View source for What's New with Phil and Dixie

{{work}}[[File:Phildixie.jpg|frame|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20080708194838/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php]]
'''''What's New? with Phil and Dixie''''' was a gaming comic by [[Phil Foglio]] that ran originally in TSR's role-playing-centered ''[[Dragon (magazine)|Dragon Magazine]]'', and then in the official ''[[Magic: The Gathering|Magic the Gathering]]'' magazine. It's now [https://web.archive.org/web/20130531052028/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20070107 republished on the web].
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{{tropelist}}

* [[Appliance Defenestration]]: Played straight in [http://tinyurl.com/68e25k page 1]{{Dead link}} and [http://tinyurl.com/69rzp2 page 2]{{Dead link}} of the comic in ''Dragon'' magazine #63 (July 1982), in which computers are hurled through open windows by owners frustrated with fantasy [[RPG]] programs.
* [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking]]: On [https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205747/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20081116 casting models] for ''Magic: The Gathering'' cards:
{{quote|'''Agent:''' Do you have any trouble working with elves, trolls, fairies, minotaurs, wizards, merfolk, werewolves, vampires, zombies or artists?
'''Model:''' Ew...''real'' artists? }}
* [[Author Avatar]]: Phil
* [[Bear Hug]]: In panels #5-6 of [https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205501/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20070318 this comic] from ''Dragon'' magazine #58 (February 1982).
* [[Bedouin Rescue Service]]: Parodied in [https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205218/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20100131 this strip]. "Hi! You folks lost?"
* [[Bow Ties Are Cool]]: Dixie often wore an oversized bow tie in the early strips.
* [[The Cameo]]: A credited one by Tramp's Wormy, and uncredited walk-ons by many others (e.g. [[Elf Quest|Skywise]]).
* [[Cash Cow Franchise]]: "[https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205804/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20081005 A story it will be easy to fit expansion sets onto]" and some others.
* [[Chainmail Bikini]]: Discussed [https://web.archive.org/web/20130522041344/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20070304 here].
* [[Covert Pervert]]: Elves, as revealed in these [https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205816/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20080525 two] [https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205819/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20080601 strips].
* [[Death by Origin Story]]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20140423074020/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20071202 Parodied] when a nascent superhero is subjected to so many different methods of acquiring superpowers simultaneously that he is reduced to ashes.
* [[Description Porn]]: The comic in ''Dragon'' magazine (June 1983) played this for laughs. Demonstrating a spy's ability to be intimately familiar with all sorts of weapons, it shows a spy coolly rattling off the name and statistics for a Mauser 1906, an AR-15 assault rifle, and... [https://web.archive.org/web/20140401025537/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20071118 a rubber duck].
{{quote|[[Once Killed a Man with A Noodle Implement|"...capable of killing five men simultaneously."]]}}
* [[Deus Ex Machina]]: Invoked in a discussion of why overpowered superheroes are unsatisfying, where a superhero named Deus Ex Machina Man is saved from a gun-toting criminal by a falling safe.
* [[Disneyfication]]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205810/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20080921 Inevitably] will be applied to ''Magic: The Gathering: [[The Movie]]''.
{{quote|"...of course, there ''are'' elements of game play that'll be changed onscreen to make the characters more sympathetic".}}
* [[Everything's Better with Penguins]]: "[https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205550/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20090816 It's a Penguin Generator! Wow! I've wanted one of these for YEARS!!]"
* [[Evil Costume Switch]]: Dixie undergoing a [https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205529/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20091004 literal lampshaded costume switch], complete with the large breasts. Phil [https://web.archive.org/web/20141019033024/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20100307 also gets a costume switch] when ''he'' turns evil, but with less lampshade hanging.
* [[Evil Is Sexy]]: In-universe example -- Dixie's reasons for her [[Face Heel Turn]].
* [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin]]: The mini-game ''Escape from C'thulu''. "You just open the box, read aloud the enclosed incantation... [https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205520/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20070415 ...and then, escape."]
* [[Face Heel Turn]]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205529/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20091004 Toward the end] of ''What's New?'', Dixie turned into a [[Card-Carrying Villain]] because she figured [[Evil Is Sexy|evil has better fashion sense]].
{{quote|'''Phil:''' You're [[Face Heel Turn|changing alignment]]? But why? 
'''Dixie:''' Are you kidding? The perks are fantastic! Better hair -- [[Buxom Is Better|bigger bust]] -- bitchin' outfits -- ''plus'' I get my own minions! }}
* [[Fan Service]]: Dixie provides this in spades.
* [[Fourth Wall Mail Slot]]: Done as a gag, with the pair answering fake letters from gamers. Also [[Recursive Reality|an in-character fake letter that Phil sent in as a joke]].
* [[Gulliver Tie Down]]:
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205510/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20070401 Phil wakes up to find] his lead miniatures have tied him to the bed and are demanding a raise.
