Sheldon (comic)
Encyclopedia
Sheldon is a daily webcomic
created by Dave Kellett
. The comedic strip centers on the odd family unit of 10-year old software billionaire
Sheldon, his grandfather guardian and his talking duck, Arthur. The strip follows a traditional newspaper format of black and white Monday-Friday.
Kellett's other webcomic, Drive, previously appeared on the Sheldon site each Saturday, but has since been moved to a site of its own.
Sheldon: is a ten-year-old kid who earned billions with his own software company: Sheldonsoft. Though his huge riches occasionally tempt him into buying something frivolous like, say, Panama, Sheldon remains pretty much a normal kid. A running joke in the strip is the boy genius often forgets about his company, preferring to concern himself with more everyday affairs. Despite his wealth and intelligence, Sheldon is generally depicted as an ordinary ten-year old boy.
Gramp: Sheldon is raised by his grandfather, Gramp, a warm-hearted guy who's not quite sure what to make of his grandson's billions. Now retired, Gramp tries to keep up with the modern world, only to find that the main challenge of his golden years is fitting into his slacks. Gramp also struggles with a coffee addiction.
Arthur: the Duck learned to talk when Sheldon downloaded an encyclopedia and some speech-recognition software into his head and has been part of the family unit ever since. Sarcastic and cocky, Arthur is constantly getting into trouble at home and at the Sheldonsoft offices. Unlike Sheldon, he's captivated with the Sheldonsoft billions, and constantly has visions of shopping sprees at The Sharper Image
. Some of Arthur's alter-egos include "The Duck", a superhero, and "Rex Chestington", a pug-riding cowboy. In daily life, Arthur is often found sitting on lampshades for no other reason than to keep his ducky behind warm. It is known throughout the strip that Arthur, for some reason, has a deep hatred for chickens, and a strong desire for pancake
s, Shakira
, Jessica Simpson
, and Catherine Zeta-Jones
.
The strip also features a small collection of supporting characters, the principal three which are:
Flaco: Thinking he was hatching an abandoned duck egg, Arthur became father to Flaco, a common North American lizard
. Most storylines have him playing second-fiddle to his duck "father", but in one extended plotline, he became a Hollywood producer for CSI. He has also won the Pentathalon in the Olympics, earned a Mexican pilot's license, gone to space as a cosmonaut from Baikonur
, and dated Betty White
in Sao Paolo. Flaco is anthropomorphic but doesn't speak, aside from his characteristic "squee" sound.
Oso: is Sheldon's pet pug
, a whirlwind of energy. Oso was given to Sheldon as a Christmas present in 2005. Oso is mostly shown running around in circles, constantly barking (or, as it is termed in the strip, "hyping"), and acting as "Rex Chestington's" horse.
Dante: is one of Sheldon's human friends, an aspiring artist. Seen extensively in the earlier days of the strip, Dante now only makes occasional appearances. Enjoys hanging out with Sheldon and doing regular-10 year-old-kid stuff. (as much as that's possible when your best friend is one of the biggest, most successful nerds on the planet) The two have done everything from making sandcastles to playing superheroes and villains to re-enacting the British battle with the Spanish Armada. In one comic, it is shown that he is lactose intolerant.
Characters and persons from popular culture and real life also feature. Strips will occasionally feature Kellett himself and his real-world exploits as opposed to the fictional Sheldon universe.
on occasion with characters speaking "to camera". A narrative voice, delivered through captions and other text, is also frequent.
Book Reviews:
TV Appearances:
's student newspaper The Observer from 1993 to 1996. Kellett later gave Sheldon his own strip in 1998 as a webcomic, which ran on djk3.ac.uk first, then davekellett.com, and then moved to the Keenspot
-hosted sheldoncomics.com in 2000. In 2001, United Features Syndicate picked the strip up for online syndication and the strip moved to comics.com on December 17, 2001. Since this move meant having all-new readers, the strip was retcon
ned with revised versions of Keenspot comics.
The strip originally ran Monday through Friday. After the move from Keenspot to comics.com, the strip ran Monday to Saturday, until late 2004, when a Sunday feature was added.
On June 22, 2005, Sheldon also joined Blank Label Comics
, an online co-op of nine cartoonists.
On November 6, 2006, Kellett moved the strip from comics.com to the independently hosted sheldoncomics.com where it ran seven days a week. According to blog entry from Nov. 11, 2006, the new site logged 2.5 million pageviews in the first five days of operation.
On November 1, 2007, Kellett left Blank Label Comics
and joined with Scott Kurtz of PvP
, Kris Straub of Starslip Crisis, and Brad Guigar
of Evil Inc. to form a new webcomics collective, Halfpixel.com.
In 2009 Kellett started a new, sci-fi motivated comic titled 'Drive' (updated on Thursdays) and since appropriately the same time reduced the update schedule of Sheldon to five comics a week, Monday through Friday.
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....
created by Dave Kellett
Dave Kellett
Dave Kellett is the creator and cartoonist of two webcomic titles, Sheldon and Drive, and the co-author of How To Make Webcomics. He is one of a small but growing group of webcomic artists who are self-sufficient.-Early Years and education:...
