Beetlejuice (1991) - TV Tropes

The cover of the first issue.

In 1991 and 1992, Harvey Comics published a short comic book run based on the Beetlejuice (1989) cartoon. Like in the cartoon, Beetlejuice goes on a number of wild adventures, with his best human friend Lydia along for the ride (whether she wants to be or not). Each issue contains two storylines.

There were just six issues of the comic published:

• The first is known as the "1st Gross Out Issue!", and the second is titled "Beetlejuice in the Neitherworld". These have a sort of generalized theme to their stories.
• The third issue is the holiday special, or as the cover calls it, the “horror-day” special. This is the issue which is arguably the best-known — mostly for its cover story, depicting Beetlejuice as a reluctant bridegroom.
• The last three issues are all "Crimebuster Specials", focusing on stories of criminal activity in the Neitherworld (usually, though not always, committed by Beetlejuice himself). The second and third Crimebuster issues are more difficult to find than the rest of the series, having had a lower print run.

Being based on the cartoon, the comics share many of the tropes found on that page.

---

Tropes found in the Beetlejuice comics include:

• Adapted Out: With the exception of Lydia and her parents none of the other human characters from the show make appearances.
• Affectionate Nickname: In addition to the “Lyds” and “Babes” nicknames used in the show, Beetlejuice has a few additional pet names for his favorite mortal that are only seen in the comics, including “Lidsy” and “Eyelids”.
• Beach Episode: "Where the Ghouls Are", in the second issue, takes place at the beach.
• Be the Ball: Beetlejuice in "Where The Ghouls Are" as a way to conceal himself from being revealed to the public.
• Beauty Contest: In the second issue, Beetlejuice enters Lydia in one of these against her will in "The Neitherworld Beauty (You've Gotta Be Kidding) Pageant".
• Birthday Episode: The holiday issue includes a story, "Never a Doll Moment", in which Beetlejuice is trying to find a doll to give Lydia for her birthday.
• Bland-Name Product: In "Never a Doll Moment", Beetlejuice wants to give Lydia a “Barfie Doll”.
• Christmas Episode: "Get Me to the Church on Slime", the cover story of the holiday issue, takes place at Christmas.
• Deal with the Devil: Beetlejuice makes one of these, literally, in "Scuzz-O" to ensure that Lydia's lottery ticket is the winning number. He sells himself into two thousand years of labor for “Lucky Lucifer”, but as Lydia was the one who paid for the ticket, she voids the contract on a technicality.
• Fall Guy: The "Crimebusters on the Haunt" miniseries has Beetlejuice's brother Donnyjuice get in trouble after he appears to be in charge of the sentient cleaning appliances that cleaned up the Neitherworld, but it later turns out that Donny was duped into taking the fall by the real mastermind.
• Fluffy Tamer: The "Crimebusters on the Haunt" miniseries reveals that Beetlejuice's brother Donny has a pet Sandworm named Cuddles.
• Haunted House: According to Beetlejuice in "The Neitherworld Beauty (You've Gotta Be Kidding) Pageant", the Deetzes' home was one of these when they moved in — specifically, haunted by him. It's the only time in the cartoon continuity that any explanation is offered for how Lydia and Beetlejuice met.
• Henpecked Husband: In "Get Me to the Church on Slime", Beetlejuice is gearing up to be this, the way his bride-to-be nags at him.
• Hypno Pendulum: In the very first issue, the story "This Is Your Lice" introduces a hypnotist, who uses a silver spider pendant to hypnotize Lydia into behaving more like a typical teenager.
• It's Not Porn, It's Art: Played with in "The Neitherworld Beauty (You've Gotta Be Kidding) Pageant", which ends with a “Miss Scenterfold” pinup. The comic describes it as being “Perfect for hanging on your bathroom wall.”
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: In "Never a Doll Moment", much as he needs a doll for Lydia's birthday gift, Beetlejuice can't bring himself to take it from a monster child. He grouses at himself for being a sap.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: The hypnotist in "This Is Your Lice" gets Lydia to completely forget not her identity, but her usual personality... and, as a strange side effect, she no longer remembers Beetlejuice at all.
• Loophole Abuse: In "Get Me to the Church on Slime", Beetlejuice gets out of his marriage by observing that his bride still has the gum stuck to her face that necessitated the wedding and removing it, which is apparently enough to call off the wedding.
• Manly Tears: Beetlejuice declares himself on the verge of this when he realizes Lydia doesn't remember him in "This Is Your Lice". He's absolutely distraught.
• Never Win the Lottery: Averted. In "Scuzz-O", Lydia's ticket does win the Neitherworld lottery — thanks to some B-guy cheating, of course.
• Nightmare Face: On their first meeting (as depicted in "The Neitherworld Beauty (You've Gotta Be Kidding) Pageant"), Beetlejuice tried one of these on Lydia. Instead of getting scared, she laughed at him; instead of being offended, he was somehow delighted and they became instant friends.
• One Dialogue, Two Conversations: In "Scuzz-O", Lydia and Beetlejuice overhear Charles saying something that sounds like he's broke and has to sell the house. He's talking about getting rid of his storage shed.
