Two Lumps
Encyclopedia
Two Lumps — The Adventures of Ebenezer and Snooch is a webcomic
which is drawn and written by James L. Grant and Mel Hynes. The first strip appeared on March 16, 2004.
cats named Ebenezer (a.k.a. Eben or Benny) and Snooch. The strip is invariably written from their point of view, albeit with a tone and approach which has led to the comic being described as "the Anti-Garfield
". Other characters make occasional appearances: Grant himself appeared in the second strip (in a parody of Garfield's debut), and Hynes herself partially appears with some regularity as the owner (or "Mom") of Ebenezer and Snooch. The cats don't talk as such, but communicate by means of thought bubbles, facial expressions, and tail-twitching.
Ebenezer is the smart one. He is often portrayed deep in thought, doing complicated mathematical equations in his head, or pretending to be an Indiana Jones-type explorer, and is often shown as being frustrated by the antics of his less-intelligent brother. Eben's personality is sarcastic and snarky, usually playing the straight cat to Snooch's blundering buffoonery. He occasionally breaks the fourth wall
.
Snooch is obese, clumsy, and not very bright. When danger threatens him or his brother, he is utterly fearless, bordering on psychotic (which side of that border is left up to the reader). He comes up with compelling reasons for why cats do the things they do, such as the 2 AM Crazies (well known to any cat owner).
The cats are based upon Grant and Hynes's real-life pet cats, Raistlin and Caramon (named after the brothers in the Dragonlance
novels). Ebenezer is patterned after Raistlin, and Snooch was patterned after Caramon. Caramon died unexpectedly from kidney failure in 2009, which was documented in the strip. Grant assured readers that Two Lumps would go on as always and the character of Snooch would not be discontinued, as Snooch would be the best way to keep Caramon's memory alive. On the morning of 23 June 2011, J. Grant announced that Raistlin had passed away at the age of 14.
, and varies between one-shot gags and story arcs. Grant does the drawing; Hynes does the writing. The strip is updated every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
James Grant entered the webcomics ecosystem during its infancy, having created the long-running strip FLEM! Comics in 1998. After having written and drawn webcomic strips for five years, Grant felt that cartooning had "stopped being fun" and went through a brief hiatus before forming a creative team with Hynes. Grant found that his collaboration with Hynes enabled him to focus on his art rather than worrying about developing story arcs, stating that "Two Lumps brought back the fun for me. I don't have to write it. I don't have to steer. I'm the guy on the second seat of a tandem bicycle, and Mel's got the handlebars - I just pedal. I love it."
Grant and Hynes have been described as having "well-deserved reputations as seekers of the edge". Outside of Two Lumps, Hynes often writes in the horror genre, and Grant has also written horror novels and illustrated violent material. However, Hynes has rejected the characterization that the relatively tame content of Two Lumps could be construed as self-censorship, stating that "While we're not deliberately striving for 'family-friendly', by any means, the Lumps tend to lend themselves towards more intellectual and sardonic jokes than visceral ones... James and I both have very viscerally-twisted senses of humor, but we tend to have other creative outlets for that than Two Lumps."
Hynes and Grant have become popular guests and panelists at industry conventions such as ComicCon, AggieCon
, and A-Kon
.
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....
which is drawn and written by James L. Grant and Mel Hynes. The first strip appeared on March 16, 2004.
Cast
The main characters are a pair of sibling Russian BlueRussian Blue
The Russian Blue is a cat breed that has a silver-blue coat. These cats are known to be highly intelligent and playful but tend to be timid around strangers...
cats named Ebenezer (a.k.a. Eben or Benny) and Snooch. The strip is invariably written from their point of view, albeit with a tone and approach which has led to the comic being described as "the Anti-Garfield
Garfield
Garfield is a comic strip created by Jim Davis. Published since June 19, 1978, it chronicles the life of the title character, the cat Garfield ; his owner, Jon Arbuckle; and Arbuckle's dog, Odie...
". Other characters make occasional appearances: Grant himself appeared in the second strip (in a parody of Garfield's debut), and Hynes herself partially appears with some regularity as the owner (or "Mom") of Ebenezer and Snooch. The cats don't talk as such, but communicate by means of thought bubbles, facial expressions, and tail-twitching.
