Gorsky and Butch

Gorsky and Butch is a Polish comic book made by Robert Adler and Tobiasz Piatkowski. It tells a story of a duo of policemen working to find some sense in their comic... a rather futile effort.

Much like Mel Brooks' movies, the series uses the plot as an excuse to spoof the hell out of whatever happens to stand in its way. Also, because of the main point of the plot, it has no fourth wall.

The comic consists of three books and a prequel, "Golota vs Predator". There was no definite ending to the series, but the last book showed symptoms of the authors running out of ideas. It is currently unknown whether new books will be made.

Sadly, Gorsky and Butch is almost unknown outside Poland, being almost impossible to translate. This is mostly due to Poland-specific cultural referrences. Also, the comic is a Hurricane of Puns, some of which directly influence the plot. If the pun is untranslatable, the scene will make no sense. (For example, the whole Aliens parody has the Marines fight against sheep, because the movie they are in is an illegal copy with a translation full of spelling errors - Polish words for alien (obcy) and sheep (owcy) are very similiar.)

The main characters are:

• Gorsky: One of the two main characters. Despite the Polish surname, he is black. Seems more level-headed than his partner, except when he suspects someone of being racist. (Doesn't stop him from invoking some stereotypes himself though.) He is also more experienced, having already starred in a different comic by Adler and Piatkowski.
• Butch: The other half of the "Salt and Pepper" duo. More energetic than his companion, he is becoming increasingly frustrated with being stuck in a comic that makes no sense. He dreams of finally finding the sense just so he can end the story and take part in a real graphic novel.
• The Comissioner. Balding, fat, with impressive moustache and a history of overusing violence at work (he has a diploma in his office) he is the spoof of all the bad tempered police chiefs in fiction, in fact he went to the academy with commisioner Gordon. He regularly threatens the heroes and even fires them twice during the series. In later stories it turns out he is actually plotting against them, making sure they continue the fruitless search to keep the plot going.
• Maciek (Polish for Matthias). A member of a swat team who tried to arrest the authors at the beginnig of the first book, he was re-drawn into a woman. He is the only recurring female character in the series.
• Jerry Collins. Originally an incompetent little brother to a Wild West villain, he was picked up along the way by the heroes to serve as their sidekick. Since then, his history has been retconned several times, depending on what is needed to make him miserable. Butt Monkey of the series.
• The comic council. A group of hooded figures, Man Behind the Man for the Comissioner, they plot to prevent Gorsky and Butch from succeeding.

Tropes used in Gorsky and Butch include:

• Action Girl: Maciek
• Attractive Bent Gender: Maciek
• Butt Monkey: Jerry is treated horribly both by Universe in general and by the heroes.
  • When he fails a leap of faith in the Matrix parody, not only does the whole crew laugh at him but their "replacement author" changes the background picture at the last moment, replacing grass with pavement.
• The Chosen Zero: Jerry is made the chosen one specifically to make the whole story jump the shark and get canceled.
• Failure Is the Only Option: often for absurd reasons, such as the character's speech bubble obscuring the key clue.
• Fan Service: Lots. The heroes actually worry that they might be sued.
• Finishing Each Other's Sentences
• Freudian Slip: mostly the Comissioner's dirty mind.
• Funny Background Event: Tons of it.
• Fun with Flushing: In their spoof of The Matrix, the party is cornered by police in a disused toilet. They escape down the drain, all except Morphinius (Gorsky) who has to stay behind to flush them.
• Gatling Good: In a spoof of The Matrix helicopter scene, Jerry fails to hit the window with it. It shatters from the noise instead.
• Groin Attack: In one instance a large firefight was won entirely with those. When Golota tried this on Predator, he failed due to Bizarre Alien Biology.
• Gravity Is a Harsh Mistress: done once. The characters attribute it to an error in print.
• Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: Combined with A-Team Firing. Most firefights result in nothing but collateral damage.
• No Fourth Wall: The characters know well that they live in a comic. There is even a bar for 'unpublished comic characters' where various rejected characters come to drink.
• Salt and Pepper: At some point, Gorski and Butch argue about which of them should be the relaxed one.
• Random Events Plot
• Running Gag:
  • A man dressed as a zebra.
  • "A Dark, Foreboding Building From The Beginning Of The Century"...
  • Somebody trying to murder the heroes by dropping a piano on them.
  • Maciek behaving like a man.
  • "Hospital or jail?" - asked whenever the heroes wake up in the dungeon of a Stock Footage castle after a drinking binge.
  • Stock Footage pictures used repeatedly and out of context.
• The Scrappy: Jerry, in a rare in-universe example. At some point, during The Matrix parody, Gorsky tries to destroy the comic by making Jerry the main character.
• Shaped Like What It Sells: Fishtein's secret hideout is shaped like a giant cod.
• Shoot the Television: A politician appears on a TV screen in a pub. Someone calls for it to be turned off, causing one of the patrons to throw a shoe at the TV, smashing the screen.
• Visual Pun: Lots.
• Wall of Blather
• Writers Suck: They are the first suspects in the case.