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“Toonhole John” is one of the four cartoonists behind the whole “Toonhole” project. His comics are part of the website but the artist also has his own Instagram account where he posts his work separately from his friends. John describes himself as “not only a professional animation cartoonist but also the most clutch Call of Duty player of the Toonhole squadron and possibly the world.”

John’s comics have quite the twist to them. What, you might ask? Well, they are pretty much unpredictable. The unpredictability comes from the way he ends his comics on a note no one expects. And, to be honest, his comics have a bit of a dark nature, but he has a genuine talent for making them funny, and the end result is always sure to make you smile at the very least.

More info: Instagram | twitter.com | twitch.tv | toonhole.com

Bored Panda reached out to John with some questions! First, we asked the artist if he had any life-changing influences that might have helped him with his art and art style in general when it comes to his comics.

"My comic influences are Calvin and Hobbes comics, the Far Side, and Will Eisner. Looney Tunes and Tex Avery cartoons are also pretty influential to me."

Art, in any kind of form, takes a lot of time not only to practice but also to produce, therefore we asked John how long it takes him to fully finish his comics.

"My comics usually take a matter of hours to complete from start to finish. But, every once in a while, a comic idea has to simmer for days and take different shapes before it's finally finished."

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Being an artist is not easy, one can easily encounter a lack of inspiration, burnout, etc, so we wanted to ask the artist about his ideas for the comics.

"Most comic ideas come from real world observations. However, we toonhole guys bounce topics and prompts between each other to keep the creativity fresh."

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Artist Creates Unpredictable Comics That Are Both Dark And Funny

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GPZ
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Reminds me of the South Park episode where Chef demands the South Park flag be changed because it’s racist (the flag depicts a person being hung with people watching but the person being hung is an African-American & yes as an adult I can see that). When Kyle, Stan, Kenny & Cartman are asked to look at the flag and say what’s wrong with it they say “murder is bad” (ie: hanging anyone is bad)

AM W
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

of course yts would simplify it to something like this instead of actually recognizing the evil behind racist costumes 🙄

Mary Yukime
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not too fond of this take either. I think there should be a clear difference between appreciating a culture and learning about it, and just putting on a cheap, inaccurate, (and sexed-up) version. Children usually grow to be very racist, unless educated to not be.

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Tempest
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We used to be encouraged to try on clothing and things from other cultures as part of social studies class. To better understand other cultures and bring pieces from our own in to show and tell. But clearly screaming and blind rage are so much better.

Christian Claydon
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ok but out of curiosity is it ok for someone with lots of Indidginous American blood to dress up like that?

Julie MommaWolf
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I have a lot of different friends. They say it’s cute that people like me are offend for them. For them it’s mostly a non-thing. They will let you know when THEY are offended

Evelyn Ann
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Kids don't see the differences, or if they do don't care. Why can't we stay like that?!

TJ Farrell
Community Member
2 years ago

This comment has been deleted.

Ian Frazier
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I may be reading into this too much but... is the illustrator trying to say the new version of cowboys and Indians now SWAT and mexicans?

Nijlenna Rusty
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's like that in the Netherlands with the child's feast of 'Sinterklaas en Zwarte Piet' (st Nicklaus and Black Pete)

CarbonatedCheese
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I almost threw down when I was in K over whether babies come out of tummies or their mom's big toe. After working in education for 17 years, I've seen kids fight furiously over less. This particular comic overidealizes the innocence of kids and stretches pretty far to ignore the historical context of why we (as a society) should be moving away from trivializing hateful practices.

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Amelia Bee
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

So the "joke" is that it's ok to be racially insensitive cuz kids don't care?

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As we mentioned before, sometimes creative work can cause quite a burnout, therefore we asked the artist how he dealt with that as well.

"Usually burnout is a result of outside factors and not the creative work itself. Sleep, exercise, and good eating stave off burnout. When I do feel it, it's because one of these is out of balance."

We also asked the artist about how people reacted to his work.

"I'm not sure of people's initial reaction, but I'm just thankful enough people like the comics and that they get any reaction at all. Though, the least favorable reaction is confusion, because it means I didn't get my joke across."

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Oscar Joseph Ben-Ary
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2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Am I the only one that read the whole letter : edit HOW DID THIS GET SO MANY UPVOTES IM LEGIT GOING CRAZY

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The creative process is not easy, but there are many enjoyable parts to it as shared by the artist.

"My favorite part of the process is when time flies while completing a comic. I can get into gear while working where I don't notice how long it's been. Before I know it the comic is done and posted and I'm on to the next."

John also told us a little bit about why he chose Instagram as one of the platforms for posting his comics.

"Instagram is just one of the many avenues for comic artists to show their work on social media."

#8

Artist Creates Unpredictable Comics That Are Both Dark And Funny

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PenitentEyeball
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

For those who don’t know agaraphobia is the irrational fear of situations that might cause panic, helplessness or embarrassment.

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Digital art and art, in general, is not easy and requires a lot of patience, time, resources, and in most cases even money, therefore we wanted to know how the talented comic artist started his own career in digital art.

"I started by drawing traditional paper and ink comics and transferring them to digital. But now, like the other toonhole guys, I use a mix of digital and traditional processes depending on the comic, and it comes down to whatever the comic calls for."

Artists tend to get motivated by a lot of things such as curiosity, the search for beauty, or even meaning. Therefore, we asked John about that too.

"I'm not sure where my motivation comes from, probably from somewhere deep under layers of lizard-brained behavior. Perhaps the easiest answer is survival, art allows me to eat."

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#32

Artist Creates Unpredictable Comics That Are Both Dark And Funny

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Loki’s Lil Butter Knife
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Jesus BoredPanda, stop with the senseless censorship. It is bordering on just plain idiotic now. There are better ways to fix your horrible troll problem rather then censor words like SEX...

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Artist Creates Unpredictable Comics That Are Both Dark And Funny

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François Carré
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Wait until he finds out Christmas is all about celebrating dependence on plastic gifts made from archaic fossil fuels.

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#40

Artist Creates Unpredictable Comics That Are Both Dark And Funny

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Susanne B
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

When I worked in a bank, I noticed severel cases where a mans name was alone on the final note, but both man and wife signed for the loan. Perhaps women are too trusty

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#45

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chaotic legal
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

code error they didn't specify the font 😃 Oh and 15 other things you have to figure out yourself, ur welcome 😉

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Artist Creates Unpredictable Comics That Are Both Dark And Funny

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Trevor Nicholson
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Living with your parents is an act of anti-capitalism because you don't have to waste your money buying new things. It's sharing, and clearly the mom is ok with it. Our consumer culture encourages people to get in debt, to be enslaved and dependent on their crappy jobs, because they are expected to move out at 18, go to uni, get huge student loan debt, then get meagre entry-level jobs while somehow living alone because it's embarrassing to still live with your parents. I lived with my parents until I was 31. I've travelled the world and I have enough savings where I could live for two years or more without working after working for years at a dead end job that never valued or respected me.

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#58

Artist Creates Unpredictable Comics That Are Both Dark And Funny

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Emma Kilcup
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Just face it - you'll be miserable in some way no matter what, so just do the best with what you have, and slowly reach your goal rather than jump ahead, like this dude.

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#62

Artist Creates Unpredictable Comics That Are Both Dark And Funny

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theoneandonlynoira
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

For those who don't get it, the movie star he got plastic surgery to look like sexually assaulted woman, and the ME TOO movement was out to get him.

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#70

Artist Creates Unpredictable Comics That Are Both Dark And Funny

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Metallicd3ath
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Is she upset that he wasn't actually cheating, or upset that he treated a game relationship like a real one?

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