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205709/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20071230 A gamer appears tied down in his own prize-winning diorama] at a game convention.
* [[Hand Rubbing]]: In ''Dragon'' magazine #53 (September 1981), Phil shows us how it's done [https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205442/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20070204 in panel #4].
{{quote|'''Phil:''' Do with it? Why -- I know exactly what we can do with it! Heh! Heh! Heh!}}
* [[Heel Face Revolving Door]]: In the last few strips, after Phil turns evil, she becomes "uber-good" when she realizes she can still dress sexy while being heroic... but mostly so she could continue kicking Phil's ass.
* [[Hocus Tropus]]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205215/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20100530 This strip] includes versions of [[Disappearing Box]], [[Pull a Rabbit Out of My Hat]], and [[Saw a Woman In Half]].
* [[Hurricane of Puns]]: An explanation of the 'Jester' prestige-class includes a demonstration on how to turn a [[Hurricane of Puns]] into an effective -- if [https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205638/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20071014 somewhat indiscriminate] -- weapon.
* [[I Can See My House From Here]]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205217/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20100509 Said by Dixie] in a strip about flight.
* [[I Got a Rock]]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205410/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20100117 Word for word.]
* [[Impossibly Low Neckline]]: Dixie's outfit after she's become [[Lawful Good]] combines this with an [[Absolute Cleavage]]. As she remarks, being übergood still gives you the [[Evil Is Sexy|fashion perks of evil]].
* [[Janitor Impersonation Infiltration]]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205537/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growf/growfcomic/strips/growf_20070520.jpg This strip] from ''Dragon'' magazine #63 has a guy dressed as a cleaning woman sneaking into a computer lab.
* [[Matchlight Danger Revelation]]: The [https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205220/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20070114 comic] in ''Dragon'' #50 used this. Phil and Dixie were exploring the TSR dungeon in the dark and realized there was someone else with them. Phil lit a match, revealing that the other creature was actually a demon. Then the demon blew out the match...
* [[Mirror Morality Machine]]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205218/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20100228 Responsible for Phil's Face Heel Turn].
* [[Morally-Ambiguous Ducktorate]]: In an issue about spy games, one of the spy gadgets identified by a recruit as a trainee test is a rubber duckie. Apparently not a normal one, as he points out that it's capable of killing several people simultaneously (and has a plastic squeaker device in its mouth, too).
* [[Most Definitely Not a Villain]]: The alien spy in [https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205602/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20070722 this page].
* [[Motor Mouth]]: The comic in ''Dragon'' #67 (November 1982) had [https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205559/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20070715 an example] (see the last two panels).
* [[Ms. Fanservice]]: Dixie Null is basically the ultimate [[Geeky Turn On|sexy geek]] [[Girl Next Door]] (aside from her extended stint as a [[Evil Is Sexy|bikini-wearing supervillain]]).
* [[Neck Lift]]: Once happened to a game-company flack who interrupted yet another attempt by the hosts to address the topic of Sex In ''D&D''. One panel shows him being subjected to this trope; the next reveals that it's Dixie, rather than Phil, who's doing it.
* [[Nice Hat]]: Phil's bowler.
* [[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot]]: ''Magic'' card illustrations.
** "Howling, flying, righteous, firebreathing, ''berserk'' [https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205831/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20080629 mammoths]"
** "[https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205747/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20081116 Okay - You want this horde of zombies carrying swords made of lightning, to be erupting out of a volcano, riding dragons made out of lava...]"
* [["On the Next..."]]: Perennially subverted by [[Running Gag]] promises that "Sex in ''D&D''" would be next month's topic.
* [[Or Are You Just Happy to See Me?]]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205819/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20080601 This strip reveals the disturbing nature of orc flirting.]
* [[Our Dragons Are Different]]: A recurring character (or plot device) was [https://web.archive.org/web/20141024025730/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growf.html Growf], a [[Ridiculously Cute Critter|tiny purple dragon]] that induced [[Squee|Squees]] followed by third degree burns, and reproduced by [https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205442/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20070204 Explosive Parthenogenesis] when wetted.
* [[Our Elves Are Better]]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205816/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20080525 Parodied here]. And [https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205514/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20091101 here].
{{quote|'''Phil:''' Though for some reason they're not well liked.}}
* [[Our Gnomes Are Weirder]]: ''What's New?'' offers [https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205215/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20100124 this take on exactly why there's no consensus on gnomes].
* [[Pirate Girl]]: In its ''[[Magic: The Gathering|Magic the Gathering]]'' days, the strip [https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205658/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20090308 depicted] semi-retired characters, including [http://gatherer.wizards.com/pages/card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=159253 Benalish Hero] turned into a Pirate Queen and converting the [[Island Base]] into a resort.
* [[Production Foreshadowing]]: Towards the end of the run, Krosp from the then-in-development ''[[Girl Genius]]'' makes several [https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205750/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20081109 appearances].
