Cyanide and Happiness  (English, Hardcover, D. Rob)

Cyanide And Happiness I’m Giving You The Finger features 150 classic comics which were published online, as well as 30 comics which were previously unpublished. Initially a webcomic, Cyanide And Happiness has become hugely popular thanks to numerous social networking sites. The controversial and edgy nature of the webcomic have also contributed to its success.

Summary Of The Book  

Kris Wilson, one of the co-authors of the book, started Cyanide And Happiness as a small comic series when he was just sixteen. Today, it is a rage on the internet, and this book is the result of the ever-increasing popularity of the comic series online. Some of the key characteristics of the Cyanide And Happiness comics are the deviant behaviours of the characters, controversial jokes, and irreverent characters.

Cyanide And Happiness I’m Giving You The Finger features comics that have been drawn using Macromedia Flash. The common themes that serve as settings for the jokes are controversial subjects like AIDS, suicide, and abortion. The use of names is minimal, and characters are distinguished on the basis of their shirt color. Male characters are mostly hairless, while female characters have a certain chest size and long hair. These physical features enhance the comic nature of the characters. The comics occasionally have religious puns as well, with Jesus making appearances now and then.

Certain recurring characters do have names though such as Trelaf the Wise, Charles and Dr. Baby, his girlfriend, The Personal Space Invader, and Obese Maurice. Some superheroes like Super Jerk, Seizure Man, Tall Justin, and Dan the Downer also make appearances throughout the series.

According to the authors, the reception of Cyanide And Happiness has been great because of the sharing policy used by them, which allows anyone to share the content through social networking sites. The controversial nature of the comics has drawn some criticism from readers. But, the comic series has overall been a huge success.

About The Authors

Kris Wilson is the one who originally started the Cyanide And Happiness comic series.

The Comicaze website was the first place where the comics were published. He later on started uploading the comics to Sticksuicide.com, which was founded by one of the co-authors, Rob DenBleyker in 2004.

Rob DenBleyker and Matt Melvin, other co-authors, worked on stick figure death movies and uploaded their work on Newgrounds.com. The webmasters of the forum included DenBleyker, Melvin, and another co-author, Dave McElfatrick. All of them were impressed by Wilson’s work, and decided to bring him on-board.

Occasional collaborations would happen through Skype, and even though the authors started working on Cyanide And Happiness from 2004, they finally came face to face at the 2007 San Diego Comic-Con.