• Panty Thief: The backstory of "Get Me to the Church on Slime" involves Beetlejuice plotting “a pre-holiday 'Ants in the Panty Raid' at the All-Ghouls School”, which was thwarted by the women already being aware of his plan and chasing him away in retribution, but not without Beetlejuice spitting his gum at them to spite them.
• Precision F-Strike: A very mild one, but it's still the closest example in the cartoon continuity of the franchise. In "Scuzz-O", Lucky Lucifer notes that “Beetlejuice can certainly make life hellish for a person.”
• Prison Episode: The second issue of the "Crimebusters on the Haunt" mini-series focuses on Beetlejuice, Lydia, and Donnyjuice having to escape from Oilcatraz Prison.
• Produce Pelting: Beetlejuice gets bombarded with rotten sandworm eggs in "Get Me to the Church on Slime".
• Pun-Based Title: Every storyline's title, like many episodes of the cartoon, is a pun or play on words related to a common phrase.
• Relationship Reset Button: Lydia's amnesia presses this button in "This Is Your Lice", as she can't remember Beetlejuice or her love of bizarre things at all. He shows her a bunch of their memories to try to bring back her regular personality, but all she seems to get out of them is that he makes things really gross and weird. At the very end, however, she finally remembers that she also had a lot of fun with him because they really care about each other, and the amnesia breaks.
• Rules Lawyer: In "The Neitherworld Beauty (You've Gotta Be Kidding) Pageant", the judges decide not to make Lydia the new Miss Neitherworld due to a technicality about having someone else on stage with her.
• Series Continuity Error: In "Where The Ghouls Are" Beetlejuice isn't allowed to come on Lydia's family beach trip because his ghost self would be revealed to the public. Apparently the writers forgot he has 2 human-like personas he takes on to hang out with Lydia and her family, Mr. Beetleman and Cousin B.J.
• Shout-Out: Being based on the cartoons, the comics naturally continue the tradition of offering shout-outs to other forms of media. These include:
  • In "This Is Your Lice", Beetlejuice explains that he's the host, Bob Barfer.
    • The title of the story is a reference to an old show called This Is Your Life, in which the guest of honor would be visited by important people from their past.
  • At the end of the Christmas Episode "Get Me to the Church on Slime", Lydia quotes from A Christmas Carol.
  • The cover of the first Crimebusters issue makes a reference to "Elliot Mess and his Unwashables".
• Shotgun Wedding: The entire premise of "Get Me to the Church on Slime" is that Beetlejuice is forced to marry a woman because he spit gum at her.
• Superhero Episode: In addition to being a Beach Episode, "Where the Ghouls Are" is this — to save Charles and Delia from a shark, Beetlejuice turns himself into “Beetle Man”.
• Talking in Your Sleep: The amnesiac Lydia manages to summon Beetlejuice in her sleep during "This Is Your Lice", which gives him a chance to bring back her memories by taking her to the Neitherworld.
• Third-Party Deal Breaker: The storyline "Scuzz-O" sees Beetlejuice enter a Deal with the Devil — literally, as he agrees to a couple thousand years of personal servitude to “Lucky Lucifer” in order for Lydia's lottery ticket to be a winner. When Lydia finds out about the arrangement, she talks the Devil out of it.
• Try to Fit That on a Business Card: In "This Is Your Lice", Beetlejuice actually does fit a bunch of specializations onto a business card. These include grave digging, brain sucking, and “guts displayed.”
• Twinkle in the Eye: We know that Foster T. Farnsworth, the hypnotist in "This Is Your Lice", is not a nice person because of the gleam in his eyes.
• Under the Mistletoe: Played with. At the end of "Get Me to the Church on Slime", Beetlejuice is so grateful to Lydia that he gives her a big kiss on the cheek, which he justifies by the fact that she's “standing under the missile toad.”
• The Un-Favorite: In the "Crimebusters on the Haunt" miniseries, Beetlejuice believes that his parents prefer Donny over him. They deny this is the case, but he doesn't believe them, particularly since it's apparently common for his mother and father to ask him why he can't be more like Donny.
• Visual Pun: The comics rely on a lot of these, particularly in the background. Sometimes they're even lampshaded by the cast, such as Beetlejuice saying that he has a long story to tell and will therefore use long panels.
• Voodoo Doll: A fellow ghoul makes one of these of Beetlejuice in "Never a Doll Moment". It becomes a Chekhov's Gun at the end, as Lydia's birthday gift.
• Wacky Marriage Proposal: There's apparently a very old and weird law in the Neitherworld which states that if a man spits his gum into a woman's face, he has to marry her, even if it was an accident and they don't even know each other. This is Beej's predicament in "Get Me to the Church on Slime".
• Wedding Deadline: Loosely invoked in "Get Me to the Church on Slime;" Lydia stops the wedding in the nick of time.
• Wicked Stepmother: Cartoonverse Delia generally averts the trope pretty well, but she falls squarely into it in "This Is Your Lice" when she hires a hypnotist to make Lydia more “normal”.

---