Jeph Jacques

Jacques was born in Rockville, Maryland, and was later adopted.{{Cite web|url=http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=648|title = Questionable Content}} He has a younger brother named Justin.{{cite web |url=https://twitter.com/jephjacques/status/193219300033699840|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120730161400/http://twitter.com/jephjacques/status/193219300033699840|archive-date=July 30, 2012|title=Happy birthday... |work=Twitter.com |last=Jacques |first=Jeph |date=April 19, 2012 |access-date=April 20, 2012}}

Jacques lived near Northampton, Massachusetts, where Questionable Content is set; in 2015, he moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia.{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/jephjacques/status/637347983894446081|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305120631/https://twitter.com/jephjacques/status/637347983894446081|archive-date=March 5, 2016|title=Jeph moves to Halifax... |work=Twitter.com |last=Jacques |first=Jeph |date=August 28, 2015 |access-date=August 28, 2015}}

Jacques graduated from Hampshire College with a degree in music. He was married to his business manager Cristi until their amicable separation in 2014.{{cite web |url=http://www.questionablecontent.net/about.php |title=Frequently Asked Questions |work=Questionable Content |last=Jacques |first=Jeph |access-date=December 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130806055628/http://questionablecontent.net/about.php |archive-date=August 6, 2013}}{{cite web |url=http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2612 |title=Questionable Content #2612 |access-date=May 20, 2014 |last=Jacques |first=Jeph |work=Questionable Content}} In 2017, Jacques travelled to France and remarried.{{cite web|url=https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3556 |title=Questionable Content #3556 |access-date=Aug 28, 2017 |last=Jacques |first=Jeph |work=Questionable Content}}

{{main|Questionable Content}}

Questionable Content (QC) is a comedic slice-of-life webcomic that Jacques started on August 1, 2003. It was initially published two days a week, and then moved up to three updates a week when Jacques published strip #16.{{cite web |url=http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=16 |title=Strip #16 News Blog}} On September 4, 2004, Jacques lost his day job, and decided to try publishing QC every weekday and make a living selling QC-related T-shirts.{{cite web |url=http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=174 |title=Strip #174 News Blog}}{{cite web |url=http://www.questionablecontent.net/faq.php |title=Frequently Asked Questions |work=Questionable Content |last=Jacques |first=Jeph}}

Jacques was a member of Dayfree Press, an online webcomic syndicate which included other artists such as Christian Fundin and Pontus Madsen of Little Gamers, Sam Logan of Sam and Fuzzy, and Ryan North of Dinosaur Comics.{{cite news|url=http://www.dayfreepress.com/creators.shtml |title=Active Dayfree Press Creators |access-date=August 22, 2012 |publisher=Dayfree Press |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120716184344/http://www.dayfreepress.com/creators.shtml |archive-date=July 16, 2012 }}{{cite news |url=http://www.comicmix.com/news/2008/07/17/interview-jeph-jacques-on-questionable-content/ |title=Interview: Jeph Jacques on 'Questionable Content' |date=July 17, 2008 |publisher=Comicmix |first=Rick |last=Marshall}}

Jacques launched indietits as an anonymous side project on April 1, 2005, to use ideas that did not fit into Questionable Content{{'s}} setting.{{cite web |url=http://www.indietits.com |title=WHODUNIT |date=November 3, 2010}}{{cite news|url=http://marisa.com.au/jeph-jacques-music-review-weblog/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20131204193529/http://marisa.com.au/jeph-jacques-music-review-weblog/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 4, 2013 |title=Jeph Jacques Music Review Weblog |first=Marisa |last=Wikramanayake |date=June 2, 2009 }} Compared to Questionable Content, it is a simple strip, eschewing detailed art and linear storyline in favour of reusable pre-drawn panels and one-shot jokes. To further broaden his drawing limits, Jacques created Jephdraw to place unnamed drawings of his onto the Internet. He puts anything from favored panels to simple sketches for others to see what he does in his spare time.{{citation needed|date=November 2017}}

In September 2014, Jacques launched a new comic, Alice Grove, which updated once per week until the story finished in July 2017.

