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Christopher Hastings

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This article is about the artist. For the chef, see Chris Hastings. For the Olympian, see Chris Hastings (ski jumper).

Christopher Hastings (age 40–41)[1] is an American comic writer and artist. He is known for his webcomic The Adventures of Dr. McNinja as well as writing for The Unbelievable GwenPool and the Adventure Time comics.

Biography

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Hastings attended the School of Visual Arts in New York,[2] graduating in 2005. He is originally from Cumberland, Maryland. He is married to Carly Monardo.[3]

Career

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The Adventures of Dr. McNinja

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Main article: The Adventures of Dr. McNinja

The Adventures of Dr. McNinja is a webcomic which ran from 2004[1] to 2017.[4] Hastings created Dr. McNinja while he was a student; he said that the name "Dr. McNinja" came first, and was his online handle for some time, then the comic followed. The comic updated three pages each week, with Hastings employing an inker and colorist to finish the pages.[2] Hastings spent about 40 hours every week on the comic,[1] spending one day per week writing the script, then four days drawing one page each day. He estimated that each page took 3–4 hours to draw.[1][5] Creating Dr. McNinja was Chris' full-time job; while the comic is free online, Hastings made money by selling books and T-shirts.[1] Books collecting the webcomic were published by TopatoCo and Dark Horse Comics.[6]

The comic follows Dr. McNinja, a doctor who is also a ninja, dealing with problems such as giant lumberjacks, zombie ninjas, a raptor, his own family, Dracula on the moon, and ancient tennis gods.[2] The story covered several genres, including zombies, 80s action, and science fiction. The story is set in a fictionalized version of Hasting's home town of Cumberland.[3]

Dr. McNinja won the 2007 Web Cartoonist's Choice Award for Outstanding Superhero/Action Comic.[2][7] As of 2008, the site received about 110,000 unique visitors each day.[1]

In 2015, he began a storyline entitled "The End", the last story of the comic. Hastings said in an interview that he had decided to "pick a time to quit so that I'd know it was coming and I wouldn't burn out", so he could give a satisfying ending, though even then he said "I picked the right time, I'm definitely kind of starting to get tired of this". Hastings was already ramping up his paid work outside of Dr. McNinja in preparation for the end of the comic.[8]

Crossovers and spinoffs

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Dr. McNinja and Axe Cop had a cross-over series in 2010, co-written by Hastings.[9]

A Kickstarter campaign was launched in 2012 for a spinoff video game to be called Dr. McNinja’s Radical Adventures. The Kickstarter was successfully funded, but no game was ever produced. In 2015, the game company, Fat Cat GameWorks, made a post giving their reasons for the game's failure. According to the post, Fat Cat GameWorks randomly drew "Tiki" and "Ninja" as themes for their first ever game, and following that approached Hastings to license Dr. McNinja, to which Hastings agreed. The Kickstarter was only funded by accident, with a late bidder accidentally pledging $1500 instead of $15. Hastings received 15% of the Kickstarter funds. The company found working with an already developed IP to be too ambitious and too limiting for a new company, the funding was insufficient to make the game they had promised, and key staff had serious health issues. The post said, "We were foolish and bit off WAY more than we could chew".[10]

Marvel

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Hastings has written or co-written several works for Marvel Comics.

Title Date(s) Notes
Fear Itself: Deadpool 2011 A three-issue series within the Fear Itself storyline.[11]
A+X 2012 Co-writer of one issue.[12]
Longshot Saves The Marvel Universe 2013 A four-issue series.[13][14]
Howard the Duck 2015 Co-writer of one issue.[15]
Gwenpool Special 2015 Co-writer of this one-off issue.
Vote Loki 2016 A four-issue series.[16]
The Unbelievable GwenPool 2016–2018 Hastings, along with the Japanese art team Gurihiru, created the character's personality and powers, based on the design created previously by Chris Bachalo.[17]
Edge of Venomverse 2017 Writer of one issue, in which Gwenpool gets access to the Venom symbiote.[18]
Deadpool & the Mercs for Money 2017 Writer of two issues.[19]
Not Brand Echh 2017 Co-wrote "issue #14" of the series; the first 13 issues were published in the 1960s[20]
I Am Groot 2017 [21][22]
Infinity Wars: Infinity Warps 2018 Co-writer on one issue.[23]
Deadpool: Secret Agent Deadpool 2018 A six-issue series.[24]
Gwenpool Strikes Back 2019 Co-writer on one page of one issue.[25]

