Van Von Hunter
Encyclopedia
Van Von Hunter is a weekly, hand drawn parody-manga begun in 2002 by Cleveland, Ohio
-based artists Mike Schwark and Ron Kaulfersch of Pseudomé Studio. It has since been published in newspapers, books, and as a webcomic
. The story takes place in the land of Dikay, a country fraught with undeath, and focuses on the warrior Van Von Hunter and his "never-ending fight against evil
...stuff". The opening of the series and Von Hunter's presence gives the series a Castlevania
-like feel, but essentially the comic spoof
s role-playing game
s, fantasy
creatures and folklore
(in one instance Von Hunter slays an Irish
pixie), among other things.
The series has been released in three printed volumes by Tokyopop
in North America
, after Van Von Hunter: Circlet of Necromancy won a first-place trophy and $1,000 in Tokyopop's first Rising Stars of Manga
contest. The manga series runs a storyline that takes place after the events in the webcomic.
In summer 2006, Van Von Hunter started a 6-month run of the Sunday newspapers. It was syndicated by Universal Press Syndicate
, with about 30 papers in North America and one in Sweden publishing the strip, including the Los Angeles Times
, The Denver Post
, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
, The Detroit News
, The Oregonian
, The Vancouver Sun
, and the Toronto Sun
. Van von Hunter was the second Tokyopop manga to be syndicated to newspapers. The first was Peach Fuzz
by Jared Hodges and Lindsay Cibos.
The comic's anniversary falls on Valentine's Day (February 14), which is jokingly referred to as Von Hunter Day on the site (after Van decided that anyone who didn't want to celebrate Valentine's Day should have an alternative).
stated: "For those who have grown tired of the fantasy genre's ridiculous self-importance and constantly recycled cliché
s, Van Von Hunter is the antidote, attacking these clichés with irreverent fervor. However, in doing so it becomes something of a cliché itself, relying on a predictable comedic approach and putting its characters in overused situations—not to mention that the whole adventure-comedy thing has been done plenty of times before."
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
-based artists Mike Schwark and Ron Kaulfersch of Pseudomé Studio. It has since been published in newspapers, books, and as a webcomic
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....
. The story takes place in the land of Dikay, a country fraught with undeath, and focuses on the warrior Van Von Hunter and his "never-ending fight against evil
Evil
Evil is the violation of, or intent to violate, some moral code. Evil is usually seen as the dualistic opposite of good. Definitions of evil vary along with analysis of its root motive causes, however general actions commonly considered evil include: conscious and deliberate wrongdoing,...
...stuff". The opening of the series and Von Hunter's presence gives the series a Castlevania
Castlevania
Castlevania, known as in Japan, is a video game series created and developed by Konami. The series debuted in Japan on September 26, 1986, with the release of for the Family Computer Disk System , followed by an alternate version for the MSX 2 platform on October 30...
-like feel, but essentially the comic spoof
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
s role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
s, fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
creatures and folklore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
(in one instance Von Hunter slays an Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
pixie), among other things.
The series has been released in three printed volumes by Tokyopop
Tokyopop
Tokyopop, styled TOKYOPOP, and formerly known as Mixx, is a distributor, licensor, and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa, and Western manga-style works. The existing German publishing division produces German translations of licensed Japanese properties and original English-language manga, as well...
in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, after Van Von Hunter: Circlet of Necromancy won a first-place trophy and $1,000 in Tokyopop's first Rising Stars of Manga
Rising Stars of Manga
Rising Stars of Manga was an English-language comic anthology published by TOKYOPOP from 2002 to 2008, and a contest held by the same company. It was originally semi-annual, but switched to annual beginning with the 6th volume....
contest. The manga series runs a storyline that takes place after the events in the webcomic.
In summer 2006, Van Von Hunter started a 6-month run of the Sunday newspapers. It was syndicated by Universal Press Syndicate
Universal Press Syndicate
Universal Press Syndicate, a subsidiary of Andrews McMeel Universal, is the world's largest independent press syndicate. It distributes lifestyle and opinion columns, comic strips and other content. Popular columns include Dear Abby, Ann Coulter, Roger Ebert and News of the Weird...
