Fetus-X
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Fetus-X | |
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| Author(s) | Eric Millikin; previously with Casey Sorrow |
| Website | http://www.fetusx.com/ |
| Update schedule | Weekly |
| Launch date | Late 1999 |
| Genre | Horror, Comedy, Romance, Political |
Fetus-X is a controversial weekly romantic horror comic written and drawn by award-winning American cartoonist Eric Millikin, which has been published in newspapers, books, and as a webcomic since late 1999.[1] The first Fetus-X comics were drawn by artist Casey Sorrow, who later left to create the comic Feral Calf. The storylines of Fetus-X generally revolve around Millikin's use of the occult to battle various ghosts, aliens, and monsters. The comic regularly features profanity and violence as well as political, religious, and sexual themes. The artwork is mixed media, combining expressionist paintings with found objects. The text is written in free verse.
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[edit] Characters and plot
Fetus-X comics regularly feature Eric Millikin, the creator of the comic, engaged in such activities as being killed by vampire hunters, being eaten by a dinosaur, and sawing off his own arm[2] then replacing it with a zombie's. He is often accompanied by Fetus-X, a psychic zombie fetus floating in a jar of formaldehyde[3], and Anal Ho Tep, a resurrected Egyptian mummy who enjoys anal sex and was formerly a grave robber. [4] Millikin also has a kitten named Patches which he built by stapling together roadkill laying around his house and who has a tentacle for a tail. [5]
One of Millikin's frequent nemeses is El Chupacabra, a goat-sucking extraterrestrial and masked Mexican professional wrestler. In ancient Egypt, El Chupacabra forced Anal Ho Tep into slave labor for purposes of building the pyramids. In contemporary times, the U.S. government maintains a color-coded Chupacabra alert system which was recently raised to metallic magenta. [6]
Other characters include Alicia (a ghostly cheerleader) United States President George W. Bush, Areola (a mermaid), Satana (a devil girl), Bunny (a research test rabbit), and Jesus (the son of God).
[edit] History
Millikin began drawing horror comics by age one-and-a-half, when he made crayon drawings of ghosts terrorizing him during toilet-training. By second grade, he was making teachers' birthday cards showing his school burning down captioned "Fuck you." [7]
The first Fetus-X newspaper strip appeared on February 28, 2000 in Michigan State University's The State News. After being censored from that and many other college newspapers, Fetus-X moved to the internet. It continues to be published in alternative newspapers such as Detroit's Metro Times. [8]
In the fall of 2002, Fetus-X became part of the subscription-based online alternative comics anthology Serializer, a spin-off of the successful webcomics site Modern Tales. Other comics on Serializer included Achewood Sunday Edition, The Magic Whistle, Pup and Little Laurie Sprinkles. In the fall of 2005 Fetus-X became a free comic on Webcomics Nation.
In June 2006, Millikin was interviewed in the book Attitude 3: The New Subversive Online Cartoonists, edited by award-winning syndicated editorial cartoonist Ted Rall. Attitude 3 also includes other webcomics such as Cat and Girl, Dinosaur Comics, Diesel Sweeties, and The Perry Bible Fellowship. [9]
[edit] Critical reaction
In their review of serializer.net, The Comics Journal wrote: "It's a pleasure to see strips like ... Fetus-X use the newspaper format for far more daring, entertainingly perverse work ... [Fetus-X] would be perfectly at home at a good alternative weekly or a great college paper." [10] In their review of Attitude 3, the American Library Association's Booklist wrote that "the visual style of Eric Millikin’s Fetus-X 'crosses Edvard Munch with an incipient victim of high-school suicide.'" [11]
Fetus-X has been the target of protest campaigns organized by the Catholic League. [12] “This particular comic is offensive to Catholics and Christians,” Catholic League spokesman Patrick Scully said in August 2002. “It completely ridicules the Catholic faith and is not funny.” [1]
Fetus-X was named one of the best webcomics of 2004 by The Webcomics Examiner. In 2006, Fetus-X was nominated for multiple Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards including Outstanding Comic, Outstanding Single Panel Comic, and Outstanding Romantic Comic. It (referred to as "Foetus-X") was later disqualified for not meeting the Award's defined genre criteria for romance comics.[13]
[edit] Side projects
Eric Millikin has won awards for his illustrations for major newspapers such as The Detroit News. [14]Feral Calf is a comic by former Fetus-X artist Casey Sorrow. It is about feral fish people doing strange things to each other and is also hosted on Webcomics Nation. Eric Millikin and Casey Sorrow also created the holiday Monkey Day (celebrated December 4th) as an opportunity to educate the public about monkeys, as a holiday that supports evolution rather than religious themes, and an excuse to throw monkey-themed costume parties.[15][16]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Bennet, Brandon (August 1, 2002). "Guest appearance helps ‘Fetus-X’ move forward". The State News
- ^ Millikin, Eric. I sawed off my own arm!. Fetus-X. Webcomics Nation. Retrieved on 2006-09-03.
- ^ Millikin, Eric. Psychic Fetus Fucked With My Brain!. Fetus-X. Webcomics Nation. Retrieved on 2006-11-26.
- ^ Millikin, Eric. Unidentified F'ing Object. Fetus-X. Webcomics Nation. Retrieved on 2006-11-26.
- ^ Millikin, Eric. I Dared Create a Kitten from Corpses!. Fetus-X. Webcomics Nation. Retrieved on 2006-11-26.
- ^ Millikin, Eric. Unidentified F'ing Object. Fetus-X. Webcomics Nation. Retrieved on 2006-11-26.
- ^ Breithaupt, Christy (July 26, 2006). "Dark visions: MSU grad's 'Fetus-X' comic earns national recognition". Lansing State Journal
- ^ Millikin, Eric (April 13, 2005). "Holy Shit, the Pope is Dead". Metro Times
- ^ Rall, Ted (2006). Attitude 3: The New Subversive Online Cartoonists, New York: Nantier, Beall, Minoustchine. ISBN 1-56163-465-4.
- ^ Wood, Mariko (March 2003). "Download: Good Comics and Baud Web Comics". The Comics Journal, No. 251, p. 38.
- ^ Flagg, Gordon (August 2006). "Attitude 3: The New Subversive Online Cartoonists". Booklist, Pg. 23
- ^ "Michigan State President Acts Presidential". (November 2000). Catalyst Journal of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights
- ^ Mekkes, Mark. Important Annoucement!. Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards Forum. Web Cartoonist Choice Awards. Retrieved on 2006-11-26.
- ^ "News is honored by sports editors". (February 28, 2003). The Detroit News, p. 1H.
- ^ McKenzie, Charlie "Holiday monkey business". (December 8, 2005). Hour (Montreal, Quebec)
- ^ "A toast to Bubbles". (December 8, 2005). Los Angeles City Beat
