| Scott Kurtz | |
|---|---|
 Kurtz at the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo in 2011 | |
| Born | Scott R. Kurtz March 15, 1971 Watsonville, California |
| Nationality | American |
| Area(s) | Cartoonist, Writer, Penciller, Artist, Inker, Editor, Publisher |
Notable works | PvP |
Scott R. Kurtz (born March 15, 1971) [1] is an American webcomic artist. Known for creating the daily online comic-strip PvP , Kurtz is among the first professional webcomic creators.
Kurtz was born to a Catholic household in Watsonville, California. He attended the University of North Texas where he created and published a daily comic strip Captain Amazing in the North Texas Daily, the student newspaper. It ran for four semesters. His first work on the internet were comics related to the MMORPG game Ultima Online called "Samwise" and later "Tales by Tavernlight." Scott also produced a comic about his life as a newlywed called "Wedlock" for the early subscription comics site Modern Tales. Kurtz also co-wrote the comic Truth, Justin and the American way with Aaron Williams.
He launched PvP May 4, 1998, for a gaming website (MPOG.COM). In June 1999, Kurtz retooled the strip and re-launched it. In March 2000, he launched a print version as a bi-monthly for Dork Storm Press. [2] After publishing the print version of PvP for eight years through Image Comics, he began self-publishing, citing a natural readership decline of the print version and an increase of the online version. His self-publishing company, Toonhound Studios LLC, is a Texas entity with operations in Seattle.
Kurtz created a spin-off webcomic of PvP in 2013, entitled Table Titans . He also co-wrote The Trenches with Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik. [3] The Trenches was a comic about working in the video game industry which ran from 2011 to 2016. His webcomics career began to slow down in 2018 when his father suffered disabling strokes and he became a caregiver, although he channelled some of his feelings and experiences into the short webcomic 'Mort'. [4] PVP went on hiatus in February 2022. In March 2024 he published the first volume of a graphic novel series set in the world of Table Titans with Penguin Random House. [5]
Kurtz played the character Dwarven Fighter Binwin Bronzebottom in Acquisitions Incorporated, a Dungeons & Dragons-related podcast and live show. [6] In 2013, Kurtz collaborated with Kris Straub to write and produce an animated series for ShiftyLook based on the video game Mappy , titled Mappy: The Beat, with Kurtz also voicing several characters. [7]
Kurtz lived in Little Elm, Texas until his move to Seattle in 2010, where he worked from the Penny Arcade offices for over a year. He now works from home. [8]
Penny Arcade is a webcomic focused on video games and video game culture, written by Jerry Holkins and illustrated by Mike Krahulik. The comic debuted in 1998 on the website loonygames.com. Since then, Holkins and Krahulik have established their own site, which is typically updated with a new comic strip each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The comics are accompanied by regular updates on the site's blog.
Webcomics are comics published on the internet, such as on a website or a mobile app. While many webcomics are published exclusively online, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or comic books.
PvP, also known as Player vs Player, was a longrunning video game webcomic, written and drawn by Scott Kurtz. It was launched on May 4, 1998. The webcomic follows the events at a fictional video game magazine company, featuring many running gags and references with a focus on nerd culture. Dylan Meconis was added as a co-writer in 2013.
Mappy is an arcade game by Namco, originally released in 1983 and distributed in the United States by Bally Midway. Running on the Namco's Super Pac-Man hardware modified to support horizontal scrolling, the game features a mouse protagonist and cat antagonists, similar to Hanna-Barbera's Tom and Jerry cartoon series. The name "Mappy" is likely derived from mappo (マッポ), a slightly pejorative Japanese slang term for policeman. The game has been re-released in several Namco arcade compilations. It spawned a handful of sequels and a 2013 animated web series developed by cartoonists Scott Kurtz and Kris Straub.
Ryan North is a Canadian writer and computer programmer.
Kristofer Straub is an American web cartoonist, performer, and content creator. His key web comic projects include Checkerboard Nightmare, Starslip, Chainsawsuit, Broodhollow, and F Chords. Other notable projects include the creepypasta "Candle Cove" as well as collaborations with Scott Kurtz ("Blamimations"), Paul Verhoeven, and Penny Arcade.
Brad Guigar is an American cartoonist who is best known for his daily webcomic Greystone Inn and its sequel Evil Inc.
Sheldon is a comedy webcomic created by Dave Kellett. It centers on the odd family unit of 10-year-old Sheldon, his grandfather guardian and his talking duck, Arthur. Much humour is character-based, often joking at traits such as Sheldon's geekiness, Gramp's old age or Arthur's over-inflated ego. Kellett's other webcomic, Drive, had appeared on the Sheldon site each Saturday, before moving to a site of its own.
Cyanide & Happiness (C&H) is a webcomic created by Kris Wilson, Rob DenBleyker, Matt Melvin, and Dave McElfatrick. The comic has been running since 2005 and is published on the website explosm.net along with animated shorts in the same style. Matt Melvin left C&H in 2014, and several other people have contributed to the comic and to the animated shorts.
ShiftyLook was a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings that was focused on revitalizing older Namco franchises, with their first step being video game webcomics based on the company's various franchises. The subsidiary later offered webtoons, anime, playable games, music, message boards, and graphic novels as well. ShiftyLook regularly held substantial exhibitions at large US comics conventions, having a major booth presences and holding large giveaways of promotional merchandise.
Table Titans is a Dungeons & Dragons-based webcomic created by Scott Kurtz, which debuted on January 28, 2013. It is a spin-off of Kurtz's other webcomic PvP, and features characters who have previously appeared in PvP comics. Table Titans is produced by Kurtz, Steve Hamaker, Brian Hurtt, and Tavis Maiden.
The history of webcomics follows the advances of technology, art, and business of comics on the Internet. The first comics were shared through the Internet in the mid-1980s. Some early webcomics were derivatives from print comics, but when the World Wide Web became widely popular in the mid-1990s, more people started creating comics exclusively for this medium. By the year 2000, various webcomic creators were financially successful and webcomics became more artistically recognized.
Notable events of 2007 in webcomics.
Notable events of 2005 in webcomics.
Notable events of 2013 in webcomics.
Notable events of 2006 in webcomics.
Notable events of 2010 in webcomics.
The business of webcomics involves creators earning a living through their webcomic, often using a variety of revenue channels. Those channels may include selling merchandise such as t-shirts, jackets, sweatpants, hats, pins, stickers, and toys, based on their work. Some also choose to sell print versions or compilations of their webcomics. Many webcomic creators make use of online advertisements on their websites, and possibly even product placement deals with larger companies. Crowdfunding through websites such as Kickstarter and Patreon are also popular choices for sources of potential income.
Notable events of the late 1990s in webcomics.
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