, with about 30 papers in North America and one in Sweden publishing the strip, including the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, The Denver Post
The Denver Post
-Ownership:The Post is the flagship newspaper of MediaNews Group Inc., founded in 1983 by William Dean Singleton and Richard Scudder. MediaNews is today one of the nation's largest newspaper chains, publisher of 61 daily newspapers and more than 120 non-daily publications in 13 states. MediaNews...
, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is an online newspaper and former print newspaper covering Seattle, Washington, United States, and the surrounding metropolitan area...
, The Detroit News
The Detroit News
The Detroit News is one of the two major newspapers in the U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan. The paper began in 1873, when it rented space in the rival Free Press's building. The News absorbed the Detroit Tribune on February 1, 1919, the Detroit Journal on July 21, 1922, and on November 7, 1960,...
, The Oregonian
The Oregonian
The Oregonian is the major daily newspaper in Portland, Oregon, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 1850...
, The Vancouver Sun
The Vancouver Sun
The Vancouver Sun is a daily newspaper first published in the Canadian province of British Columbia on February 12, 1912. The paper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. It is published six days a week, Monday to Saturday...
, and the Toronto Sun
Toronto Sun
The Toronto Sun is an English-language daily tabloid newspaper published in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is known for its daily Sunshine Girl feature and for what it sees as a populist conservative editorial stance.-History:...
. Van von Hunter was the second Tokyopop manga to be syndicated to newspapers. The first was Peach Fuzz
Peach Fuzz
Peach Fuzz, is an original English-language manga written and illustrated by Lindsay Cibos and Jared Hodges. It was published in North America and the United Kingdom by Tokyopop in three volumes from January 11, 2005 to December 11, 2007. Peach Fuzz originally started as a short 17-page story in...
by Jared Hodges and Lindsay Cibos.
The comic's anniversary falls on Valentine's Day (February 14), which is jokingly referred to as Von Hunter Day on the site (after Van decided that anyone who didn't want to celebrate Valentine's Day should have an alternative).
Characters
- Van Von Hunter - The hero of our story, Von Hunter is a jovial and easygoing adventurer who, for whatever reason, is dedicated to battling the forces of evil. He always introduces himself as "Van Von Hunter, mighty warrior and hunter of evil... stuff!" While not the sharpest sword in the armory, Von Hunter makes up for his shortcomings with irrepressible optimism, a strong sense of justice, a certain degree of cunning, and excellent armed-combat skills. Changed his name to Hunter to suit his profession; he was originally named Van Von Vaughn.
- Van Von Hunter's Sidekick - A lovely young woman whom Von Hunter rescued from Count Disdain one fine day. Until the day she visited Von Hunter's mansion and was accidentally hit on the head with the flat of a battleaxe, she never got a chance to introduce herself. Afterwards, she lost her memory and was unable to introduce herself. She tags along with Von Hunter because she has nowhere else to go. This sidekick doesn't do much fighting, but her common sense has thankfully saved Von Hunter's bacon more than once. Recently, she became willingly engaged to Prince Lesley—though only because she wants to be a princess. However, she appears to have ended the relationship after learning the Prince's real name.
- Prince Lesley Mortermer Lemorte - Better known by his own ill-chosen title, the Flaming Prince rules over Dikay Kingdom at the wish of his truly wicked father. He is Van Von Hunter's self-proclaimed sworn nemesis, and, fortunately for our hero, is even dimmer than Von Hunter himself. Enjoys crushing random objects in his hand. The Flaming Prince, in his vendetta against Von Hunter, employs ghastly minions to dispose of him, including mummies, skeletons, a fearsome Beast, and even goblins. Not a one has proved useful so far, aside from a goblin-run bakesale to restore the kingdom's treasury. Recently, he has kidnapped Von Hunter's sidekick, intending to force her to marry him. However, his plan is currently stalling while his doomsday device warps reality. It the most recent comic, it has been hinted that his father (or another relative) is a vampire
- The Man in the Dark Glasses - The Flaming Prince's answer to Von Hunter's sidekick, only male and much more cooperative with his employer's idiocy. He is actually less a servant than the Prince's right-hand man; providing encouragement, thoughtful advice, and random things to crush, he's really the glue that holds the kingdom together. Considering that he has never received thanks for his support, this is impressive in itself. Webcomic has hinted he has a name; "Better than your name," the Flaming Prince says to his servant after Sidekick makes fun of the prince's name.
