Act-i-vate
Encyclopedia
ACT-I-VATE is an American webcomics collective based on an original idea by Dean Haspiel
and founded by Haspiel and seven other cartoonists. It started out on the blogging platform Livejournal
, but has now moved to its own dedicated website.
The ACT-I-VATE collective features serialized graphic novels from over twenty-five hand-picked professional cartoonists (each of whom generally adds a new episode weekly), and is updated daily. ACT-I-VATE's artists are unpaid, and produce their work without editorial oversight. ACT-I-VATE is also free to view. In addition to the high-quality comics, the site is known for its vocal community of readers and the lengthy discussion threads between artist and reader.
ACT-I-VATE debuted on February 1, 2006, with eight cartoonists, and added four more members on April 5, 2006. Since then, the collective has added new hand-picked cartoonists at a regular rate to achieve its current membership.
ACT-I-VATE rose to prominence when many of its artists, including Haspiel, Michel Fiffe, Mike Cavallaro, Dan Goldman
, and Nick Bertozzi
, began to receive publishing deals. Haspiel and Fiffe's three-issue mini-series, Brawl, a "creature romance double feature" featuring Haspiel's "Immortal" (starring Billy Dogma) and Fiffe's "Panorama," which both originated on ACT-I-VATE, was published by Image Comics
in the Fall of 2007. Similarly, Parade (with Fireworks), by Mike Cavallaro, began on ACT-I-VATE, was first excerpted in New York Magazine, and later published by Image.
Other ACT-I-VATE members, such as Nikki Cook, Josh Neufeld
, and Leland Purvis
, are currently working on projects which in large parts came from their ACT-I-VATE work.
Dean Haspiel
Dean Edmund Haspiel is an American comic book artist. He is known for his collaborations with writer Harvey Pekar on his American Splendor series as well as the graphic novel The Quitter. He has been nominated for numerous Eisner Awards, and won a 2010 Emmy Award for TV design work.-Early...
and founded by Haspiel and seven other cartoonists. It started out on the blogging platform Livejournal
LiveJournal
LiveJournal is a virtual community where Internet users can keep a blog, journal or diary. LiveJournal is also the name of the free and open source server software that was designed to run the LiveJournal virtual community....
, but has now moved to its own dedicated website.
The ACT-I-VATE collective features serialized graphic novels from over twenty-five hand-picked professional cartoonists (each of whom generally adds a new episode weekly), and is updated daily. ACT-I-VATE's artists are unpaid, and produce their work without editorial oversight. ACT-I-VATE is also free to view. In addition to the high-quality comics, the site is known for its vocal community of readers and the lengthy discussion threads between artist and reader.
ACT-I-VATE debuted on February 1, 2006, with eight cartoonists, and added four more members on April 5, 2006. Since then, the collective has added new hand-picked cartoonists at a regular rate to achieve its current membership.
ACT-I-VATE rose to prominence when many of its artists, including Haspiel, Michel Fiffe, Mike Cavallaro, Dan Goldman
Dan Goldman
Dan Goldman is an American writer, artist and designer living in São Paulo, Brazil...
, and Nick Bertozzi
Nick Bertozzi
Nick Bertozzi is an American comic book writer and artist, as well as a commercial illustrator and teacher of cartooning. His series Rubber Necker from Alternative Comics won the 2003 Harvey Awards for best new talent and best new series. His project, The Salon Nick Bertozzi (born May 26, 1970)...
, began to receive publishing deals. Haspiel and Fiffe's three-issue mini-series, Brawl, a "creature romance double feature" featuring Haspiel's "Immortal" (starring Billy Dogma) and Fiffe's "Panorama," which both originated on ACT-I-VATE, was published by Image Comics
Image Comics
Image Comics is a United States comic book publisher. It was founded in 1992 by high-profile illustrators as a venue where creators could publish their material without giving up the copyrights to the characters they created, as creator-owned properties. It was immediately successful, and remains...
in the Fall of 2007. Similarly, Parade (with Fireworks), by Mike Cavallaro, began on ACT-I-VATE, was first excerpted in New York Magazine, and later published by Image.
Other ACT-I-VATE members, such as Nikki Cook, Josh Neufeld
Josh Neufeld
Josh Neufeld is an alternative cartoonist known for his nonfiction comics on subjects like Hurricane Katrina, international travel, and finance, as well as his collaborations with writers like Harvey Pekar and Brooke Gladstone...
, and Leland Purvis
Leland Purvis
Leland Purvis is a comic book writer and artist, best known for his black and white series Vóx and Pubo.-Awards:Purvis was nominated for the 2004 Ignatz Award for Promising New Talent for his work on Suspended in Language...
, are currently working on projects which in large parts came from their ACT-I-VATE work.