Amelia Rules



Comic book series created in 2001 by Jimmy Gownley. Ostensibly for "tweens", but thoroughly enjoyable on every level. Consists currently of seven collected volumes: The Whole World's Crazy, What Makes You Happy, Superheroes, When the Past Is a Present, The Tweenage Guide to Not Being Unpopular, True Things (Adults Don't Want Kids to Know) and The Meaning of Life ... and Other Stuff. One of the stories from The Whole World's Crazy has been released seperately (A Very Ninja Christmas) together with a seperate story of how Amelia met her friends.

Fourth-grader Amelia Louise McBride moves with her newly divorced mom from New York to live with her aunt in Connerton, Pennsylvania. She quickly becomes friends with Reggie Grabinsky and the enigmatic Pajamaman (who moonlight as superheroes Captain Amazing and Kid Lightning), and just as quickly becomes Vitriolic Best Buds with their other pal, loudmouthed Rhonda Bleenie. The four of them form GASP, the Gathering of Awesome Super-Pals, to defend the neighborhood from evil. Amelia's life in her new neighborhood is fraught with obstacles hilarious and serious, from regular wars with the evil Ninjas from across town to homesickness for New York City and her father.

"Captain Amazing: How... how evil!"
 * The Alleged Car: The spectacular failure that is the AmazingMobile.
 * Alpha Bitch: Britney. She has a Girl Posse in the form of Christina and Jessica, who look exactly like her.
 * Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: The Legion of Steves is responsible for the Hindenburg, Three-Mile-Island and Dr. Phil.

"Kyle: If my parents ever got together their mere proximity to each other would create a burst of antimatter that would DESTROY LIFE ON EARTH! Plus they'd probably argue a lot."
 * Also Kyle's observation after seeing Amelia's parents together:


 * Art Shift: Anything involving Tanner's or Amelia's mom's childhood is told in the form of comic strip "Li'l Tanner", drawn in the style of Peanuts. Anything after their childhood but before Amelia is drawn as "Tannerbury Tales", in the style of Doonesbury. One flashback strip actually mirrors Dilbert.
 * Big Applesauce: Amelia hails from New York City and occasionally returns to visit her father.
 * Birds of a Feather: Kyle and Amelia both have Jerkass tendancies, but are good kids at heart, and both have divorced parents.
 * Black Best Friend: Sunday Jones, Amelia's best friend in New York City.
 * The Cape: Captain Amazing tries to be this.
 * Cerebus Syndrome: A mild example.
 * Chest Insignia: All the members of GASP have this, usually an initial from or symbol directly relating to their superhero name.
 * Chick Magnet: Pajamaman, somehow.
 * City Mouse: New York City girl Amelia is suddenly deposited in the suburbs after her parents split up. She even complains that the local nature trail is "too much green" for her.
 * Cloudcuckoolander: Elderly babysitter Kate Kadingo.
 * And, to a somewhat lesser extent, Reggie.
 * Cute and Psycho: Mary Ultra Violet is a slightly less homicidal version of this.
 * Deliberately Cute Child: Rhonda's little pageant-kid sister Reenie. Of course she's a hellion underneath.
 * Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Amelia is shocked when her mother's date calls her "Mary"; she's used to her mother being just "Mom".
 * And, of course, Pajamaman.
 * Expressive Shirt: Pajamaman.
 * Expository Hairstyle Change: Rhonda's new look at the end of The Tweenage Guide to Not Being Unpopular is the same style she's seen wearing in the Flash Forward at the end of Superheroes -- an outward sign of her newfound maturity and confidence in herself.
 * The Glorious War of Sisterly Rivalry: Rhonda vs. Reenie.
 * Hot Shounen Aunt: Tanner.
 * Ill Girl: Played brutally straight;.
 * Jerkass: Kyle. Especially during the game of Truth or Dare in Superheroes.
 * Limited Wardrobe: As in Peanuts, everyone pretty much wears the same thing every day.
 * Meaningful Background Event: So subtle you'll miss it:
 * Military Brat: Ninja Joan, whose father is deployed to Iraq.
 * Mr. Imagination: Reggie. And how!
 * Nerd Glasses: Pajamaman wears them.
 * Oh Crap: Frequently, such as when Amelia realize that Reggie and Rhonda are the school nerds, making her a nerd-by-association.
 * Only Known by Their Nickname: Come on, his parents didn't really name him Pajamaman...
 * Planet of Steves: Almost literal: the Legion of Steves.
 * Precocious Crush: Reggie is just crazy about Tanner.
 * Puppy Love
 * The Quiet One: Pajamaman doesn't speak. Ever.
 * Shout-Out: So, so many.
 * Show Within a Show: Softee Chicken and Intergalactic Ninja Fight Squadron.
 * Shrinking Violet: Mary Violet... at least until she becomes Ultra Violet.
 * Slice of Life
 * Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: The comic occasionally tips over to the cynical side, but for the most part is pretty idealistic.
 * Smitten Elementary School Girl: Rhonda simply adores Reggie. Only she knows why.
 * Spin the Bottle: Amelia gets dragged into a game and winds up having to kiss Kyle. She never lives it down.
 * True Companions: The four members of GASP.
 * Underwear of Power: Captain Amazing and Kid Lightning literally wear their underpants on the outside of their costumes.
 * Wise Beyond Their Years: Subverted. Yeah, the main characters speak in Little Professor Dialog and spend much more time thinking about romance than most Real Life 10-year-olds, but traces of little kid mentality are still undeniably there.
 * Vitriolic Best Buds: Amelia and Rhonda. Reggie and Kyle, though sworn enemies, have this subtext.
 * The Voiceless: Pajamaman.
 * X Meets Y: Peanuts meets Calvin and Hobbes.
 * X Meets Y: Peanuts meets Calvin and Hobbes.