Boy On A Stick And Slither
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''Boy on a Stick and Slither'' (Sometimes abbreviated as ''BOASAS'') is a
webcomic Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on a website or mobile app. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or comic books. Webcomics can be ...
by Steven L. Cloud. Strips usually feature a short, pithy and sometimes
surreal Surreal may refer to: *Anything related to or characteristic of Surrealism, a movement in philosophy and art * "Surreal" (song), a 2000 song by Ayumi Hamasaki * ''Surreal'' (album), an album by Man Raze *Surreal humour, a common aspect of humor * ...
exchange between the title characters. The strip is characterized by
dry Dry or dryness most often refers to: * Lack of rainfall, which may refer to ** Arid regions ** Drought * Dry or dry area, relating to legal prohibition of selling, serving, or imbibing alcoholic beverages * Dry humor, deadpan * Dryness (medica ...
and
cynical Cynicism is an attitude characterized by a general distrust of the motives of "others". A cynic may have a general lack of faith or hope in people motivated by ambition, desire, greed, gratification, materialism, goals, and opinions that a cynic ...
humor.


History

''Boy on a Stick and Slither'' was first uploaded in 1999 and was originally a member of webcomics collective
Dumbrella Dumbrella is an alliance of webcomic artists who promote one another's sites, travel to conventions, and sell merchandise together. It is also the name of the website of that alliance, which serves as a shared weblog. The current members of the Du ...
. Though ''Boy on a Stick and Slither'' primarily exists on the web, it has also been published in ''
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the only major daily newspaper in the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger between ...
'' and in ''Esquire'' magazine. In April 2007, the webcomic was picked up by
United Media United Media was a large editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service based in the United States, owned by the E. W. Scripps Company, that operated from 1978 to 2011. It syndicated 150 comics and editorial columns worldwide. Its ...
, which syndicated the webcomic online at Comics.com until February 2009. ''Boy on a Stick and Slither'' has since been hosted on its own website.


Style

Tym Godek of ''
The Webcomics Examiner Joe Zabel (born July 7, 1953)Zabel entry
Who's Who of Amer ...
'' described ''Boy on a Stick and Slither'' as with saying "Nothing in BOASAS stands still. Jittering characters, constantly shifting backgrounds and frequent non-sequiturs proliferate through the webcomic." Cloud's day job in
online marketing Online advertising, also known as online marketing, Internet advertising, digital advertising or web advertising, is a form of marketing and advertising which uses the Internet to promote products and services to audiences and platform users. ...
is apparent in the strip's design, as ''Boy on a Stick and Slither'' looks very cognizant of color and layout. Michael Whitney of ''Comixtalk'' prompted that "aesthetically, the strip smacks of commercial art: full page ads and catalog layouts." Cloud breaks the mold in composition, frequently experimenting with backgrounds and panel layouts. Cloud noted in an interview that color is very important to him, and he described picking colors for any given strip as "probably my favorite thing to do." For print publications, Cloud draws alternate black-and-white versions of his strips.


Characters

Steven Cloud conceptualized the titular "Boy on a Stick" as he was
doodling A doodle is a drawing made while a person's attention is otherwise occupied. Doodles are simple drawings that can have concrete representational meaning or may just be composed of random and abstract lines or shapes, generally without ever lifti ...
a boy's head one day and didn't want to mess it up with a poorly-drawn body. He drew a simple rectangular shape below the neck, and to his surprise, the design worked out fairly well. He gave him Slither as a friend, because Cloud found snakes to be exceedingly simple to draw. Cloud wanted his characters to become iconic and easily recognizable, like the characters in ''
Peanuts ''Peanuts'' is a print syndication, syndicated daily strip, daily and Sunday strip, Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz. The strip's original run extended from 1950 to 2000, continuing in reruns afterward. ' ...
''. The Boy on a Stick gradually developed a highly optimistic personality, while Slither became a pessimistic character: Cloud said of the Boy on a Stick and Slither that "the characters allow me to debate myself. They're the best and worst of me." Godek of ''The Webcomics Examiner'' described Boy on a Stick as "the voice of innocence and possibility" who is paired with Slither, "the voice of cynicism and negation." However, Godek also described both characters is inherently
nihilistic Nihilism (; ) is a philosophy, or family of views within philosophy, that rejects generally accepted or fundamental aspects of human existence, such as objective truth, knowledge, morality, values, or meaning. The term was popularized by Ivan ...
, though the Boy in a more cheerful manner. Whitney of ''Comixtalk'', meanwhile, described the two characters as "icons or stand-ins for any two people." Other characters in ''Boy on a Stick and Slither'' play a very minor role, and were primarily created when Cloud was low on ideas. Two characters, the "Florida Cracker" and "Frickles Mudcat", helped Cloud present political topics during the 2004 presidential election.


In Print

* Material from ''Boy on a Stick and Slither'' was included in '' Attitude 3: The New Subversive Online Cartoonists''. * ''Boy on a Stick and Slither'' appeared weekly in ''
The Charlotte Observer ''The Charlotte Observer'' is an American English-language newspaper serving Charlotte, North Carolina, and its metro area. The Observer was founded in 1886. As of 2020, it has the second-largest circulation of any newspaper in the Carolinas. I ...
'' from 2007–2008. * ''Boy on a Stick and Slither'' appeared weekly in ''
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the only major daily newspaper in the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger between ...
'' (2001–2002) * ''Boy on a Stick and Slither'' appeared in the October 2002 issue of ''
Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...
'' (p. 70)


References


External links


Boy on a Stick and Slither website
{{Dumbrella American comedy webcomics 1990s webcomics 2000s webcomics 2010s webcomics Webcomics in print 1998 webcomic debuts