Action Philosophers
Encyclopedia
Action Philosophers! is a comic book
series by artist Ryan Dunlavey and writer Fred Van Lente
, which was awarded a Xeric Grant in late 2004, leading to Action Philosophers! # 1's publication in April 2005.
The series focuses on a concise biography of some of the most notable philosopher
s and their ideas. To quote the book's homepage:
The series concluded with issue # 9, published in September 2007. There are several trade paperback collections available, including a series of three, each of which collects three issues of the series and a single book that collects all 9 issues along with additional material.
, Charles M. Schulz
and Bil Keane
. The creators themselves sometimes appear in the comics - most notably in the Derrida story, in which the story deconstructs into itself. Philosophical theories are examined in as objective a light as possible, with emphasis often given to the thinkers themselves, and how their lives shaped their ideas.
Van Lente and Dunlavey actively discuss the series on their message board, and have even encouraged fans to vote on which philosopher should be highlighted in a future issues (as illustrated with issue # 6, "The People's Choice", and issue # 9, "The Lightning Round").
The series has been nominated for an Ignatz Outstanding Debut Award, as well as a positive review from Philosophy Now.
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
series by artist Ryan Dunlavey and writer Fred Van Lente
Fred Van Lente
Fred Van Lente is an American writer, primarily of comic books and graphic novels.-Career:Van Lente is the co-founder, along with artist Ryan Dunlavey, of Evil Twin Comics, which produces his and Dunlavey’s non-fiction comic books, the first and most famous of which is Action Philosophers.Recent...
, which was awarded a Xeric Grant in late 2004, leading to Action Philosophers! # 1's publication in April 2005.
The series focuses on a concise biography of some of the most notable philosopher
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
s and their ideas. To quote the book's homepage:
ACTION PHILOSOPHERS! is a comic book series detailing the lives and thoughts of history's A-list brain trust in a hip and humorous way that proves that philosophy is not just the province of boring tweed-enveloped college professors.
The series concluded with issue # 9, published in September 2007. There are several trade paperback collections available, including a series of three, each of which collects three issues of the series and a single book that collects all 9 issues along with additional material.
Style and Critical Acclaim
The Action Philosophers series employs broad humor and a cartoony art style with the goal of making the often complex and metaphorical ideas of philosophy more easily understood than a traditional text would. Pop culture references often occur, including radical changes in art style that pay homage to famous cartoonists including Jack KirbyJack Kirby
Jack Kirby , born Jacob Kurtzberg, was an American comic book artist, writer and editor regarded by historians and fans as one of the major innovators and most influential creators in the comic book medium....
, Charles M. Schulz
Charles M. Schulz
Charles Monroe "Sparky" Schulz was an American cartoonist, whose comic strip Peanuts proved one of the most popular and influential in the history of the medium, and is still widely reprinted on a daily basis.-Early life and education:Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Schulz grew up in Saint Paul...
and Bil Keane
Bil Keane
William Aloysius Keane , better known as Bil Keane, was an American cartoonist. He is most notable for his work on the long-running newspaper comic The Family Circus, which began its run in 1960 and continues in syndication, drawn by his son Jeff Keane.-Biography:Born in Philadelphia,...
. The creators themselves sometimes appear in the comics - most notably in the Derrida story, in which the story deconstructs into itself. Philosophical theories are examined in as objective a light as possible, with emphasis often given to the thinkers themselves, and how their lives shaped their ideas.
Van Lente and Dunlavey actively discuss the series on their message board, and have even encouraged fans to vote on which philosopher should be highlighted in a future issues (as illustrated with issue # 6, "The People's Choice", and issue # 9, "The Lightning Round").
The series has been nominated for an Ignatz Outstanding Debut Award, as well as a positive review from Philosophy Now.
Issue Summary
- # 1: - Nietzsche, BodhidharmaBodhidharmaBodhidharma was a Buddhist monk who lived during the 5th/6th century AD. He is traditionally credited as the transmitter of Ch'an to China, and regarded as the first Chinese patriarch...
, & PlatoPlatoPlato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
: "Wrestling Superstar of Ancient Greece!", featuring one of the series' most famous lines, "PLATO SMASH!" - # 2: - The "All Sex Special", featuring Ayn RandAyn RandAyn Rand was a Russian-American novelist, philosopher, playwright, and screenwriter. She is known for her two best-selling novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged and for developing a philosophical system she called Objectivism....
, Thomas JeffersonThomas JeffersonThomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
, & Saint Augustine. - # 3: - "Self Help for Stupid Ugly Losers" featuring Freud, Carl JungCarl JungCarl Gustav Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist and the founder of Analytical Psychology. Jung is considered the first modern psychiatrist to view the human psyche as "by nature religious" and make it the focus of exploration. Jung is one of the best known researchers in the field of dream analysis and...
