Cyanide and Happiness

Cyanide and Happiness is a popular web comic by Kris Wilson, Rob DenBleyker, Matt Melvin and Dave McElfatrick. Although four authors met only several times in real life, they call themselves the Explosm team.

Cyanide and Happiness first appeared on the website Explosm.net on the 9^th December 2004. Since 26^th of January 2005 it comes out daily. Also the authors sometimes produce short cartoons in the same style.

The style of this comic can be described as “late kinder-garden”: stick figures, only eyes and mouth on the face. The humour can be characterised as cynical, satirical and often offensive. The most popular themes are disability, incurable diseases, HIV, violence, death, sexual deviancy and nihilism.

For example, the few recurring characters include peculiarly-named superheroes such as:

Seizure Man - he apparently suffers from epilepsy, and was made into a man after being raped.

Ass Rape Man - who was seen approaching a boy and grinning.

SuperJerk - an extremely rude hero who charges for his acts of kindness.

LOL-FAG Man - a parody of Internet slang who insults everyone by saying "LOL!! FAG!!", which in turn causes various chaotic acts to occur. It is later shown that he is a hypocrite and seen to be given a blowjob while shouting "LOL FOILED!"

Rubber Arm Man - a hero with no apparent powers besides two limp, rubbery arms.

Firework Man - who can make himself explode like a firework, harming only himself.

Education Man - who teaches people about random subjects instead of helping them.

Invincible Man - whose only weakness is lead poisoning.

Paper Boy - a superhero that has only appeared in one of their animated movies, he has a "Paper Boy Mobile" which he uses to travel no less than a feet forward.

Nutrition Man - the newest superhero with the ability to shoot food out of his hand which apparently can bust through a man's skull.

Other recurring characters include:

Trelaf the Wise - a supposed sage who offers pointless advice.

Obese Maurice - a chubby man that usually adds an odd twist to an ostensibly food-related joke.

The Purple-Shirted Eye-Stabber - a villain who occasionally disguises himself to stab out the eyes of any who approach him.

The Inventor - A scientist made to look like Albert Einstein, who creates assorted scientific or magical inventions, only to attempt to copulate with them and in turn injure his penis.

The Pedophile - a green-shirted man wearing brown, square wire glasses.

The Time Traveler - A man who wears futuristic clothing and has the ability to travel to the past, present, or future.

Cyanide and Happiness is often called “the most cynical comic on the net” thought it is not the only one, which authors use provocative style (i.e. Sexy Losers, Nana's Everyday Life, CynicMansion etc). Its better not to click on those links if you do not want to be offended. I warned you! =) 

Cyanide and Happiness appears frequently on social networking sites (such as Myspace and LiveJournal), 4chan, web forums, and blogs as it openly allows and encourages fans to hotlink images. Because of its provocative style, the reaction of community differs from ecstasy to extreme indignation. Whether or no, this comic is quiet popular and it is translated to lot of world languages.