Theater Hopper is a 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....

 based on a movie fan (Tom), his wife (Cami), and their friends. It debuted August 5, 2002 and is written and drawn by Tom Brazelton. In 2003, Theater Hopper became a member of the Dayfree Press

Dayfree Press

Dayfree Press is an online webcomic syndicate. Each Dayfree member has a special advertisement banner on their webpage that advertises the comics of another member-site...

 Webcomics Network, but in 2005, moved to the Boxcar Comics

Boxcar Comics

Boxcar Comics is a webcomic collective. It was founded in 2005 by Zach Miller, the author of Joe and Monkey, with 12 members. Soon after, Mitch Clem and Tom Brazelton, the authors of Nothing Nice To Say and Theater Hopper, respectively, left the Dayfree Press syndicate to join Boxcar.Boxcar gets...

 collective. Two book collections have been released, Theater Hopper: Year One and Theater Hopper: Year Two.

Humor Style

The majority of Theater Hopper strips lean towards the gag-a-day style of joke telling, usually either focusing on a specific movie or set of upcoming releases, or making an all out parody of a classic film. During the slow release times however, the strip has been known to shift gears and allow a longer more involved story to unfold, such as the introduction of the character Charlie or the unfortunate circumstances surrounding Jimmy losing his job.

Schedule

The schedule of Theater Hopper is the common webcomic schedule of Monday, Wednesday and Friday every week. Since its creation, Brazelton has usually ensured a strip is up every one of these days, although occasionally with guest comics from comic creator peers such as Mitch Clem

Mitch Clem

Mitch Andrew Clem is an American cartoonist best known for his web comics Nothing Nice To Say, San Antonio Rock City, and My Stupid Life.- Early life:...

, Ryan Sias, Joe Dunn and others.

Starting on April 23, 2007, Brazelton announced that the site would go through a major change. Comics would only be updated on Wednesdays, with sketches rounding out the remaining schedule days. His life, job, and new family were the reasons for the change. He also planned to round out the changes with movie reviews, until his son grows a little older.

However, as of late, not only has Brazelton been fulfilling his Monday, Wednesday, and Friday webcomic updates, but he has also been posting occasional movie reviews in addition to the standard three comics a week.

Tom

Tom is the main character and driving force of the strip. Based on the creator and writer, Tom Brazelton, comic Tom is a bit movie obsessed. Frequently dressing in elaborate character costumes for the openings of movies he's excited about (from Star Wars Star Wars Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...  http://www.theaterhopper.com/index.php?date=20021113, to Starsky & Hutch Starsky & Hutch (film) Starsky & Hutch is a 2004 American comedy film directed by Todd Phillips. The film stars Ben Stiller as David Starsky and Owen Wilson as Ken "Hutch" Hutchinson and is a film adaptation of the original television series of the same name from the 1970s....  http://www.theaterhopper.com/index.php?date=20040305, to Spider-Man Spider-Man Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...  http://www.theaterhopper.com/index.php?date=20070502) and, if left unchecked, has been known to ramble for hours about the merits of seemingly small points in films http://www.theaterhopper.com/index.php?date=20050126. He's gone as far as to perform voodoo rituals on certain stars http://www.theaterhopper.com/index.php?date=20060407 and take things he's seen in movies out into the real world with him http://www.theaterhopper.com/index.php?date=20041103, and even to hand out Oscars to family and friends when the time comes http://www.theaterhopper.com/index.php?date=20030317. His yearly tradition of taking his bounty of gifted DVDs into the basement for a near never-ending marathon is frightening his loved ones http://www.theaterhopper.com/index.php?date=20031227.