Early in 2015 Jacques purchased the domain name walmart.horse (using the more recently available ICANN-era generic top-level domains). The website's sole page is an image of a horse in front of a Walmart store. Jacques created the website as a piece of postmodernist "nonsense-art".{{cite news |last1=Moran |first1=Lee |title=Walmart issues cease and desist to walmart.horse owner |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/walmart-issues-cease-desist-walmart-horse-owner-article-1.2143849 |access-date=March 12, 2015 |work=New York Daily News |date=March 10, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402133458/http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/walmart-issues-cease-desist-walmart-horse-owner-article-1.2143849 |archive-date=April 2, 2015}} In March Jacques posted a cease and desist letter he received from Walmart who claimed the website diluted their intellectual property. Although Jacques said he believes the site to be fair use, he said he would be willing to post a disclaimer on the site indicating that it is parody if Walmart requested it.{{cite news |last1=Kravets |first1=David |title=Why the long face? Retailer says walmart.horse domain infringes its IP |url=https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/03/why-the-long-face-retailer-says-walmart-horse-domain-infringes-its-ip/ |access-date=March 12, 2015 |work=Ars Technica |date=March 9, 2015}}{{cite news |last1=Geier |first1=Ben |title=Why this sweet-looking horse is a major headache for Wal-Mart |url=http://fortune.com/2015/03/10/walmart-horse-website/ |access-date=March 12, 2015 |work=Fortune |date=March 10, 2015}} Jacques gave up the domain after Walmart filed a domain dispute.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/may/19/jeph-jacques-walmart-horse-website |title=Supermarket giant shuts Walmart.horse website after joke has bolted |work=The Guardian |first=Alex |last=Hern |date=May 19, 2015 |access-date=July 2, 2015}}

In October 2015, Jacques launched a new strip titled Derelict Orbital Reflector Devices at the URL "dord.horse".{{Cite web|url=https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3069|title=Questionable Content}} The strip revolves around a pair of sentient solar collection satellites (known as "DORDs"), part of a network of 2{{e|13}} similar satellites{{cite web |last=Jacques |first=Jeph |url=https://66.media.tumblr.com/732f54e25cbfdbbc61d51beb356d3354/tumblr_nw7vnuvYtv1uj6rtfo1_1280.jpg |title=DORD comic from Oct. 14 2015 (archive.org) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190524083556im_/https://66.media.tumblr.com/732f54e25cbfdbbc61d51beb356d3354/tumblr_nw7vnuvYtv1uj6rtfo1_1280.jpg |archive-date=24 May 2019 |url-status=dead}} that were placed around the Sun to gather energy for a civilization that has long since departed,{{cite web |last=Jacques |first=Jeph |title=DORD comic from Oct. 14 2015 (archive.org) |url=http://dord.horse/image/131159448942|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180814151024/http://dord.horse/image/131159448942 |archive-date=August 14, 2018 }} leaving the DORDs to contemplate their purpose and while away vast stretches of idle time.{{cite web |last=Jacques |first=Jeph |title=DORD comic from Oct. 27 2015 (archive.org) |url=https://66.media.tumblr.com/a0a954da82647e1628c3a7c6afa91548/tumblr_nwwriyx7QT1uj6rtfo1_1280.jpg |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181020070814im_/https://66.media.tumblr.com/a0a954da82647e1628c3a7c6afa91548/tumblr_nwwriyx7QT1uj6rtfo1_1280.jpg |archive-date=20 October 2018 |url-status=dead}} Each strip consists of a centrally-placed white sun disk on a black starfield, with the two DORDs assuming various positions in front of the sun, and text balloons for either or both of them in most panels.{{citation needed|date=November 2017}} DORD updated on a daily basis, but no strips have been published since November 19, 2015.{{citation needed|date=November 2017}} The domain registration for "dord.horse" expired.

In 2005 Jacques launched Deathmøle, a virtual post-metal band whose works are available online.{{cite web |url=http://www.questionablecontent.net/deathmole/ |title=Moletopopolis demos |work=Questionable Content |last=Jacques |first=Jeph |access-date=March 31, 2011}}{{cite web |url=http://questionablecontent.net/deathmolequestion.html |title=Deathmole- ??? |work=Questionable Content |last=Jacques |first=Jeph |access-date=March 31, 2011}}{{cite web |url=http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=554 |title=A Democratic Decision |work=Questionable Content |last=Jacques |first=Jeph |access-date=March 31, 2011}} The band is currently composed of three characters from his comic, Questionable Content. The name for the band appears in Strip 554 for the first time.See also {{cite web |url=http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=554 |title=A Democratic Decision |work=Questionable Content |last=Jacques |first=Jeph |access-date=October 6, 2022}} Since its inception, Jacques has periodically released individual Deathmøle songs through his LiveJournal{{cite web |url=http://qcjeph.livejournal.com/ |title=I Am Afraid Of Everything |work=Livejournal.com |last=Jacques |first=Jeph |access-date=March 31, 2011}} or his Tumblr{{cite web |url=http://jephjacques.tumblr.com/ |title=jephjacques |work=Tumblr.com |access-date=March 31, 2011}} where they remain available; newer albums have been released on BandCamp.{{cite web |last=Jacques |first=Jeph |title=deathmole.bandcamp.com |url=http://deathmole.bandcamp.com/ |publisher=BandCamp}}

