Get Your Next Trollface Here

Posted in: Comics, Comics Publishers, Oni Press | Tagged: Cartoonshow, oni press, trollface

Will Derek M. Ballard’s Cartoonshow set up the internet’s next line in trollfaces? A hardcover collection is published by Oni Press this week.

Rage comics are a series of simple drawings used to express often violent memes, popular of 4chan, Reddit and related boards. Trollface below was originally drawn by Carlos Ramirez as part of a MS Paint webcomic about the pointless nature of trolling. Since then, it has repeatedly been used to indicate a troll in rage comics, and as an icon or avatar on message boards, and has been joined by many others.

Well, this week Oni Press will release Adventure Time and Midnight Gospel artist Derek M. Ballard‘s debut graphic novel Cartoonshow. Originally published online, Cartoonshow is a satirical look at being a single father in modern America, in a fashion designed to appeal to the angriest person online, with pages guaranteed to be turned into the next line of trollfaces. And it exists courtesy of Oni Press’ advance payments. You know, like a proper publisher does.

“This book of cartoons is a whole slew of dumb, funny, embarrassing, and true things that happened to my kids and me. Stuff that befalls average families every single day,” says Derek M. Ballard. “Oni Press made it possible to support my family while I brought my uncompromised scribbly vision to the page. That’s a big deal. Unbelievable really. Extra special thanks to my editor Zack Soto.” Here’s an exclusive look at some of the cartoons within.

“I think Derek’s comics are truly Great—like capital GC Great Cartooning, and the issues he’s talking about are important, under-discussed stuff. It’s like Hi & Lois but with a social/political consciousness,” says Oni Press editor Zack Soto. “Working with Derek and designer Carey Soucey to bring Cartoonshow to life in its current form was one of the more rewarding collaborative experiences in my editorial career to date, and I can’t wait for everyone to pick up a copy!”

Derek is a solo parent raising three kids in the American South while trying to make art. Told in a series of free-flowing and often hilarious comic essays, Cartoonshow gets to the heart of the struggle to be a creative person in a society that doesn’t value anything other than how much it can grind out of you. Covid, poverty, the failing social safety net, predatory lenders, and literal acts of God can’t stop our hero!

Cartoonshow will be available in hardcover for $21.99 from Wednesday in comic stores and Tuesday in bookstores. Trollfaces and rage comics included in the price.

“I laughed and cried, y’all. These are the real $#!^ journal comics. Drawings that could slay a dragon. Every punchline a funny knife in your eye.” – Pendleton Ward
“Ballard has been producing a singular body of work for over two decades, congealing his keyed-up characters with idiosyncratic angular anatomy into an often-unforgiving neon science fiction setting. Oh yeah, these comics are also funny.” – RJ Casey, The Comics Journal

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