''NetBoy'' 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 co ...
created by Stafford Huyler.
Publishing began in May, 1994.
Drawn as a stick figure, the comic character NetBoy is an Internet innocent with his greatest joy in life being "fast
.GIFs."
[Silverman, Dwight. (1994)]
Internet's playing their 'toons"
''Houston Chronicle
The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With it ...
''.
Development
Huyler grew up in
Winnetka, Illinois
Winnetka () is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, located north of downtown Chicago. The population was 12,316 as of 2019. The village is one of the wealthiest places in the nation in terms of household income. It was the second- ...
as the oldest of three brothers. Bored throughout high school, he skipped college and in 1988 started an
electronic graphics business with his father. The company the two created folded up within a year, however, and the ''NetBoy'' concept was slowly forming while Huyler worked as a
pizza deliverer and programmed digital keyboards for musicians.
Huyler started uploading ''NetBoy'' on the
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web (WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system enabling documents and other web resources to be accessed over the Internet.
Documents and downloadable media are made available to the network through web se ...
when he was 23 years old and worked as a creative director for Chicago-based
internet provider
An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise private ...
InterAccess InterAccess is a Canadian artist-run centre and electronic media production facility in Toronto. Founded in 1982 as Toronto Community Videotex, InterAccess is Ontario's only exhibition space devoted exclusively to technological media arts. The Cent ...
. The stick figure character was designed as an "Internet innocent" because, as Huyler put it at the time, "the Internet needs a good parody." According to Huyler, each of the characters in the webcomic are based on people one may find on the internet. Huyler started selling ''NetBoy''
T-shirts
A T-shirt (also spelled tee shirt), or tee, is a style of fabric shirt named after the T shape of its body and sleeves. Traditionally, it has short sleeves and a round neckline, known as a ''crew neck'', which lacks a collar. T-shirts are generall ...
within a year of the webcomic's release.
When ''NetBoy'' was accessed by six users every second in December 1994, the server it was hosted on crashed, which prompted Huyler to go on hiatus for three months so that he could design a server that could better serve the rising demands. In March 1995, Huyler estimated ''NetBoy''s following to be at 1 million people.
Reception
The webcomic was recommended by ''
Wired
''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fra ...
'' in October, 1994 as "comics for the hardcore geek."
[Wired Magazine. (October, 1994). ]
The (Second Phase of the) Revolution Has Begun
''Wired Magazine
''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online magazine, online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquar ...
''. ''NetBoy'' was featured in ''
The Milwaukee Journal
The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper. It is also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely distributed. It is currently o ...
'' as the "leading cartoon denizen of the Internet" in January 1995.
References
External links
*Stafford Huyler'
NetBoy.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Netboy
American comedy webcomics
1990s webcomics
Infinite canvas webcomics
1994 webcomic debuts