Nnewts and Earthworms · 6:00pm Feb 21st, 2014
Anybody here remember Earthworm Jim?
Of course you do.
As a kid who grew up in the (admittedly VERY late) 80's and early 90's, Earthworm Jim was nothing short of a delicious train wreck between dream logic and grossout humor. And I loved every part of it: the games, the show, the action figures.
So why am I talking about Earthworm Jim on a blog about ponies? Well...
...I distinctly recall that I said I was going to post links to stories that were awesome, but I don't recall that those stories had to be on this site.
See, the creator of Earthworm Jim, Doug Ten Napel, went on to become a comic book artist, wringing out one awesome story after another. His stories focus on awesome monsters, crazy situations, demented artwork, and above all else, introspection, spirituality, and what it means to be a human being. I've collected a sizeable number of his graphic novels, from my personal favorite, Black Cherry, to what might be his magnum opus, Creature Tech.
Pictured: A fucking genius.
And that brings me to today's post. Doug has since gone from making comics to making webcomics, starting with Ratfist, a rather politically-charged work that deconstructs superhero comics by analyzing the consequences of the actions we take based on our beliefs. You can find that comic here.
His most recent webcomic (which has yet to be finished) is Nnewts, which is about... well, newts. Newts and magic. You know what? Like a lot of Doug's work, it's really hard to explain, so here's a link so you can see for yourself.
The biggest reason I'm giving you guys links to Doug's work is, well... Half my love of art and storytelling is inspired by Stephen King, MC Escher, C. S. Lewis, Bram Stoker, Walt Disney and the other greats. The other half is all inspired by Doug. So by giving you links to two of his most fantastic works, I'm giving you insight on the man who inspired me, as a child growing up in the 90's, as a gamer, and as a grown man posting a blog only a few people will read on a website about cute little ponies.
Now, let's end this blog post with some pictures of Doug Ten Napel's fine artwork so I can get back to reading more of Nnewt.
(I'd post an image from Black Cherry right here, but 90% of it contains something that isn't work-safe. So I'll just say Google it. Or buy the book off Amazon or something. Really, buying the book is your best option!
This is going to seem random. But I want to say thank you. Your story got me into mlp. And as a person you have been very supportive you me. Though i may not ever get something published. I want you to know that have opened the door to my creative side that i closed back in grade school. And though we may never met. I consider you to be my friend.
James Adam DePriest a.k.a nintendogeek7065