louie (the less anthropomorphized dog) is very commonly shown floating in mid-air from the scent of a barbecue.
- Food Coma: On Thanksgiving Day, 2024, the crew of the Green Ship wisely skip the big feast and just have a salad, allowing them to steal the Revenge's safe while her entire crew (including the dog) are comatose.
- Freudian Couch: A surprisingly common trope for a comic strip that's nominally about a bunch of pirates on a wooden-hulled sailing ship (see the strips for March 11, 1999, March 20, 1999, and March 14, 2001). The patient is usually the Captain, but sometimes another crew member. The psychiatrists in question are pretty much always totally unprofessional and very uninhibited about expressing their real opinions about their pirate-y patients.
- Furry Confusion: With the introduction of a variety of both highly anthropomorphized and less anthropomorphized animals to the comic this has become something of a fixture of the strip. Thus, Raymond the dog, who walks upright, wears pants, and talks intelligibly to the other characters, co-exists with Louie the Labrador Retriever, who only ever "talks" in speech bubbles (although even he is more anthropomorphized than when he was first introduced; originally he only rarely "talked" even in speech bubble form). Lampshaded in the strip for October 28, 2024, in which Scratch (the equally anthropomorphized cat, who also wears clothes and speaks clearly with humans) messes with the head of the owner of a non-anthropomorphized cat by "interpreting" the kitty's "meow".
- Gassy Gastronomy: The mere prospect of the ship's resident "Big Guy" Nate sitting down to "a huge bowl of beans" is enough to drive a couple of the other members of the crew out of their "cozy little room" into "a cold, crummy, windy, stormy night".
- The Glomp: Even a diversion in the form of a false alarm about "a life-threatening situation developing over here" can't keep Louie from glomping someone who has just returned from the grocery store.
- Go-Karting with Bowser: On the one hand, the crew of the pirate ship Revenge and the pirates of "The Green Ship" are sworn enemies. On the other hand, they wind up playing a lot of baseball and football games against each other. (Granted, both sides do cheat a lot.)
- Good Angel, Bad Angel: In the strip for March 1, 1996, a sailor from a rival pirate ship insults the mother of one of the crew. The crewman's shoulder devil advises him to go "knock his block off". The shoulder angel counsels "Realize that he, like you, is just a pawn in this silly rivalry between your ship and his...Then go knock his block off."
- Hates Baths: Although Louie is quite fond of mud puddles, or even just straight up getting in the pool (he is a Labrador Retriever, after all) he is nonetheless quite averse to being given a bath.
- Heroic Canines, Villainous Felines: This dynamic is very much in play once the Revenge acquires its full complement of anthropomorphized animals, as in the story arc beginning with the strip for May 26, 2011. The strip includes the common theme of mice being attacked by the cat and befriended by the dog(s), even though one of the dogs in question also hates squirrels.
- Hidden Heart of Gold: In the strip for April 22, 2026, Scratch the anthropomorphized cat gently picks up a baby bird and returns it to its nest. As he does so, he assures the Captain (sitting nearby) that if he ever tells anyone about this, Scratch will deny it ever happened.The Captain: Your secret that you're not entirely horrible is safe with me, Scratch.
- If You Ever Do Anything to Hurt Her...: An unusual example, in which the "guy" uttering the "if you ever hurt her" statement is an anthropomorphized dog. (The relationship between said dog and the women in question is clearly platonic — she picked him from the animal shelter, even though he's "weird and unlikable".)
- Insurance Fraud: Played for humor (of course) in the strip from November 28, 1997. As with the flesh-and-blood characters, the implied "death" by fire of the Revenge doesn't last.
- Intimidating Revenue Service: The Captain at least wants no trouble with the tax man (although some of the crew apparently don't agree).
- Jolly Roger: The cover of one Overboard collection (A Boatload of Louie) features one of these tied to Louie's tail as he accompanies the crew of the Revenge on the beach, presumably to plunder something (all of the human crew are Dual Wielding swords)."It's really more about finding a little role for him so he doesn't have to sit alone on the ship all day when we go places."
- "Kick Me" Prank: In the strip for January 2, 2000, the Captain (expressing a desire to mark the occasion of the strip's "first Sunday cartoon of the new millennium" with a little more dignity) winds up wearing one of these.
- Lethal Chef: In the early days of the strip, crewmembers assigned to the galley would do things like call people "Mister Picky-Picky" for complaining aboat roaches and rancid beef in the stew and use the dining room's dimmer switches to try and cover up GREEN meat.
- Loophole Abuse: The pirates of the Revenge are inveterate abusers of loopholes, whether it's avoiding doing their jobs (the sign on the door says "If you walk through this door be ready to work"? — time to climb through the window) to their frequent ball games with their "enemies" from "The Green Ship" (having mice in tiny little airplanes strafe the ball carrier? There's no rule against it!)
