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.
posted by Rhaomi
on Apr 2, 2012 -
5 comments
David Malki!, of the "illustrated jocularity"
Wondermark, has released
Wondermark Kinetic. It's a series of ad-libbed, paper-puppeteered videos in an approximation of his usual, surreal style. (If you're unfamiliar with what that style is, he conveniently keeps a list of
his own favorite strips.) I particularly like how a story slowly emerges from the rough start of
this one.
[more inside]
posted by gilrain
on Sep 30, 2011 -
2 comments
Two and a half years ago, we explored
the early history of Cartoon Network... but it wasn't the only player in the youth television game.
As a matter of fact,
Fred Seibert -- the man responsible for the most inventive projects discussed in that post -- first stretched his creative legs at the network's
truly venerable forerunner:
Nickelodeon.
Founded as Pinwheel, a six-hour block on Warner Cable's innovative
QUBE system, this humble channel struggled for years before Seibert's innovative branding work transformed it into a national icon and capstone of a media empire.
Much has changed since then, from the mascots and game shows to
the versatile orange "splat." But starting tonight in response to popular demand, the network is
looking back with
a summer programming block dedicated to the greatest hits of the 1990s, including
Hey Arnold!, Rocko's Modern Life, The Adventures of Pete & Pete, The Ren & Stimpy Show, Double Dare, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Legends of the Hidden Temple, and
All That.
To celebrate, look inside for the complete story of the early days of the network that incensed the religious right, brought doo-wop to television, and slimed a million fans -- the golden age of Nickelodeon.
(warning: monster post inside) [more inside]
posted by Rhaomi
on Jul 25, 2011 -
116 comments
No time to read a babillion nineties Batman comics in the run-up to the
Dark Knight Rises? Cooking With Comics will
explain Knightfall for you in less than nine minutes! (SLYT) (
via)
posted by EatTheWeak
on Jun 11, 2011 -
24 comments
Larry Gonick is a veteran American cartoonist best known for his delightful comic-book guides to science and history, many of which have previews online. Chief among them is his long-running
Cartoon History of the Universe (later
The Cartoon History of the Modern World), a sprawling multi-volume opus documenting everything from the Big Bang to the Bush administration. Published over the course of three decades, it takes a truly global view -- its time-traveling Professor thoroughly explores not only familiar topics like Rome and World War II but the oft-neglected stories of Asia and Africa, blending caricature and myth with careful scholarship (cited by
fun illustrated bibliographies) and tackling even the most obscure events
with intelligence and wit. This savvy satire carried over to Gonick's
Zinn-by-way-of-
Pogo chronicle
The Cartoon History of the United States, along with a bevy of
Cartoon Guides to other topics, including
Genetics, Computer Science, Chemistry, Physics, Statistics, The Environment, and (yes!)
Sex. Gonick has also maintained a few sideprojects, such as
a webcomic look at Chinese invention,
assorted math comics (
previously), the
Muse magazine mainstay
Kokopelli & Co. (featuring the shenanigans of his
"New Muses"), and
more. See also
these lengthy interview snippets, linked
previously. Want more? Amazon links to the complete oeuvre inside!
[more inside]
posted by Rhaomi
on Jun 6, 2011 -
29 comments
The Ward (
Part 1 -
Part 2 -
Part 3) is a silly little Lovecraftian sitcom from the folks who bring us the H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast. (previously:
1,
2,
3,
4) The guys Lackey and Fifer are also writing a graphic horror novel set in the Jazz Age,
Deadbeats.
posted by JHarris
on Apr 9, 2011 -
11 comments
PORTRAIT-DEX! Cartoonists create Pokémon self-portraits, with all three evolved forms. Featuring, among other fine artists,
Scott Kurtz (PVP),
Box Brown (Everything Dies, Bellen!),
Anthony Clark (Nedroid),
Aaron Diaz (Dresden Codak), and
Steve Wolfhard (Cat Rackham), who also runs the project.
posted by Gator
on Oct 27, 2010 -
13 comments
URL shortening service for twitter. "Senior citizens are the fastest-growing user group for twitter probably. And they don't have time to decipher most URL shorteners. The average senior citizen probably assumes 'bit.ly' is the URL for a Lithuanian overbite clinic; 'tr.im' looks like the homepage of an Islamic transportation consultancy. On the other hand, 'urlshorteningservicefortwitter.com' lays it all out on the table!"
