Everybody appreciates beautifully drawn comics, but as some comics prove again and again, however nice it may be, it's not necessary. The hooks, punchlines, and sinkers are the building blocks that make a comic great. Today's example is no other than that of Chris Hallbeck, whose comics are as simple as a circle and a rectangle. But don't underestimate them, they have everything that a good comic needs: funny situations, unexpected twists, wholesome things, and most importantly, a neat and tight story expressed in just a few strips.
Chris Hallbeck is one of those successful few cartoonists who have made their passion a profession by escaping the grind of day jobs and making the leap of faith into the exciting world of comics. He quit his job more than 10 years ago, and never looked back since. And the move wasn't beneficial only to him—he was able to commit himself to bringing smiles to the faces of millions of people that read his comics. The Maximumble, Minimumble, and the Book of Biff are among his most successful series of comics that he's ever done, and today we share some comics from his Maximumble comic.
It isn't Chris' first time in the limelight of Bored Panda. Here's the first post similar to this one, that he posted in 2017. He's also a frequent contributor, and you can check out his comic about a little monster and his human friend that he updates from time to time. Check them out if you like.
More info: Facebook | Instagram | twitter.com | maximumble.thebookofbiff.com
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So true - I miss that time when we went together to the park....
Chris started cartooning back in high school. He used to draw a character named Biff to entertain his best friend. He drew it in his notebook while they sat across from each other at lunch. He later refined his Biff drawings and turned them into single-panel comics during college. He shared photocopies of his comics with whoever he ran into.
Everything changed on the early days of the internet, around 1995-1998, when he started to share his work on the web. As he shared them, he wanted to syndicate his Biff character, but got a lot of rejection letters. And as his syndication dreams got buried, his interest in cartooning began to wilt, and he quit for about 8 years.
Looks like Ryan-the-Meh-Commenter, needs some Smile Makers and/or Coolness pills
His interest got rekindled as he came across Savage Chicken comics, and reminisced on the times when he did comics. In 2006, he created a new website and posted his comics just for fun. Chris was no longer hinged by the idea of syndicating his work, or becoming a full-time cartoonist. As he did that, he saw how the whole scene of webcomics began to materialize in the digital space.
His Biff comics were successful enough that he could quit his day job in 2010. He had been aiming to create a second series of comics, but didn't know how to put it in his schedule. In 2011, Maximumble was born, and the comics that you see here today are essentially the same as back in the day. He used to warm up by writing a few jokes before he did the "serious" work with Biff and Maximumble, and so his Minimumble series were born as a sort of an accident.
Chris' process of creating comics is very rigorous. He writes for 6 days a week. First he sits down with his iPad and consumes a lot of media from Tumblr, Reddit, Twitter, Instagram, etc. Then he distances himself from it and sits down in a room with a closed door and a white noise machine. For Maximumble, he starts by having a conversation with himself, usually starting with a question, and tries to keep the conversation going until he finds a joke or hits a dead end, and starts anew. He usually creates about five strips for each one that is drawn to completion.
His big "secret" is the consumption and isolation cycles that were mentioned above. Chris fills his head with tons of material and then tries to force himself into a creative process by making unexpected connections by boring himself in his room, which motivates his mind to make up fun stuff in his head. It helps him not to devolve into writing jokes about being a cartoonist trying to make jokes and create new angles and topics.
I knew it ! I knew all that bullshit is actually boring and annoying for them, like "Yeah, this precise job in this precise company has always been yourt greatest dream, of course..."
Aw memories. During my stay in Japan, we had a common kitchen on the ground floor. I always assumed the floor was a dark grey, until the day I spilled something on the floor and cleaned the spot, and it turnes white. The whole floor had never been cleaned....in who knows, who cares? It was dark grey, almost black. Spent a whole night scrubbing it, the satisfaction was immense. I hope i went down in history for that, as that one crazy student who cleaned the kitchen for a whole night. In my defense, i had crqzy insomnia at the time.
Kill him! It's only HIS fingerprints on your glasses! 😂😂 (I hate it if someone do this!) 😤😤
persoanlly i liked waiting for a week, gave me something to look foward to :D
Is this the same kid who learned to ride his bike but got it stolen? I love this child.
yes the only thing stopping me getting another cat is the fear of becoming more scratch then skin
"Hmmm... "Sweet burglar" ? Yeah, it smells good, but translate it in French, so it will sound fancier and we will be able to rise the price."
Today is one of the best days of my life (which is surprising, because I am still a college student, and college is by far the worst years of your life) because I finally know what it is called.
Inevitably, someone is going to ask to explain this one, so I'll do that. The glow in the dark posters and stars in the 4th panel have to be charged by light, and if they glow, it means the light has been on recently.
this must be in space. also FUN FACT TIME! did you know that the crew aboard the International Space Station (ISS) don't actually experience 0 gravity, it's just the station's orbit around the earth that generates that constant effect (kind of like when a roller coaster starts rolling down a slope. except that slop extends around the earth and is also constantly going whatever direction is the relevant down.
The fact that the drawer made a lesbian family is the best part of this entire thing
Not sure why you were downvoted, I also love the lesbian family
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I like how the men and women don't have exaggerated bodies or, say exaggerated eyelashes and lips.
Ok these were really good. Also I'm on the mobile app and I accidentally swiped at number 29. Better than a list with 100+ pictures though I guess
The fact that the drawer made a lesbian family is the best part of this entire thing
Not sure why you were downvoted, I also love the lesbian family
Load More Replies... I like how the men and women don't have exaggerated bodies or, say exaggerated eyelashes and lips.
Ok these were really good. Also I'm on the mobile app and I accidentally swiped at number 29. Better than a list with 100+ pictures though I guess
