Chris Crosby (comics)#Sore Thumbs

In an interview, Crosby said they had been interested in comics since before they were old enough to remember. They first published a webcomic in 1995 through their AOL account. They also self-published some issues of a comic called Snap The Punk Turtle, which they say got them attention at Wizard, leading to coverage and then a gig writing a webcomic for AnotherUniverse.com's Mania magazine. After Mania stopped running webcomics in 1998, Crosby decided to start their own daily webcomic, which would be Superosity.{{Cite web|last=Contino|first=Jennifer|date=February 18, 2003|title=Crosby's Keen Webcomics|url=http://www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=print_topic;f=36;t=000721|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050707090020/http://www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=print_topic;f=36;t=000721|archive-date=2005-07-07|access-date=2020-10-12|website=Comicon}}

Around this time, Crosby was one of the writers on a print comic book series called Scorn. Three issues were published by SCC Entertainment: Scorn: Deadly Rebellion #0 (July 1996),{{Cite web|title=Scorn: Deadly Rebellion comic books from SCC|url=http://www.atomicavenue.com/atomic/title/15941/Scorn-Deadly-Rebellion|access-date=2020-10-12|website=www.atomicavenue.com}} Scorn: Heatwave #1 (January 1997),{{Cite web|title=Scorn: Heatwave comic books from SCC|url=https://atomicavenue.com/atomic/TitleDetail.aspx?TitleID=9978&M=1|access-date=2020-10-12|website=atomicavenue.com}} and Scorn: Naked Truth #1 (April 1997).{{Cite web|title=Scorn: Heatwave comic books from SCC|url=https://atomicavenue.com/atomic/TitleDetail.aspx?TitleID=9978&M=1|access-date=2020-10-12|website=atomicavenue.com}} According to Diamond Comic Distributors' sales charts for January 1997, Scorn: Heatwave #1 sold an estimated 3,439 copies in that month.{{cite web|date=1997-01-01|title=Comichron.com January 1997 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops|url=http://www.comichron.com/monthlycomicssales/1997/1997-01.html}}

File:Superocity_-_strip_from_25_March_2021.png

Crosby is the writer and artist of Superosity, a daily comic that they launched on March 1, 1999. In a 2003 interview, Crosby described their comic as "a storyline-focused strip, packed with wacky insane humor... about the friendship between a group of unusual characters." The main character is also named Chris, who Crosby described as "an ever-optimistic, childlike guy who is not very smart and wears a big orange cape." Other characters include Boardy, a talking blue board who has amnesia but is a scientific genius, and Bobby, Chris's teenage brother, who hates everything and wants to be rich and famous. Bobby's best friend is a talking turtle named Snap, one of many characters brought over from earlier Crosby strips. The cast also features Arcadia, a young female lawyer who Chris is in love with.

According to a 2003 Comicon article, Superosity "has been called a cross between The Simpsons and Bloom County." According to Keenspot, Superosity was reviewed in Comics Buyer's Guide in late 2001, which said it "may be one of the most off-the-wall online comics", calling the humor "non-sequitur" and said "the art is cringe-worthy at first, but... improved with age."{{cite news|last=Horton|first=Steve|title=Series Spotlight: Superosity #1-2|url=http://keenspot.com/pressbox/cbg-superosity1-2review.gif|accessdate=2008-12-21}}{{Better source needed|date=October 2020|reason=We just have a clip that Keenspot put up of an article - so really this is a primary source.}} Superosity was nominated for a 2002 Cartoonist Choice Award in the Best Superhero Comic category.{{cite news|year=2002|title=2002 Winners and Nominees|work=The 2002 Cartoonist's Choice Awards|url=http://www.ccawards.com/2002.htm|url-status=dead|accessdate=2008-12-21|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091208130436/http://www.ccawards.com/2002.htm|archivedate=2009-12-08}}

Seven issues of a Superosity print comic book were published from 2001 to 2002 and distributed by Diamond Comic Distributors to comic book stores. It featured guest artwork by creators such as Jeffrey J. Rowland (Overcompensating) and John Allison (Scary Go Round).{{Citation needed|date=October 2020}} Superosity has also been published in newspapers, most notably The Turlock Journal of Turlock, CA.{{Citation needed|date=October 2020}} As of October 2020, Superosity is still updating daily.{{Cite web|last=Crosby|first=Chris|date=October 9, 2020|title=SUPEROSITY Archives: Day by Day|url=http://superosity.keenspot.com/d/20201009.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030141920/http://superosity.keenspot.com/d/20201009.html |archive-date=October 30, 2020 |access-date=2020-10-12|website=superosity.keenspot.com}}{{Primary source inline|date=October 2020}}

