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 the internet, such as on a website or a mobile app. While many webcomics are published exclusively online, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or ...

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, Something Positive'', ''#New Gold Dreams, New Gold Dreams'', ''Midnight Macabre'', ''Clas ...

'', '' New Gold Dreams'', ''Midnight Macabre'', ''Classically Positive'' and ''Super Stupor''. In 2022, he took over as author of the Sunday edition of the Popeye syndicated comic strip.

History

Raised in

Bedford, Texas Bedford is a city located in northeastern Tarrant County, Texas, United States, in the "Mid-Cities" area between Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas, Fort Worth. It is a suburb of Dallas and Fort Worth. The population was 49,928 at the 2020 United State ...

, Milholland attended Harwood Junior High and Trinity High School in neighboring Euless, Texas. During

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

he won several awards for his

editorial cartoon A political cartoon, also known as an 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 co ...

s. He went on to enroll in the

art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

department at the

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public university, public research university located in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its main campus is in Denton, Texas, Denton, with a satellite campus in Frisco, Texas, Frisco. It serves as the ...

where he spent four years. Milholland moved to

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

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''

, in response to a

criticism Criticism is the construction of a judgement about the negative or positive qualities of someone or something. Criticism can range from impromptu comments to a written detailed response. , ''the act of giving your opinion or judgment about the ...

from his friend, voice actress Clarine Harp, 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. 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 Theatre, theatrical performance made in relation to particular Community, communities—its usage includes theatre made by, with, and for a community. It may refer to a production that is made entirely by a communit ...

, 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, 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*P''s 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 said in news posts he expected 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 movie A midnight movie is a low-budget genre picture or distinctly nonmainstream film programmed for late-night screening or broadcast. The term is rooted in the practice that emerged in the 1950s of local television stations around the United Sta ...

''New Gold Dreams''

''New Gold Dreams'' is a strip that spoofs the conventions of the

heroic fantasy Sword and sorcery (S&S), or heroic fantasy, is a subgenre of fantasy characterized by sword-wielding heroes engaged in exciting and violent adventures. Elements of romance, magic, and the supernatural are also often present. Unlike works of ...

genre. It also ties in with Milholland's interest in

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out ...

s, 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 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 ...

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 E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar.King Features Syndicate King Features Syndicate, Inc. is an American content distribution and animation studio, consumer product License, licensing and print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, columnist, newspape ...

, 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 as the latter retired.

''Mousetrapped''

In January 2024, with

Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an American cartoon character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime icon and mascot of the Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red shorts, large shoes, and white ...

's original version of ''

Steamboat Willie ''Steamboat Willie'' is a 1928 American animated short film directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. It was produced in black-and-white by Walt Disney Animation Studios and was released by Pat Powers (producer), Pat Powers, under the name of Cele ...

'' becoming public domain, Milholland released the webcomic ''Mousetrapped''. Set after the events of the short, the story follows Mickey struggling to make ends meet after getting fired by Pete and features a cast of other public domain cartoon characters. The series ran through February 2024 before being discontinued by 2025 with the website going defunct. However, the series never formally ended. Milholland revived the series in April 2025.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Milholland, Randal Keith American webcomic creators Living people People from Euless, Texas 1975 births