Retail/Characters

Grumbel's Employees

Marla Masters

Marla is the assistant manager of the Grumbel's store, and has apparently worked in retail for most of her adult life. She's currently married to Scott, and gave birth to their daughter Fiona in April 2012.

• Alliterative Name: Marla Masters, until she takes Scott's last name.
• Bad Liar: Marla's very honest, and the rare times she does lie, she does it extremely badly.
• Beleaguered Assistant: Poor Marla has to work under Stuart, and ends up doing most of his work for him.
• Benevolent Boss: Marla's a fair, hard working and compentent boss, and is well liked in the store.
• Cool Big Sis: An honorary one, to Cooper.
• The Cynic: Has shades of this, but Marla is well aware of it, and tries to be more positive.
• Deadpan Snarker: In spades.
• Disappeared Dad: While an earlier strip shows Marla's mother about to go to the movies with Marla's father, a strip set just before her wedding implies that he's died in the past five years. If so, it was never alluded to in the strips.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: Marla never gets thanked for doing Stuart's work; he just tends to pile more on her.
• Goal in Life: Marla eventually wants to open her own store.
• Happily Married: To Scott.
• Head Desk: Marla's response to some of Stuart's more inane demands.
• Heroic BSOD: Marla's prone to these when confronted by extremely stupid customers.
• Jade-Colored Glasses: Marla claims that retail has made her jaded over the years.
• Longest Pregnancy Ever: Averted, Marla's pregnancy went at a realistic pace.
• Married to the Job: Marla was worried that she was like this before she met Scott.
• Morning Sickness: Poor Marla suffers from this at the start of her pregnancy, to the point of actually taking time off work.
• Nice to the Waiter: Marla makes a point of being kind to other retail workers; she knows exactly what it's like.
• She Cleans Up Nicely: The rare times Marla dresses up, she looks gorgeous.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Marla looks an awful lot like her mother.
• Survival Mantra: Marla often repeats 'it isn't worth the (jail) time' when it comes to dealing with Stuart at his worse.
• True-Blue Femininity: Marla always wears a blue top to work, though she isn't overly feminine.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Val.

Val Williams

Val is a department supervisor at Grumbel's, despite wanting to write for a living. She is currently going out with Cooper.

• Black Best Friend: To Marla; Val is shown to have a decent social life outside of work.
• Blind Without'Em: Averted, Val's sometimes shown to go without her glasses when she goes out after work, though it's possible she wears contacts.
• Brutal Honesty: Val's blunt to a point, and won't lie to save someone's feelings.
• Deadpan Snarker: It's almost a requirement to work at Grumbel's and stay sane.
• Graceful Ladies Like Purple: Val's seen wearing purple more often than not.
• Hair Decorations: Val's always seen wearing a hairband during work hours; often she's shown with her hair down in strips taking place outside the store.
• Limited Wardrobe: Parodied; for Christmas one year Val recieves a headband that 'will automatically change colour to whatever top she is wearing'.
• Meganekko: Though Val's far from the shy version of this trope, and she's shown to be attractive in universe with her glasses and without.
• Most Writers Are Writers: Val wants to write for a living, and eventually does get hired as a gardening blogger.
• Ms. Fanservice: Val's the only character we ever see in short, tight dresses and outfits.
• Non-Idle Rich: Val's family are extremely well off, and pay for the nice apartment she lives in. Val still works despite that, even if she's told her parents that the money she earns from Grumbel's is actually from writing.
• Sassy Black Woman: Val's a more subdued version of this trope.
• She Cleans Up Nicely: Val is absolutely smoking when she gets ready to go out after work.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Marla.

Cooper Costello

Cooper is a stockroom worker at Grumbel's, and is notorious for slacking off yet still managing to get his work done. He's currently dating Val.

• Alliterative Name: Cooper Costello. This seems to be a trend for the main characters.
• Bad Dreams: Played for laughs, Cooper usually ends dreaming about work or Stuart that ends up with him sitting boltright up in bed.
• Brilliant but Lazy: Cooper's actually fairly intelligent, and is clearly creative enough to make elaborate sculptures out of cardboard boxes. Yet he does nothing with it.
• Butt Monkey: If anything bad happens to a character, it's usually Cooper.
• Competition Freak: Played for laughs when it comes to trying to win the Halloween Costume Contest.
• Cloudcuckoolander: Cooper certainly has an active imagination.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Poor Cooper actually has quite a sad past; he mentions to Lunker that his father deserted his family when he was young, and that he had to work to support his mother when she became ill, meaning he didn't get to go to college.
• Deadpan Snarker: Cooper definitely has his moments.
• Disappeared Dad: Cooper's dad deserted him and his mother when he was little.
• Greed: Since Cooper always wanted to be wealthy when he 'grew up', now and then he comes up with various 'get rich' schemes. One of the more memorable involved buying up a popular children's toy only to sell it on eBay at over twice the price. He didn't at the last minute.
• Heterosexual Life Partners: With Lunker.
• High Hopes, Zero Talent: Cooper's idea to start a succesful band is shot down by Lunker of all people, when he asks if Cooper can even sing or play an instrument.
• The Prankster: His pranks range from harmless ones, which are usually very funny, to the rarer, more selfish ones that backfire on him.
• Ridiculous Procrastinator: Cooper takes this to the extreme; he'll even walk around with an empty cardboard box to avoid work.
• The Slacker: Cooper works harder on slacking off than he does actually working.

Stuart Suchet

Stuart is the manager of Grumbel's, and not a very good one at that. A stickler for the rules, no matter how inane, Stuart leaves Marla to do most of his work.

