Lethargic Lad
Encyclopedia
Lethargic Lad is a protagonist in the comic strip of the same name, created by Greg Hyland sometime in the late 1980s. The character is notable for being very slow and inactive. Lethargic Lad does not speak, though he sometimes mutters "Umm...".
artist Greg Hyland. Mr. Hyland created the character in high school as a doodle. Starting in 1988, he featured the character in a photocopied anthology mini-comic called Lethargic Comics Weakly. This anthology, which was rounded out with contributions from fellow animation students (and one instructor) at Sheridan College
, lampooned superhero
comics, and was sold to local animation and comics fans.
In June 1991, Lethargic Comics Weakly restarted its continuity in an internationally distributed, professional format independent black and white comic. This first series ran until June 1993.
Publishing continued again in January 1994 under the new title Lethargic Comics, which ran for 15 issues through June 1996. In June 1996, a three issue mini-series was released that dropped the anthology style of the comic. In a testament to the character's intense cult following
, the cover to issue #3 of this mini-series was painted by Alex Ross
as a parody of the DC Comics
Kingdom Come series, which Ross himself had illustrated.
Lethargic Lad Adventures launched in October 1997. This series lasted 13 issues, being renamed Lethargic Lad after the second issue. The series featured an innovation: the actual story in the comic began right on the cover.
In April 2000, Greg Hyland launched lethargiclad.com and moved from doing a print comic book to doing a weekly webcomic
. Each month's collection of webcomics are considered one "issue". Some of these webcomics have been reprinted in irregular "jumbo-sized annuals" put out by John Kovalic
's Dork Storm (publisher of the gaming satire/humor comic Dork Tower
). More recently, books collecting the online webcomics have been put out by Mr. Hyland himself.
Currently, Lethargic Lad is a weekly webcomic posted on Sunday.
Greg Hyland has occasionally taken off time for other projects, as well as for the birth of his daughter.
Other projects include providing production art for licensed LEGO
brand product and doing storyboarding for their animated shorts. Greg has worked in the past for Nelvana
on such cartoons as Beetlejuice (TV series)
. He has also worked as an illustrator and colorist for Steve Jackson Games
on card games including Munchkin Fu and its expansion Munchkin Fu - Monky Business, Ninja Burger
, and Burn In Hell.
The Lethargic Lad universe has many supporting and recurring characters lampooning much of the Marvel
and DC catalogues.
Lethargic Lad Timeline:
A Lethargic Lad backup comic, Lethargic Lad's Rogues Gallery, also appeared in Dork Tower
from issues #16-36. These strips were collected in Lethargic Lad: Topics of Unclear Importance.
Comics
Lethargic Lad is the name of both a comic and a comic book character created by CanadianCanada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
artist Greg Hyland. Mr. Hyland created the character in high school as a doodle. Starting in 1988, he featured the character in a photocopied anthology mini-comic called Lethargic Comics Weakly. This anthology, which was rounded out with contributions from fellow animation students (and one instructor) at Sheridan College
Sheridan College
Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning is a diploma and degree granting Canadian polytechnic institute with approximately 15,000 full time students and 35,000 continuing education students...
, lampooned superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
comics, and was sold to local animation and comics fans.
In June 1991, Lethargic Comics Weakly restarted its continuity in an internationally distributed, professional format independent black and white comic. This first series ran until June 1993.
Publishing continued again in January 1994 under the new title Lethargic Comics, which ran for 15 issues through June 1996. In June 1996, a three issue mini-series was released that dropped the anthology style of the comic. In a testament to the character's intense cult following
Cult following
A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a specific area of pop culture. A film, book, band, or video game, among other things, will be said to have a cult following when it has a small but very passionate fan base...
, the cover to issue #3 of this mini-series was painted by Alex Ross
Alex Ross
Nelson Alexander "Alex" Ross is an American comic book painter, illustrator, and plotter. He is praised for his realistic, human depictions of classic comic book characters. Since the 1990s he has done work for Marvel Comics and DC Comics Nelson Alexander "Alex" Ross (born January 22, 1970) is an...
as a parody of the DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
Kingdom Come series, which Ross himself had illustrated.
Lethargic Lad Adventures launched in October 1997. This series lasted 13 issues, being renamed Lethargic Lad after the second issue. The series featured an innovation: the actual story in the comic began right on the cover.
In April 2000, Greg Hyland launched lethargiclad.com and moved from doing a print comic book to doing a weekly 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....
. Each month's collection of webcomics are considered one "issue". Some of these webcomics have been reprinted in irregular "jumbo-sized annuals" put out by John Kovalic
John Kovalic
John Kovalic is a cartoonist, illustrator, and writer.Kovalic is best known for his Dork Tower comic book, comic strip and webcomic, and other humorous work set in and about the fantasy role-playing game genre, such as The Unspeakable Oaf...
's Dork Storm (publisher of the gaming satire/humor comic Dork Tower
Dork Tower
Dork Tower is an online comic created, written and drawn by John Kovalic. It chronicles the lives of a group of geeks living in the fictional town of Mud Bay, Wisconsin. Mud Bay's design is strongly influenced by the author's home town of Madison, Wisconsin. Topics have included role-playing...
). More recently, books collecting the online webcomics have been put out by Mr. Hyland himself.
Currently, Lethargic Lad is a weekly webcomic posted on Sunday.
Greg Hyland has occasionally taken off time for other projects, as well as for the birth of his daughter.
