A Story of a Fuzzy Webcomic Dude

Once upon a time there was this dorky girl tweeting away in that magical place called Twitter. As this little dork muffin yapped with her fellow tweeps, she came across the profile of a fellow resident named @macmoreno. His tweets were so funny that the dorky girl almost spit her drink all over her laptop, which surely would have ended in tragedy. But this story is not a sad one, since the girl was able to keep herself in check long enough to swallow her drink and check out the link on his profile. From that point on, it was like Alice falling down the rabbit hole and this little dork muffin has never been the same since.

As it turns out, MacLPirata was actually Michael Moreno, a webcomic artist with wit and vision. Michael doesn’t do just one webcomic; he does three! Michael is the brains behind Death By Bunny, Ted & Zed, and Mac’s Life, with the latter based on his own life. He has also lent his humor to worthy causes like Unifem.org, which is a fund set up by the United Nations to provide “financial and technical assistance to innovative programmes and strategies to foster women’s empowerment and gender equality”. So not only is Michael Moreno funny, but he has heart, too. What is there not to love? Knowing all of this, I had to follow him and hope that I would someday be accepted into his world. Imagine my surprise when I saw that he was following me back! I was so excited I almost peed myself. (Okay, that last one was a lie, but whatever.) Michael and I became fast buddies and I got a glimpse into his world as we tweeted to our heart’s content.

I really wanted to add Michael to my little place here on the web so I asked him a few questions about stick figures, soda, and the perfect music to draw to. Little does he know that he is all mine forever now. Mwahahahaha! But before we get to that, let’s take a look at his webcomics, shall we? Don’t forget to click the images to enlarge them. If you forget, Clyde might come after you and you don’t want that, do you? I didn’t think so.

Death By Bunny

Death By Bunny is a webcomic about a rabbit named Clyde who kills people. A killer bunny? How can you NOT love that? Michael has Clyde kill random people or even friends. No one is safe around Clyde… not even Hannibal Lecter. With those cute furry looks, how can one suspect him of being a serial killer?

Ted & Zed

Ted & Zed is a webcomic about a boy and his zombie. The two of them get on like peas and carrots… most of the time.

Here’s Michael’s description of Ted & Zed:

We all have a friend like Ted.  He’s a bit short tempered, very opinionated, and thinks he’s a total ladie’s man.  Ted has a friend unlike any other: Zed.

Zed is just like that friend of yours.  He’s the one that knows how to push your buttons, has a comeback for everything, and doesn’t let things get to him.  The one thing that separates Zed from the rest of your friends is the fact that Zed is a zombie.  Yes, the “MORE BRAINS” kind of zombie, not the autonomous youth of America kind.

So meet Ted and his zombie buddy Zed.  They go way back.  When Zed isn’t trying to eat Ted, they enjoy normal bachelor activities: Hanging out, playing video games, and doing a horrible job of picking up chicks.  Follow our odd-couple as they do what they do.

Get that? Good. Moving along to…

Mac’s Life

Mac’s Life is based on Michael Moreno’s “real life”. Anything that happens to him beyond the interwebs is fair game for this comic. Michael does a great job turning the ins and outs of his life into something humorous for all of us to laugh with him and at him. Especially at him. Is it wrong to laugh at his pain? It’s not if he is laughing, too. Below is the perfect example. Recently, Michael broke his toe on a wooden chair. Yep… his friggin’ toe.

Did you remember to click on the images to see them in all their webby glory? Remember… Clyde will get you if you don’t and I already have enough blood on my hands. (Did I say that out loud? Dammit! Relax… no one knows what you are talking about. Just move along and everything will be okay.)

Have you made it this far? Great! Glad to see that Clyde hasn’t murdered you yet because it’s time to play Meet Michael Moreno!

DM: Hey Michael! How did you find time in your busy schedule for all these dorky questions? You must be so busy writing all those cool comics we just saw.

Michael: It sure can be tough, but I tend to do my comics during my “9-5″.  I work the graveyard shift during the week and have a LOT of downtime.  Besides, there’s always time for a MySpace survey.  That’s what this is, right?

