Broken Lines

"Broken Lines: An Illustrated Novel."

- Page Title

Broken Lines is a hybrid of prose, spot illustration, and comic art by Tom Pappalardo. It is a comedy/non-adventure story about a cowboy, a spaceman, and a waitress travelling cross-country fighting evil in a stolen rental van. Pappalardo has been publishing the story a few chapters at a time in 8"x8" black & white comic book format since 2007, and online since 2010. Pappalardo is also the author of The Optimist, a weekly comic strip.


 * Amusing Injuries
 * Beat Panel - An often-used device in the comic, as seen here,
 * Bland-Name Product
 * Character Overlap
 * Comic Book Time - The timeline of events in the story are left intentionally vague.
 * Deadpan Snarker
 * Death Glare
 * Double Entendre
 * Eyes Always Shut - Cowboy is almost always scowling.
 * Face Palm
 * Four-Fingered Hands
 * Homage - Scenes from several movies are referenced, quotes and reenacted throughout the story: Blade Runner, Magnificent Seven.
 * Law of Disproportionate Response
 * Lazy Artist - Artwork is often re-used with slight tweaks, for example, two panels on this page followed by this page. Or this series of pages: 1, 2, and 3
 * Rubber Hose Limbs
 * Self-Deprecation - The entirety of Chapter Seven.
 * Series Hiatus - Broken Lines is published somewhat sporadically both in print and online.
 * Strip Buffer - Pages currently being published online were originally published in print approximately three years earlier.
 * Take That
 * Unsound Effect - STRETCH, SIT!, and CENSURE!
 * Unwanted Glasses Plot - Chapter Seven involves an unfortunate pair of eyewear.
 * Vitriolic Best Buds - The cowboy and the spaceman are an ill-suited match for close-quarters travel.
 * With Friends Like These...