The Unbelievable GwenPool

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Main article: The Unbelievable GwenPool

From 2015 to 2018, after co-creating the character of Gwen Poole with Heather Antos and Jordan D. White for Howard the Duck, Hastings wrote the existentialist isekai solo series The Unbelievable GwenPool about her, across the storylines Believe It, Head of M.O.D.O.K., Totally In Continuity, Beyond the Fourth Wall, and Lost in the Plot.[17]

Boom! Studios

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Beginning on January 28, 2015, Hastings replaced Ryan North as writer for the Adventure Time comic book series at Boom! Studios.[26] Hastings also wrote the Wet Hot American Summer graphic novel, a prequel of the movie of the same name,[27] and the comic series Regular Show: 25 Years Later.[28]

Dynamite Entertainment

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Hastings has served as writer for several comic book miniseries for Dynamite: "The Six Million Dollar Man" based on the TV series[29] and "Sonjaversal"[30] which was expanded from its originally planned five issues[31] with a sequel, "Hell Sonja".[32]

Other work

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Hastings co-created webcomics for the company ShiftyLook, adapting the video games Galaga and Dig Dug into comics.[33]

In 2018, Hastings launched a Kickstarter for a graphic novel called Draculagate to be co-created by Hastings and Branson Reese.[34] The project successfully received funding of $44,772 on November 4 2018. The last update was posted on June 13 2022.

In 2019, Hastings began writing the webcomic Never Enough: The Wario Diaries.[35]

