Brad Guigar (, ; born April 9, 1969) is the cartoonist of ''Evil Inc'' and the editor of ''The Webcomics Handbook'' on

Substack Substack is an American online platform that provides publishing, payment, analytics, and design infrastructure to support subscription-based content, including newsletters, podcasts, and video. It allows writers to send digital content directl ...

. He is a co-host of the podcast ''ComicLab'' and the
The Wrong Way…
' show on YouTube. He has been nominated for various Reubens, an Eisner, and won a

Ringo Award The Mike Wieringo Comic Book Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Ringo Awards, are prizes given for achievement in comic books. They are named in honor of artist Mike Wieringo and they were founded by the Reisterstown, Maryland–based C ...

Early life

Brad Guigar is the eldest of five children and grew up in

Bad Axe, Michigan Bad Axe is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Huron County in the Thumb region of the Lower Peninsula. The population was 3,021 at the 2020 census, making it the largest community in Huron County and second largest in t ...

. He attended

Alma College Alma College is a Private college, private Presbyterian Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Alma, Michigan. It enrolls approximately 1,200 students and is Higher education accreditation in the United States, accre ...

where he received a

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students pursuing a professional education in the visual arts, Fine art, or performing arts. In some instances, it is also called a Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA). Background ...

degree before he moved to

Canton, Ohio Canton () is a city in Stark County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, eighth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 70,872 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Canton–Massillo ...

to work for the newspaper ''

The Repository ''The Repository'' is an American daily newspaper, daily local newspaper serving the Canton, Ohio area. It is currently owned by Gannett and is part of the USA TODAY, USA TODAY Network. ''The Repository'' is the oldest continuously run business ...

'' as a

graphic artist A graphic designer is a practitioner who follows the discipline of graphic design, either within companies or organizations or independently. They are professionals in design and visual communication, with their primary focus on transforming l ...

and

editorial cartoonist An editorial cartoonist, also known as a political cartoonist, is an artist who draws editorial cartoons that contain some level of political or social commentary. Their cartoons are used to convey and question an aspect of daily news or current ...

. He left ''The Repository'' and moved to

Akron, Ohio Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Ohio, fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Akron metr ...

and worked for the ''

Akron Beacon Journal The ''Akron Beacon Journal'' is a morning newspaper in Akron, Ohio, United States. Owned by Gannett, it is the sole daily newspaper in Akron and is distributed throughout Northeast Ohio. The paper's coverage focuses on local news. The Beacon Jo ...

''. He formerly worked at the ''

Philadelphia Daily News ''Philadelphia Daily News'' is a tabloid newspaper that serves Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper is owned by The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC, which also owns ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', a daily newspaper in Philadelphia. The ''Dail ...

'' and is married with two children. Guigar wrote and illustrated ''The Everything Cartooning Book'' (2004), contributed to the book ''How To Make Webcomics'' (2008), wrote its sequel ''The Webcomics Handbook'' (2013), and maintains the site ''Webcomics.com.''

Career

''Greystone Inn''

''Greystone Inn'' premiered on the Web on February 14, 2000. Later that year, the strip was added to the

Keenspot Keenspot is a webcomic Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on the internet, such as on a website or a mobile app. While many webcomics are published exclusively online, others are also published i ...

line-up of webcomics. After updating daily for over five years, Guigar took his comics, including ''Greystone'', to Blank Label Comics. ''Greystone Inn'' appeared in the

, the

Turlock Journal The ''Turlock Journal'' is a newspaper in Turlock, California. It is owned by 209 Multimedia. ''The Journal'' was a daily newspaper until 2004, when it was reduced to twice-weekly publication. It has a paid circulation of approximately 4,000. ...

, the

Stanford Daily ''The Stanford Daily'' is the student-run, independent daily newspaper serving Stanford University. ''The Daily'' is distributed throughout campus and the surrounding community of Palo Alto, California, United States. It has published since the ...

and

The Maine Campus ''The Maine Campus'' is a weekly newspaper produced by the students of the University of Maine in the United States. It covers university and Town of Orono events, and has four sections: News, Opinion, Culture and Sports. It serves the 20,000 s ...

