''Lethargic Lad'' is a protagonist in the comic strip of the same name, created by Greg Hyland sometime in the late 1980s. The character is notable for being very slow and inactive. Lethargic Lad does not speak, though he sometimes mutters "Umm...".
Comics
Lethargic Lad is the name of both a comic and a comic book character created by
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
artist Greg Hyland. Hyland created the character in high school as a doodle, and beginning in 1988, he featured the character in a photocopied anthology mini-comic called ''Lethargic Comics Weakly''. This anthology, which was rounded out with contributions from fellow animation students (and one instructor) at
Sheridan College
Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning (formerly Sheridan College of Applied Arts and Technology) is a public polytechnic institute of technology located in the west- Greater Toronto Area in Ontario, Canada.
Founded i ...
, lampooned
superhero comics, and was sold to local animation and comics fans.
In June 1991, ''Lethargic Comics Weakly'' restarted its continuity in an internationally distributed, professional format independent black and white comic, which ran for 12 issues until June 1993. This was followed by the spin-off ''Tales of Lethargy'', which ran for three issues beginning in August 1993, and featured "Gun Guy, Ghost Guy, and Guy With Claws." Publishing began again in January 1994 under the new title ''Lethargic Comics'', which ran for 15 issues through June 1996. In June 1996, a three issue mini-series was released that dropped the anthology style of the comic. In a testament to the character's intense
cult following, the cover to issue #3 of this mini-series was painted by
Alex Ross as a parody of the
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
Kingdom Come series, which Ross himself had illustrated.
''Lethargic Lad Adventures'' launched in October 1997. This series lasted 13 issues, being renamed ''Lethargic Lad'' with the third issue. The series featured an innovation: the actual story in the comic began right on the cover.
In April 2000, Greg Hyland launched lethargiclad.com and moved from doing a print comic book to doing a weekly
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 c ...
, with each month's collection of webcomics considered one "issue." Some of these webcomics have been reprinted in irregular "jumbo-sized annuals" put out by
John Kovalic
John Kovalic (born Robert John Kovalic, Jr. on 24 November 1962) is an American cartoonist, illustrator, and writer.
Career
Born in Manchester, England, Kovalic is best known for his ''Dork Tower'' comic book, comic strip, and webcomic, and oth ...
's
Dork Storm (publisher of the gaming satire/humor comic
Dork Tower
''Dork Tower'' is an online comic created, written and drawn by John Kovalic. It chronicles the lives of a group of geeks living in the fictional town of Mud Bay, Wisconsin. Mud Bay's design is strongly influenced by the author's home town of M ...
). More recently, books collecting the online webcomics have been put out by Mr. Hyland himself.
Currently, ''Lethargic Lad'' is a weekly webcomic posted on Sunday.
Greg Hyland has occasionally taken off time for other projects, as well as for the birth of his daughter.
Other projects include providing production art for licensed
LEGO brand product and doing storyboarding for their animated shorts. Greg has worked in the past for
Nelvana on such cartoons as
Beetlejuice (TV series)
''Beetlejuice'' is an animated television series that ran from September 9, 1989, to October 26, 1991, on ABC, and on Fox from September 9, 1991, to December 6, 1991. Loosely based on the 1988 film of the same name, it was developed by the film' ...
. He has also worked as an illustrator and colorist for
Steve Jackson Games on card games including ''
Munchkin Fu'' and its expansion ''Munchkin Fu – Monky Business,'' ''
Ninja Burger
is a parody website started in late 1999, purporting that a sect of noble ninja have taken to secretly delivering fast food meals, anywhere, anytime, within 30 minutes or less. Failure to deliver within the ascribed time limit results in seppuk ...
,'' and ''Burn In Hell''.
The Lethargic Lad universe has many supporting and recurring characters lampooning much of the
Marvel
Marvel may refer to:
Business
* Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company
** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment
** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe
** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics
* ...
and DC catalogues.
Lethargic Lad Timeline:
# ''Lethargic Comics, Weakly'' (minis) #1–60 (1988–1991)
# ''Lethargic Comics, Weakly'' #1–12 (1991–1993)
# ''Tales of Lethargy'' #1–3 (1993)
# 'Lethargic Comics'' #1–3, #3.14, #4–14 (1994–1996)
# ''Lethargic Lad'' #1–3 (1996)
# ''Lethargic Lad Adventures'' #1–2 (1997), continued as ''Lethargic Lad''.
# ''Lethargic Lad'' #3–13 (1998–1999), continued from ''Lethargic Lad Adventures''.
# ''The Big Book of Lethargic Lad'' (1998), collects stories from ''Lethargic Comics, Weakly'' (1991–1993), ''Lethargic Comics'' (1994–1996), and the ''Lethargic Lad'' mini-series (1996).
