Anime-Style Simpsons artist gets hired by Matt Groening -- thanks to Digg!

Long story short: Bongo Comics, Matt Groening's comic book company, is hiring me to do the pencils for a short manga-style Simpsons comic. Also, I've been contacted by 20th Century Fox. They want me to do work for them somehow. I might get a design job for the upcoming new Futurama series!

Waffledog Waffledog submitted 1 day 17 hours ago in Television spacecoyote.deviantart.com
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  1. [below viewing threshold, show comment] - 86 diggs
    1. + 474 diggs bury this digg this
      I wonder if this means Matt reads Digg........

      Hi Matt.
    2. [below viewing threshold, show comment] - 155 diggs
    3. + 95 diggs bury this digg this
      Matt Groening is one of the few people in TV I respect, he has lots of good ideas and you can tell he puts allot of effort into the Simpson and Futurama DVD's

      *waiting by the phone for a call Matt saying I he wants to hire me.
    4. vhold by vhold on 1/11/07
      [below viewing threshold, show comment] - 56 diggs
    5. + 130 diggs bury this digg this
      The first tinyurl link links to tubgirl, just so everybody knows.
    6. qbix by qbix on 1/11/07
      + 34 diggs bury this digg this
      @popularme: She has talent and that's what gets you a job. However, half the job, no pun intended, is getting your foot in the door. Digg helped her get the attention and recognition she deserves and it's cool to be part of a community that can do that considering the fact that all I did was click "digg it".
    7. + 25 diggs bury this digg this
      I'd totally digg this if I hadn't already seen every form of animation I grew up loving perverted and twisted into the Anime style. Ever try watching Saturday morning cartoons recently? It's all Anime now, pretty depressing.

      This coming from someone that actually likes Anime too.
    8. + 4 diggs bury this digg this
      digg for the bleach fanart in her gallery
    9. + 7 diggs bury this digg this
      Holy shit. This is why I love you Digg.
    10. vdog by vdog on 1/11/07
      + 23 diggs bury this digg this
    11. Otto by Otto on 1/11/07
      + 19 diggs bury this digg this
      Matt Groening = A crazy right-wing gun-toting NRA madman genius!
    12. + 4 diggs bury this digg this
      Congrats! I just hope I can still commission a painting from you and afford it... :/
    13. + 8 diggs bury this digg this
      @popularme: the digg users made her mainstream enough for Matt to see it though. I doubt he's usually browsing the Simpsons fan art
    14. [below viewing threshold, show comment] - 12 diggs
    15. + 2 diggs bury this digg this
      @otto
      Rupert Murdoch and Matt Groening are two different people
    16. + 6 diggs bury this digg this
      Hey check out her opposite of the Simpsons, the anime Death Note in Simpsons-style
      http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/46279988/
    17. + 0 diggs bury this digg this
      upcoming new Futurama series!

      WHAT threes a upcoming futurama series why didnt i know this?
    18. + 1 digg bury this digg this
      good for her.
  2. + 34 diggs bury this digg this
    Can only hope this means we're in for an anime-style episode of Futurama somewhere down the line...
    1. JeffH by JeffH on 1/11/07
      + 25 diggs bury this digg this
      I'm not going to lie, unless it was made into a huge joke (like, only lasted one episode and made fun of it, like the South Park anime episode) that would kill the comedy for me. American comedy cartoons are all about the crude animation and focus on the actual content.

      Comics on the other hand, manga-style is way better for comedy if the comic lasts more than 10 panels.
    2. zybch by zybch on 1/11/07
      + 10 diggs bury this digg this
      I can't see an entire episode rendered in 'anime', but perhaps one story in one of the 3 part "Anthologies Of Interest" episodes.

      You've watched it, you can't unwatch it!
  3. + 10 diggs bury this digg this
    You mean "-- thanks to internet buzz."
    1. + 76 diggs bury this digg this
      More true: "-- thanks to her awesome artwork."
      Though I'm pretty sure the story on Digg helped to start the momentum.
    2. + 40 diggs bury this digg this
      Yeah, I'm sure it had nothing to do with the several hundred Art centered blogs that it appeared on for the week before it finally came to Digg.
    3. + 2 diggs bury this digg this
      waffledog: that too! I thought her futurama drawing was incredible
    4. + 0 diggs bury this digg this
      Anyway, try to squezze some digg jokes in the new series.
  4. [below viewing threshold, show comment] - 20 diggs
    1. [below viewing threshold, show comment] - 5 diggs
  5. + 173 diggs bury this digg this
    Typically people LOSE their jobs because of digg, so this is a nice change.
    1. + 51 diggs bury this digg this
      Don't be so quick. You forget the first step in getting someone fired is to have them hired.
    2. + 18 diggs bury this digg this
      A hiring is just a firing that hasn't happened yet.
    3. + 11 diggs bury this digg this
      yay for optimism
    4. + 12 diggs bury this digg this
      Optimism if only for badly informed pessimists.
  6. + 104 diggs bury this digg this
    Good News Everyone!!
    1. ord0x by ord0x on 1/11/07
      [below viewing threshold, show comment] - 13 diggs
    2. [below viewing threshold, show comment] - 10 diggs
  7. + 2 diggs bury this digg this
    Congrats!
  8. + 5 diggs bury this digg this
    That's great. You're very talented. Good luck with that.
  9. + 0 diggs bury this digg this
    Congratulations!!! Internet power!!
  10. + 84 diggs bury this digg this
    Matt Says...