• Alliterative Name: Stuart Suchet.
• Bad Boss: Stuart is a complete suck up to those above him, and usually has little to no respect for those below him.
• Bald of Evil: While he's not strictly evil, Stuart is bald.
• Conservation of Competence: Stuart is incompetent, while Marla and the others tend to be very good at their jobs.
• Cuteness Proximity: Stuart is this, believe it or not, when Marla visited the mall with her new baby.
• It Is Pronounced "Tro-PAY": Stuart's surname is pronounced 'Soo-shay'.
• Jerkass: Stuart has moments where he crosses into this, including when he attempted to fire Cooper gleefully, and when he contstantly takes credit for Marla's hard work.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Stuart does have a very rare softer side; he seems genuinely happy for Marla when she gets married, and even gives her $100 in Grumbel's credit as a gift.
• Lack of Empathy: Stuart seems genuinely confused about the fact that his workers have feelings.
• Morality Pet: His sister, Diane. She's not been in the strips yet, but it's implied Stuart looks out for her, and that they care a great deal for one another. For Marla and the others, it's proof that Stuart can not only love, but can be loved by another human being.
• Pointy-Haired Boss: No one really knows how Stuart got promoted to manager. Marla's the one who does most of his work for him.
  • Stuart got promoted because the previous manager died, so how he got promoted isn't that big of a mystery.
• Straw Misogynist: Stuart has shades of this, but he's nowhere near as bad as Jerry.

Lunker

Lunker works in the stockroom with Cooper, and is a Gentle Giant who might be simple, but has hidden depths.

• Adorkable: Lunker is downright adorable, from singing in the stockroom, to his 'ultimate dream pet' being a kitty.
• Badass: When a robber with a knife tries his luck at the gas station while Lunker's working, he ends up in hospital with broken ribs.
  • When Stuart tries to fire Cooper, Lunker grabs him and demands that he and Cooper can share hours instead.
• Bruiser with a Soft Center: Lunker's first appearence implies that he's a brute, but we quickly see that he's a nice guy.
• Ensemble Darkhorse: Lunker's a very popular character, just look at the comments on any strip that he's in.
• Face of a Thug: Poor Lunker has this, even though he's a sweetheart.
• Gentle Giant: Despite his size, Lunker is a sweetheart.. until you threaten Cooper or pull a knife on him, that is.
• Hidden Depths: Lunker might seem simple, but he's come out with some pretty deep thoughts now and again.
• Kindhearted Cat Lover: All Lunker wants is a cat of his own.
• Manly Tears: Lunker tears up on hearing about Cooper's past.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Lunker's real name, Mel, is only ever mentioned once. Everyone calls him Lunker.
• Third Person Person: Lunker always refers to himself as Lunker.

Courtney

Courtney works at Grumbel's, and seems to hate every minute of it. Lazy, work shy and rude to customers, Courtney represents every bad retail worker out there.

• Alpha Bitch: Courtney's rude to almost everyone, and instantly takes a dislike to Amber just because she's pretty.
• Blondes Are Evil: Courtney's the only blonde female out of the main cast, and she's also one of the more horrible characters.
• Brainless Beauty: Courtney was only hired for her looks, by the manager before Stuart. She's only kept on the staff because since she's such a bad worker, she earns less per hour.
• The Ditz: Courtney wasn't exactly hired for her mind.
• Dumb Blonde: It's debatable; Courtney seems clueless most of the time, but she's a little sharper when it comes to blackmailing Marla.
  • Then again she also thinks that 500 yen is the same as 500 dollars.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Dislikes Amber just because she's attractive, kind, and smart.
• The Load: Courtney has yet to do anything remotely useful.

Josh Tobin

Josh is a supervisor at Grumbel's, after originally being hired as Christmas help. Is a stickler for the rules, and gets along well with Stuart because of it. The others don't like him too much.

• Insufferable Genius: Josh is very intelligent, but he's insufferable with it.
• Male Gaze: Played with, Josh stares intently at Marla's legs as he mentions that her skirt hem should technically be below the knee according to Grumbel's rule book.
• The Perfectionist: Josh attempts to be perfect in every possible way he can, including following Grumbel's rules to the letter.
• Sharp-Dressed Man: Josh is one of the better dressed male Grumbel's employees.

Amber

Amber joined the Grumbel's staff after growing tired of working at Abersnobby and Finch. She proves it's possible to be attractive, smart and kind.

• Colourful Theme Naming: Amber happens to have lovely reddish blond hair to match her name.
• Deadpan Snarker: When one skeevy customer wants her phone number before proceeding to pay for his things, quick-witted Amber tells him that her name is Jenny and her number is 867-5309.
• Ms. Fanservice: In universe example, Amber was made to wear tight fitting clothes at her old job in order to draw people into the store.

Jerry

Jerry is Stuart's boss, the district manager for Grumbel's. He's a Jerkass who seems to only want to make Marla's life hell.

• Straw Misogynist: Believes Marla might be promoted to store manager simply because Grumbel's can get away with paying her less as she's a woman. Jerry also demeans Marla constantly, despite the fact she's an extremely hard worker, and it does seem to be because she's female.

Connie

Jerry's replacement for a short period of time, a kind, clever woman who only wanted to help Grumbel's in any way that she could.

Others

Scott

Scott is Marla's husband, who works as a bartender.

• The Bartender: Scott works at a bar, and it's how he and Marla met.
• Happily Married: To Marla.
• Panicky Expectant Father: When Val asks how Scott is with Marla being pregnant, we cut to him cowering behind the couch as he watches a television show about birth abnormalities.

Zoe

A barista who could be Marla's twin, albeit with blonde hair. Dates Cooper briefly.