Rage comic

A rage comic is a short cartoon strip using a growing set of pre-made cartoon faces, or rage faces, which usually express rage or some other simple emotion or activity.[1] They are usually crudely-drawn in Microsoft Paint or other simple drawing programs, and were most popular in the early 2010s.[2] These webcomics have spread much in the same way that internet memes do, and several memes have originated in this medium. They have been characterized by Ars Technica as an "accepted and standardized form of online communication."[3] The popularity of rage comics has been attributed to their use as vehicles for humorizing shared experiences.[4] The range of expression and standardized, easily identifiable faces has allowed uses such as teaching English as a foreign language.[5]

History

Although used on numerous websites such as Reddit, Cheezburger, ESS.MX, Ragestache, and 9GAG, the source of the rage comic has largely been attributed to 4chan in mid-2008. The first rage comic was posted to the 4chan /b/ "Random" board in 2008. It was a simple 4-panel strip showing the author's anger about getting "splashback" while on the toilet, with the final panel featuring a zoomed-in face, known as Rage Guy, saying "FFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUU-". It was quickly reposted and modified, with other users creating new scenarios and characters.[6]

Google Trends data shows that the term "rage guy" peaked in April 2009 while the terms "rage comics" and "troll face" both peaked in March 2009.[2]

Trollface

One of the most widely used rage comic faces is the Trollface, drawn by Oakland artist Carlos Ramirez in 2008.[7] Originally posted in a comic to his DeviantArt account Whynne about Internet trolling on 4chan,[8] the trollface is a recognizable image of Internet memes and culture. Ramirez has used his creation, registered with the United States Copyright Office in 2009, to gain over $100,000 in licensing fees, settlements, and other payouts.[7] The video game Meme Run for Nintendo's Wii U console was taken down for having the trollface as the main character.[7][9][10]

See also
  • List of Internet memes
  • Wojak - a similar meme which also uses derivative copies of a black-and-white MS paint face illustrations.

References
  1. Boutin, Paul (May 9, 2012), "Put Your Rage Into a Cartoon and Exit Laughing", The New York Times
  2. "Google Trends". Google Trends. Retrieved 2017-10-01.
  3. Connor, Tom (11 March 2012). "Fuuuuuuuu: The Internet anthropologist's field guide to "rage faces"". Condé Nast. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
  4. Hoevel, Ann (11 October 2011). "The Know Your Meme team gets all scientific on the intarwebs". GeekOut. CNN. Retrieved 9 December 2011.
  5. Wolford, Josh (2 November 2011). "Teaching The English Language With Rage (Comics)". WebProNews. Retrieved 10 November 2011.
  6. Ben Dennison. "Our 8 Favorite Rage Comic Characters: a Case Study". www.weirdworm.com. Retrieved March 30, 2014.
  7. Klepek, Patrick. "The Maker Of The Trollface Meme Is Counting His Money". Kotaku. Retrieved 2017-10-01.
  8. "Comic - Trolls". DeviantArt. Retrieved 2017-10-01.
  9. "Here's Why Meme Run Was Taken Down From the eShop - Nintendo Enthusiast". Nintendo Enthusiast. 2015-03-04. Retrieved 2017-10-01.
  10. Life, Nintendo (2015-03-03). "Meme Run Disappears from the Wii U eShop". Nintendo Life. Retrieved 2017-10-01.
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