Action Philosophers!

Image:AP - 1.jpg

Action Philosophers! was a self-published comic book series by artist Ryan Dunlavey and writer Fred Van Lente, which was awarded a Xeric Grant in 2004,{{cite web |url=http://www.xericfoundation.org/comicbooks/2004.html |title=Xeric Foundation Comic Book Self-Publishing Grants for 2004 |publisher=Xericfoundation.org |accessdate=2012-11-16 |archive-date=2019-12-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191203172532/http://www.xericfoundation.org/comicbooks/2004.html |url-status=dead }} leading to Action Philosophers! # 1's publication in April 2005.

The series focused on a concise biography of some of the most notable philosophers and their ideas. To quote the book's homepage:[http://www.eviltwincomics.com/action/index.php the book's homepage] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061022151339/http://www.eviltwincomics.com/action/index.php |date=October 22, 2006 }}

ACTION PHILOSOPHERS! is a comic book series detailing the lives and thoughts of history's A-list brain trust in a hip and humorous way that proves that philosophy is not just the province of boring tweed-enveloped college professors.

The series concluded with issue # 9, published in September 2007. The series was also collected into various self-published paperback collections. Dark Horse Comics published a deluxe hardcover collection of the series with new material in October, 2014.{{cite web |url=https://www.darkhorse.com/Books/25-905/Action-Philosophers-HC |title=Action Philosophers! HC |publisher=darkhorse.com |accessdate=2014-12-10}}

Reception

The American Library Association included Action Philosophers vol. 1 in its 2007 Great Graphic Novels for Teens booklist.{{cite web |url=http://www.ala.org/yalsa/booklistsawards/booklists/greatgraphicnovelsforteens/annotations/07ggnt |title=2007 Great Graphic Novels for Teens |date=30 July 2007 |publisher=ala.org |accessdate=2017-06-20}} The series was nominated for a 2007 Ignatz Outstanding Debut Award{{cite web |url=http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=84016 |title=SPX announces Ignatz Nominees |publisher=Newsarama.com |accessdate=2010-04-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090126033151/http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=84016 |archive-date=2009-01-26 |url-status=dead }} and received a positive review from Philosophy Now.{{cite web |url=http://www.philosophynow.org/issue57/57snider.htm |title=Action Philosophers! by Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey |publisher=Philosophy Now |accessdate=2010-04-20| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20100415153920/http://www.philosophynow.org/issue57/57snider.htm| archivedate= 15 April 2010 | url-status= live}}

Issue summary

[https://web.archive.org/web/20060901144208/http://www.eviltwincomics.com/action/ap1.php # 1]: - Nietzsche, Bodhidharma, & Plato: "Wrestling Superstar of Ancient Greece!", featuring one of the series' most famous lines, "PLATO SMASH!"
[https://web.archive.org/web/20061106095048/http://www.eviltwincomics.com/action/ap2.php # 2]: - The "All Sex Special", featuring Ayn Rand, Thomas Jefferson, & Saint Augustine.
[https://web.archive.org/web/20060901144928/http://www.eviltwincomics.com/action/ap3.php # 3]: - "Self Help for Stupid Ugly Losers" featuring Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, & Joseph Campbell.
[https://web.archive.org/web/20060901144741/http://www.eviltwincomics.com/action/ap4.php # 4]: - "World Domination Handbook" featuring Karl Marx, Niccolò Machiavelli, & The Kabbalah.
[https://web.archive.org/web/20061007133437/http://www.eviltwincomics.com/action/ap5.php # 5]: - "Hate the French" featuring René Descartes, Jean-Paul Sartre, & Jacques Derrida.
[https://web.archive.org/web/20061022151357/http://www.eviltwincomics.com/action/ap6.php # 6]: - "The People's Choice" featuring Soren Kierkegaard, St. Thomas Aquinas, & Ludwig Wittgenstein.
[https://web.archive.org/web/20061022150845/http://www.eviltwincomics.com/action/ap7.php # 7]: - "It's all Greek to you" featuring The Pre-Socratics, Aristotle, & Epictetus.
[https://web.archive.org/web/20070213052628/http://www.eviltwincomics.com/action/ap8.php # 8]: - "Senseless Violence Special" featuring Kant, Schopenhauer, Hegel, & John Stuart Mill.
[https://web.archive.org/web/20060813130158/http://www.eviltwincomics.com/action/ # 9]: - "The Lightning Round", the final issue featuring Diogenes the Cynic, Lao Tzu, Michel Foucault, David Hume, Confucius, George Berkeley, Francis Bacon, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Thomas Hobbes, Mary Wollstonecraft, Baruch Spinoza and Gottfried Leibniz.

Collected editions

class="wikitable"
Title	Material collected	ISBN
Action Philosophers! Giant-size Thing 1 \|Action Philosophers #1-3 \|{{ISBN\|0-9778329-0-2}}
Action Philosophers! Giant-size Thing 2 \|Action Philosophers #4-6 \|{{ISBN\|0-9778329-1-0}}
Action Philosophers! Giant-size Thing 3 \|Action Philosophers #7-9 \|{{ISBN\|0-9778329-2-9}}
The More Than Complete Action Philosophers! \|Action Philosophers #1-9, plus new content \|{{ISBN\|978-0-9778329-3-4}}
Action Philosophers! \|Published by Dark Horse Comics, reprints "More Than Complete…", with a new story and historical material, hardcover format \|{{ISBN\|978-1-61655-539-9}}

class="wikitable"

Title

Material collected

ISBN

Action Philosophers! Giant-size Thing 1

|Action Philosophers #1-3

|{{ISBN|0-9778329-0-2}}

Action Philosophers! Giant-size Thing 2

|Action Philosophers #4-6

|{{ISBN|0-9778329-1-0}}

Action Philosophers! Giant-size Thing 3

|Action Philosophers #7-9

|{{ISBN|0-9778329-2-9}}

The More Than Complete Action Philosophers!

|Action Philosophers #1-9, plus new content

|{{ISBN|978-0-9778329-3-4}}

Action Philosophers!

|Published by Dark Horse Comics, reprints "More Than Complete…", with a new story and historical material, hardcover format

|{{ISBN|978-1-61655-539-9}}

References

External links

[http://www.eviltwincomics.com/ Official series website, featuring free issue previews]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20080513231059/http://www.comixology.com/podcasts/41/NYCC-Special-11-Fred-Van-Lente-and-Ryan-Dunlavey Interview with Fred and Ryan] at [https://web.archive.org/web/20070825025818/http://www.comixology.com/ comiXology] on Action Philosophers and Comic Book Comics
[https://web.archive.org/web/20070510124212/http://www.bamkapow.com/action-philosophy-101-479-p.html BamKaPow.com's interview, also examining the creative team's post-AP! projects]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20080117003348/http://www.talkaboutcomics.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=549 Official Action Philosophers! message board]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20061003113344/http://www.philosophynow.org/issue57/57snider.htm Philosophy Now's review]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20110930232655/http://www.indiecomicsnews.com/2007/04/12/episode-02-action-philosophers/ Interview with Indie Comics News]
[http://live.hollywoodjesus.com/?p=4308 HollywoodJesus.com Review] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120229202249/http://live.hollywoodjesus.com/?p=4308 |date=2012-02-29 }}

Category:2005 comics debuts

Category:2007 comics endings

Category:Comics magazines published in the United States

Category:Philosophical mass media

Category:Humor comics

Category:Biographical comics

Category:Satirical comics

Category:Educational comics

Category:Comics based on real people

Category:Cultural depictions of philosophers

Category:Cultural depictions of Friedrich Nietzsche

Category:Cultural depictions of Ayn Rand