Ebenezer is the smart one. He is often portrayed deep in thought, doing complicated mathematical equations in his head, or pretending to be an Indiana Jones-type explorer, and is often shown as being frustrated by the antics of his less-intelligent brother. Eben's personality is sarcastic and snarky, usually playing the straight cat to Snooch's blundering buffoonery. He occasionally breaks the fourth wall
Fourth 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...
.
Snooch is obese, clumsy, and not very bright. When danger threatens him or his brother, he is utterly fearless, bordering on psychotic (which side of that border is left up to the reader). He comes up with compelling reasons for why cats do the things they do, such as the 2 AM Crazies (well known to any cat owner).
The cats are based upon Grant and Hynes's real-life pet cats, Raistlin and Caramon (named after the brothers in the Dragonlance
Dragonlance
Dragonlance is a shared universe created by Laura and Tracy Hickman, and expanded by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis under the direction of TSR, Inc. into a series of popular fantasy novels. The Hickmans conceived Dragonlance while driving in their car on the way to TSR for a job application...
novels). Ebenezer is patterned after Raistlin, and Snooch was patterned after Caramon. Caramon died unexpectedly from kidney failure in 2009, which was documented in the strip. Grant assured readers that Two Lumps would go on as always and the character of Snooch would not be discontinued, as Snooch would be the best way to keep Caramon's memory alive. On the morning of 23 June 2011, J. Grant announced that Raistlin had passed away at the age of 14.
Technical
The strip is hand-drawn and done almost exclusively in grayscaleGrayscale
In photography and computing, a grayscale or greyscale digital image is an image in which the value of each pixel is a single sample, that is, it carries only intensity information...
, and varies between one-shot gags and story arcs. Grant does the drawing; Hynes does the writing. The strip is updated every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Creators
Mel Hynes is the primary author of Two Lumps, directing the plot and writing the individual strips. In addition to Two Lumps, she also writes pieces which mix "horror and twisted humor".James Grant entered the webcomics ecosystem during its infancy, having created the long-running strip FLEM! Comics in 1998. After having written and drawn webcomic strips for five years, Grant felt that cartooning had "stopped being fun" and went through a brief hiatus before forming a creative team with Hynes. Grant found that his collaboration with Hynes enabled him to focus on his art rather than worrying about developing story arcs, stating that "Two Lumps brought back the fun for me. I don't have to write it. I don't have to steer. I'm the guy on the second seat of a tandem bicycle, and Mel's got the handlebars - I just pedal. I love it."
Grant and Hynes have been described as having "well-deserved reputations as seekers of the edge". Outside of Two Lumps, Hynes often writes in the horror genre, and Grant has also written horror novels and illustrated violent material. However, Hynes has rejected the characterization that the relatively tame content of Two Lumps could be construed as self-censorship, stating that "While we're not deliberately striving for 'family-friendly', by any means, the Lumps tend to lend themselves towards more intellectual and sardonic jokes than visceral ones... James and I both have very viscerally-twisted senses of humor, but we tend to have other creative outlets for that than Two Lumps."
Hynes and Grant have become popular guests and panelists at industry conventions such as ComicCon, AggieCon
AggieCon
AggieCon is the oldest and largest student-run science fiction convention in the United States. Held annually since 1969 by Cepheid Variable at Texas A&M University's Memorial Student Center, it has grown to become one of the larger conventions in Texas...
, and A-Kon
Project A-Kon
A-Kon, formerly known as Project: A-Kon, is a three day anime convention held annually in Dallas, Texas usually on the last weekend of May. First held in 1990 with just 380 people in attendance, A-Kon is North America's longest running national anime convention.-Departments:A-Kon consists of...
.
Publication history
- I Would Lick It For Hours: Two Lumps – Year One (November 2007) Danville, California: StoneGarden. 180 p. ISBN 1-60076-119-4
- We Must Be Gods: Two Lumps – Year Two (September 2008) Danville, California: StoneGarden. 164 p. ISBN 1-60076-094-5
- Today I Hunt...Humankind: Two Lumps – Year Three (May 2009) Danville, California: StoneGarden. 168 p. ISBN 1-60076-132-1
- They Still Suspect Nothing: Two Lumps – Year Four (September 2009) Danville, California: StoneGarden. 166 p. ISBN 1-60076-144-5
- Vengeance Tastes Tingly: Two Lumps – Year Five (June 2010) Danville, California: StoneGarden. 182 p. ISBN 1-60076-167-4
- Do Not Sniff the Bees: Two Lumps – Year Six (April 2011) Danville, California: StoneGarden. ISBN 1-60076-303-0.