Cami

Cami is Tom's wife, both in real life and in the comic. Though her taste in movies tends to be more towards the Romantic Comedy section of the video store, she still has all of the passion of Tom, though her inexperience in going the full 10 yards showed mightily when she accidentally stabbed Tom when dressed as Elektra Elektra (comics) Elektra Natchios, usually referred to only by her first name Elektra, is a fictional character in publications from Marvel Comics.Elektra is a kunoichi – female ninja assassin – of Greek descent. She wields a pair of bladed sai as her trademark weapon. She is a love interest of the superhero...  http://www.theaterhopper.com/index.php?date=20030210. Her fandom of Julia Roberts Julia Roberts Julia Fiona Roberts is an American actress. She became a Hollywood star after headlining the romantic comedy Pretty Woman , which grossed $464 million worldwide...  is a sticking point in the relationship http://www.theaterhopper.com/index.php?date=20020911http://www.theaterhopper.com/index.php?date=20031224http://www.theaterhopper.com/index.php?date=20040730http://www.theaterhopper.com/index.php?date=20040901. She was also, apparently, the Midwest Chapter Praetor in the Cult of Sandler Adam Sandler Adam Richard Sandler is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, musician, and film producer.After becoming a Saturday Night Live cast member, Sandler went on to star in several Hollywood feature films that grossed over $100 million at the box office...  http://www.theaterhopper.com/index.php?date=20040209, and even though she has since parted ways with the flock she seems to have retained the ability to levitate and throw fireballs when under extreme duress http://www.theaterhopper.com/index.php?date=20040213.

Jared

Jared is Tom's best friend, enabler, co-conspirator and probable victim. If ever Tom needs someone to fully geek out with a movie to, Jared is his go-to guy. He may be the only person in the universe who not only understands Toms passion for movies, but almost rivals it. His serious problems with actor Ben Affleck Ben Affleck Benjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt , better known as Ben Affleck, is an American actor, film director, writer, and producer. He became known with his performances in Kevin Smith's films such as Mallrats and Chasing Amy...  are well documented throughout the history of the strip with the two of them getting into more than a few physical altercations http://www.theaterhopper.com/index.php?date=20030213 http://www.theaterhopper.com/index.php?date=20031229 http://www.theaterhopper.com/index.php?date=20040326 http://www.theaterhopper.com/index.php?date=20040830. Though Jared has recently made his peace with Affleck after he directed the critically-acclaimed Gone Baby Gone Gone Baby Gone Gone Baby Gone is a 2007 American crime drama-mystery film directed by Ben Affleck and starring his brother Casey Affleck. The screenplay by Ben Affleck and Aaron Stockard is based on the novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane, author of Mystic River and Shutter Island...  http://www.theaterhopper.com/index.php?date=20071022. Jared has since moved on to terrorizing Shia LaBeouf Shia LaBeouf Shia Saide LaBeouf is an American actor who became known among younger audiences for his part in the Disney Channel series Even Stevens and made his film debut in Holes . In 2007, he starred as the leads in Disturbia and Transformers...  http://www.theaterhopper.com/index.php?date=20071107 after seeing a picture of him from the new Indiana Jones movie where he's on a motorcycle with Indy in the "bitch seat" http://www.theaterhopper.com/index.php?date=20071109. Jared's alter-ego, Goth Jared, thought dead since The Crow The Crow (film) The Crow is a 1994 American action film based on the 1989 comic book of the same name by James O'Barr. The film was written by David J. Schow and John Shirley, and directed by Alex Proyas...  sequel The Crow: City of Angels The Crow: City of Angels is a 1996 action film directed by Tim Pope. It is a sequel to the 1994 cult film The Crow.-Plot:The film is set in Los Angeles, where drug king Judah Earl controls it all...  was a huge flop http://www.theaterhopper.com/index.php?date=20030918, is a semi-recurring character.

Jimmy

Jimmy is the first cast member of Theater Hopper to not be based on a real person. Jimmy is an employee at the local movie theater the rest of the cast is known to frequent and thus has become quite chummy with them. Jimmy has a certain naiveté about him, though he has been known to exhibit sarcastic tendencies from time to time. He was also the subject of Theater Hopper's first long story arc, running from September 6 to October 8, 2004, wherein he was fired from the theater http://www.theaterhopper.com/index.php?date=20040913 and lived with Tom briefly http://www.theaterhopper.com/index.php?date=20040917 before being rehired http://www.theaterhopper.com/index.php?date=20041006. We got to know Jimmy quite intimately and he has fast become one of the most popular characters in the small cast.