- The Archmage Ariana Rael - A cute little girl who blew up her village when they tried to feed her to a dragon, she was hired by the Flaming Prince as a secret weapon. When Von Hunter arrived to do battle with the Prince, Ariana was supposed to destroy him with her powerful pyromancy, the Mega-Destruction Flare. Instead, she simply blew up everything surrounding him. Ari ended up traveling with our heroes for a time, until they discovered that she was evil and ditched her. One could hardly blame them: Ari drinks, smokes and blows things up with reckless abandon, all the things girls shouldn't do. Recently, she enrolled at Warthogs School of Magic to steal whatever powerful item they might possess. While failing to obtain the Philopher's Stone, she has learned a spell even worse than the Flare, Apoxageddon.
- Vengeance Joe - No one really knows who this man is—besides the name "Vengeance Joe" -- or where he comes from. But one thing is certain: once angered, nothing will stop him from finding his revenge. His list of grudges is long and varied, ranging from a staircase (for tripping him) to a tree (for getting in his way) to even the blissfully ignorant Von Hunter (for not introducing himself as they passed each other on the street). He is now questing to carry out his vengeance on Von Hunter by destroying all that the righteous warrior cares for. He is allergic to walnuts.
Monsters
There are many types of monsters in Von Hunter's world, though not all are very fearsome.- Zombies - Zombies seem to get appointed for the jobs that no-one else wants in Von Hunter's world, from lawyers to accountants. They also display lower than average intelligence which makes them more harmful than useful. Wanted posters in zombie-infested woods can be seen as "zombie deflectors".
- Orcs - Used to comprise a large portion of the prince's army before being wiped out by Ari. Like seen in most medium, they are large and dangerous looking. The prince prefers them as servants over goblins for obvious reasons.
- Goblins - More cute than deadly, goblins wear hats and outfits that make them resemble Christmas Elves to a degree. Regardless they are by far the most useful of the prince's forces (despite his apparent dislike for them) as they fill some of the menial chores, such as bar-tending, can be bizarrely versatile, and were able to restore the kingdom's finances through bakesales. They are apparently talented chefs, and mesmerized Von Hunter's Sidekick with brownies in the print version.
- Mummies - Similar to zombies but less useful as they are wrapped too tightly and can not move very quickly.
- The Beast - Supposedly unleashed to kill Von Hunter, this minotaurMinotaurIn Greek mythology, the Minotaur , as the Greeks imagined him, was a creature with the head of a bull on the body of a man or, as described by Roman poet Ovid, "part man and part bull"...
-like monster, after being locked up for millennia, immediately began hogging a nearby toilet. Soon after he got stuck in a brunchBrunchBrunch is a meal eaten between breakfast and lunch. The word is a portmanteau of breakfast and lunch.-Origin of the word:The 1896 supplement to the Oxford English Dictionary cites Punch magazine which wrote that the term was coined in Britain in 1895 to describe a Sunday meal for "Saturday-night...
-line and was later set on fire by a demon before the Prince's doomsday device turned it into a potted plant. In the book, he had a case of food poisoning. - Vampires- Vampires are undeadUndeadUndead is a collective name for fictional, mythological, or legendary beings that are deceased and yet behave as if alive. Undead may be incorporeal, such as ghosts, or corporeal, such as vampires and zombies...
beings, though not always humans, with fangs and pointed ears. They feed on blood and turn to dust when staked through the heart. Vampires are the rulers of the unnamed country were the webcomic opens. - Ghouls- Ghouls are bald, and have pointed ears, fangs and nails. Ghouls eat humans and founded the country the webcomic opens in.
