#lab comix inc au

[infini-tree]

hands you labcomix, canon, and treehouse publishing melvin for his birthday.

treehouse publishing (tp for short)!melvin has square-ish glasses as a reference to the concept art where he's sometimes drawn with it. tried going with a different flavor of nerd from canon's classic academic nerd vibes and lc's chaotic/cool mythbusters adjacent nerd vibes.

[lovelypink2005]

“I can't do this without you...”

I am going insane with the Lab Comix Inc. AU by @infini-tree after finding it out last month, and I wanted to make some sort of a "continuation" to that one comic where Melvin didn't get the effect of Poopypants's beam. I just can't stop thinking about how Melvin would probably struggle to help Harold snap out of it since he himself still couldn't get many jokes, and who could think of something you couldn't understand when you're in a distress/panic?

[sketch-twentytwo]

Redux Robotix AU

AU in which George Beard is bumped up to the third grade when he transfers to Jerome Horwitz Elementary School at the funny age of FIVE, leaving Harold Hutchins to make friends with an unlikely ally.

@infini-tree already did an AU based on this concept (their Lab Comix Inc. AU), which you should totally check out! But I wanted to try my own take!

My version is less of a roleswap, and more so a self indulgent exploration of the space—I’m mostly following the canon of the books, but this AU might ebb and flow into the movie, who knows?

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Without George to save him from bullies in book 9, I think Harold remains a timid and quiet boy. He’d continue to be mild mannered and polite, just trying to stay out of the limelight as best he can in order to avoid trouble.

Harold and Melvin meet when Melvin successfully showcases his latest robot to the class. There's no funny business to intrude on his presentation, meaning when the robot inevitably malfunctions it is 100% his fault. Harold would essentially draw fanart of the robot destroying a city which sparks their interaction.

Melvin is outraged that Harold would think of his intentions as evil or destructive and Harold, without a confrontational bone in his body, would quietly apologize and dejectedly crumple up the drawing. Melvin, recognizing some of his own loneliness in Harold, apologizes for his own outburst and suggests Harold draw his robot saving the city instead. Then he’d give advice and pointers for robotic designs and the two would grow closer from there.

Melvin is still egotistical, but having a friend who doesn’t constantly make fun of him or his inventions helps him mature emotionally. Harold remains the quieter one of the two, but he’d become less shy and more silent by choice. He helps Melvin mellow out from being the disliked tattletale, allowing him be cool and relaxed. I imagine he provides Melvin a friendly outlet and introduces him into a world of creativity.

I believe George inspired a lot of the crude jokes that took place in the Treehouse Comix, so with them not being friends, Harold would have had a much milder sense of humor. At the very least, he wouldn’t admit to enjoying the potty jokes as much, but he might still have an involuntary chuckle now and again.

Because Melvin doesn’t have a sense of humor, I think his and Harold's M.O. would by less “entertain the school” based and more “revolutionize the school”. Melvin wants to make things easier for kids so his inventions would reflect that (imagine a Homework Doer 3000 or a Personal Water Fountain that walks with you, or inflatable dummies that let you sneak out of class—that sort of thing).

Melvin still craves adoration/recognition and Harold is fine to let him have all the attention. Publicly, they’d be seen as Melvin as the brains and Harold as his assistant (if anyone bothered to remember that Harold was there at all!), but behind closed doors they would be genuine best friends.

I don’t see Melvin replacing George as a writer, I think this unlikely friendship would result in a different tag team setup. Melvin supplies his ideas for robots, doodads, and inventions while Harold continues to supply the drawings/designs. Harold also probably tries to hype up Melvin's ideas, making them more grandiose and spectacular, though he'd deny any of the credit.

With his help, Melvin is seen less as a nerdy suck up and more a mad scientist whose always jotting down invention ideas into his notebook (it's not like he has to study in class lol). Harold is no longer part of a pranking duo, and is now a silent observer who is always doodling in class instead of paying attention (ADHD strikes again!)

Together they make blueprints and robots under the name Redux Robotix LLC!

Melvin and Harold aren't exactly rule followers, but Melvin is "rules lawyer" enough to semantics his way out of being in trouble, much to Krupp's annoyance and irritation. Generally, Harold doesn't like to make waves while Melvin will fight the system to prove that he was "in the right", even if only by a technicality.

Any trouble the Robotix Duo get into is purely unintentional and probably the result of a robot exploding and causing property damage. In this way they’re still infamous, but their relationship with the teachers is less contrarian.

—————

Which brings me to George.

In Book 9, five year old George was supposed to be bumped up to the Third Grade instead of remaining in Kindergarten, a move his parents rejected so that he could socialize with kids his age.

This is the decision that separates Redux Robotix from Canon. Here, George is three grades ahead of his peers.

