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The New Kid News: Penny Arcade Hits The Big Time

By TK | Posted Under Trade News | Comments (18)

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If you’re one of the legion of comic book/video game nerds that reads this site, it’s likely that you’ve at least heard of the webcomic “Penny Arcade,” which chronicles the adventures in geekdom by the intrepid Gabe and Tycho, who are pseudo avatars for the writers, Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik. Their comics run the gamut from poignant to clever to sophisticated … to puerile, obnoxious, and occasionally flat-out offensive. For every comic like this, a comic that caused a substantial uproar in some corners of the internet:

“The Sixth Slave”

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… there’s one like this, one that speaks honestly to a good portion of their readership, and anyone who’s been bullied in general:

“Instruction”

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Regardless, they’ve built their little comic into a minor media empire, with a full store of gear, annual expos, a web TV series, and even video games. Somewhere along the way, they hit the big time. And now, they’re about to get a little bigger.

News broke recently that Paramount has optioned their comic idea, “The New Kid,” and will be making it into a CGI-animated film. It’s in the early stages of development — no director or actors attached, and Holkins and Krahulik have a plot, but it’s in Paramount’s camp now, and it’ll be a while before we see it in a theater, if that happens at all — as we all know, stuff gets optioned frequently and much of it never sees the inside of a theater, let alone actually get a camera rolling. But it’s still interesting news, and this one little capture of the comic’s idea is pretty fun (click to enlarge, or just go to the site):

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(source: Penny Arcade)









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Comments

Penny Arcade is awesome, the creators are fun and interesting people to listen to (saw them at MIT a few years ago).

If this gets going and they don't get screwed by Hollywood, I'd love to see an adaption of Lookouts.

Posted by: twig at June 6, 2011 11:38 AM

I wish Gabe and Tycho nothing but success, but a movie deal based on a one page webcomic is just... mind boggling. It's an idea with legs, to be sure, but... I mean... what?!

Could be awesome, but too bad it isn't Pixar.

Posted by: RobP at June 6, 2011 11:40 AM

I don't care what the internet says. Dickwolves are funny. Are they wolves comprised of dicks or are they wolves who happen to be dicks for raping people to sleep?

Either way, raping someone to sleep passes the Carlin test of funny with its' glaring exaggeration.

Posted by: J Byrd at June 6, 2011 11:50 AM

The first comic was less offensive and more hilarious.

Posted by: Chugga at June 6, 2011 12:00 PM

dickwolves = hilarity

grow a sense of humor, internet.

Posted by: HappyGobo at June 6, 2011 12:23 PM

Why is the first so offensive? Is it the rape thing I guess? My life hasn't been touched by rape, as far as I know, so maybe I just don't have the perspective for it. It just looks like a comment on the ridiculousness of how quests work in MMOs, like WoW.

Posted by: Socrates_Johnson at June 6, 2011 12:38 PM

*Sigh* People who think the first comic is offensive must be like my parents, who for some reason think LoLCats are racist. And I CANNOT MAKE THEM UNDERSTAND.

Posted by: RhymesWithSilver at June 6, 2011 12:50 PM

Socrates, nothing gets me going in the morning like drinking a banana-cashew smoothie and reading an internet flame war over a rape joke. Usually, I can only get one of those things done in a day.
But fortunately, I remembered to put the cashews in water to soak overnight.

Posted by: Jim Doggie at June 6, 2011 12:58 PM

I thought the dickwolves joke was hilarious when I first read the comic. I was surprised by the outcry afterwards. I love PA and wish Tycho and Gabe (I'm not calling them Jerry and Mike, that's just WRONG) the best. One of their funniest comics dealt with the obtuse mechanics of the first Mass Effect and contained a line I use quite often, "Drown less." I also may have bought a "Slide Forever" Portal shirt from them recently.

Also, given the insane amount of money they have managed to generate for the charity Childs Play they get a lifetime "good guys" pass.

Posted by: TylerDFC at June 6, 2011 1:26 PM

While I was never offended by the comic, I was offended by by Gabe and Tycho's somewhat, for the lack of a better word, "asshole-rific" response to peoples complaints.

Posted by: Blake Shrapnel at June 6, 2011 1:37 PM

Yea Blake, their response wasn't as tactful as I expected from them, esp Tycho who writes about odd topics all the time.

As for being optioned off a one page web comic, I think they said in a post their friend Gary Whitta (The Book of Eli, former games journalist), wrote a treatment or something for it as well.

Posted by: e at June 6, 2011 2:33 PM

I don't think there's much point in being nice to people who don't really want an apology or a dialogue as much as they want abject and total submission.

Posted by: twig at June 6, 2011 4:32 PM

twig - you're 100% correct. When you upset those types of people, the best option is to go on insulting them. It's way more fun and nothing you could do is going to make them like you or say that you're okay anyway.

I can totally see the potential for a movie based on this comic strip. In just a few short panels they have given us two interesting characters, suggested what type of stories we can expect them to become involved in and given us great options for locations. I'm sure many great films have grown from much smaller acorns than that.

Posted by: TheChief at June 6, 2011 4:52 PM

If you like Penny Arcade at all, and haven't read the six-part(?) "Paint the Line" series, go do it now...right now. That should be turned into a short that opens for The New Kid.

Posted by: pissant at June 6, 2011 4:57 PM

Is it just me or does the robot in the header pic bear more than a passing resemblance to The Brown Hornet's robo sidekick Tweeterbell on Fat Albert?

Also, I think I parked myself in front of the boob tube too much as a kid.

Posted by: bleujayone at June 6, 2011 8:31 PM

I love that robot. He's the Fruit Fucker. He makes juice. With his penis.

Posted by: DJD at June 6, 2011 10:31 PM

*fingers crossed*
Please don't let Hollywood asshats screw this up, Please don't let Hollywood asshats screw this up, Please don't let Hollywood asshats screw this up, Please don't let Hollywood asshats screw this up, Please don't let Hollywood asshats screw this up, Please don't let Hollywood asshats screw this up, Please don't let Hollywood asshats screw this up, Please don't let Hollywood asshats screw this up, Please don't let Hollywood asshats screw this up, Please don't let Hollywood asshats screw this up, Please don't let Hollywood asshats screw this up.

Mike and Jerry are as much a part of my own personal cultural reality as Ron Maclean, Howard Tayler, Neal Stephenson or Tsui Hark. If this happens, doesn't end up in development hell and turns out as well as their fans hope...

Dare I start praying to the Godtopus or the Magnum Innominandum for a Schlock Mercenary animated series?

Posted by: Uncommoner at June 7, 2011 12:53 AM

"I love that robot. He's the Fruit Fucker. He makes juice. With his penis."

-This MUST be his mother. All hail Cosby and Filmation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wjNeRUyoyY

Posted by: bleujayone at June 7, 2011 9:56 AM