Cyanide and Happiness

Cyanide and Happiness
Author(s)	Kris Wilson Rob DenBleyker Matt Melvin Dave McElfatrick
Website	http://www.explosm.net
Current status / schedule	Daily, with occasional lapses
Launch date	2005-01-26
Publisher(s)	Explosm
Genre(s)	Anti-humor, Black comedy, satire, word humor

Cyanide and Happiness is a webcomic hosted on Explosm.net and written by four authors with occasional contributions from guests. It was founded on December 9th 2004 and has hosted almost daily comics since January 26th 2005. It appears frequently on social networking sites (such as Myspace and LiveJournal), Facebook, web forums, and blogs as it openly allows and encourages fans to hotlink images, a behavior that many webcomics frown upon. The comic's authors attribute the comic's success to its often controversial nature.^[1]

The site has claimed over a million daily visitors (as of November 20, 2006) and is ranked 2,777th among the most viewed websites and 1,338th in the US alone, according to Alexa.com.^[2] The creators also have made comics and television advertisements for Orange Mobile's Orange Wednesdays, which have appeared in The Sun newspaper.^[3][4]

Explosm

Cyanide and Happiness began as a small series of comics drawn by Kris Wilson at the age of 16. One day while at his home suffering from strep throat, Kris entertained himself by drawing comics by hand, and would later move on to drawing them on his computer. Kris created his own website called Comicazi, that allowed him to showcase his comics to others. Kris shared his comics with the forum of Stickdeath.com. The webmasters of Sticksuicide (Matt Melvin, Rob DenBleyker and Dave McElfatrick) eventually gave up on StickSuicide and started Explosm.net, a new site less focused on Flash Stick Death animation and more on art in general. They saw potential in Kris' comics, so they invited him to continue the comic daily with their help. Explosm is currently run by Matt, Rob, Dave, and Kris. The entire Explosm team now makes comics on a regular basis. The current name "Cyanide and Happiness" comes from a strip in which one character is selling cotton candy made of cyanide and happiness. The other character replies: "Happyness!?!? [sic] Hot damn! I'll take 4"^[5] In the past, Explosm has featured Guest Weeks, where readers submit entries to the administrators and the best are featured as daily comics over the course of the week. In a news post on the site on October 14, 2007 Rob announced that there was a project about to go underway to translate every comic in the archive into various languages. Based on the response, in a subsequent post Rob said that the response had been phenomenal with 1300 replies offering to translate into over 20 different languages.

"Let Dave Into America" Campaign

In 2010, author Dave McElfatrick, a Northern Ireland native, started a petition for a visa into the United States, in order to be with the other writers to produce more animated shorts. Since Dave posted the petition on the Explosm.net forums on July 28, the petition has garnered over 132,000 signatures in less than three weeks.[8] On September 1, 2010 it was officially announced that Dave qualified for the visa that would allow him to enter the United States to work on more comics and animated shorts with Kris Wilson, Rob DenBleyker, and Matt Melvin.

Style

The style of Cyanide and Happiness is best described as dark, cynical, often offensive, and exceedingly irreverent. Frequent topics of humor include disabilities, terrorism,^[6] 9/11^[7][8], rape,^[9] cancer,^[10] murder,^[11] necrophilia,^[12] pedophilia,^[13][14] sexual deviancy,^[15] sexually transmitted diseases,^[16] self-harm,^[17], suicide^[18], eating disorders^[19], abortion^[20] and vehicular manslaughter.^[21][22] These topics are usually introduced in an unexpected or shocking way that is jarringly different from the natural "obvious" reading on the strip thus far. However this is not always the case, and some family friendly jokes do exist among the offensive material. The comic does not always have a definite punchline in each strip, or may have several panels of "awkward silence"^[23] after (or instead of) the punchline, with characters simply staring at each other.

There are few recurring characters (some include Charles & his girlfriend, the Purple-Shirted Eye Stabber, Dr. Baby, Trelaf the Wise, Obese Maurice, superheroes like Seizure Man and Super Jerk, Dan the Downer, and Tall Justin) and virtually no characterization, with characters often acting irrationally or nonsensically. The lack of characterization is supported by the primitive drawing style. Characters rarely have names and are usually only distinguishable by the colors of their shirts (although they might not exactly be shirts as in the comic published on September 6th 2009, the green character opens his clothing like if it was a coat). This naturally precludes most character-driven humor.^[1] The male characters almost always have no hair, which became a joke in itself.^[24] Female characters are distinguishable by their long hair and chest size, often used to comedic effect. The strip also features many pop culture references such as Nike and Star Wars and famous people or celebrities such as Lindsay Lohan, George W. Bush,^[25] Richard Nixon,^[26] Steven Tyler, Metallica, The Beatles,^[27] Queen,^[28], Barack Obama, Chad Kroeger of Nickelback, Hinder, Soulja Boy Tell 'Em, Chris Martin of Coldplay, and Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day. Jesus also makes numerous appearances, often with the comic containing religious puns.^[29]

