Webcomic / Bertstrips

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Bertstrips is a Remix Comic series that takes stills from Sesame Street as well as other Muppet/Jim Henson productions/properties and adds Bitstrips-style captions to them. A good majority of these put the Muppet/Creature/HDPS characters into family-unfriendly situations, usually involving sex, violence, crime, drug use, and so on. Contrary to popular belief, many Bertstrippers are Muppet fans, so the strips are perfectly balanced between being a Shallow Parody and an Affectionate Parody.

The associated subreddit is here. Has spawned a spin-off, Teleshits.

Tropes in this work:

• Adaptational Jerkass: Almost everybody.
  • Ernie and Bert have transformed from two friends who bicker a lot but love each other still into murderous, racist psychopaths who commit crimes and kidnap children For the Evulz. Occasional depictions of them as a depraved gay couple also make them Affably Evil.
  • Big Bird is now a slave owner who commits hate crimes on a daily basis.
  • Grover changed from a clumsy doofus to a complete sadist, often torturing Mr. Johnson in many sadistic and borderline sociopathic and psychopathic ways. Certain strips imply Grover baked Mr. Johnson's wife in hot oil.
  • Scooter transforms from the backstage manager for the Muppets into a psychopath obsessed with torturing women.
• Adaptational Job Change:
  • Kermit the Frog has been depicted several times as an adult film director/producer instead of a stage manager at a theater or a news reporter.
  • The Count is often depicted as a Corrupt Corporate Executive.
• Adaptational Villainy:
  • The Count transforms from a counting-obsessed vampire into a stereotypical Greedy Jew. He is the subject of lots of anti-semitism from the others, mainly Bert and Ernie. He was also responsible for MTV's Network Decay, according to this Bertstrip, which also implies he championed Jersey Shore and the Teen Mom franchise while getting rid of music videos and Beavis and Butt-Head.
  • The "Bearvolution" strips depicted Bear as being angry that his show wasn't featured in Bertstrips posts.
  • Grover in Grover's Mad Quest to Kill God. The strip states that he's somehow managed to commit over 1 million sins, and involves him being in a Rage Against the Heavens, attempting to climb up his stairway into Heaven while bringing the "Glock" with him, which he intends to use to shoot and kill God.
• All Musicals Are Adaptations: This strip has Grover trick Mr. Johnson into going onto the set of Grey's Anatomy: The Musical instead of an actual hospital.
• And I Must Scream: Grover's final fate in Grover's Mad Quest to Kill God.
• Anvil on Head: A rather deadly example happens to Telly in this strip.
• Ascended Extra:
  • Brad, Bert's nephew who only appeared a few times in the 70s, is now depicted as Bort, Bert & Ernie's mentally unstable love child.
  • Blue Bird, a superhero character invented by Big Bird that only appeared in two Season 20 episodes, is depicted as Baller Bird, Big Bird's playa hater cousin.
• Asshole Victim: Varies by storyline, but anytime one of the characters gets one over another character it's usually this.
• Ass Shove: The characters occasionally do this, especially with outrageous items. Bear even did this with Tutter, Pip, and Pop!◊
• Butt-Monkey: Bort, and to a lesser extent Mr. Johnson.
• Depending on the Writer: Depending on the strip, Incelmo is either Elmo's alter-ego or a separate character.
• Depraved Homosexual: Bert and Ernie's relationship is re-imagined as this, with emphasis on the depraved.
• Dirty Old Man: The Count tends to be portrayed as this on at least a few occasions on top of being portrayed as a Greedy Jew.
• The Dog Bites Back: After being the victim of Ernie for several strips, Baby Natasha finally gets her revenge on Ernie in one.
  • Generally a victim of Grover's, Mr. Johnson manages to get one on him.
• Double Standard: Abuse, Female on Male: "No domestic abuse charge can stop Miss Piggy from beating Kermit's cheating ass."
• Driven to Suicide: The strips occasionally involve the characters killing themselves.
• For the Evulz: The apparent motivations of Bert, Ernie, and the others, who commit atrocities on a near-daily basis, usually because of boredom.
