Scott Johnson (cartoonist)
| Scott Johnson | |
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| Birth name | Scott Blaine Johnson |
| Born | July 17, 1969 Utah |
Scott Blaine Johnson (born July 17, 1969) is a cartoonist, illustrator, designer and podcaster. He lives in Eagle Mountain, Utah with his wife Kim, daughters Taylor and Carter, and son Nick. In 2008, Johnson launched Frog Pants Studios, LLC,[1] an illustration and audio production company. Johnson is the creator of the popular[2][3][4] "56 Geeks Poster".
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[edit] Comics
Johnson began publishing the webcomic ExtraLife in June 2001.[5] The subject matter concentrates on many of Johnson's interests such as computers, technology, video games, and movies. The strip is updated regularly (usually two or three times each week). In 2009, Scott launched Experience Points, a second web comic that draws inspiration from World of Warcraft and other MMORPG computer games. The strip was one of several web comics published by Crispy Gamer until its closure in January 2010, then it was moved to GameCulture where it is updated every Monday.[6]
[edit] Podcasts
Johnson is the creator and host of several podcasts.
[edit] ExtraLife Radio
Johnson's oldest podcast, ExtraLife Radio (often shortened to ELR) began in 2003 as a stand alone downloadable MP3 file.[5] It was a bi-monthly show that covered a wide variety of subjects, including video games, movies, comic books, and many random subjects as the hosts saw fit. It was a self-proclaimed geek show, for and by geeks.
In 2005, the delivery format was changed to a podcast.[5] The original hosts other than Johnson were cartoonists Sergio "Obsidian" Villa-Isaza (nicknamed "O") and Brian Dunaway, and forum contributor Andrew Konietzky (who left the show in 2007). In addition to this panel the show also often featured guests and infrequent or frequent guest hosts. Mark Larson, a childhood friend of Johnson's, joined Scott in studio (whereas most other guests, as well as the three other co-hosts, used Skype to connect) every week for a period until gas prices deterred him from driving to Johnson's house for the show. Afterwards he would appear infrequently over Skype as well as frequently sending in a 3-minute Movie Reviews segment.
ExtraLife Radio won several awards over its four year run. [7] On February 12, 2010, after 233 shows, Johnson announced that ELR would no longer be recording and be placed on what he called an "indefinite hiatus" in a blog post titled "All Good Things..."[8]
On September 5th, 2010 on his Diary of a Cartoonist podcast, Johnson said he missed ExtraLife Radio and has considered bringing back, but also noted that its layout would probably be different and not include consistent panel members. [9]
[edit] The Instance
The Instance is a weekly award-winning[7][10] World of Warcraft podcast started in 2006 by Johnson and then-ExtraLife Radio host Andrew Konietzky, both of whom noticed a lack of podcasts dedicated to the MMO. The show is dedicated to news and rumors about the game, and relies heavily on listener contribution. An early contributor, Randy "RandyDeluxe" Jordan, joined the podcast as a third seat on show 45, and eventually became second seat when Konietzky left the show in 2007. RandyDeluxe was a part of the show (and also became a regular guest on ExtraLife Radio, and a co-host on the popular Film Sack podcast) until a job opportunity at Blizzard Entertainment (the company which makes World of Warcraft) required him to retire his position. Episode #217: "Now I've Gotta Go..." was Jordan's final show, and was dedicated to him. Jordan's replacements were Mark "Turpster" Turpin (a former guest and friend of the show) and William "Dills" Gregory (a member and raider in the Instance guild, alea iacta est).
Former guests have included Veronica Belmont, Felicia Day, Tom Merritt, and retired Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling,[11] who also co-hosted the show with Randy and Scott for several months.
[edit] AppSlappy
In June 2009, Johnson began publishing another weekly podcast called AppSlappy dedicated to reviewing Apple iPhone (and later, iPad) applications. Scott and his co-hosts Eric Van Skyhawk and Eileen Rivera choose popular apps to review and rate. The podcast also covers news and rumors related to the iPhone and iPad. (iTunes link)
[edit] Diary of a Cartoonist
The Diary of a Cartoonist podcast uses an introspective stream-of-consciousness format where Johnson discusses a wide variety of topics ranging from the day to day activities in his life to his thoughts about current events. Unlike Johnson's other podcasts, Diary of a Cartoonist does not have other co-hosts, though his family occasionally make minor appearances. Johnson often records the podcast using his iPhone while engaging in other activities such as driving or walking his dog.