    "im in ur diggz stealing your talentz"

    1. + 28 diggs bury this digg this
      And no photoshopped reply? tsk tsk tsk...

      http://farm1.static.flickr.com/147/354127904_813a447f23_o.jpg
    2. + 0 diggs bury this digg this
      @dvddesign
      nice job. but you need to reconfigure adblock.
    3. + 3 diggs bury this digg this
      Thanks!

      I work in Marketing. My job is to design ads, I have to look at them like it or not. All marketing people steal their ideas from somewhere... At home, adblock does it's job real nice-like...
  11. Lokix by Lokix on 1/11/07
    [below viewing threshold, show comment] - 9 diggs
  12. + 11 diggs bury this digg this
    Do we get like a finders fee or something? We'll all get like a penny or something?
    1. [below viewing threshold, show comment] - 10 diggs
  13. - 2 diggs bury this digg this
    Congratz!
  14. + 13 diggs bury this digg this
    She deserves it. lucky fucker
  15. + 28 diggs bury this digg this
    It's highly unlikely she got famous through Matt reading Digg - it's far more likely one of Matt's associates was scouting DeviantArt and saw her piece, which was highly publicized on the site because of Digg's generated traffic.

    So....

    Digg -> 99999 Visitors on DA Page -> piece getting frontpaged on DA -> Someone affiliated with the Simpsons looking at DA and seeing it -> Someone contacing Matt to tell him of their discovery -> Matt interested -> Someone affiliated to Matt makes an offer -> Matt takes credit for the offer


    1. + 9 diggs bury this digg this
      It's just as likely that one of Matt's people read digg and jokingly showed him the picture.
    2. + 53 diggs bury this digg this
      it is also very likely matt had a dream in which the direct url to the page was revealed after a long mythical quest.
  16. + 11 diggs bury this digg this
    better make a digg comic now
  17. [below viewing threshold, show comment] - 7 diggs
  18. - 4 diggs bury this digg this
    do they still make episodes of Futurama. If so then what channel because I haven't heard of it on fox.
    1. + 2 diggs bury this digg this
      No they're not. Search for Futurama wiki.
    2. + 0 diggs bury this digg this
    3. + 0 diggs bury this digg this
      you can watch the old ones there
    4. + 6 diggs bury this digg this
      They show on AdultSwim (Cartoon Network after the kiddies go to bed) at 10:30 M-Th.

      adultswim.com
    5. + 5 diggs bury this digg this
      They show them on adult swim, usually at 11:00 or 12:00, if I remember correctly. The show was cancelled several years ago, but Comedy Central bought the rights in 2005. A revival is planned, with four one-hour movies being put out on DVD, and 16 new episodes ordered by Comedy Central.
    6. + 6 diggs bury this digg this
      futurama will continue in the future (2008, or so they say)
    7. Lemon by Lemon on 1/11/07
      + 4 diggs bury this digg this
      Yes, production of more Futurama has been confirmed.
    8. + 9 diggs bury this digg this
      Or you can have yourself frozen and thawed in the year 3000 and see it live.
  19. + 7 diggs bury this digg this
    Has anyone seen the tattoo flash on his site? I hope she does more (although it seems like she'll be quite busy in the future); her style and subject matter is fantastic!! My favorite is the "Man's Ruin" tattoo (http://spacecoyote.com/art/tattoo/php/mansruin.php), sadly true for us geeks...

    links:
    http://spacecoyote.com/art/tattoo.php
    http://spacecoyote.com/art/tattoo/php/mansruin.php
    1. [below viewing threshold, show comment] - 8 diggs
    2. + 0 diggs bury this digg this
      @popfrogs

      Way to state the obvious
  20. + 2 diggs bury this digg this
    Good luck buddy. Glad you got the job!
    1. + 0 diggs bury this digg this
      Yeah, i second that... good luck, you seem to be quite talented
  21. mt066 by mt066 on 1/11/07
    + 11 diggs bury this digg this
    I can draw some wicked stick dudes if there are any interested producers out there
    1. + 2 diggs bury this digg this
      xkcd?
  22. + 5 diggs bury this digg this
    In the words of The Wolf, "Let's not start sucking each other's popsicles just yet"

    The girl (?) is a SUPREMELY talented artist, and in today's world wide web she would have been noticed by the web community no matter what. DIgg may have helped push her traffic to the stratosphere, but to say that she got a job "thanks" to digg is based on the kind of self-involved arrogance that this site has had too much of recently.