As such, George does not meet Harold or Melvin until much, much later, although he has probably heard of Redux Robotix from word of mouth and seen some of the lingering aftermath scattered around the school.

In the books it is implied that George’s defiance and pranks were done out of boredom. I don’t think that would go away, even if he was placed in the “correct” grade.

George continues to struggle in class as a result of his ADHD and being surrounded by peers just as intelligent as him but lacking his sense of humor would definitely drag him down. He’d still be the class clown here, but his pranks would be a lone wolf vs. the world scenario. Think Rafe Khatchadorian from the first Middle School book, except since George is operating alone, he’d try to stay anonymous about his “work”.

George's pranking alias is 80-HD. 80-HD is like the Banksy of Jerome Horwitz Elementary, except his skill set is pranks, not graffiti (though graffiti isn't entirely off the table)!

I'm borrowing the name 80-HD from the Dog Man books as they were canonically created by the OG!George and Harold, meaning it would be something he'd still come up with here! :D

Krupp is onto George, and knows that he’s the culprit for the uptick in silliness and pranks at the school, but throughout George’s four to five years at Jerome Horwitz, he’s never been able to scrounge up any tangible proof that George is 80-HD!

That isn't to say that George is able to evade punishment for his other antics, however. George continues to write his imaginative stories, but without an artist to draw them, I think they remain in prose. 

Since George is no artist and has no Harold to help him make comics, I think he would've created his own newspaper to pass around the school! It's called the Treehouse Tribune, and it is his passion project/creative outlet that he uses to make editorials, spoof articles, parodies, and the like. He sells these babies for 25¢ a pop on the school playground and has gotten detention a bunch of times for it.

George is very lonely, though, since everyone in his grade is three years older than him and thinks he's too immature. People his age are three grades below him and tend to find him either intimating or they're too nervous to approach him (grade politics man, you hate to see it!)

I imagine that George, Melvin, and Harold wouldn’t be adversaries as much as brief acquaintances as the three end up in the principal's office a lot in passing. Melvin and Harold manage to squeeze out of getting detention, leaving George alone to deal with Krupp’s anger.

Because George is alone and very young in a grade with older peers, I think Krupp would've grown a soft spot for him. My Krupp is more inspired by the movie than the books, so instead of being cartoonishly evil and mean, he's just mean and grumpy but well meaning when it comes to bringing out the best in his students. He wants George to grow up, mature, and excel in his classes because he knows George is smart enough to do it. So he's hard on George but does let him get away with a few things here and there (favoritism? what's that?)

—————

The three boys are neutral towards each other prior to the start of Redux's canon (which roughly follows the movie's plot until it doesn't).

Eventually, the trio meets and a reluctant friendship blossoms between the three of them. Both George and Melvin would be easy friends with Harold, since he's the mellowest of the group, but George and Melvin together? Ho boy!

The end game dynamic is that the three kids become friends, with George and Melvin still butting heads from time to time, but ultimately learning to care for one another, with Harold often playing mediator.

(I do have an idea for how/when the titular Captain comes into play, but it might not be in the way that everyone hoped! I kinda find Captain Underpants one of the less interesting characters out of the whole story, the movie included. Movie!Krupp is wayyyy more interesting to me as a person, so if you're disappointed in the lack of CU in this CU AU, then I apologize in advanced!)

That's all for now! Stay tuned for more by following the Redux Robotix AU Blog or tag! Thanks for reading! :D

[warrior-of-waistbands]

@infini-tree this dynamic is *god-tier* and I am obsessed

[infini-tree]

houston, get your mission out of my mind! (seek and destroy!)

[infini-tree]

some more lab comix stuff, feat. incremental changes to both lci!melvin and george designs, as well as the divergence point from canon in this au

[infini-tree]

listen, this has been in my folders for months and i haven’t been able to finagle the finer details of this au version but i do like the concept so (places this here)

he’s not half cyborg, more so just has prosthetics he made his right arm/leg/eye as a result of Unspecified Lab Accident

probably moonlights as some sort of School Board Safety Inspector

his fake name looks more like how tetocu would name a car salesman, there’s probably a joke there

[infini-tree]

graphic design is my passion etc etc

[infini-tree]

Lab comix inc. AU ppu?

good question 🤔 for reference, i'm basing their characterization off of my own take on the ppu legacy cast, especially melvin. (link 1) (link 2)

basic points

probably not called "lab comix inc.", but harold and melvin still congregate at melvin's house to hang out and make comics. (library comix inc?).

instead of the sci-fi lean the cu comics has in the Base AU, the ppu version is somehow stranger than the Canon cu comics (think adventure time, tonally, where it seems surreal and random, but if you look deeper there's dark themes.)

harold and george are having what is basically a turf war for complete control of the school. while harold is pretty scrappy, george has the entire fifth grade under his command, whether by bribery or blackmail.

melvin is the Token Good Teammate. he is there as support(?) for harold, though george does put in a few remarks about how he's holding harold back.

as a result of the comic genre shift, blunder's powerset changes too. in base lc, i think i gave captain laser vision (subject to change)? maybe this version of blunder's more like an evil wizard in terms of fighting style idk.

