Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an
online encyclopedia of print
cartoon
A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images ...
s,
comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...
s and
animation
Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...
, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedia, termed it "the world's first hypertext encyclopedia of toons" and stated, "The basic idea is to cover the entire spectrum of American cartoonery."
Markstein began the project during 1999 with several earlier titles: he changed Don's Cartoon Encyberpedia (1999) to Don Markstein's Cartoonopedia (2000) after learning the word "Encyberpedia" had been
trademarked. During 2001, he settled on his final title, noting, "Decided (after thinking about it for several weeks) to change the name of the site to Don Markstein's Toonopedia, rather than Cartoonopedia. Better rhythm in the name, plus 'toon' is probably a more apt word, in modern parlance, than 'cartoon', for what I'm doing."
Comic strips
Toonopedia author Donald David Markstein
(March 21, 1947 – March 11, 2012)
was fascinated with all forms of cartoon art since his childhood. During 1981, Markstein and his wife, GiGi Dane (August 7, 1949 – August 5, 2016), founded ''Apatoons'', an
amateur press association devoted to animation. He edited ''
Comics Revue'', a monthly anthology of newspaper comics, from 1984 to 1987, and 1992 to 1996.
A writer for
Walt Disney Comics
Walt is a masculine given name, generally a short form of Walter, and occasionally a surname. Notable people with the name include:
People Given name
* Walt Arfons (1916-2013), American drag racer and competition land speed record racer
* Walt Bel ...
, Markstein based Toonopedia on American and other English-language cartoons with the goal of developing the largest online resource concerning American cartoons. Toonopedia accumulated over 1,800 articles since its launch on February 13, 2001.
During 2002, Charles Bowen reviewing the site for ''
Editor & Publisher
''Editor & Publisher'' (''E&P'') is an American monthly trade news magazine covering the newspaper industry. Published since 1901, ''Editor & Publisher'' is the self-described "bible of the newspaper industry."
Originally based in New York City, ...
'', said,
Markstein worked on the staff of the New Orleans ''
Times-Picayune'' newspaper, writing feature stories for the
Sunday magazine section. His freelance credits include weekly restaurant reviews for the ''
Phoenix Business Journal'',
semi-annual previews of comic book publishing projects, science fiction convention program books, scripts for relaxation tapes and computer manuals. His comic book scripts are mainly for licensed characters, including
Donald Duck
Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created by The Walt Disney Company. Donald is an anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor shirt and cap with a bow tie. Donald is known fo ...
,
Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse is an animated cartoon Character (arts), character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime mascot of The Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red sho ...
,
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and
Eek! the Cat.
He provided editing, design and production for numerous publications, including ''Arizona Living'', ''Arizona Women's Voice'', ''Comics Interview'', ''Comics Revue'', ''Phoenix'', ''Phoenix Resource'', ''Louisiana Weekly Employer'', ''Scottsdale'' and ''Sun Tennis''.
In February 2011, Markstein, who had a history of strokes, suffered what his daughter called "an incident that caused him to be in and out of hospitals for several weeks", and the following month "suffered a massive stroke while in the hospital. This caused him to be paralyzed on his left side."
He died of respiratory failure in March 2012.
In 2012, Markstein's family announced plans to continue updating Toonopedia through new articles written by fans,
but the site has not been updated since February 2011.
Books
The subject matter of Toonopedia overlaps with the books Markstein wrote, edited and compiled. ''A Prince Valiant Companion'' (Manuscript Press, 1992), by Todd Goldberg and Carl J. Horak, was edited by Markstein and Rick Norwood. It includes plot summaries of the ''
Prince Valiant'' comic strip from its beginning in 1937 to the 1980 retirement of the strip's creator,
Hal Foster, along with additional material on the series and Foster's other work.
''Hot Tips from Top Comics Creators'' (Fictioneer Books, 1994) is a 120-page collection of more 1,000 pieces of advice on the comic-book industry from the first ten years of ''Comics Interview'', plus capsule biographies of 262 comics professionals.
See also
*
Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum
*
Dave Strickler
Dave Strickler (born 1944) is an American reference librarian noted for his compilation of ''Syndicated Comic Strips and Artists, 1924–1995: The Complete Index'', regarded as a major reference work by researchers and historians of newspaper comi ...
*
List of newspaper comic strips
*
List of online encyclopedias
This is a list of well-known online encyclopedias—i.e., encyclopedias accessible or formerly accessible on the Internet.
The largest online encyclopedias are general reference works, though there are also many specialized ones. Some online ency ...
References
External links
*
*
{{Comics information sources
2001 establishments in the United States
American entertainment websites
American online encyclopedias
Comics critics
Internet properties established in 2001
Websites about animation
Websites about comics