. Selected ''Greystone Inn'' strips on graphic design also appeared in the '' Computer Arts'' magazine every issue. Guigar makes money off his syndications by offering ''Greystone Inn'' for syndication at a certain rate, with a lower rate offered for college papers. ''Greystone Inn'' has had a spin-off comic written and drawn by Brad Guigar named ''Mondays With Mel''. It featured an old comedian named Mel who had been introduced in ''Greystone Inn'' as an old friend of Argus's. It worked by Mel setting up a joke and then allowing the audience to provide punchlines with the best one being featured in the strip. Since Guigar left

, ''Mondays With Mel'' has been on hiatus and is no longer available online. In May 2005 Guigar ended ''Greystone Inn'' and began a spin-off, ''Evil Inc,'' which focuses on a company of super-villains. ''Evil Inc'' retains several ''Greystone Inn'' characters and has a similar style.

''Courting Disaster''

''Courting Disaster'' is a single panel cartoon about love, sex, and dating. It originally appeared every Friday in the

accompanying a sex advice column. In 2015 ''Courting Disaster'' was revived for occasional release as a Not Safe For Work comic available to certain Patreon subscribers.

''Phables''

''Phables'' was a comic strip about life in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

that appeared bi-weekly in the

from 2006 to 2009. In May 2007 the strip was named "Best Local Column" by the Philadelphia chapter of the

Society of Professional Journalists The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), formerly known as Sigma Delta Chi, is the oldest organization representing journalists in the United States. It was established on April 17, 1909, at DePauw University,2009 SPJ Annual Report, lette ...

. Later in 2007, the strip was also nominated for the

Eisner Award The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are awards for creative achievement in American comic books. They are regarded as the most prestigious and significant awards in the comic industry and often referred ...

for Best Digital Comic.

''Evil Inc''

A spin-off from Guigar's previous project, ''Greystone Inn'', ''Evil Inc'' debuted on the web on June 22, 2005. The strip chronicles the schemes and adventures of the eponymous Evil Incorporated, a business run by supervillains. One of the launch strips for Blank Label Comics until becoming part of the Halfpixel lineup, it appeared daily in

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

s until 2015. Visually, ''Evil Inc'' started in black and white but soon transitioned into color. Most strips are formed of a series of panels which use a multitude of

camera angle The camera angle marks the specific location at which the movie camera or video camera is placed to take a shot. A scene may be shot from several camera angles simultaneously. This will give a different experience and sometimes emotion. The diff ...

s. The comic follows strong story arcs. In one, the corporation was bought, and subsequently brought to financial ruin, by the Legion of Justice (a

parody A parody is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satire, satirical or irony, ironic imitation. Often its subject is an Originality, original work or some aspect of it (theme/content, author, style, e ...

of the

Justice League The Justice League, or Justice League of America (JLA), is a group of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). Writer Gardner Fox conceived the ...

and similar teams). However, the ruination of Evil Inc also spelled doom for the Legion. Each strip maintains a self-contained joke, often uses

pun A pun, also known as a paronomasia in the context of linguistics, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from t ...

s, and frequently parodies

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

comics. Saturday strips are usually unconnected to weekday strips (the strip does not update on Sundays) and include such themes as ''Evil Inc'' character profiles called "Personnel Files" (which describe a specific ''Evil Inc'' character, usually one featured in the previous week), customer service calls fielded by Lightning Lady (who answers the phone "Evil Inc, how may I harm you?", previously "How may I misdirect your call?"), or, recently, various characters approaching a door that has been altered to complement the sign next to it (for example, the December 4, 2010 strip shows a door labeled "Office of Bizarro"; in this strip, the doorknob is placed next to the door rather than on it). On January 1, 2016, Evil Inc was rebooted as a graphic novel, leaving behind the comic strip format. The storyline was also rebooted and included among the changes: * The story’s main focus became a branch office of the Evil Inc corporation instead of the monolithic headquarters. * Miss Match and Captain Heroic were no longer married. * Their sons, Oscar and Oliver, were removed completely. * Evil Atom was replaced as CEO by Dr. Whoosh. * The characters no longer aged in real-time. * Several new characters were introduced.