On July 21, 2006, at San Diego Comic-Con it was announced{{By whom|date=October 2020}} that an animated TV series called 'Angelipups' would be produced, based on the fictional 'Angelipups' TV show that appears in Superosity. Angelipups are a group of winged, candy-colored puppies who live in the sky and are responsible for keeping clouds fluffy; the in-comic TV show combines surreal humor with moral and educational elements. Crosby had written the pilot script and was commissioned to write more episodes.{{cite news|last=Crosby|first=Chris|date=2006-07-22|title=Keenspot Comic-Con 2006 Announcements: YIRMUMAH!, DARKEN, SORCERY 101 join! Fall Marketing Plans! SUPEROSITY TV Show (sorta)!|work=COMIXTALK|url=http://comixpedia.com/chriscrosbykeenspot_comic_con_2006_announcements_yirmumah_darken_sorcery_101_join_fall_marketing_plans_superosity_tv_show_sorta|url-status=dead|accessdate=2008-12-21|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081015170545/http://comixpedia.com/chriscrosbykeenspot_comic_con_2006_announcements_yirmumah_darken_sorcery_101_join_fall_marketing_plans_superosity_tv_show_sorta|archivedate=2008-10-15}}{{Primary source inline|date=October 2020}} It is unclear if this TV show was ever produced.{{Citation needed|date=October 2020}}

{{Main|Keenspot}}

Chris Crosby was a co-founder of Keenspot, an online comic network. They cofounded the business in March 2000 with Teri Crosby, Darren Bleuel, and Nate Stone.{{Cite web|last=Graser|first=Marc|date=2000-06-23|title=Bender tooning up with KeenSpot.com|url=https://variety.com/2000/digital/news/bender-tooning-up-with-keenspot-com-1117782978/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211116084408/https://variety.com/2000/digital/news/bender-tooning-up-with-keenspot-com-1117782978/ |archive-date=November 16, 2021 |access-date=2020-10-12|website=Variety|language=en}} According to writer T Campbell, Crosby had previously been hosting their comic Superosity on a site called Big Panda. Big Panda had been facing problems and its founder Bryan McNett offered control of Big Panda to Crosby in exchange for a cut of profits. Crosby agreed, but no deal could be reached. Through the Big Panda mailing list, Crosby made contact with Darren Bleuel and together they designed "Big Panda but better". Together with Bleuel's partner Stone and Chris's mother Teri, they founded Keenspot. Crosby's Superosity was the first comic on Keenspot, due to McNett's decision to remove the comic from Big Panda with four days' notice.{{Cite web|last=Campbell|first=T|date=February 29, 2004|title=The History of Online Comics by T Campbell (Part 5) – Comix Talk|url=http://comixtalk.com/history_online_comics_t_campbell_part_5/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100925045341/http://comixtalk.com/history_online_comics_t_campbell_part_5|archive-date=2010-09-25|access-date=2020-10-12|website=Comix Talk|language=en-US}}

Keenspot's founders wished to provide a steady place for readers to find webcomics, and to attract large advertisers and get them to sponsor Keenspot and its cartoonists, with the goal of every Keenspot cartoonist eventually making a living through such sponsorship. Keenspot also launched Keenspace in 2000, a free webhosting service for cartoonists. As of 2003, it was an online entertainment network in which Keenspot featured more than forty of the higher-quality comic strips and cartoons on the web and Keenspace hosted over 1,000 other cartoonists. In 2002, Keenspot had almost forty million page views per month and nearly two million unique visitors per month.{{Cite web|last=Rozakis|first=Charles|date=April 9, 2003|title=An In-Depth Look at the Business Viability of Webcomics|url=http://www.princeton.edu/~rcgilles/charlesrozakisthesis.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050223101410/http://www.princeton.edu/~rcgilles/charlesrozakisthesis.pdf|archive-date=2005-02-23|access-date=2020-10-12|website=Princeton}}

Chris Crosby, along with their mother Teri Crosby, bought out the other two co-founders in 2008.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=February 29, 2008|title=Crosbys Buy Out Other Half Of Keenspot|url=http://www.comicsreporter.com/index.php/briefings/blog_monthly/2008/02/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513181933/http://www.comicsreporter.com/index.php/briefings/blog_monthly/2008/02/|archive-date=2008-05-13|access-date=2020-10-12|website=Comics Reporter}}{{Cite web|last=Burns|first=Eric|date=February 28, 2008|title=Eric: The gang of four becomes the gang of... what, one?|url=http://www.websnark.com/archives/2008/02/the_gang_of_fou.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080304155532/http://www.websnark.com/archives/2008/02/the_gang_of_fou.html|archive-date=2008-03-04|access-date=2020-10-12|website=Websnark}} According to the Keenspot website as of October 2020, Chris Crosby is the Chief Executive Officer of Keenspot.{{Cite web|title=Keenspot.com: Company Info|url=http://keenspot.com/companyinfo.html|access-date=2020-10-12|website=keenspot.com}}{{Primary source inline|date=October 2020}}