. The comedic strip centers on the odd family unit of 10-year old software billionaire
Billionaire
A billionaire, in countries that use the short scale number naming system, is a person who has a net worth of at least one billion units of a given currency, usually the United States dollar, Euro, or Pound sterling. Forbes magazine updates a complete list of U.S. dollar billionaires around the...
Sheldon, his grandfather guardian and his talking duck, Arthur. The strip follows a traditional newspaper format of black and white Monday-Friday.
Kellett's other webcomic, Drive, previously appeared on the Sheldon site each Saturday, but has since been moved to a site of its own.
Characters
The strip centres on the unconventional family unit of Sheldon, Gramp and Arthur. Much humour is character-based, often joking at traits such as Sheldon's geekiness, Gramp's old age or Arthur's over inflated ego.Sheldon: is a ten-year-old kid who earned billions with his own software company: Sheldonsoft. Though his huge riches occasionally tempt him into buying something frivolous like, say, Panama, Sheldon remains pretty much a normal kid. A running joke in the strip is the boy genius often forgets about his company, preferring to concern himself with more everyday affairs. Despite his wealth and intelligence, Sheldon is generally depicted as an ordinary ten-year old boy.
Gramp: Sheldon is raised by his grandfather, Gramp, a warm-hearted guy who's not quite sure what to make of his grandson's billions. Now retired, Gramp tries to keep up with the modern world, only to find that the main challenge of his golden years is fitting into his slacks. Gramp also struggles with a coffee addiction.
Arthur: the Duck learned to talk when Sheldon downloaded an encyclopedia and some speech-recognition software into his head and has been part of the family unit ever since. Sarcastic and cocky, Arthur is constantly getting into trouble at home and at the Sheldonsoft offices. Unlike Sheldon, he's captivated with the Sheldonsoft billions, and constantly has visions of shopping sprees at The Sharper Image
The Sharper Image
The Sharper Image is an American product brand, formerly associated with a defunct retail company, now licensed for use on consumer electronics and gift products....
. Some of Arthur's alter-egos include "The Duck", a superhero, and "Rex Chestington", a pug-riding cowboy. In daily life, Arthur is often found sitting on lampshades for no other reason than to keep his ducky behind warm. It is known throughout the strip that Arthur, for some reason, has a deep hatred for chickens, and a strong desire for pancake
Pancake
A pancake is a thin, flat, round cake prepared from a batter, and cooked on a hot griddle or frying pan. Most pancakes are quick breads; some use a yeast-raised or fermented batter. Most pancakes are cooked one side on a griddle and flipped partway through to cook the other side...
s, Shakira
Shakira
Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll , known professionally as Shakira , is a Colombian singer who emerged in the music scene of Colombia and Latin America in the early 1990s...
, Jessica Simpson
Jessica Simpson
Jessica Ann Simpson is an American recording artist, actress, television personality, and fashion designer whose rise to fame began in 1999. Since that time, Simpson has achieved many recording milestones, starred in several television shows, movies, and commercials, launched a line of hair and...
, and Catherine Zeta-Jones
Catherine Zeta-Jones
Catherine Zeta-Jones, CBE, is a British actress. She began her career on stage at an early age. After starring in a number of United Kingdom and United States television films and small roles in films, she came to prominence with roles in Hollywood movies such as the 1998 action film The Mask of...
.
The strip also features a small collection of supporting characters, the principal three which are:
Flaco: Thinking he was hatching an abandoned duck egg, Arthur became father to Flaco, a common North American lizard
Lizard
Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with nearly 3800 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica as well as most oceanic island chains...
. Most storylines have him playing second-fiddle to his duck "father", but in one extended plotline, he became a Hollywood producer for CSI. He has also won the Pentathalon in the Olympics, earned a Mexican pilot's license, gone to space as a cosmonaut from Baikonur
Baikonur
Baikonur , formerly known as Leninsk, is a city in Kyzylorda Province of Kazakhstan, rented and administered by the Russian Federation. It was constructed to service the Baikonur Cosmodrome and was officially renamed Baikonur by Russian president Boris Yeltsin on December 20, 1995.The shape of the...
, and dated Betty White
Betty White
Betty White Ludden , better known as Betty White, is an American actress, comedienne, singer, author, and former game show personality. With a career spanning seven decades since 1939, she is best known to modern audiences for her television roles as Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and...
in Sao Paolo. Flaco is anthropomorphic but doesn't speak, aside from his characteristic "squee" sound.
Oso: is Sheldon's pet pug
Pug
The pug is a "toy" breed of dog with a wrinkly, short-muzzled face, and curled tail. The breed has a fine, glossy coat that comes in a variety of colors, and a compact square body with well-developed muscle. They have been described as multum in parvo , referring to the pug's personality and...
, a whirlwind of energy. Oso was given to Sheldon as a Christmas present in 2005. Oso is mostly shown running around in circles, constantly barking (or, as it is termed in the strip, "hyping"), and acting as "Rex Chestington's" horse.