[more inside]
posted by eccnineten
on Jul 13, 2010 -
59 comments
Polio: A Virus’ Struggle is a Graphic Novella by James Weldon.
When we eradicate a disease, do we ever think about how it may effect the disease?
Learn all about the history of Poliomyelitis, as he tells his story to the group.
posted by vertigo25
on Apr 12, 2009 -
16 comments
Now Then is an exhibit of 25 comic artists showing a comparison of their drawing style now and when they were just kids. Also, check out 50 artists riffing on the theme of
Duck! Fun stuff from the Museum of Comic & Cartoon Art.
posted by madamjujujive
on Jul 6, 2007 -
7 comments
George R. Binks : The tragic story of Jar Jar's father! Posted here in "celebration" of the Star Wars anniversary. Written and drawn by Tony Millionaire! (Warning: frames. Link is to the pages in his e-commerce site, and two pages are missing, but you should be able to figure it out.)
posted by JHarris
on May 26, 2007 -
19 comments
"What are they talking about?" Was it just an April Fools' joke? Are they really gonna end
Red Vs. Blue: arguably the most successful
machinima series ever? Will Blood Gulch be silent of one-liners and snide comments once more, or is this a blatant attempt by
Rooster Teeth to drum up interest in their 100th episode? Considering the fact they started it four years ago
on April Fools Day, it's really hard to tell.
(surprise! no youtube links!)
posted by ZachsMind
on Apr 3, 2007 -
11 comments
The
premise of Marvel Comic's
Civil War storyline is that after a hero-related disaster, the government decides to force all superheroes to register, causing a split in the hero community. While heroes debate and decide which side to join, fans
debate whether or not the cross-over series is actually any good. Clearly,
Christopher Bird falls squarely on one side and has attempted to "improve" the story by starting a project to edit the dialogue of the series.
(1) (2) (3) (4)
(5) (6)
posted by robocop is bleeding
on Feb 9, 2007 -
53 comments
Kill Bill + Harry Potter =
Kill Harry, featuring cameo appearances by Bender the robot, Bruce Campbell, and Zombie Rick James, bitch.
posted by Gator
on Feb 20, 2006 -
16 comments
Action Item Man Commissioner: We need you to put a stop to Dr. Diabolical's nefarious plan! Action Item Man: To fully own this challenge, I'll need to be goal-oriented and results driven!
posted by carter
on Jun 3, 2005 -
12 comments
Yes, it's another Internet-only comic strip But this one would never make it past the security guard at your local newspaper. It happens to be really, really funny, especially if you appreciate humor on the warped side. What are the other worthwhile comics that may be flying under the radar due to their "not quite ready for mainstream" content?
posted by jeremias
on Nov 12, 2002 -
106 comments
David Gonterman is "the Ed Wood of internet cartooning", according to
some. He is a frustrated but relentless artist whose "passion far exceeds his aptitude", and who seems destined for mediocrity and
ridicule everywhere but in the panels of
his own comics, where he treads the earth like a living god -- a misogynistic, racist, and ultimately unintelligible god, yes, but man, he sure
can dance.
posted by Hildago
on Sep 4, 2002 -
10 comments
Palestinian comic booted from Jackie Mason's comedy show Ray Hanania, a Palestinian comic in Chicago, was set to open for headlining act Jackie Mason. A few hours before the show, Mason had him booted. "It's not exactly like he's just an Arab-American. This guy's a Palestinian," said Jyll Rosenfeld, Mason's manager. "Jackie does not feel comfortable having a Palestinian open for him." Ouch. (Imagine if the tables were turned: "Ray does not feel comfortable having a Jew open for him")
Too bad, really. If there's one thing the I/P conflict needs, it's more humor. Like this
Muslim-Jewish Comedy Night.
posted by laz-e-boy
on Aug 28, 2002 -
68 comments
