Apokalips Web Comic Artist Embarks on Quest to Find Gary Larson

Popular comics from Apokalips, found at www.MyApokalips.com, include talking tattooed robots, zombies chasing brains-on-sticks, and the Incredible Hulk sitting in a toilet stall.  It should come as little surprise that head artist, Mike Gioia, has looked to one cartoonist above all others as a childhood foundation for inspiration.

This September Apokalips co-founders Mike Gioia, Jason DeRoner and Alex Tuller, intend to travel over 3,000 miles across the country to shake the legendary hand of Gary Larson, creator of The Far Side.  The Apokalips team will be traveling from New York City to Seattle, where they believe Larson resides.  Unbeknowst to Larson, the team will be traveling over 15 days to reach the famed cartoonist’s doorstep in an attempt to win his coveted approval.

If the reader looks closely at some Apokalips webcomics he/she/it can see the subtle hints of influence that must have stemmed from Larson’s anthropomorphized cows, including impressions of Larson’s love for science in the odd uses of historical reference and a tendency to lean so far towards hare-brained lunacy that it becomes apparent Larson’s zany view of the world must have imprinted itself somewhere in the clownish imaginations of the Apokalips creators.

The trip will include stops at Long Beach Island, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, parts of Illinois, Kansas City, Omaha, somewhere in Iowa unfortunately, Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone, San Fransico, Portland, and finally, Seattle. 

The Apokalips team is fully aware of the possibility for defeat: they may not be able to find Larson, Larson could turn them down and refuse to speak, or perhaps the group will find themselves simply spinning wheels, stranded and directionless.  Nonetheless, they are willing to strike out on the highway for a chance—in part because of their appreciation for the metaphoric meaning behind the trip (their own highway is littered with ornaments fashioned by Larson’s influence, after all), but also in part because they feel they have to try.

Check for updates to see if the Apokalips van happens to be driving near your home; please don’t hesitate to reach out and meet up!  If the Apokalips van will not be passing through your area, we encourage all to send pictures, send ideas, send advice, and participate throughout the trip!

About Mike Gioia
The head artist for Apokalips, Mike Gioia, is from Westchester, PA.  He drew cartoons for his high school newspaper for Monsignor Bonner high in Drexel Hill, PA, as well for his college newspaper in Bethlehem, PA, the “Brown & White.”

Mike grew up in Delaware County, near Philadelphia, and moved to Westchester when he was 16 years old.  Although he currently is living in New York City working as a banking and capital markets advisory associate at PricewaterhouseCoopers, his Pennsylvania upbringing shaped who he is today.

About Apokalips - http://www.myapokalips.com/
What would happen if the apocalypse—an end to all human life as we know it—happened tomorrow?  This was the frightening, humbling discussion roommates and eventual founding members of the Apokalips web comic—Mike Gioia, Jason DeRoner, Theo Soares and Alex Tuller—were having in early 2009.  The setting for the catalyzing exchange of end-of-the-world scenarios was appropriately frenzied:  they were playing guitar hero with the band name Apokalips, their homebrew was exploding and was in all likelihood toxic.

That’s when they agreed it was time to make their mark (time being something they were envisioning they might not have much of left). They decided to create a web comic that would serve as a repository for their ideas, effectively preserving their off-centered humor in the catacombs of the internet.  By housing their ideas on a web comic, a vehicle of posterity and safe keeping, they could ensure their thoughts would live on in perpetuity… should the world end.

They wanted to leave their footprints, and there was no better way to do so than to create the fictitious character Jason “Bones” Boneasaurus, a dinosaur who somehow survived a similar extinction. Behind the guise of the Boneasaurus alias the four creators were able to pour their collective imagination into Apokalips – the greatest web
comic of all time.

Statistics
Apokalips viewership has risen from only 16 absolute unique visitors in February, the month the first comic was posted, to 75,000+ absolute unique visitors in the month of August. 

On two separate occasions the Web site’s server, a computer tucked under one member’s bed, has actually been shut down from being overloaded by visits as comics were cascaded around the internet.  In fact, one comic in June drove over 67,000 visitors—in one day—to the Web site.

To date the comic has seen over 525,000 visits and over 1.6 million page views since its inception in February, 2009.

Some particularly popular comics include:
*The Axe Effect: http://www.myapokalips.com/show/18#comic
*Seven Countries: http://www.myapokalips.com/show/26#comic
*Prove You’re Human: http://www.myapokalips.com/show/23#comic
*Zombies: http://www.myapokalips.com/show/44#comic

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