Other projects include providing production art for licensed LEGO
Lego
Lego is a line of construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of colorful interlocking plastic bricks and an accompanying array of gears, minifigures and various other parts...
brand product and doing storyboarding for their animated shorts. Greg has worked in the past for Nelvana
Nelvana
Nelvana Limited is a Canadian entertainment company founded in 1971 known for its work in children's animation. It was named by founders Michael Hirsh, Patrick Loubert and Clive A. Smith after a Canadian comic book superheroine created by Adrian Dingle in the 1940s...
on such cartoons as Beetlejuice (TV series)
Beetlejuice (TV series)
Beetlejuice is an American-Canadian animated television series which ran from September 9, 1989 to May 7, 1992 on ABC and, later on, on Fox. Loosely based on the 1988 homonymous film of the same name, it was developed and executive-produced by the film's director, Tim Burton...
. He has also worked as an illustrator and colorist for Steve Jackson Games
Steve Jackson Games
Steve Jackson Games is a game company, founded in 1980 by Steve Jackson, that creates and publishes role-playing, board, and card games, and the gaming magazine Pyramid.-History:...
on card games including Munchkin Fu and its expansion Munchkin Fu - Monky Business, Ninja Burger
Ninja Burger
is a parody website started in late 1999, purporting that a sect of noble ninja have taken to secretly delivering fast food meals, anywhere, anytime, within 30 minutes or less. Failure to deliver within the ascribed time limit results in Seppuku. Some of Ninja Burger's rivals include , Otaku Bell and...
, and Burn In Hell.
The Lethargic Lad universe has many supporting and recurring characters lampooning much of the Marvel
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
and DC catalogues.
Lethargic Lad Timeline:
- Lethargic Comics, Weakly (minis)
- Lethargic Comics, Weakly #1-#12
- Tales of Lethargy #1-#3
- 'Lethargic Comics #1-#3, #3.14, #4-#14
- Lethargic Lad #1-#3
- Lethargic Lad Adventures #1-#2, Lethargic Lad #3-#13
- Lethargic Lad Jumbo-Sized Annual #1-#3 (various collected online strips)
- Lethargic Lad: Topics of Unclear Importance (complete collected online strips from 2000-2007)
- Lethargic Lad 2007 (collected online strips)
- Lethargic Lad 2008 (collected online strips)
- Lethargic Lad 2009 (collected online strips)
- Lethargic Lad.com #1-#123 (weekly online strips)
A Lethargic Lad backup comic, Lethargic Lad's Rogues Gallery, also appeared in Dork Tower
Dork Tower
Dork Tower is an online comic created, written and drawn by John Kovalic. It chronicles the lives of a group of geeks living in the fictional town of Mud Bay, Wisconsin. Mud Bay's design is strongly influenced by the author's home town of Madison, Wisconsin. Topics have included role-playing...
from issues #16-36. These strips were collected in Lethargic Lad: Topics of Unclear Importance.
Major characters
- Lethargic Lad - The main character of the series. He is the protector of InfantinoCarmine InfantinoCarmine Infantino Carmine Infantino Carmine Infantino (born May 24, 1925, in Brooklyn, New York is an American comic book artist and editor who was a major force in the Silver Age of Comic Books...
City, a presumably large metropolis. He has the power of lethargy, and is always ready to save the day. His secret identity is Larry Ladhands, who is rich and lives in a mansion. Below his mansion is the Lad CaveBatcaveThe Batcave is the secret headquarters of fictional DC Comics superhero Batman, the alternate identity of playboy Bruce Wayne, consisting of a series of subterranean caves beneath his residence, Wayne Manor.-Publication history:...
, where he keeps his vehicles and gadgets. - Sailor SteveSailor steveSailor Steve is a character from the Lethargic Lad comic book. He is best described as a thin white male who dresses in Sailor Moon outfits. Among North-American Otaku, or those who hate them, Sailor Steve can also refer to any man who participates in cosplay as a female character.-In Lethargic...
- a male otakuOtakuis a Japanese term used to refer to people with obsessive interests, particularly anime, manga or video games.- Etymology :Otaku is derived from a Japanese term for another's house or family , which is also used as an honorific second-person pronoun...
who dresses in Sailor MoonSailor MoonSailor Moon, known as , is a media franchise created by manga artist Naoko Takeuchi. Fred Patten credits Takeuchi with popularizing the concept of a team of magical girls, and Paul Gravett credits the series with "revitalizing" the magical-girl genre itself...
outfits. Sailor Steve first appeared in Lethargic Lad #3. He frequents the trendy coffee shop, and Infantino city. He is an expert on Japan, even more so than some Japanese, especially about toys, movies, animation, and television. He is meant to be a satire on otaku in general.
External links
- Greg Hyland mentioned as a "notable" alternative and small press creator in New Directions, 1989-2001 - Comic Books in English Canada from Beyond the Funnies, a Canadian Comics History project by the Canadian Library and Archives.
- Greg Hyland and the Lethargic Lad webcomic as part of the article called Scott McCloud & The World of Online Comics.
- Site Spotlight: Far from a Lethargic site at Comic Book Marks.
- Featured Interview with Greg Hyland from Viking News: Online Edition of the Student Newspaper of Ocean County College.
- Spotlight from Read This Or Die at Sequential Tart.
- Annotations for Lethargic Lad #3, an issue that parodied Kingdom Come (comics)Kingdom Come (comics)Kingdom Come is a four-issue comic book mini-series published in 1996 by DC Comics. It was written by Alex Ross and Mark Waid and painted in gouache by Ross, who also developed the concept from an original idea...
, from the site DC Comics Annotations. - Lethargic Lad is mentioned as a kind of Super Zero at TvTropes.org.
- frightenstein.com notes a Castle Frightenstein character's appearance in an issue of Lethargic Lad.
- Greg Hyland and Lethargic Lad at comicbookDB.com
- Lethargic Lad at the Grand Comics Database
- Lethargic Online Fan site
- http://www.studiokaiju.net/index.php?p=1_12_Ink Greg Hyland interviewed about Lethargic Lad by Studio Kaiju