# ''Lethargic Lad Jumbo-Sized Annual'' #1–3 (2002–2005) (various online strips)
# ''Lethargic Lad: Topics of Unclear Importance'' (2007), collects online strips from 2000–2007.
# ''Lethargic Lad 2007'' (2008), collects online strips from 2007.
# ''Lethargic Lad 2008'' (2009), collects online strips from 2008.
# ''Lethargic Lad 2009'' (2010), collects online strips from 2009.
# ''Lethargic Lad 2010'' (2011), collects online strips from 2010.
# ''Lethargic Lad 2011'' (2012), collects online strips from 2011.
# ''Lethargic Lad 2012'' (2013), collects online strips from 2012.
# ''Lethargic Lad: Season One'' (2016), collects online strips from 2014–2016.
# ''Lethargic Lad: Season One – Revised and Expanded 2017 Edition'' (2017), collects online strips from 2014–2017.
# Lethargic Lad.com #1–735 (weekly online strips)
A Lethargic Lad backup comic, ''Lethargic Lad's Rogues Gallery,'' also appeared in
Dork Tower
''Dork Tower'' is an online comic created, written and drawn by John Kovalic. It chronicles the lives of a group of geeks living in the fictional town of Mud Bay, Wisconsin. Mud Bay's design is strongly influenced by the author's home town of M ...
from issues #16–36. These strips were collected in ''Lethargic Lad: Topics of Unclear Importance.''
Major characters
*Lethargic Lad – The main character of the series. He is the protector of
Infantino City, a presumably large metropolis. He has the power of lethargy, and is always ready to save the day. His secret identity is Larry Ladhands, who is rich and lives in a mansion. Below his mansion is the
Lad Cave, where he keeps his vehicles and gadgets.
*
Sailor Steve
''Lethargic Lad'' is a protagonist in the comic strip of the same name, created by Greg Hyland sometime in the late 1980s. The character is notable for being very slow and inactive. Lethargic Lad does not speak, though he sometimes mutters "Umm.. ...
– a male
otaku
is a Japanese word that describes people with consuming interests, particularly in anime, manga, video games, or computers. Its contemporary use originated with a 1983 essay by Akio Nakamori in '' Manga Burikko''. may be used as a pejorat ...
who dresses in
Sailor Moon outfits. Sailor Steve first appeared in Lethargic Lad #3. He frequents the trendy coffee shop, and Infantino city. He is an expert on Japan, even more so than some Japanese, especially about toys, movies, animation, and television. He is meant to be a satire on otaku in general.
Sailor Steve
/ref>
References
{{reflist
External links
* Greg Hyland mentioned as a "notable" alternative and small press creator i
from ''Beyond the Funnies, a Canadian Comics History project'' by the Canadian Library and Archives.
* Greg Hyland and the Lethargic Lad webcomic a
called ''Scott McCloud & The World of Online Comics''.
Site Spotlight: Far from a Lethargic site
at ''Comic Book Marks''.
Featured Interview
with Greg Hyland from ''Viking News: Online Edition of the Student Newspaper of Ocean County College''.
Spotlight
from ''Read This Or Die'' a
Sequential Tart
for ''Lethargic Lad #3,'' an issue that parodied ''Kingdom Come (comics)
''Kingdom Come'' is a four-issue comic book miniseries published in 1996 by DC Comics under their Elseworlds imprint. It was written by Mark Waid and Alex Ross and painted in gouache by Ross, who also developed the concept from an original idea.
...
,'' from the sit
DC Comics Annotations
frightenstein.com
notes
in an issue of ''Lethargic Lad''.
Greg Hyland
an
Lethargic Lad
at comicbookDB.com
Lethargic Lad
at the Grand Comics Database
The Grand Comics Database (GCD) is an Internet-based project to build a database of comic book information through user contributions. The GCD project catalogues information on creator credits, story details, reprints, and other information useful ...
Greg Hyland interviewed about Lethargic Lad by Studio Kaiju
Parody webcomics
Superhero webcomics
Comics publications
Canadian webcomics
Canadian comedy websites
2000s webcomics
2010s webcomics
Webcomics in print
2000 webcomic debuts