DM: Erm… yeah… something like that. So tell me how old were you when you started writing webcomics and where do you get your inspiration from?

Michael: My first webcomic was a Ted & Zed strip.  I wrote and illustrated it on Sunday, October 14th, 2007.  I posted it on my MySpace page and emailed it to friends and family the next day.  It got such a great response that I decided to post it on a webcomic site that no longer exists.  I believe the inspiration came from an unhealthy balance of a weekend full of zombie movies, a 36 hour work shift, and an attempted caffeine overdose on said work shift.  I was doodling some stick figures on a notepad at the office and thought of just how hilarious it could be if stick figures had zombies, too.  I came running home after my shift to tell my wife and she just smiled and said, “Yes, dear,” or something.  She saw that wild, sleep deprived look in my eye and didn’t want to chance any sudden movements.

DM: Why stick figures on some and regular art on others?

Michael: I knew early on in my life that I wasn’t going to be an artist.  I remember drawing a lot as a kid, but I gave up the art for the music classes in middle school.  All my life I’ve known I could “draw a mean stick figure.”  I think the very nature of a stick figure adds a certain level of comic relief that you just don’t get from a “fleshed out” character.  Sometimes that’s not enough though, y’know?  My ultimate goal is to get into writing comic books and graphic novels for a living.  Somewhere along the line I got it in my head I was going to illustrate my creator-owned comics for Image Comics.  That’s when I decided to start drawing “regular” comics.  I quickly abandoned this notion, however, realizing that I’m a horrible artist.

DM: Horrible artist or not, you can draw way better than me. Okay, if you had to quit all your comics except one, which one would you keep and why?

Michael: That’s a tough one.  If pressed to keep one going I’d be torn between Ted & Zed & DEATH BY BUNNY.  My favourite is T&Z but the fans seem to prefer DBB.  The stick boys seem to challenge me more, so I’d probably keep them and ditch the others to help push me as a writer.

DM: Okay, now we are going to get a little more personal and fun. The ladies – and some fellas – want to know if you are single or taken?

Michael: Heh he I’m recently divorced.  I got my eye on a gal, but nothing to report just yet.

DM: What is your favorite movie and why?

Michael: Hands down, my all time favourite movie is The Wizard of OZ. I’m a sucker for Judy Garland.  C’mon, man, she was HOT!  It’s an amazing journey of self-discovery and reconciliation!  Dorothy grows so much over the course of her adventure and learns some pretty important life lessons.  The cinematography was great for the time as were the special effects!  Besides, who can watch that without chiming in with the Lollipop Guild!?

DM: What is the ultimate jam music to draw to?

Michael: Everclear.  Lots of Everclear.  No matter the feel of the comic… heck, no matter the COMIC… Everclear can be the way to go.  If I need motivation in any direction, they’ve got it.  They have the perfect level of angst, drama, hope, and love to get you through just about anything!  If I had a personal soundtrack, nearly every song on it would be an Everclear song.

DM: Quick! Name 3 words that start with “M” to describe yourself!

Michael: Mountainmannish (I’m really furry), melodramatic, & momentary.

DM: Okay, this is a bit tough but I am sure you can handle it. Coca-Cola or Pepsi?

Michael: GOSH I miss a good Coca-Cola!  I’m from California and I loved me a good Coke.  I don’t know if it’s the water they use or WHAT, but since moving to Texas, I can’t stand the taste of Coca-Cola anymore.  I’ll go with Pepsi over Coke out here.

DM: Okay, one last question! When will I get killed by Clyde?

Michael: Oh, you’re on the list.  I’m not so sure when (he’s always changing the lineup), but I wouldn’t make any Valentine’s Day plans…

Oh, that Michael. He’s so funny! Clyde won’t kill me, right? Right?!

When Michael isn’t working on any of his comics, he can be found on Twitter as @macmoreno. All images Copyright © Michael Moreno and are used with his permission. To view the comics made for charity, visit Saving Angels.