''Mr. Boop'' was a satirical webcomic created by Alec Robbins about a man married to

Betty Boop Betty Boop is an animated cartoon character created by Max Fleischer, with help from animators including Grim Natwick.Pointer (2017) She originally appeared in the ''Talkartoon'' and ''Betty Boop'' film series, which were produced by Fleischer ...

. The comic launched on February 28, 2020. The comic comprises four 'books' made up of 217 strips.

Background

Creation

Alec enjoyed the notion that a character designed as a

sex symbol A sex symbol or icon is a person or character widely considered sexually attractive.Pam Cook, "The trouble with sex: Diana Dors and the Blonde bombshell phenomenon", In: Bruce Babinigton (ed.), ''British Stars and Stardom: From Alma Taylor to ...

was now mostly remembered by grandmothers. Robbins' comedic style was influenced by a company he works for, ''

Abso Lutely Productions Abso Lutely Productions is a film and television production company owned by actor-producers Tim Heidecker, Eric Wareheim and producer Dave Kneebone. It is known for producing TV shows such as ''Tom Goes to the Mayor''; '' Nathan For You''; '' ...

'', especially their shows ' ''Jon Benjamin Has A Van''', '''

The Birthday Boys ''The Birthday Boys'' is a novel by Beryl Bainbridge. First published in 1991, this book tells the story of Captain Robert Scott's 1910-13 expedition to Antarctica. Plot introduction Five first-person narratives give different perspectives o ...

' & '

Nathan For You ''Nathan for You'' is an American docu-reality comedy television series starring Canadian comedian Nathan Fielder. The series was created by Fielder and Michael Koman and premiered on February 28, 2013, on the American cable television network C ...

Book I

After one week, 17 total strips were published. By the 45th strip, Robbins began using characters that 'people have well-known sexual obsessions with online,' such as

Jessica Rabbit Jessica Rabbit is a fictional character in the novel ''Who Censored Roger Rabbit?'' and its film adaptation, ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit''. She is depicted as Roger's human toon wife in various Roger Rabbit media. Jessica is renowned as one of the ...

or Gardevoir from

Pokémon (an abbreviation for in Japan) is a Japanese media franchise managed by The Pokémon Company, founded by Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures (company), Creatures, the owners of the trademark and copyright of the franchise. In terms of ...

. Alec also noted that his inclusion of Ranma was personal to him, as the character resonated with him when he was young. Proceeds from this initial pressing went towards charities and

GoFundMe GoFundMe is an American for-profit crowdfunding platform that allows people to raise money for events ranging from life events such as celebrations and graduations to challenging circumstances like accidents and illnesses. From 2010 to the b ...

pages benefiting the Black Community.

Book II

Like Book I, Book II featured 'guest strips' drawn by various artists, notably

Kate Leth Katrina Jade "Kate" Leth (born 1988) is a Canadian comic book creator, known for works such as '' Patsy Walker, A.K.A. Hellcat!''. Career Leth was born in Ottawa and lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and attended NSCAD University, studying photograp ...

Ryan North Ryan North (born October 20, 1980) is a Canadian writer and computer programmer. He is the creator and author of ''Dinosaur Comics'', and has written for the comic series of ''Adventure Time'' and Marvel Comics' ''The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl''. ...

, and ''

Night in the Woods ''Night in the Woods'' is a 2017 single-player adventure video game. It was developed by Infinite Fall, a studio founded by game designer Alec Holowka and animator/artist Scott Benson, and Secret Lab, an Australian studio, and published by Fin ...

'' creator Scott Benson.

Book III

The book features a meta-narrative about Betty Boop's father breaking up the marriage between Alec and Betty as it breaches copyright law. The arc was fuelled by a 'scare' Robbins had with copyright violation, which, combined with a want to shift gears into other topics. The physical version of Book III also featured guest strips, most notably from American artist Julia Kaye. Book III concluded with a series of two short videos, featuring appearances from Tim Robinson,

Mara Wilson Mara Elizabeth Wilson (born July 24, 1987) is an American actress and writer. She rose to prominence as a child for playing Natalie Hillard in the film ''Mrs. Doubtfire'' (1993) and went on to play Susan Walker in ''Miracle on 34th Street (1994 ...

and

Justin McElroy Justin Tyler McElroy ( , born November 8, 1980) is an American podcaster, comedian, and former video game journalist. He is known for his work on podcasts (such as ''My Brother, My Brother and Me'', ''The Adventure Zone'', and ''Sawbones'') and ...

Book IV

The book contains horror elements. As of May 2022, Robbins had his reservations about the ending, unsure if he was sending out the right message, that it is bad to 'fall into fantasy worlds and enjoy them'.

Legacy

Mr. Boop was shortlisted for

Heidi MacDonald Heidi MacDonald (born November 15) is a writer and editor in the field of comic books based in New York City. She runs the comics industry news blog '' The Beat''. Career MacDonald is a former editor for DC Comics' Vertigo imprint and ''Disney ...

's 2021 'Cartoonists Studio Prize', and was nominated for an

Ignatz Award The Ignatz Awards recognize outstanding achievements in comics and cartooning by small press creators or creator-owned projects published by larger publishers. They have been awarded each year at the Small Press Expo since 1997, only skipping a ...

. Zachary Jenkins of ComicsXF said "Until the team behind Sonic understands our dark desires, we will have to fulfill our needs with underground art like ''Mr. Boop''." In 2022,

Silver Sprocket Silver Sprocket is a San Francisco-based Alternative comics, indie comics publisher and independent record label, founded in 2007 by Avi Ehrlich of Springman Records. In addition to publishing records and comics, Silver Sprocket also supports a ra ...

released a hardcover collection of the entirety of Mr. Boop, which won the Ignatz Award for Outstanding Collection later that year.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Mr. Boop, the psychosexual webcomic that is a scathing critique of copyright

Free Sex, Free Beer, Free Speech – Mr. Boop and the Problem of Desire
2020 webcomic debuts 2021 webcomic endings American webcomics Betty Boop Romance webcomics Satirical webcomics