• The Fourth Wall Will Not Protect You: "Dear Readers, I, Abby Cadabby, along with my friends, will break out of your device and drag you in."
• Great White Hunter: Anyone who puts on a pith helmet becomes this or an Evil Colonialist. If the former, their quarry will frequently be Big Bird.
• Groin Attack: Extremely painful variants of these occasionally happen to the characters.
• Hulking Out: This Bertstrip◊ with a photo of a green-furred Elmo and Abby Cadabby.
• I Love the Dead:
  • This one◊ with a picture of Ernie wearing a doctor's uniform.
  • "Dorsal tells Splash that he wants to kill him and use his corpse as a sex toy.◊"
• I'm a Humanitarian:
  • Big Bird makes no secret of the fact he regularly eats disobedient slaves, either directly or by cooking broth from their bones.
  • Grover has on occasion fed Mr. Johnson the remains of his wife.
• Lighter and Softer: The occasional Clean Bertstrip exists. In these cases, the joke is that the characters are not committing violent hate crimes and are just doing perfectly normal, wholesome, positive things.
• Mushroom Samba: Jokes about characters using recreational drugs are common.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • The Frances cast have this reaction in this Bertstrip, where they learn about the subreddit's rule change allowing all Henson properties.
  • In this Bertstrip, Oscar finds out he was cast in a Shrek porn parody and reacts the way you'd expect.
• The Oldest Profession: There are plenty of jokes about characters soliciting prostitutes, soliciting non-prostitutes, being willing to do anything for cash, or just outright murdering them.
• Politically Incorrect Villain: Everyone, but Big Bird is a standout; he's depicted as an 18th century plantation owner complete with slaves, whom he regularly tortures and just flat-out eats and backwards attitudes to race and sex.
• Promoted to Love Interest: Abla, an obscure purple full-body Muppet cat from the original version of the Arab Sesame Street co-production Iftah Ya Simsim, is depicted as Big Bird's Mail-Order Bride.
• Rage Against the Heavens: Grover's Mad Quest to Kill God.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran:
  • Some strips feature Ernie getting his kicks out of triggering Bert's Vietnam War flashbacks.
  • Vice versa in an alternate universe.
  • Yertle the Turtle is also this.◊
• Shout-Out:
  • "Bonjour étranger, I am Louis, Warrior of Sesame Park" has Louis from Canadian Sesame Street/Sesame Park getting cast in a Redwall porn parody.
• Slipping a Mickey: Happens occasionally, mostly in strips from Bill Cosby's guest appearances.
• Take That!:
  • "Kermit is a loyal Fox News reporter" depicts Reporter Kermit as a Fox News reporter who pays a random child to say nonsensical political statements.
  • This Bertstrip managed to fit in two Take Thats: one for Shadow Raiders and one for Gilligan's Island, making fun of both's overuse of the Just Eat Gilligan trope.
  • To Robot Chicken in this strip, where The Count is apparently the Cartoon Network/[adult swim] exec who keeps renewing the show despite its Black Comedy drawing a massive hatedom.
  • In this strip, Grover warns Mr. Johnson that security at the Genesis concert will beat him up and throw him out if he quotes American Psycho, specifically Patrick Bateman's "Do you like Phil Collins?" speech.
• Those Wacky Nazis:
  • Anyone who puts on any sort of formal-looking uniform will probably be depicted as an enthusiastic participant in Nazi atrocities.
  • Some strips that have number 4's on the pictures will be interpreted as either damaged or incorrect swastikas.
• Token Good Teammate: Mr. Johnson, who is usually a hapless victim of Grover's torments, Baby Natasha, who is usually a victim of Ernie's torments, and Cookie Monster, who is often too innocent and childish to realize what's going on, are most frequently portrayed as this.
• Villain Protagonist: Almost everybody counts as this, due to them committing acts of depravity and crimes against humanity. Big Bird is a big stand out as a slave owner.
• Would Hurt a Child: The characters are occasionally mentioned intending harm on children.
• Wretched Hive: Sesame Street is occasionally portrayed as this.
• Yaoi Fanboy: Ernie in this Bertstrip◊.