[edit] FourCast
Started on July 7, 2009, Tom Merritt and his co-host Scott Johnson invite various guests and discuss the future and what it might contain in a so-called virtual fireside setting. Fourcast is not part of the Frogpants network, it is hosted on Twit.
[edit] Film Sack
Started on October 31, 2009, Scott Johnson and co-hosts Brian Ibbot, Brian Dunaway, and Randy Jordan review 'forgotten gems' of movies selected from the streaming media service Netflix. In 2011 Film Sack won a podcast award in the film category. (iTunes link)
[edit] Current Geek
Started on November 13, 2009, Johnson again teamed up Tom Merritt for 3-times-a-week dose of the geekiest stories around the world. After some difficulties and a hiatus, this show was recently revived as a weekly segment on The Morning Stream. (iTunes link)
[edit] Hypothetical Help
Started on March 29, 2010, Scott Johnson and co-host Mark Turpin a.k.a "Turpster" tackle the world of Hypothetical counseling. Listeners have the ability to call and leave a recorded question or record a sound file to have Scott and Turpster possibly play it on the show and then give their best comedic advice to solve the worlds problems. Each episode features 3 user calls and is about 30 minutes long. (iTunes link)
[edit] Final Score
Restarted on April 9, 2010, Scott Johnson and co-host Brian Dunaway tackle the field of video games. New releases, reviews, retrogaming, and first plays are just some of the topics covered. Scott and Brian were joined by Nicole Spagnuolo (aka Nicole Spag) of the Ladies of Leet podcast and blog by episode 20. (iTunes link)
[edit] The Creep
Started on September 9, 2010, with Scott Johnson and co-host Brian Hough. "The Creep is the Starcraft 2 podcast, helping you find your way in the Starcraft Universe." As with most of Scott's podcasts, this one is geared to be as informative as possible but also not just being focused upon the hardcore gamers. "The Creep" podcast is prided upon the fact that no matter if you're brand new to the game or are at a level of skill that is better than the developers that wrote it, you can still listen and have a good time while also picking up on some great news, tips, and tricks! Although the podcast started out in a Bi-Weekly format it was announced in episode 13 on February 19, 2011 that due to lack of quality content and information release in the starcraft universe that the podcast would be recorded whenever there was enough information to produce a show. this resulted in an approximately 6 month hiatus. episode 14 saw the return of the creep on September 2, 2011 when it was announced that shows would again be more regularly recorded than every 6-12 months. (iTunes link)
[edit] The Morning Stream
Started on January 24, 2011, With Scott Johnson and the guy in the booth, Brian Ibbott. It "airs" every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday morning (most weeks) for the latest in entertainment, politics, diabetus, live calls, segments, and more. In 2011 The Morning Stream won a podcast award in the entertainment category. [12]
[edit] Community
Fans and contributors to The Instance are invited to join a guild named alea iacta est (AIE),[13] which currently has over 6,300 active members making it one of the largest guilds in World of Warcraft.[14] Johnson's main character on AIE, a level 85 orc hunter named Gerp,[15] is a founder and officer of the guild. Notable members have included Curt Schilling,[16] Veronica Belmont,[16] Leo Laporte[17] and Tom Merritt. Johnson is well known in the Utah area[18] both for his online work and as host of the increasingly popular Nerdtacular[19] event, an annual gathering of fans of The Instance and ELR.
In 2007, Johnson was targeted with a cease and desist email by disbarred attorney and American activist Jack Thompson for running a photograph parody contest on the site MyExtraLife.com[20]
[edit] References
- ^ Unmatched Studio interview about Frog Pants Studios
- ^ OMZ Blog
- ^ Featured on front page of Digg.com 3 times
- ^ CyberNet News
- ^ a b c About ExtraLife Podcast
- ^ Experience Points moves to GameCulture
- ^ a b 2008 Podcast Awards
- ^ All Good Things
- ^ The Future of ExtraLife Radio
- ^ Bloggers Choice Awards
- ^ The Instance #102 - “The Curt Schilling Episode”
- ^ http://frogpants.com/podcasts/tms/
- ^ Guild Page
- ^ World of Warcraft "Armory" Website
- ^ Gerp's World of Warcraft Armory Page
- ^ a b Alea Iacta Est in popular culture
- ^ Leo Laporte in AIE Guild
- ^ Provo Utah's newspaper, "Daily Harald" article about Johnson
- ^ Nerdtacular
- ^ Thompson Cease and Desist Email