Dante: is one of Sheldon's human friends, an aspiring artist. Seen extensively in the earlier days of the strip, Dante now only makes occasional appearances. Enjoys hanging out with Sheldon and doing regular-10 year-old-kid stuff. (as much as that's possible when your best friend is one of the biggest, most successful nerds on the planet) The two have done everything from making sandcastles to playing superheroes and villains to re-enacting the British battle with the Spanish Armada. In one comic, it is shown that he is lactose intolerant.
Characters and persons from popular culture and real life also feature. Strips will occasionally feature Kellett himself and his real-world exploits as opposed to the fictional Sheldon universe.
Overview
Sheldon is generally a light-hearted humour comic, with much of the humour character-based. Pop-culture references are frequent. The comic consists of a mixture of short story arcs and stand-alone strips which, although most typically are four-panel strips, vary in size and format. The strip employs breaking of the fourth wallFourth wall
The fourth wall is the imaginary "wall" at the front of the stage in a traditional three-walled box set in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play...
on occasion with characters speaking "to camera". A narrative voice, delivered through captions and other text, is also frequent.
Books / Book reviews
Cartoon compilations published to date:- Still Got It: The Seventh Sheldon Collection ISBN 978-0-9655060-9-0
- Living Dangerously With Saturated Fats: The Sixth Sheldon Collection ISBN 978-0-9655060-8-3
- Nerds On Parade: The Fifth Sheldon Collection ISBN 978-0-9655060-7-6
- Pugs: God's Little Weirdos ISBN 978-0-9655060-6-9
- A Blizzard of Lizards: The Fourth Sheldon Collection ISBN 978-0-9655060-5-2
- 62% More Awesome: The Third Sheldon Collection
- The Good, The Bad & The Pugly: The Second Sheldon Collection ISBN 978-0-9655060-3-8
- Pure Ducky Goodness: The First Sheldon Collection ISBN 0-9655060-1-0
- A Well Balanced Meal: The Very Best of: Four Food Groups of the Apocalypse ISBN 0-9655060-0-2
Book Reviews:
Media appearances
Articles / Interviews- London Daily Telegraph
- Houston Chronicle
- Wizard
- Fleen, part 1, part 2, and part 3.
- The Costco Connection
- UCSD Guardian
- Andertoons.com
- Phi Kappa Phi Forum
TV Appearances:
Strip History
The character Sheldon first appeared in a minor role in Kellett's comic strip Four Food Groups of the Apocalypse, which ran in the University of Notre DameUniversity of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
's student newspaper The Observer from 1993 to 1996. Kellett later gave Sheldon his own strip in 1998 as a webcomic, which ran on djk3.ac.uk first, then davekellett.com, and then moved to the Keenspot
Keenspot
Keenspot is a webcomics portal founded in March 2000 by cartoonist Chris Crosby , Crosby's mother Teri, cartoonist Darren Bleuel , and Nathan Stone.-History:...
-hosted sheldoncomics.com in 2000. In 2001, United Features Syndicate picked the strip up for online syndication and the strip moved to comics.com on December 17, 2001. Since this move meant having all-new readers, the strip was retcon
Retcon
Retroactive continuity is the alteration of previously established facts in a fictional work. Retcons are done for many reasons, including the accommodation of sequels or further derivative works in a series, wherein newer authors or creators want to revise the in-story history to allow a course...
ned with revised versions of Keenspot comics.
The strip originally ran Monday through Friday. After the move from Keenspot to comics.com, the strip ran Monday to Saturday, until late 2004, when a Sunday feature was added.
On June 22, 2005, Sheldon also joined Blank Label Comics
Blank Label Comics
Blank Label Comics is a collective of web comics whose creators have banded together for mutual assistance and promotion. The Blank Label Comics website officially went online on May 23, 2005.All of the comics had previously been hosted on Keenspot...
, an online co-op of nine cartoonists.
On November 6, 2006, Kellett moved the strip from comics.com to the independently hosted sheldoncomics.com where it ran seven days a week. According to blog entry from Nov. 11, 2006, the new site logged 2.5 million pageviews in the first five days of operation.
On November 1, 2007, Kellett left Blank Label Comics
Blank Label Comics
Blank Label Comics is a collective of web comics whose creators have banded together for mutual assistance and promotion. The Blank Label Comics website officially went online on May 23, 2005.All of the comics had previously been hosted on Keenspot...
and joined with Scott Kurtz of PvP
PvP
PvP, also known as Player vs Player, is a webcomic, written and drawn by Scott Kurtz, with around 100,000 unique visitors per day . On February 1, 2007, it became the subject of its own animated series.-Themes:...
, Kris Straub of Starslip Crisis, and Brad Guigar
Brad Guigar
Brad Guigar is an American cartoonist who is best known for his daily webcomic Greystone Inn and its sequel Evil Inc. ...and his laugh-Biography:Brad Guigar was the eldest of five children and grew up in Bad Axe, Michigan...
of Evil Inc. to form a new webcomics collective, Halfpixel.com.
In 2009 Kellett started a new, sci-fi motivated comic titled 'Drive' (updated on Thursdays) and since appropriately the same time reduced the update schedule of Sheldon to five comics a week, Monday through Friday.