Jacques states that Deathmøle's style "...started out as a joke- I wanted to write and record a really stupid metal song ... and it turned out to be really fun. So fun, in fact, that I started writing more 'serious' metal tracks, and that’s ... how the music evolved."{{cite web |url=http://jephjacques.tumblr.com/post/9615284925/qa-dump-01/ |title=QA DUMP #01 |work=jephjacques.tumblr.com |access-date=September 3, 2011}}

In chronological order, the Deathmøle albums are Moletopopolis, Long Songs, ???, Trial Period (EP), Amps, Absent Gods & Creatures Foul, Fear of Black Horses,{{cite web|url=http://jephjacques.tumblr.com/post/3955332324/deathm-le-stuff |title=Deathmøle stuff |work=jephjacques.tumblr.com |access-date=March 31, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110818224153/http://jephjacques.tumblr.com/post/3955332324/deathm-le-stuff |archive-date=August 18, 2011 }} Meade's Army,{{cite web|url=http://jephjacques.tumblr.com/post/9706208345/new-deathm-le |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120715094146/http://jephjacques.tumblr.com/post/9706208345/new-deathm-le |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 15, 2012 |title=New Deathmøle |work=jephjacques.tumblr.com |access-date=September 2, 2011 }} Advances, Permanence (ongoing) and finally Jephmøle (ongoing). Each album typically has seven or eight tracks with Trial Period's three and Moletopopolis' fifteen being the extremes.{{cite web |url=http://www.last.fm/music/Deathmøle |title=Deathmøle |work=Last.fm |access-date=March 31, 2011}} The music is Jacques' original work, with the exception of a cover of Low's "Two-step" on Long Songs.

On August 11, 2013, Jacques launched a Kickstarter project with a goal of $9,500 to professionally record the Deathmøle album Permanence. On September 10, 2013, the Kickstarter projects funding period ended with a total funding of $141,115 breaking all 10 of his listed stretch goals. Much of the funding came from fans of QC.{{cite web |title=Permanence: The New Album By Deathmøle |url=http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/168734274/permanence-the-new-album-by-deathmle |work=Kickstarter |access-date=September 28, 2013}}

{{see also|Questionable Content#Recognition}}

Jacques was the Artist Guest of Honor at the 2006 Albacon.{{cite web |url=http://www.albacon.org/2006/guests.html |title=Albacon 11 Guests |access-date=December 10, 2007 |date=September 28, 2006 |work=Albacon}} His webcomic Questionable Content has been honored multiple times in the Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards.{{cite web |title=WCCA Awards |access-date=September 13, 2008 |url=http://www.ccawards.com/}}

Jacques's relationship to major internet companies has twice gotten him attention from the kinds of high-profile media outlets that do not normally cover webcomic news. In 2017, he was part of a creator backlash against a plan by Patreon, a subscription platform, to add fees to donations regardless of their size. He was extensively quoted in the Washington Post as one of the leaders of the creators objecting to this plan: "Jacques's average patron gives him between $1 and $2 a month. Creators like him, who rely on small payments, said the new system would discourage their very business model."{{cite news |last1=Ohlheiser |first1=Abby |title=Facing a rebellion of furious creators, Patreon backs away from a new fee |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2017/12/13/facing-a-rebellion-of-furious-creators-patreon-backs-away-from-a-new-fee/ |work=Washington Post |date=13 December 2017}}

Several years later, he again came to widespread attention when he was banned from Twitter for a prank at the expense of Twitter owner Elon Musk, which led to his being interviewed by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.{{cite news |last1=Drost |first1=Philip |title=This cartoonist was banned from Twitter for impersonating Elon Musk |url=https://www.cbc.ca/radio/day6/elon-musk-twitter-impersonations-1.6648071 |work=Q&A |agency=CBC Radio |date=November 11, 2022}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• [http://deathmole.bandcamp.com/ Deathmøle] on Bandcamp

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jacques, Jeph}}

Category:American comics artists

Category:American comics writers

Category:American webcomic creators

Category:Artists from Maryland

Category:Writers from Maryland

Category:Artists from Massachusetts

Category:Writers from Massachusetts

Category:Hampshire College alumni

Category:People from Rockville, Maryland

Category:People from Northampton, Massachusetts

Category:1980 births

Category:Living people