''Yehuda Moon and the Kickstand Cyclery'', or ''Kickstand Comics'', is a

cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

-focused

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

Web developer A web developer is a programmer who develops World Wide Web applications using a client–server model. The applications typically use HTML, CSS, and JavaScript in the client, and any general-purpose programming language in the server. is used f ...

Rick Smith from 2008 to 2017. The titular Yehuda Moon runs a

bike shop A local bike shop or local bicycle shop, sometimes abbreviated LBS, is a small business, as distinct from a chain, mail-order or online vendor, specializing in bicycle sale, maintenance and parts. In the UK and Ireland, the expression ''indep ...

with his friend Joe and is confronted by various challenges at work and during his commute. Smith collaborated with former bike shop worker Brian Griggs to write the webcomic starting in 2010. ''Kickstand Comics'' went on indefinite hiatus in October 2011, and ran irregularly from 2015 to 2017. Six volumes of ''Kickstand Comics'' were released, many supported by

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

Synopsis

The webcomic chronicles the adventures and challenges of Yehuda Moon. The titular character runs a

, the Kickstand Cyclery, with his friend Joe, and is frequently confronted with the challenges presented by his daily

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. Bic ...

commute and the customers (or lack thereof) at his bike shop. ''Kickstand Comics'' features characters such as a bike

ninja A or was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enem ...

, a bike

hypochondriac Hypochondriasis or hypochondria is a condition in which a person is excessively and unduly worried about having a serious illness. An old concept, the meaning of hypochondria has repeatedly changed. It has been claimed that this debilitating cond ...

, the ghost of the previous owner of the Kickstand Cyclery, neighborhood kids, roadies, and commuters. Yehuda advocates simple, traditional, functional biking as espoused by the philosophy of Grant Petersen of

Rivendell Bicycle Works Rivendell Bicycle Works is a producer of lugged steel bicycle frames, located in Walnut Creek, California, United States. Rivendell frames, both custom and stock bicycles are designed in the U.S. by Grant Petersen. Bicycles are manufactured in the ...

. His shop partner Joe acts as a foil to Yehuda and prefers a more performance- or racing-oriented style.

Development

Shaker Heights, Ohio resident Rick Smith invented the name "Yehuda Moon" in high school. When Smith moved back to

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

and lived 12 miles away from his

Web development Web development is the work involved in developing a website for the Internet (World Wide Web) or an intranet (a private network). Web development can range from developing a simple single static page of plain text to complex web applications ...

office, he decided to bike to and from his work every day. After a year, he decided to create a comic strip based on his commute experiences. Smith stopped multiple times on each commute to jot down strip ideas, filling up four notebooks. Smith posted his first strips on a cycling-focused Web forum, and it immediately proved highly popular within the community.{{{cite web, url=https://www.bicycling.com/news/a20042728/inside-yehuda-moon-the-kickstand-cyclery/, work= Bicycling.com, title=Inside 'Yehuda Moon & the Kickstand Cyclery', last=Giddings, first=Caitlin, date=2015-08-12 Releasing a strip every day, Smith spent just over two hours on any given page. Smith did most of his writing in the evenings during the week, and penciled a week worth of comics each weekend, using a

Dixon Ticonderoga The Dixon Ticonderoga Company () is an office and art supplies maker from the United States, with headquarters in Heathrow, Florida. The company offers a number of brands, with one of the most well-known being ''Ticonderoga'': the yellow No. 2 penc ...

pencil on

bristol board Bristol board (also referred to as Bristol paper or super white paper) is an uncoated, machine-finished paperboard. It is not named after the city of Bristol in the southwest of England but rather after Frederick Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol, a ...

. He inked each strip with a Pentel

brush pen A , also known as a brush pen, is a cartridge-based writing implement used in East Asian calligraphy; it is, in essence, an ink brush analogue to a fountain pen. Overview The Japanese manufacturing company Kuretake was the first to launch a bru ...

, before erasing the pencil lines and scanning the strips into

Adobe Photoshop Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe Inc. for Microsoft Windows, Windows and macOS. It was originally created in 1988 by Thomas Knoll, Thomas and John Knoll. Since then, the software has become the indu ...

. Smith admires the work of Harold Gray,

Chester Gould Chester Gould (; November 20, 1900 – May 11, 1985) was an American cartoonist, best known as the creator of the ''Dick Tracy'' comic strip, which he wrote and drew from 1931 to 1977, incorporating numerous colorful and monstrous villains. Ear ...

, and Frank King.{{cite web, url=https://www.bikeradar.com/news/quick-spin-yehuda-moon-cartoonist-rick-smith/, work=Bikeradar, title=Quick spin: 'Yehuda Moon' cartoonist Rick Smith, last=Boulanger, first=Gary, date=2009-03-24 Former bike shop worker Brian Griggs joined as a co-writer in late Spring 2010. The two collaborated through

Google Docs Google Docs is an online word processor included as part of the free, web-based Google Docs Editors suite offered by Google, which also includes: Google Sheets, Google Slides, Google Drawings, Google Forms, Google Sites and Google Keep. Google Do ...

; very rarely did they meet in person or talk on the phone. In October 2011, ''Kickstand Comics'' went on indefinite hiatus. After over 1,200 pages, Smith found it too difficult to make the webcomic financially sustainable, and creating it in addition to holding down other jobs proved too much. The webcomic continued to circulate on

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

, and Smith and Griggs released a limited run of new strips at the start of 2015. Because of a successful fundraising through Kickstarter.com in 2012, the second, third, and fourth volume of ''Kickstand Comics'' were released. These compiled the webstrips up to October 2011, along with unpublished material and reprints of interviews with the cartoonist, were also created and are available. A successful Kickstarter campaign in November 2015 resulted in a fifth and sixth volume to be published.{{cite web, url=https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/yehudamoon/kickstand-comics-volumes-5-and-6, title=Kickstand Comics: Volumes 5 and 6, access-date=21 November 2015 The webcomic ran regularly throughout 2016 and early 2017, publishing strips that appear in the printed Volume 6.

Impact

''Kickstand Comics'' saw over 10,000 unique visitors per week in 2009. Caitlin Giddings of '' Bicycling Magazine'' described ''Kickstand Comics'' as "bike culture's best-known webcomic."

References

{{reflist

External links

Yehuda Moon and the Kickstand Cyclery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yehuda Moon And The Kickstand Cyclery 2008 webcomic debuts 2000s webcomics 2010s webcomics