- Lying Finger Cross: In the strip for April 3, 1999, the crew swears to work hard enough to "deserve big new raises" while the Captain swears that if they do work hard enough, they will actually get big raises. Everyone involved has his fingers crossed behind his back.
- Medal of Dishonor: Although the Captain assures Charley that his "Participant Certificate" from the most recent battle is "a very nice honor", Charley clearly considers it to be an example of the "Damned by Faint Praise" version of this trope (especially with the juxtaposition with Nate the "Big Guy" receiving "a solid gold medallion" for "gallantry, courage under fire, and all-around bravery and heroism" for the same battle).
- Mouse Hole: Since the introduction of anthropomorphized mice to the ship, the strip has regularly featured classic cartoon mouse holes (on a pirate ship at sea, no less), as for example in the strip for September 5, 2022.
- Naked People Are Funny: Charley lures the Captain out of the shower with a false alarm, so he can capture the moment for "that little video for the pirate banquet".
- Nature Abhors a Vacuum Cleaner: Louie, as is common with dogs, hates and fears the vacuum cleaner. Even Raymond, the far more anthropomorphic dog (bipedal, speaks out loud and not just in text bubbles) is right there with Louie, hiding under the bed from the "evil monster".
- Pirate Booty: Most of the time, the captain and crew are portrayed as a bunch of sad sacks who never actually get any "Pirate Booty" (in any sense of the term). Every once in a while, the subversion of the trope is itself subverted, and the pirates do somehow manage to get some treasure (albeit not necessarily always in the way you would expect from the crew of a pirate ship).
- Pirate Parrot: At one point the Captain announces he is considering getting a parrot to perch on his shoulder, but he is then immediately taken away by the "Cliche Patrol".
- Playing Cyrano: An attempt by one of the crew to do this on behalf of Louie proves unsuccessful; turns out "Woof!" works better at winning the heart of a female dog than a lot of flowery rhetoric about "a ship on the ocean...searching for the harbor that is your heart".
- Pointy-Haired Boss: It was more emphasized in the early days of the strip that Henry Crow, Captain of the Revenge, was both callously self-centered and incompetent. (And his crew in turn had absolutely no respect for him]]. And tended to be pretty incompetent themselves.)
- Puppy-Dog Eyes: Louie finds these very useful for persuading people to take him for a walk on a rainy, wet, and muddy day.
- Revenge Is a Dish Best Served: In the strip for April 4, 2000, after one of the crew unwisely returns to a restaurant after having given the waiter an insultingly low tip the week beforenote the waiter retaliates by emptying a bottle of Blazing Inferno Hellfire Sauce into the pirate's coffee ("a very special house blend we've developed").
- Shell Game: The Captain once managed to lose the entire ship playing the "three little cups on the table...and there's a marble under one of them" version."Well, could you win the ship back?"
- Spaghetti Kiss: Louie is seen engaging in a classic "spaghetti kiss" with a very feminine looking poodle. The moment is quickly killed when, rather than "kissing", she aggressively growls at him over the last bit of pasta.
- Spiders Are Scary: In addition to being afraid of mice, Nate (the "Big Guy" of the crew) also has an extreme fear of spiders.
- Superficial Suggestion Box: The Captain installs a suggestion box for the crew. The "suggestions" go right over the side of the ship and into the ocean.
- Talking Animal: The strip has several of these characters. One of these, a dog named Raymond, speaks out loud (presumably in intelligible English), walks on his hind legs, and wears a fedora hat. Another dog, Louie, walks on all fours, thinks "out loud" via thought balloons, and wears no clothing. Several mice and rabbit characters also appear more or less regularly, often conversing with the human characters with no apparent difficulty in either side making themselves understood.
- Time Out: Rather than something like keelhauling (as one might expect), the penalty for insubordination on the pirate ship Revenge is to be made to go sit in the corner. (Granted, the "insubordination" related to a request for coffee rather than an order to board an enemy ship or anything like that.)
- Timmy in a Well: Subverted in the strip for March 11, 2001; Louie, urged to get a knife so that the Captain and a crew member (tied to the mast in the middle of a battle) can cut themselves free, dashes off — and soon returns with a ball, to play fetch with!
- Traffic Wardens: The "meter maids" in the Overboard universe not only give out tickets to full-rigged sailing vessels, they also are not intimidated by being threatened by heavily armed pirates, backed up by a pirate ship's cannons.
- Walk the Plank: In the strip for March 25, 1997, the crew are supposed to be making tourists walk the plank as a little bit of light-hearted fun. Unfortunately they forgot to pick them back up out of the water afterwards...