Back in May, Time published its annual
“100" issue, dated May 10, alleging that the 100 persons listed are “the
most influential people in the world.” The usual suspects line up on the
cover — Bill Clinton, Steve Jobs, Sarathan Livingston Palin — and, inside, such
undeniably August personages as Glenn Beck, Lady Gaga, and Conan O’Brien as
well as numerous people from all around the globe whom I’d never heard of (but
no one, I ween, the equal of Glenn Beck or Lady Gaga: apparently only in this
country are such people influential). I was mildly surprised to find Scott
Brown listed — how much influence can a freshman senator have? — but I was glad to
see cartooning represented.
The representatives are Jerry Holkins and Mike
Krahulik, the creators and proprietors of the online comic, Penny Arcade. The accolade seems perhaps
a little grandiose until we read editor Richard Stengel’s explanation for “Time
100": this issue of the magazine, he said, is “not about the influence of
power but the power of influence. ... We sought out people those ideas and
actions are revolutionizing their fields and transforming lives.” Penny Arcade, I assume, reflects the
fate of comics, hence Holkins’ and Krahulik’s place on the listing: they’ve
been plugging away at digital cartooning more successfully and longer than most
of their online cohorts, implying by their tenure and achievement the future of
the medium. The drawing skill manifest at Penny
Arcade is also much better these days than it was at the beginning, the
result, Krahulik tells us in The Splendid
Magic of Penny Arcade: An Eleven-and-a-Half Year Anniversary Book, of his
persistent self-tutorial.
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