Charlie

Charlie is also a construct of Mr. Brazelton's imagination. When they were in high school Charlie and Cami were bitter rivals, competing at everything they could with Charlie most often coming out on top http://www.theaterhopper.com/index.php?date=20050105. Charlie eventually followed her dream and moved out to Hollywood to become an actress, until almost out of nowhere she moved back to Iowa. In TH's longest (almost two months) spanning story arc it was revealed that Charlie left Hollywood due to her failed romance with Ben Affleck. Their relationship ended (rather badly) when she clocked him in the jaw with the "Best Screenplay" Oscar he won for Good Will Hunting Good Will Hunting Good Will Hunting is a 1997 drama film directed by Gus Van Sant and starring Matt Damon, Robin Williams, Ben Affleck, Minnie Driver, and Stellan Skarsgård...  after Affleck insulted her and broke up with her when she refused to support his dream of becoming a professional poker player http://www.theaterhopper.com/index.php?date=20050211.

Victor

Victor was first introduced on November 30, 2005, and is the floor manager of the local cinema. We are told that he is from the Ukraine Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia... . He takes his job at the theater to the extreme at first, going so far as to lock up Tom & Cami in the theater's secret holding cell after Tom suggests out loud that they go "theater hopping" http://www.theaterhopper.com/index.php?date=20051130. He always seems to have a scowl on his face, the utter picture of authority. However, it has become more and more apparent that he is gay and in love with Tom http://www.theaterhopper.com/index.php?date=20060621 http://www.theaterhopper.com/index.php?date=20060519 http://www.theaterhopper.com/index.php?date=20061106 http://www.theaterhopper.com/index.php?date=20070307; he even erected a shrine to Tom http://www.theaterhopper.com/index.php?date=20060317(though this was done in a guest comic so it may not be considered canon Canon (fiction) In the context of a work of fiction, the term canon denotes the material accepted as "official" in a fictional universe's fan base. It is often contrasted with, or used as the basis for, works of fan fiction, which are not considered canonical... ).

Truman

Truman is the comic counterpart of Tom and Cami's real life beagle. While he has yet to play any major role in the comic, he's still very popular among fans. Truman has however been shown to be fiercely loyal to Tom and Cami. There was never a better example of this than when Truman (in an airplane) shot down Dewey, the chimp Tom and Cami owned very briefly (he only appeared in six strips), after he kidnapped Cami and took her to the top of a building. http://www.theaterhopper.com/index.php?date=20051224 Dewey had become enraged after seeing the King Kong King Kong King Kong is a fictional character, a giant movie monster resembling a gorilla, that has appeared in several movies since 1933. These include the groundbreaking 1933 movie, the film remakes of 1976 and 2005, as well as various sequels of the first two films...  remake King Kong (2005 film) King Kong is a 2005 fantasy adventure film directed by Peter Jackson. It is a remake of the 1933 film of the same name and stars Naomi Watts, Jack Black and Adrien Brody. Andy Serkis, through performance capture, portrays Kong....  in the theater.

External links

• http://www.theaterhopper.com/ -- Main Site
• THorum -- Discussion Forum (see above)
• Theater Hopper Store -- Merchandise relating to Theater Hopper, namely t-shirts
• The Triple Feature -- A weekly movie-themed podcast
  Podcast
  A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
  
   hosted by Tom Brazelton, Joe Dunn of Joe Loves Crappy Movies, and Gordon McAlpin of Multiplex.
• Webcomics In Print review -- Webcomics In Print review of Theater Hopper: Year One

Source

• Wikipedia mirror, see author history