, & Joseph CampbellJoseph CampbellJoseph John Campbell was an American mythologist, writer and lecturer, best known for his work in comparative mythology and comparative religion. His work is vast, covering many aspects of the human experience...
. - # 4: - "World Domination Handbook" featuring Karl MarxKarl MarxKarl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
, Machiavelli, & The KabbalahKabbalahKabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...
. - # 5: - "Hate the French" featuring Descartes, Sartre, & Jaques Derrida.
- # 6: - "The People's Choice" featuring Kierkegaard, St. Thomas Aquinas, & Ludwig WittgensteinLudwig WittgensteinLudwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein was an Austrian philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. He was professor in philosophy at the University of Cambridge from 1939 until 1947...
. - # 7: - "It's all Greek to you" featuring The Pre-Socratics, AristotleAristotleAristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
, & EpictetusEpictetusEpictetus was a Greek sage and Stoic philosopher. He was born a slave at Hierapolis, Phrygia , and lived in Rome until banishment when he went to Nicopolis in northwestern Greece where he lived the rest of his life. His teachings were noted down and published by his pupil Arrian in his Discourses...
. - # 8: - "Senseless Violence Special" featuring KantKANTKANT is a computer algebra system for mathematicians interested in algebraic number theory, performing sophisticated computations in algebraic number fields, in global function fields, and in local fields. KASH is the associated command line interface...
, Schopenhauer, Hegel, & John Stuart MillJohn Stuart MillJohn Stuart Mill was a British philosopher, economist and civil servant. An influential contributor to social theory, political theory, and political economy, his conception of liberty justified the freedom of the individual in opposition to unlimited state control. He was a proponent of...
. - # 9: - "The Lightning Round" , the final issue featuring Diogenes the Cynic, Lao Tzu, Michel FoucaultMichel FoucaultMichel Foucault , born Paul-Michel Foucault , was a French philosopher, social theorist and historian of ideas...
, David HumeDavid HumeDavid Hume was a Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist, known especially for his philosophical empiricism and skepticism. He was one of the most important figures in the history of Western philosophy and the Scottish Enlightenment...
, ConfuciusConfuciusConfucius , literally "Master Kong", was a Chinese thinker and social philosopher of the Spring and Autumn Period....
, George BerkeleyGeorge BerkeleyGeorge Berkeley , also known as Bishop Berkeley , was an Irish philosopher whose primary achievement was the advancement of a theory he called "immaterialism"...
, Francis BaconFrancis BaconFrancis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Albans, KC was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, lawyer, jurist, author and pioneer of the scientific method. He served both as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England...
, Jean-Jacques RousseauJean-Jacques RousseauJean-Jacques Rousseau was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer of 18th-century Romanticism. His political philosophy influenced the French Revolution as well as the overall development of modern political, sociological and educational thought.His novel Émile: or, On Education is a treatise...
, Thomas HobbesThomas HobbesThomas Hobbes of Malmesbury , in some older texts Thomas Hobbs of Malmsbury, was an English philosopher, best known today for his work on political philosophy...
, Mary WollstonecraftMary WollstonecraftMary Wollstonecraft was an eighteenth-century British writer, philosopher, and advocate of women's rights. During her brief career, she wrote novels, treatises, a travel narrative, a history of the French Revolution, a conduct book, and a children's book...
, Baruch SpinozaBaruch SpinozaBaruch de Spinoza and later Benedict de Spinoza was a Dutch Jewish philosopher. Revealing considerable scientific aptitude, the breadth and importance of Spinoza's work was not fully realized until years after his death...
and Gottfried LeibnizGottfried LeibnizGottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was a German philosopher and mathematician. He wrote in different languages, primarily in Latin , French and German ....
.
Collected editions
| Title | Material collected | ISBN |
|---|---|---|
| Action Philosophers! Giant-size Thing 1 | Action Philosophers #1-3 | ISBN 0-9778329-0-2 |
| Action Philosophers! Giant-size Thing 2 | Action Philosophers #4-6 | ISBN 0-9778329-1-0 |
| Action Philosophers! Giant-size Thing 3 | Action Philosophers #7-9 | ISBN 0-9778329-2-9 |
| The More Than Complete Action Philosophers! | Action Philosophers #1-9, plus new content | ISBN 978-0-9778329-3-4 |
External links
- Official series website, featuring free issue previews
- Interview with Fred and Ryan at comiXology on Action Philosophers and Comic Book Comics
- BamKaPow.com's interview, also examining the creative team's post-AP! projects
- Official Action Philosophers! message board
- Philosophy Now's review
- Interview with Indie Comics News
- HollywoodJesus.com Review