Escape from Terra
Escape From Terra is a 5-day-a-week sci-fi adventure webcomic by Sandy Sandfort, Scott Bieser, Leila Del Duca, and Lee Oaks. In the late 21st century Terra is controlled by the United World while its colonies in the solar system largely remain independent. Senior UW revenue agent Guy Gaillard is sent to the anarcho-capitalist asteroid Ceres in order to establish a taxing authority, he has a change of heart.
Think a more political version of Heinlein's The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress and you're not far off.
Be warned: Only the first 105 strips remain on the web. As of 2024, strips 106-994 (the final strip) are links to a page where one can buy the graphic novel. Since 89% of the work is no longer available as a web comic, we have tagged this as a "defunct web comic" instead of a "completed web comic".
- Alternative Calendar: One developed for Mars and used by most Belters for the sake of convenience. Includes "centimes", "decadays", and "dekasols".
- Asteroid Miners: A lot of Belters, naturally.
- Author Tract
- Auto Doc: One in every household on Mars and the Belt, illegal on Terra. Have been used to heal someone clinically dead more than once, one one case a shot through the heart.
- Brain-Computer Interface: Occipital (bone at base of skull) "occ" computers, with optional Tanglenet transceiver.
- Clipboard of Authority: How Robyn and Sajjan escape the moon penitentiary, currently the page image.
- Duel to the Death: Legal on Ceres, Guy's cousin Pierre tries to start one after a "misunderstanding" at a gay bar, but backs off after Guy and his opponent's second add a couple of ridiculous conditions.
- Eenie Meenie Miny Moai: In a system-wide UFO hoax.
- Global Currency: The UW uses "continentals" that are worthless in the belt, where they typically barter in grams of gold.[context?]
- Hawaiian-Shirted Tourist: The UW's last ditch attempt to provoke an incident on Ceres involves a hapless soldier dressed as one.
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- Mary Suetopia: Arguably Ceres, depending on whether you think it a good idea to let people in an environment where a stray shot can open a habitat to vacuum carry guns.
- The Metric System Is Here to Stay: And has been extended to measurement of time, with the Martian day divided into 100 "centimes" and Belters and Martians using "Decadays" in place of weeks or months.
- Microts: Martian time, as mentioned elsewhere.
- Older Than They Look: Reggie King, Babbette the elder, and Leon Ball, after rejuv.
- One World Order
- Political Officer: The UW revived the concept.
- Sliding Scale of Libertarianism and Authoritarianism: Ceres and the UW represent opposite ends of the scale.
- Strawman Political: Guy until he sees the light, and every authority figure in the UW generally.
- Subspace Ansible: "Tanglenet", like the internet except with quantum entangled particles.
- Super Soldier: The "Black Mamba".
- This Is Not My Life to Take: At Admiral Harris and the gunnery officer's trial for killing the Rose family Emily, the sole survivor of the massacre, shoots them herself.
- The War of Earthly Aggression: The brief "war of the worlds".
- Title Drop: this strip. and this.