- Trolls- Large and grotesque looking creature seen at a monster's bar.
- LeprechaunLeprechaunA leprechaun is a type of fairy in Irish folklore, usually taking the form of an old man, clad in a red or green coat, who enjoys partaking in mischief. Like other fairy creatures, leprechauns have been linked to the Tuatha Dé Danann of Irish mythology...
- Tiny little men with beards and pointed ears. - Dragons- Giant lizard-like creatures with bat-like wings and horns.
- Werewolves- People who transform into half-wolf monsters during the full moon.
- Sasquatch- A large, hairy, ape-like creature.
- Pollywacker- A 2 foot (0.6096 m) monster in the Mysterious forest of the accursed valley of the Twelve Severed Heads, who terrorized the Valley until von Hunter killed it.
- Gargoyles- Large winged monsters called "stoners" by the Prince. The Gargoyles of Von Hunter's world behave similar to stereotypical stoner teenagers.
- Bugs- The Insects (and most likely arachnids like spiders) are sentientSentienceSentience is the ability to feel, perceive or be conscious, or to have subjective experiences. Eighteenth century philosophers used the concept to distinguish the ability to think from the ability to feel . In modern western philosophy, sentience is the ability to have sensations or experiences...
creatures with their own society. They are still just as small, however. Their leader, Lord Chitin, was inadvertently killed by the Flaming Prince early on. - Demons- The only demonDemoncall - 1347 531 7769 for more infoIn Ancient Near Eastern religions as well as in the Abrahamic traditions, including ancient and medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered an "unclean spirit" which may cause demonic possession, to be addressed with an act of exorcism...
seen in the webcomic is a large and ferocious-looking monster, similar in appearance to the BalrogBalrogBalrogs are fictional demonic beings who appear in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. Such creatures first appeared in print in his novel The Lord of the Rings, though they figured in earlier writings that posthumously appeared in The Silmarillion and other books.Balrogs are described as...
. However, it is comforts the Beast when The Flaming Prince scolds it and is used to serve hot drinks. - HybridsChimera (mythology)The Chimera or Chimaera was, according to Greek mythology, a monstrous fire-breathing female creature of Lycia in Asia Minor, composed of the parts of multiple animals: upon the body of a lioness with a tail that ended in a snake's head, the head of a goat arose on her back at the center of her...
- To combat Von Hunter, The Flaming Prince had several combinations of monsters created. These were: a goblin-orc creature (a fat goblin), a weresasquatch (A very hairy creature that would get even hairier during the full moon.), and a combination of five dragons (a five-headed dragon whose heads attacked one another).
Collections
- Van Von Hunter volume 1. ISBN 1-59532-692-8. TOKYOPOP. 2005-05-10
- Van Von Hunter volume 2. ISBN 1-59532-693-6. TOKYOPOP. 2005-09-13
- Van Von Hunter volume 3. ISBN 1-59532-694-4. TOKYOPOP. 2006-12-12
Reception
Carlo Santos of Anime News NetworkAnime News Network
Anime News Network is an anime industry news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, Japanese popular music and other otaku-related culture within North America, Australia and Japan. Additionally, it sometimes features similar happenings throughout the Anglosphere and elsewhere in the...
stated: "For those who have grown tired of the fantasy genre's ridiculous self-importance and constantly recycled cliché
Cliché
A cliché or cliche is an expression, idea, or element of an artistic work which has been overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, especially when at some earlier time it was considered meaningful or novel. In phraseology, the term has taken on a more technical meaning,...
s, Van Von Hunter is the antidote, attacking these clichés with irreverent fervor. However, in doing so it becomes something of a cliché itself, relying on a predictable comedic approach and putting its characters in overused situations—not to mention that the whole adventure-comedy thing has been done plenty of times before."