All four artists also occasionally break fourth wall, using the borders of each comic panel as part of the comic itself, allowing the characters within to interact with them in some form or another.^[30][31] The comics frequently make use of metafiction (or breaking the fourth wall), with characters acknowledging their status as cartoons in a webcomic and discussing what is expected of them as a consequence.^[32]

On at least nine occasions, Cyanide and Happiness has used animation in an otherwise static comic.^{[33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41]}

Aside from purely comedic strips, Cyanide & Happiness has Depressing Comic Weeks. During that week, instead of any kind of humor, the authors write depressing and/or upsetting comics, sort of the opposite of the usual comedy.

Other Explosm content

• Since 2006, there have been a total of 32 Flash "shorts" done by the site administrators, the newest being named "Dogs". They follow the same theme as the Cyanide and Happiness comics and are drawn in the same style. The characters are, in most instances, voiced by the webmasters themselves.^[42] Chase Suddarth contributes occasionally to the shorts.
• The site additionally hosts Joe Zombie, a Flash series by Rob. He recently stated he will not be releasing the sequel Joe Zombie 7^[43], however he edited the post stating that it was a joke. It is not currently known if Rob has plans to release it or not. Flash work by Dave is also featured on the site, and also 16 videos being the last "Ted Bear".
• Humor articles by all four administrators are regularly featured on the site, with work by Kris, Matt, and Dave featured heavily. The newest being "Die Romantic- A Look At Aiden" by Dave, who scathingly critiques goth punk band Aiden.
• Explosm also has a merchandise store, from which fans can purchase a variety of Cyanide and Happiness T-shirt designs, plushies, posters, and comic prints.
• Two books have been released by Rob, Kris, Matt, and Dave containing the first and second volumes of Cyanide and Happiness comics, each one contains 120 of their favorite comics, and 30 new comics.
• On the forums there was an interactive story where users got to suggest what the main character did. This was created in 2007, with the first comic about a man finding two warring societies inside Mt. Everest. However, due to a site crash, the story (as well as three others) was deleted. A new one was created in late 2007. This was called "Working on the space station: Day 1," and was created by Rob. This turned out to be very successful in the eyes of the Explosm team and future "Interactive Stories" are planned.
• Cyanide and Happiness has released an iPhone and iPod Touch app that allows caching of viewed images for offline viewing, as well as a random button. The app is $0.99 and can be obtained through the App Store, and is currently at version 1.2.
• Cyanide and Happiness also released a 'lite' version of the iPhone and iPod app. It only allows users to view the most previous 30 comics and shorts (although, all the comics and shorts are still in the library, just inaccessible). It can be obtained at the App Store at no cost, and is currently at version 1.0.
• Cyanide and Happiness have also released apps on the Android Market and Windows Phone Marketplace, with the same features as the iPhone and iPod app.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Student draws explosive web comic". The UTD Mercury. April 3, 2006. http://www.utdmercury.com/2.7018/student-draws-explosive-web-comic-1.1001334. Retrieved 2006-09-26. 
2. ^ "explosm.net". Alexa. Retrieved 2010-08-15.
3. ^ "Orange unveils cartoon stick man print campaign". Brand Republic. July 18, 2006. http://www.brandrepublic.com/bulletins/digital/article/570032/orange-unveils-cartoon-stick-man-print-campaign/. Retrieved 2006-09-27. 
