Comments on: Eulogy for a pretty swell guy

Eulogy for a pretty swell guy

Rhaomi — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 16:41:39 -0800

Young Edd Gould always enjoyed drawing comics of himself and his friends. Growing up in the internet age, his doodles evolved into Flash animations of increasing complexity, and in time Edd and pals Tom Ridgewell and Matt Hargreaves teamed up to produce an "Eddsworld" series of online webtoons and comics. At first crude and halting, the group's "eddisodes" progressed from surreal shorts and one-shots into full-fledged productions that pushed the boundaries of amateur web animation, with expressive characters, full soundtracks, complex effects, and a fast-paced, off-kilter sense of humor: MovieMakers - Spares - WTFuture - Rock Bottom - Hammer & Fail (2). At its height, the college co-op was producing shorts for Mitchell & Webb and the UN Climate Change Conference, fielding offers from Paramount and Cartoon Network, and racking up millions of hits on YouTube. Work slowed, however, when Gould was diagnosed with leukemia -- a relatively survivable form, though, and Gould carried on working gamely through his hospital stays. So it came as a shock last week when Matt and Tom announced that Edd had passed away, prompting an outpouring of grief and gratitude from all the fans he'd entertained and inspired in his short 23 years.

By: Rhaomi

Rhaomi — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 16:47:49 -0800

Also, it's a little tough to watch, but Ridgewell did a live (drunk) video Q&A the other day ("Tomska is alright... April fools. He isn't") discussing, among other things, the fact that Gould wanted the series to continue after his death, that they'd be auditioning for a replacement voice actor for his character, and that all proceeds from then on would be going to a UK leukemia charity. Hard to imagine the stress of making a comedy show under such morbid conditions, but it's heartening seeing a friend step up to continue another friend's work like that.

By: Strass

Strass — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 17:02:22 -0800

Oh jeez. This seems awesome but where should I start? There are so many links!

By: Rhaomi

Rhaomi — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 17:07:46 -0800

That's my vice! Though there's not a lot of filler, the list of videos in the middle are their best and most polished ones, IMHO, along with the "surreal shorts/one-shots" and "Mitchell & Webb/UN" ones. The cancer discussion is in "diagnosed with leukemia" and "announced that...", while the rest is eulogies from across the web.

By: dejah420

dejah420 — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 17:16:31 -0800

This is heartbreaking. He was so young and so talented. My deepest condolences to his family and all who loved him.

By: marienbad

marienbad — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 01:08:01 -0800

At the end of the "announced that Edd had passed away" video, where it says 1988- jesus. 19 fuckin 88? so sad. .