[infini-tree]

so how/why DOES Cap Come To Be in Lab Comix Inc.

honestly ive been kind of ruminating on it on-and-off. because here’s the thing– it would probably be easier to catch lc!melvin and harold than canon george and harold. it just comes with the territory of melvin using his own inventions to do the pranks, and how his need for external approval now directed towards the student body and how good he can do pranks

(he can get an A in pranks, which is normal to want and possible to achieve)

it also comes with going against lc!george, who’s still a bit more… street/practical knowledge smart?

in the au, the weekend invention convention is probably more akin to a Debate Team style presentation where either krupp or lc!george picks out a kid to go up against george, only to get thorougly trounced.

i’ve played with the idea that harold gets picked on purpose (by annoying them so hard in the auditorium that they’d pick him in retribution), while melvin works behind the scenes to do [Insert Prank Here]. the Prank happens, but they get caught much quicker; they don’t even make it outside

similar to the canon events, they’re probably threatened by the whole Seperate Classes thing come monday. they freak out, etc etc… before melvin comes up with a last ditch, go for broke plan: he’ll make a memory eraser type invention so krupp will forget about the whole thing

(as a side note i’ve also been trying to think of other punishments as i do feel like the pressure is on melvin’s a bit more now because his parents only tolerated his general mischief and by extension harold on account of it not affecting his academics and well. This Is Affecting His Academics to some degree.

maybe the seperation they’re so afraid of is less so from krupp’s punishment as it is from melvin’s parents deciding that harold isn’t a good fit for their child. but again. idk)

this next part is the most nebulous, admittedly, but when monday rolls around they sneak into krupp’s office and lie in wait for him to come back. there’s Some Error with the invention that initially makes it not do the thing while also giving away their position. with some quick thinking, harold throws some Chekov’s Item From The Confiscated Drawer melvin’s way and he mcguyver’s it into something and fires it before krupp can sign the papers

this mystery invention basically replaces the hypno-ring structurally. since its initial purpose was to erase memories, maybe whatever harold supplied him with made it into a memory alteration invention instead

they do a few gags w krupp before they finally settle to make him the lc equivalent of captain underpants

[infini-tree]

thinking about tetocu things but labcomix au-ified mostly as a thought experiment, and realizing that a No Homework Timeline, Lab Comix Inc AU George is just. canon george, but if he kept the afro

[infini-tree]

how different is Cap's dynamic with Melvin and Harold compared to his dynamic with *George* and Harold (constantly craving more Cap and Melvin interactions 👀)

(to preface this, i’m defaulting to the movie timeline as touchpoints, and mostly focusing on melvin because i think cap and harold’s relationship is pretty one-to-one)

initial impression about cap is that melvin really doesn’t know what to make of him. this is more of a headcanon i apply to all versions of melvin than a specific lab comix!melvin trait, but i feel like he would have trouble with sciences that would be difficult to get empirical data on-- like psychology, which cap’s Whole Thing would fall under for him

honestly this ties into me trying to figure out their dynamic in a monster of the week fight, since this question is somewhat related to that. despite being quote-unquote Fun and thrill seeking, melvin still has his assorted allergies and asthma-- the latter of which is something he’d need to work around, especially when there’s any particularly strenuous action

(honestly, with how reckless cap is, there’s bound to be a point where something flares up melvin’s allergies/asthma and both cap and harold freak out-- and harold freaking out at cap for not being careful, but that’s more spitballing)

i’ve been playing around with maybe making melvin being more of the gadget guy. honestly i think he’d be a little irritated by the title of sidekick, but he is still essentially that. with his inventions, him and harold would play a bit of an active role along with cap fighting the monster of the week, rather than typically relying on their wits like canon!george and harold and letting cap handle everything

[infini-tree]

ohhhh seek and destroy by i fight dragons is SUCH a lab comix melvin song

[infini-tree]

cu au’s i have but associated with go! child songs

sticky notes: half caff

monster au: monster town

lab comix inc: deadlock

[infini-tree]

five of him for his birthday :]

(left to right: mainverse, ppu, pmd, monster au, lab comix inc au)

[infini-tree]

au’s but as plant symbolism:

sticky notes au: hydrangea

piqua mystery dungeon: tansy

lab comix inc: blue daisy

cu monster au: fern

* and as a bonus:

ppu sticky notes: alcea rosea