4. ^ "Orange Wednesday campaign". DM weekly. Direct Marketing Association. July 27, 2006. http://dmweekly.mad.co.uk/Main/Home/Articles/071ddf11c7e54d1aa0e7327c5645bd6f/Orange-Wednesday-campaign.html?uiArticleID=071ddf11-c7e5-4d1a-a0e7-327c5645bd6f&uiNavigationItemID=3144afe7-b918-44ea-ad92-51c2f35294b2&. Retrieved 2006-09-28. 
5. ^ "Cyanide & Happiness #121". http://www.explosm.net/comics/121/. Retrieved 11 June 2011. 
6. ^ [1]
7. ^ http://explosm.net/comics/1559/
8. ^ http://www.explosm.net/comics/1018/
9. ^ "1052 Comics". Explosm.net. 2007-10-16. http://www.explosm.net/comics/1052/. Retrieved 2010-06-10. 
10. ^ "308 Comics". Explosm.net. 2010-04-21. http://www.explosm.net/comics/308/. Retrieved 2010-06-10. 
11. ^ "399 Comics". Explosm.net. http://www.explosm.net/comics/399/. Retrieved 2010-06-10. 
12. ^ "617 Comics". Explosm.net. http://www.explosm.net/comics/617/. Retrieved 2010-06-10. 
13. ^ "268 Comics". Explosm.net. 2010-04-21. http://www.explosm.net/comics/268/. Retrieved 2010-06-10. 
14. ^ "306 Comics". Explosm.net. http://www.explosm.net/comics/306/. Retrieved 2010-06-10. 
15. ^ "395 Comics". Explosm.net. http://www.explosm.net/comics/395/. Retrieved 2010-06-10. 
16. ^ "342 Comics". Explosm.net. 2005-10-13. http://www.explosm.net/comics/342/. Retrieved 2010-06-10. 
17. ^ "444 Comics". Explosm.net. http://www.explosm.net/comics/444/. Retrieved 2010-06-10. 
18. ^ http://www.explosm.net/comics/2245/
19. ^ http://www.explosm.net/comics/722/
20. ^ http://www.explosm.net/comics/2579/
21. ^ "84 Comics". Explosm.net. http://www.explosm.net/comics/84/. Retrieved 2010-12-10. 
22. ^ "113 Comics". Explosm.net. http://www.explosm.net/comics/113/. Retrieved 2010-12-10. 
23. ^ "621 Comics". Explosm.net. http://www.explosm.net/comics/621/. Retrieved 2010-06-10. 
24. ^ "642 Comics". Explosm.net. 2006-08-28. http://www.explosm.net/comics/642/. Retrieved 2010-06-10. 
25. ^ "887 Comics". Explosm.net. 2010-04-21. http://www.explosm.net/comics/887/. Retrieved 2010-06-10. 
26. ^ "805 Comics". Explosm.net. 2007-02-16. http://www.explosm.net/comics/805/. Retrieved 2010-06-10. 
27. ^ "885 Comics". Explosm.net. 2007-04-30. http://www.explosm.net/comics/885/. Retrieved 2010-06-10. 
28. ^ "666 Comics". Explosm.net. 2006-09-23. http://www.explosm.net/comics/666/. Retrieved 2010-06-10. 
29. ^ "312 Comics". Explosm.net. 2005-09-15. http://www.explosm.net/comics/312/. Retrieved 2010-06-10. 
30. ^ "445 Comics". Explosm.net. 2006-02-17. http://www.explosm.net/comics/445/. Retrieved 2010-06-10. 
31. ^ "680 Comics". Explosm.net. http://www.explosm.net/comics/680/. Retrieved 2010-06-10. 
32. ^ "375 Comics". Explosm.net. http://www.explosm.net/comics/375/. Retrieved 2010-06-10. 
33. ^ "1511 Comics". Explosm.net. http://www.explosm.net/comics/1511/. Retrieved 2010-06-10. 
34. ^ "1582 Comics". Explosm.net. 2010-04-21. http://www.explosm.net/comics/1582/. Retrieved 2010-06-10. 
35. ^ "1149 Comics". Explosm.net. http://www.explosm.net/comics/1149/. Retrieved 2010-06-10. 
36. ^ "1007 Comics". Explosm.net. 2010-04-21. http://www.explosm.net/comics/1007/. Retrieved 2010-06-10. 
37. ^ "1802 Comics". Explosm.net. 2009-09-20. http://www.explosm.net/comics/1802/. Retrieved 2010-06-10. 
38. ^ "1847 Comics". Explosm.net. 2010-04-21. http://www.explosm.net/comics/1847/. Retrieved 2010-06-10. 
39. ^ "691 Comics". Explosm.net. http://www.explosm.net/comics/691/. Retrieved 2010-06-10. 
40. ^ "2267". Explosm.net. http://www.explosm.net/comics/2267/. Retrieved 210-12-18. 
41. ^ "2471 Comics". Explosm.net. http://www.explosm.net/comics/2471/. Retrieved 2011-07-01. 
42. ^ "List of Explosm.net Flash Movies". Kris Wilson, et al. April 1, 2009. http://www.explosm.net/movies/. Retrieved 2009-04-01. 
43. ^ "Rob posts in thread about Joe Zombie 7". Explosm.net. January 2, 2009. http://forums.explosm.net/showpost.php?p=970988&postcount=40. Retrieved 2010-03-21. 

External links

• Cyanide & Happiness Archive from Explosm.net
• Cyanide and Happiness on Twitter
• Cyanide and Happiness on Facebook
• Cyanide & Happiness Archive translated into Russian
• Cyanide & Happiness Archive translated into Brazilian Portuguese