''Evil Inc After Dark''

In June 2015 Guigar launched ''Evil Inc After Dark'' on

Patreon Patreon (, ) is a monetization platform operated by Patreon, Inc., that provides business tools for content creators to run a subscription service and sell digital products. It helps artists and other creators earn a recurring income by provid ...

as an

NSFW Not safe for work, also called not suitable for work (NSFW), is Internet slang or shorthand used to mark links to content, videos, or website pages the viewer may not wish to be seen viewing in a public, formal, or controlled environment. The ...

spin-off of the main ''Evil Inc'' comic. ''After Dark'' content is exclusive to paying fans and continues romantic ''Evil Inc'' plot points via sex-positive forays into characters' bedrooms.

''Webcomics.com''

''Webcomics.com'' is an advice site run by Guigar which includes tutorials, community discussion, and job information relating to

comics a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...

. Guigar also co-authored the book ''How to Make Webcomics'' (2008) with

Dave Kellett Dave Kellett is the cartoonist of ''drive: the scifi comic, Drive'' and ''Sheldon (webcomic), Sheldon'', and co-director of the documentary ''Stripped (film), Stripped''. He is a co-host of the podcast ''ComicLab'' and the ''The Wrong Way…'' sh ...

Scott Kurtz Scott R. Kurtz (born March 15, 1971) is an American webcomic artist. Known for creating the daily online comic-strip '' PvP'', Kurtz is among the first professional webcomic creators. Career Kurtz was born to a Catholic household in Watsonville ...

, and

Kris Straub Kristofer Straub (born January 17, 1979) is an American web cartoonist, performer, and content creator. His key web comic projects include ''Checkerboard Nightmare'', ''Starslip'', ''Chainsawsuit'', ''Broodhollow'', and ''F Chords''. Other notabl ...

. Around the same time, the quartet hosted the podcast ''Webcomics Weekly'' (2007-2011).

''ComicLab''

Since 2018 Guigar has co-hosted the podcast ''ComicLab'' with fellow cartoonist

. It's aimed at comic professionals and semi-professionals, marketed as a show "about making comics — and making a living from comics!" As of August 2024 there are 350 episodes of ''ComicLab'' available on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

with a rating of 4.9.

Nominations & awards

* 2023: Won,

, Best Humor Webcomic — ''Evil Inc'' * 2023: Nominated,

Reuben Award The National Cartoonists Society (NCS) is an organization of professional cartoonists in the United States. It presents the National Cartoonists Society Awards. The Society was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the ...

, Online Comics: Long Form — ''Evil Inc'' * 2022: Nominated,

, Online Comics: Long Form — ''Evil Inc'' * 2012: Won, Philadelphia Geek Award, Comic Book Artist of the Year * 2007: Nominated,

, Best Digital Comic - ''Phables'' * 2007: Won,

(Philadelphia), Best Local Column - ''Phables'' * 2007: Nominated,

Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards The Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards (WCCA) were annual awards in which established webcartoonists nominated and selected outstanding webcomics. The awards were held between 2001 and 2008, were mentioned in a ''New York Times'' column on webcomics ...

, Outstanding Superhero/Action Comic — ''Evil Inc''

Charitable work

As a member of Alternative Brand Studios, Brad Guigar ran the AltBrand 2002 MDA Webcomic Telethon. It featured over 20 comic artists and raised $850. As a founding member of Blank Label Comics, Guigar also spearheaded the 2005 Webcomic Telethon for Hurricane Relief that raised an estimated $28,635 for the

American Red Cross The American National Red Cross is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit Humanitarianism, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. Clara Barton founded ...

response to hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

References

External links

Guigar's official list of ongoing projects
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guigar, Brad American webcomic creators Alma College alumni Artists from Akron, Ohio Living people 1969 births People from Bad Axe, Michigan