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Penny Arcade (Comic) - This article is about Penny Arcade, the web comic. For the performance artist, see Penny Arcade (performer); for the source of the name "Penny Arcade", see penny arcade.
Penny Arcade is a web comic written by Jerry Holkins and illustrated by Mike Krahulik. It is among the most popular webcomics currently online. It debuted on November 18, 1998, making it one of the oldest web comics still receiving regular updates. The strip features the two authors' cartoon alter egos, Tycho Brahe and Jonathan Gabriel (a.k.a. Gabe) respectively, who spend much of their time playing computer and video games and commenting on them. A good deal of the humour of this strip revolves around Internet subculture and video games, and often features in-jokes that are explained by the news posts that accompany each comic. Krahulik's signature drawing style is a hallmark of the strip, and its influence on other webcartoonists can arguably be seen. Penny Arcade regularly features profanity and violence, and can easily be considered offensive. There is little plot or general continuity in Penny Arcade strips, owing to the writers' dislike for the concept. They have been quoted as describing it as the "dreaded continuity." A character who dies a horrible, violent death in one strip will come back the next perfectly whole. There is also little realism in Penny Arcade. All manner of creatures have been known to drop in, from zombies to a talking DIVX player, and all manner of strange events have been known to take place. Just about the only thing that can be counted upon is the appearance of a new comic every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, with almost no exceptions. Some of the strips are drawn from the perspective of characters within a gamehttp://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2004-02-13 or moviehttp://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=1999-06-09, often bearing some resemblance to Gabe and Tycho, and usually having some sarcastic remark to make about some feature or bug in the game. Both Krahulik and Holkins make a living from Penny Arcade, placing them in a very small group of web comic artists devoted to their creations full-time. Donations were once accepted, but the site now operates on advertising revenue alone. The website sees tens of thousands of visitors every day, making it one of the most popular sites on the Internet. On November 24, 2003 the authors of Penny Arcade announced their plans for a children's charity, Child's Play, which aimed to organize large scale donations for their local Seattle Children's Hospital. In their first year they donated over $250,000 in cash and toys and expanded their operations in 2004 to partner with additional hospitals in Oakland, San Diego, Houston and Washington DC. During the holiday 2004 season they raised around $310,000 for the hospitals. The creators of the comic appeared on the G4techtv television show Xplay talking about the comic and the charity. On April 12, 2004 the authors of Penny Arcade announced PAX, the Penny Arcade Expo. PAX was a two-day event held in Bellevue, Washington in August, and is planned to be a yearly event. Several exhibitors, including Microsoft and Ubisoft, had playable demos of their upcoming games at the first PAX. Included amongst the events of the first PAX were live musical performances, panels on Penny Arcade, and the Omegathon, where twenty contestants gamed for a chance at winning an excessively large video game collection. Recurring characters As mentioned, Penny Arcade is not a comic with a great deal of continuity. The strip largely centers around conversations between Tycho and Gabe, but occasionally other minor characters make an appearance. - Jonathan Gabriel - Mike Krahulik's comic alter ego, hyper and free-spirited; almost always wears a Pac-Man http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2004-09-08.
- Tycho Brahe (named after the astronomer Tycho Brahe) - Jerry Holkins' comic alter ego, bitter and sarcastic. Nearly invariably clad in a blue-striped shirt. Tycho enjoys books, RPGs and deflating Gabe's ego. http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2004-01-28
- Kara - Gabe's wife. She has reddish-brown hair and is usually seen wearing a purple t-shirt adorned with a grinning teddy bear's head. http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2002-06-07&res=lhttp://penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2004-08-09http://penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2004-01-09
- Brenna - Tycho's wife, with red hair and glasses. Like Kara, she doesn't really understand her husband's obsession with computer games and consoles. http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2004-04-30&res=lhttp://penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2005-02-21http://penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2004-09-10
- Div - A drunken talking DIVX player with a hostile, surly attitude. http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2003-07-16&res=lhttp://penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2004-04-05http://penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2004-02-06http://penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2004-01-02
- Thomas Kemper a.k.a. The cat - A cat with advanced computer skills, possibly including a MCSE. Thomas is named after the Thomas Kemper brand of soft drinks. http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2004-05-03&res=l
- Frank - a manager at Software Etc or possibly Electronics Boutique; he has been referred to as working at both places in different strips. He is also a Vietnam War veteran who is somewhat mentally unstable. Frank often deflects customer complaints or questions with surrealistic stories about patrolling in the jungles of South East Asia. http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2001-10-24http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2004-04-19&res=l
- Charles (formerly known as Chuck) - a somewhat fanatical Mac user who underwent a drastic makeover around the same time as the Mac OS X release (Specifically, the June 23, 2000 strip). http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2000-06-21&res=lhttp://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2000-6-23&res=l)http://penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2004-09-27http://penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2004-03-12
- Fruit Fucker 2000 - a small, robotic juicer with an appalling means of extracting juice.http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2003-06-04http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2002-02-11&res=lhttp://penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2004-04-02
- Twisp and Catsby - an anthropomorphic cat and a devil who are featured only in sepia toned, completely isolated strips. Contrary to what one might think, Catsby is the devil character and Twisp is the cat. Everything about these characters and their strips is even more bizarre than "regular" Penny Arcade continuity, and non sequiturs are standard fare. The duo were created out of Gabe and Tycho's mystification that they were seemingly unable to create something that their readership would dislike, and also as a direct shot at Kevin Smith's quote that the movie Jersey Girl was "not for the critics". (The first appearance of this strange pair was also labelled as "not for critics".) Although Twisp and Catsby effectively demonstrated the absurdity of Smith's quote, the pair ironically became two of the most popular characters. Prints of their panels have since sold for over a thousand dollars. http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2004-03-24&res=lhttp://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2004-04-07&res=lhttp://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2004-11-24&res-l
- Randy Pinkwood - A television news anchor whose broadcasts usually contain references to his alleged sexual prowess. http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2001-08-24&res=l http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2002-06-10&res=l http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2004-12-08&res=l*Mr. Tails - A violent, top hat-wearing monkey. He is usually seen biting various characters. He also once donated blood to Tycho. http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2000-01-07&res=lhttp://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2004-12-29
- Cardboard Tube Samurai - An alter ego of Gabe, who uses a cardboard tube as if he were a samurai wielding a katana. http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2002-10-30&res=lhttp://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2003-03-03http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2003-07-14http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2004-07-28&res=l
- Mr. Period - Your helpful guide to the English language. http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2002-10-11http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2003-07-07http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2004-11-03
- Jesus Christ - The Lord and Saviour of the Christian faith. Also a big fan of FPS and Fighting Games. He enjoys shooting people in online games when they are talking. http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=1999-11-19&res=lhttp://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2000-09-11&res=lhttp://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2003-12-12&res=lhttp://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2004-08-04http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2005-01-28
- BatJew - A friend of Tycho and Gabe. http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2002-08-02
- Safety Monkey - A kindhearted, nice friend of Tycho and Gabe who is usually picked on. http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2001-11-12&res=l
See also External links
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