Since 2021, Hastings collaborated with Scott Cawthon on making graphic novel adaptations based on Five Nights at Freddy's books.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Wortham, Jenna (2008-04-21). "Behind the Memes: Chris Hastings, Creator of Dr. McNinja". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2020-10-27.
  2. ^ a b c d Silver, Curtis. "GeekDad Interview: Dr. McNinja I Presume?". Wired Magazine June 17, 2009. Retrieved on October 28, 2011
  3. ^ a b Sims, Chris (August 15, 2012). "Christopher Hastings on 'The Adventures of Dr. McNinja: Timefist' [Interview]". Comics Alliance. Archived from the original on October 18, 2013. Retrieved October 17, 2013.
  4. ^ Tyrrell, Gary (23 January 2017). "Excellence All Around". Fleen. Archived from the original on 2020-08-10. Retrieved 2020-11-05.
  5. ^ Marshall, Rick. "Interview: Chris Hastings on ‘The Adventures of Dr. McNinja’". ComicMix June 4, 2008. Retrieved on October 28, 2011
  6. ^ Sims, Chris (October 8, 2010). "'The Adventures of Dr. McNinja' Comes to Dark Horse [NYCC]". Comics Alliance. Archived from the original on 2010-10-09. Retrieved 2020-11-05.
  7. ^ "Outstanding Superhero/Action Comic". ryanestrada.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2008-01-30.
  8. ^ Sims, Chris (August 4, 2015). "Christopher Hastings The End of 'The Adventures Of Dr. McNinja'". ComicsAlliance. Archived from the original on 2015-08-05. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
  9. ^ Goellner, Caleb (July 19, 2010). "Axe Cop and Dr. McNinja to Team Up in a Webcomic [Exclusive]". ComicsAlliance. Archived from the original on 2013-09-02. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
  10. ^ Schreier, Jason (December 10, 2015). "Nine More Successful Gaming Kickstarters That Didn't Deliver". Kotaku. Archived from the original on 2015-12-10. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
  11. ^ Arrant, Chris (2011-03-09). "Fear Itself: Deadpool". Marvel. Archived from the original on 2011-03-12. Retrieved 2020-10-27.
  12. ^ "A+X (2012) #8 | Comic Issues | Marvel". Marvel Entertainment. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
  13. ^ "SDCC: Christopher Hastings Says "Longshot Saves The Marvel Universe". Comic Book Resources. July 26, 2013. Retrieved July 28, 2013.[permanent dead link]
  14. ^ "Longshot Saves the Marvel Universe". www.goodreads.com. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
  15. ^ "Howard the Duck (2015 - 2016) | Comic Series | Marvel". Marvel Entertainment. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
  16. ^ "Vote Loki (2016) | Comic Series | Marvel". Marvel Entertainment. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
  17. ^ a b "Unbelievable Gwenpool Reviews". ComicBookRoundup.com. Retrieved 2020-10-27.
  18. ^ "Edge of Venomverse (2017) #2 | Comic Issues | Marvel". Marvel Entertainment. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
  19. ^ "Deadpool & the Mercs for Money (2016 - 2017) | Comic Series | Marvel". Marvel Entertainment. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
  20. ^ "Not Brand Echh (2017) #14 | Comic Issues | Marvel". Marvel Entertainment. Retrieved 2020-11-05.
  21. ^ Shiach, Kieran (2017-02-16). "Hastings And Flaviano Launch 'I Am Groot' #1 In May". ComicsAlliance. Archived from the original on 2017-02-16. Retrieved 2020-10-27.
  22. ^ "I Am Groot". www.goodreads.com. Retrieved 2020-10-27.
  23. ^ "Infinity Wars: Infinity Warps (2018) #2 | Comic Issues | Marvel". Marvel Entertainment. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
  24. ^ "Deadpool: Secret Agent Deadpool (2018) | Comic Series | Marvel". Marvel Entertainment. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
  25. ^ "Gwenpool Strikes Back (2019) | Comic Series | Marvel". Marvel Entertainment. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
  26. ^ Burlingame, Russ (2017-09-06). "Exclusive BOOM! Studios Preview: Adventure Time #36 From Chris Hastings and Zachary Sterling". Comicbook.com. Archived from the original on 2020-10-31. Retrieved 2020-10-27.
  27. ^ "Comic Review: Wet Hot American Summer". Sequential Planet. 2018-11-06. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
  28. ^ "Review: 'Regular Show: 25 Years Later' #6 Concludes One of the Silliest and Most Profound Comics of 2018". Comics. Retrieved 2020-11-05.
  29. ^ "Comic Book Club: Chris Hastings And Pat Cassels". Comicon.com. Comic Book Club. March 5, 2019.Retrieved January 22, 2022
  30. ^ McMillan, Graeme (November 23, 2020). "'Sonjaversal' Takes Red Sonja Into the Multiverse". Wired. The Hollywood Reporter.Retrieved January 22, 2022
  31. ^ "Sonjaversal Expands Due to Fan Demand!". Comicon.com. First Comics News. April 22, 2021.Retrieved January 22, 2022
  32. ^ Amaya, Erik (October 21, 2021). "Hell Sonja' Gets Her Own Series With Writer Christopher Hastings In January". Comicon.com.Retrieved January 22, 2022
  33. ^ Sims, Chris (January 21, 2014). "North, Hastings And Clark Launch 'DigDug' Comic [Interview]". ComicsAlliance. Archived from the original on 2014-01-22. Retrieved 2020-11-05.
  34. ^ "Creators of 'Dr. McNinja' and that 'One Fear' meme team up for 'Draculagate' graphic novel". Newsweek. 2018-10-31. Retrieved 2020-11-05.
  35. ^ "NEVER ENOUGH: Part 01". Twitter. June 1, 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-07-09. Retrieved 2020-11-05.
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