Death to the Extremist is a minimalist

Minimalism

Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is set out to expose the essence, essentials or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essential forms, features or concepts...

 webcomic

Webcomic

Webcomics, online comics, or Internet comics are comics published on a website. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers or often in self-published books....

 series created by Michael Zole. Initially published in Hampshire College

Hampshire College

Hampshire College is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1965 as an experiment in alternative education, in association with four other colleges in the Pioneer Valley: Amherst College, Smith College, Mount Holyoke College, and the University of Massachusetts...

's magazine The Omen, it has been published regularly online since 2001. The final episode appeared on January 1, 2007.

The strip follows the strange, often music-oriented adventures of two amorphous entities, named One and Two, each of whom is represented only by a quarter circle. The comic is ultra-minimalist and features no artwork, only dialogue and graphics.

Each comic consists of nine cells, often with one or more blank cells in which neither of the characters say anything. Each comic has its own background, and starting with season 4 there is an extra short sentence hidden in light text at the bottom of each image and in the RSS feed

RSS (file format)

RSS is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works—such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video—in a standardized format...

.

The typeface

Typeface

In typography, a typeface is the artistic representation or interpretation of characters; it is the way the type looks. Each type is designed and there are thousands of different typefaces in existence, with new ones being developed constantly....

 used in the comic is Arcade, by Yuji Adachi.

Material from Death to the Extremist appears in Attitude 3: The New Subversive Online Cartoonists

Attitude: The New Subversive Cartoonists

The Attitude series of books is a series of anthologies of alternative comics, photos and artists' interviews edited by Universal Press Syndicate editorial cartoonist Ted Rall. The books were designed by J. P. Trostle, news editor of EditorialCartoonists.com. Two sequels and three spin-off titles...

.

Characters

Neither of the two main characters have any real personalities. They mainly just exist to create a back-and-forth conversation dynamic.

One

One is a black quarter circle, labeled with the numeral '1'. He/she usually appears at the bottom-left corner of the panels in which he/she appears. Of One and Two, One is reportedly the 'fan favourite'.

Two

Two is a white quarter circle with a black outline, bearing the label '2'. He/she usually appears in the bottom-right corner of each panel. Two does not have any arms. He/she is afraid of ponies.

The genders of the characters are never revealed, though they were shown dating for part of the series.

Notable guest appearances

"Slither" of Steven L. Cloud's Boy on a Stick and Slither

Boy on a Stick and Slither

Boy on a Stick and Slither is a webcomic by Steven L. Cloud.Strips usually feature a short, pithy and sometimes surreal exchange between the title characters. The strip is characterized by dry and cynical humor....

features as a replacement for Two in Episode 41, "Replacement". There is later a guest appearance from the ghost of comedian Bill Hicks

Bill Hicks

William Melvin "Bill" Hicks was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, satirist, and musician. His material largely consisted of general discussions about society, religion, politics, philosophy, and personal issues. Hicks' material was often controversial and steeped in dark comedy...

(although he appears rather similar to Two) in Episode 257, "Bill Hicks".