Crosby started writing the webcomic Sore Thumbs in collaboration with artist Owen Gieni in 2004.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=March 8, 2004|title=SORE THUMBS Archives: Monday {{!}} March 8, 2004|url=http://sorethumbs.keenspot.com/d/20040308.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081214200020/http://sorethumbs.keenspot.com:80/d/20040308.html |archive-date=December 14, 2008 |access-date=2020-10-12|website=sorethumbs.keenspot.com}}{{Primary source inline|date=October 2020}} The main character, Cecania, is forced by her mother to work in a video game store, Sore Thumbs, which is run by her extremely-Republican brother Fairbanks, selling only safe, non-violent, non-suggestive video games. Other characters include Cecania's best friend, a former doctor named Harmony; Sawyer Kaden, a soldier who lost his penis in the second Gulf War; and bear named Gary Coleman.

Reviewing the comic for Sequential Tart in 2004, Rebecca Henely gave it 4 out of 10, saying that despite being left-wing like the strip, she found the comic dumb, saying that "[i]ts potshots at conservatives are both incredibly obvious and not particularly biting." She called the jokes "stale", the characters "uniformly unlikable", and the dialogue "awful". She praised the art, but overall called the comic "unintelligent, uncreative and worst of all — it's not very funny."{{cite web|last=Henely|first=Rebecca|date=2004-06-01|title=Sore Thumbs|url=http://www.sequentialtart.com/reports.php?ID=3229&issue=2004-06-01|work=Sequential Tart}} Also in 2004, reviewer Wednesday White said the art was "serviceable" and the "story shows potential here and there", but criticized its "hamhanded dialogue", saying "[e]veryone speaks like they’re being scored on how many references they make to their assigned passions." White felt that "Fairbanks, in particular, grates... he’s a caricature of an exaggeration of a Republican’s idea of a left-wing stereotype of a Republican". She felt the comic could develop, saying, "[g]iven time, the characters could go from extrusions of perceptions of stereotypes to cartoons.{{Cite web|last=White|first=Wednesday|date=October 24, 2004|title=Sore Thumbs by Owen Gieni and Chris Crosby, Reviewed by Wednesday White – Comix Talk|url=http://comixtalk.com/sore_thumbs_owen_gieni_and_chris_crosby_reviewed_wednesday_white/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081122131845/http://comixtalk.com/sore_thumbs_owen_gieni_and_chris_crosby_reviewed_wednesday_white |archive-date=November 22, 2008 |access-date=2020-10-12|website=Comix Talk|language=en-US}}

It appears that the last update of Sore Thumbs, apart from using the site to posts ads, was in 2014.{{Cite web|title=SORE THUMBS Archives: Tuesday {{!}} May 20, 2014|url=http://sorethumbs.keenspot.com/d/20140520.html|access-date=2020-10-12|website=sorethumbs.keenspot.com}}{{Primary source inline|date=October 2020}}

Chris Crosby co-founded the comic book publisher Blatant Comics in 1997.{{Citation needed|date=October 2020}}

As of 2013, Crosby was chief technical officer at Red Giant Entertainment.{{Cite web|last=Aboraya|first=Abraham|date=April 5, 2013|title=Meet Red Giant's 5 key players|url=https://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/print-edition/2013/04/05/meet-red-giants-5-key-players.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130408100618/http://www.bizjournals.com:80/orlando/print-edition/2013/04/05/meet-red-giants-5-key-players.html |archive-date=April 8, 2013 |access-date=2020-10-12|website=www.bizjournals.com}} They appear to have still been with the company as recently as 2017.{{Cite web|last=Powell|first=Benny|date=June 1, 2017|title=Questions and Answers – Part 2 – REDG|url=http://www.redgiantentertainment.com/blog/2017/06/01/questions-and-answers-part-2/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170607192545/http://www.redgiantentertainment.com:80/blog/2017/06/01/questions-and-answers-part-2/ |archive-date=June 7, 2017 |access-date=2020-10-12|website=Red Giant Entertainment|language=en-US}}

{{reflist}}

• [http://www.chriscrosby.com/ Chris Crosby Dot Com] (official website)
• {{IMDb name|2308040}}

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Category:American webcomic creators

Category:Keenspot

Category:1977 births

Category:Artists from South Dakota

Category:American comics writers

Category:Living people