{{quote|'''[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date{{=}}20090111 Goont]:''' Hey... if he wants the chief spy job ''that'' bad, he can ''have'' it.}}
* [[Pungeon Master]]: A proposed "Jester" archetype for ''[[Dungeons and Dragons|Dungeons & Dragons]]'' is [https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205638/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20071014 shown to kill monsters with pun-attacks]. (And, not incidentally, his party, demonstrating that Puns aren't picky about targets.)
* [[Rage Quit]]: "[https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205807/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20080928 Oh! No! A power failure!]"
* [[Ridiculously Cute Critter]]: Growf
* [[Riddle of the Sphinx]]: In [https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205541/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20090906 this What's New? report on riddles], Phil is caught by a sphinx who reveals that since everybody knows the answer to the traditional Riddle of the Sphinx now, she's switched to a new one: "How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?"
* [[Robot Me]]
** [http://tinyurl.com/68e25k Page 1]{{Dead link}} and [http://tinyurl.com/69rzp2 Page 2]{{Dead link}} from ''[[Dragon (magazine)|Dragon]]'' magazine #63 (July 1982).
** And [https://web.archive.org/web/20120814191143/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20090628 the rematch].
* [[Running Gag]]
** In the 1980s run of ''What's New?'', Phil and Dixie kept promising that their expose of "Sex and ''D&D''!" was on its way, only to be put off for another month each issue. {{spoiler|When it finally did arrive, it was just about the mating habits of various monsters. Psych!}} One might suggest that they ultimately provided this with ''[[XXXenophile]]''...
** Mammoths.
** The [https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205547/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20090823 mail snail] became a slo-o-owly crawling gag.
* [[Shame If Something Happened]]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205215/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20100124 The gnomes' modus operandi.]
{{quote|"This cartoon, for instance. It would be a shame if something ''happened'' to it."}}
* [[Shock Party]]: One of the strips in ''Dragon'' magazine was about espionage [[Tabletop RPG|Tabletop RPGs]]. Part of it explained why it was a really bad idea to throw a surprise birthday party for an undercover spy. It starts in the last panel [https://web.archive.org/web/20140401025537/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20071118 here] and concludes at the top of [https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205655/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20071125 this one].
* [[Shout-Out]]: Regularly.
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205626/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20070916 This comic on werewolf variants] features a were-aardvark who looks just like [[Cerebus]].
*** Also cleverly namechecks [[Cerebus Syndrome]] with a pun when the doctor comments "It's more serious than we thought!"
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20140423074020/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20071202 Gazebo Boy] ([[Tabletop Games/Funny|Eric and the Dread Gazebo]])?
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205707/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20071223 Gallimauphry magazine] and the Winslow on the next page (''[[Buck Godot: Zap Gun for Hire]]'').
** "[[Godzilla]] [https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205740/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20080309 Festival"] also has the Winslow.
** And [https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205828/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20080622 DM girl reads] ''Buck Godot'' behind her DM-screen.
* [[Something Person]]: The look at roleplaying superheroes featured Gazebo Boy.
* [[Stripperiffic]]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205617/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20090614 Dixie's ninja outfit], among others.
* [[Stating the Simple Solution]]: Lampshaded in [https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205722/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20090111 a strip about minion recruitment].
{{quote|'''Head minion:''' Done much minioning?
'''Krosp:''' "All is in readiness." "You're a genius, sir." "Don't screw around -- kill him ''now!''"
'''Head minion:''' Not bad, but Volrath won't listen to that last one.
'''Krosp:''' They never do. }}
* [[Stop Helping Me!]]: In a piece on animal companions: "Some animals possess human level intelligence or better. These can be disastrous. [https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205547/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20090823 And some are just animals that want to help you and think they can. These are worse.]"
* [[They Fight Crime]]: ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205810/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20080921 Magic: The Gathering] - [[The Movie]]''
* [[Underboobs]]: When Dixie is in her Ninja persona, her outfit includes [https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205617/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20090614 underboobs].
* [[Weapons Grade Vocabulary]]: The strip in ''Dragon'' magazine #72 (April 1983) was about jesters. The middle of [https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205638/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20071014 this page] has a jester killing a monster with bad puns. The next panel shows the danger of unintended side effects.
* [[What Did I Do Last Night?]]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205218/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20100523 The end of the Heel Face Revolving Door arc.]
* [[What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?]]: An episode about superheroes included a panel about the need to have powers that are actually useful: "Gazebo Boy finds his singular power of metamorphosis useless against the evil Termite!"

{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Newspaper Comics]]
[[Category:Gaming Webcomics]]
[[Category:Fantasy Webcomics]]
[[Category:Newspaper Comics of the 1980s]]
[[Category:Newspaper Comics of the 1990s]]
[[Category:Works by Phil Foglio]]