Randal Keith Milholland (born November 25, 1975), better known as R. K. Milholland, is an American
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 ...
author. His works include ''
Something Positive
Randal Keith Milholland (born November 25, 1975), better known as R. K. Milholland, is an American webcomic author. His works include '' Something Positive'', '' New Gold Dreams'', ''Midnight Macabre'', ''Classically Positive'' and ''Super Stupor ...
Bedford, Texas
Bedford is a city located in northeast Tarrant County, Texas, in the " Mid-Cities" area between Dallas and Fort Worth. It is a suburb of Dallas and Fort Worth. The population was 46,979 at the 2010 census. Bedford is part of the Hurst-Euless-Be ...
, Milholland attended Harwood Junior High and
Trinity High School Trinity High School is the name of high schools:
United Kingdom
* Trinity High School, Renfrew, Renfrewshire, Scotland
* Trinity High School, Rutherglen, Lanarkshire, Scotland
* Trinity High School and Sixth Form Centre, in Redditch, England
*Trini ...
in neighboring
Euless, Texas
Euless ( ) is a city in Tarrant County, Texas, United States, and a suburb of Dallas and Fort Worth. Euless is part of the Mid-Cities region between Dallas and Fort Worth. In 2020 Census, the population of Euless was 61,032. The population of t ...
. During
high school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
he won several awards for his
editorial cartoon
A political cartoon, a form of editorial cartoon, is a cartoon graphic with caricatures of public figures, expressing the artist's opinion. An artist who writes and draws such images is known as an editorial cartoonist. They typically combine a ...
s. He went on to enroll in the
art
Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas.
There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...
department at the
University of North Texas
The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal School, ...
where he spent four years.
Milholland moved to
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
in the spring of 1999. He worked odd jobs, including stints at a dot com startup, scientific non-profit, medical billing and medical research companies. During this time he started the ''Something Positive''
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 ...
, in response to a criticism from his friend, voice actress
Clarine Harp
Clarine Harp is an American voice actress and the Director of Blu-ray, DVD, and video production at Funimation.
Her performance as Hibari Ginza in the 2006-2007 release of ''Speed Grapher'' won her an ADR Award as "Actress of the Month" for Oc ...
, that he should "do something positive" with his life. The protagonist in this comic, Davan, is loosely based on Milholland and the stories are often inspired by real life experiences. Davan's best friend Aubrey Chorde is based on Harp.
In June 2004, faced with increasing complaints about his lateness in updating the comic, Milholland challenged his readership to donate enough money to pay for a year of his salary so that he could quit his job and become a full-time cartoonist. To his surprise, this amount was reached and surpassed in less than a month, making Milholland one of the successful pioneers of
micropatronage
Peer-to-peer lending, also abbreviated as P2P lending, is the practice of lending money to individuals or businesses through online services that match lenders with borrowers. Peer-to-peer lending companies often offer their services online, and ...
. Since then, his webcomic has expanded into many realms of merchandising.
Milholland has relocated to Texas and travels the con circuit frequently. He also sometimes performs in
community theater Community theatre refers to any theatrical performance made in relation to particular communities—its usage includes theatre made by, with, and for a community. It may refer to a production that is made entirely by a community with no outside hel ...
, especially children's theater. In 2017, he moved to Georgia. In 2019, he moved back to Texas following the signing of
Georgia House Bill 481
The Georgia House Bill 481 was an American anti-abortion law passed in 2019 that sought to prevent physicians in the U.S. state of Georgia from performing abortions beyond six weeks, except in special situations. The bill was strongly criticized ...
, a so-called "fetal heartbeat bill", into law.
Comics
''Something Positive''
''Something Positive'' started its run on December 19, 2001. , it is still being actively updated.
''Something Positive 1937''
Starting on September 7, 2007, Milholland launched a third spin-off from ''Something Positive,'' this one also taking place in the same continuity as the original but taking place many years earlier. ''Something Positive 1937'' follows the relationship of Fred's father Vester Macintire and his cousin Davan (Davan of ''S*Ps namesake, first mentioned in the comic's May 8, 2007 strip.) The comic is in black and white and for a time featured in a sidebar next to the original, with archives available on the same page as the original strip. Milholland has said in news posts he expects the story to last for a few years, and provided it with its own website on September 24, 2007. The strip stopped updating in 2008.
''Midnight Macabre''
''Midnight Macabre'' is another spin-off from ''Something Positive''. It features Gaspar Baugh, the father of ''Something Positive'' secondary character Lisa Baugh, as he attempts to resurrect a horror TV show presenting Midnight movies.
''New Gold Dreams''
''New Gold Dreams'' is a strip that spoofs the conventions of the
heroic fantasy
Heroic fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy in which events occur in a world where magic is prevalent and modern technology is nonexistent. The setting may be entirely fictitious in nature or based upon Earth with some additions. Unlike dark fiction ...
genre. It also ties in with Milholland's interest in role-playing games, as the comic is portrayed as a game run by Pee-Jee, one of the main strip's cast members; some of the characters in ''New Gold Dreams'' have the same appearance and personality as regular ''S*P'' characters. The comic started on April 2, 2004 but has been entirely on hiatus since the 20th issue in August 2005.
''Super Stupor''
''Super Stupor'' is a superhero comic, which mocks the conventions of the genre. Four self-published volumes of the strip are currently available from the Rhymes With Witch store.
''Popeye''
''
Popeye
Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar.King Features Syndicate, starring an ornery sailor and a large cast of quirky characters. In 2022, ''Popeye'''s 93rd year, Milholland took over the Sunday edition from
Hy Eisman
Hy Eisman (born March 27, 1927) is an American cartoonist.
Comic Strips
He entered the comic strip field in 1950 and worked on several strips, including '' Kerry Drake'', '' Little Iodine'' and ''Bunny''. In comic books he was the last art ...