    Let's give credit where credit is due and not subversively suggest that she should humble herself the mighty force that is DIgg and thank it for all the success she will have in her entire life, because if it wasn't for this wonderful site she never would've made it. She got a job for her talent. Period.
    1. + 12 diggs bury this digg this
      Read her journal. It took her years to get 70,000 pageviews, over the past four days since the Digg submission(s) she's gotten over a 100,000 to her front page and more than that to each of the drawing individually.

      The attention to her drawings was what was years worth for her packed into a couple of days. She has the talent, she just needed the spark to get noticed. She got noticed.

      Digg did help her, as she clearly states on her journal.
    2. + 6 diggs bury this digg this
      Popsicles? You must have seen the TBS version...
  23. po6ot by po6ot on 1/11/07
    + 10 diggs bury this digg this
    I like the new pictures in her gallery. Simpson's style animes, Death Note and My Neighbour Totoro. Brilliant.
  24. + 1 digg bury this digg this
    Congrats. I hope to see your work in the future.
  25. - 1 digg bury this digg this
    Matt is on the internets? Maybe he found you on the google!
  26. + 2 diggs bury this digg this
    wow, this is kinda cool. I remember reading "Saturnalia" years ago... so it's nice to see SpaceCoyote get some big attention. :D
    1. + 1 digg bury this digg this
      I'm with you. It's kind of surreal seeing a long standing web-cartoonist vault in to the spotlight based on a few unrelated pictures in a deviant art account.

      Saturnalia isn't bad, people should at least check it out. http://www.spacecoyote.com/comics/sat/
  27. - 1 digg bury this digg this
    That is absolutely fucking ORSUM!!!!

    If digg never does anything else again (highly unlikely) I think Kevin and the guys can be very proud of this.

    Well done that man and lots of luck!
    1. + 2 diggs bury this digg this
      Right, starting a for profit company and web page with 10+ employees and they helped a young artist get a job, so now they've accomplished something? I'm very happy for SpaceCoyote's big break, but Kevin and crew amazing creation here is impressive on it's own, without helping artists get jobs...
  28. - 3 diggs bury this digg this
    Congrats man!
  29. + 2 diggs bury this digg this
    futurama is being made for comedy central with new episodes next year after adult swim's agreement ends.. (a plot of several episodes into a movie)
  30. [below viewing threshold, show comment] - 6 diggs
  31. dbug by dbug on 1/11/07
    + 1 digg bury this digg this
    They should hire him/her to revive Angry Dad. Oh wait, the simpsons nowadays is already all about homer getting into trouble anyway, without a good and funny storyline. Never mind.
  32. + 4 diggs bury this digg this
    Good luck to her, hopefully she does get hired. She has a lot of talent.
  33. + 1 digg bury this digg this
    I'm just happy to see something work out in such a beautiful way.
  34. + 9 diggs bury this digg this
    Alright! Digg gets one person a job...

    Now, just 20,000 more unemployed slackers to go :)



    srsly... Congratulations!
  35. + 1 digg bury this digg this
    congrats. dugg up because good news is the best news.


    i remember looking at your art at just having my draw hit the floor. wonderful to see your talent getting you something!
  36. + 2 diggs bury this digg this
    Wow, that's awesome! Like a Cinderella story for geeks :-)
  37. + 0 diggs bury this digg this
    Wow... congrats to her!
  38. [below viewing threshold, show comment] - 12 diggs
  39. + 1 digg bury this digg this
    Spacecoyote says she hasn't read the comments here, but just in case-- BEST OF LUCK, You won't need it! Rock on!!!
  40. + 2 diggs bury this digg this
    That is so awesome to hear.

    Nice to see a talented artist getting some very lucrative and exciting work.

    Power to the people!
  41. + 0 diggs bury this digg this
    Of course Waffledog, whatever it means, you'll have the chance to improve uppon the ever declining quality of 20th Century Foxs' output. There's no doubt about it. You'll bring the geek universe a fine and proud day when you do.
  42. [below viewing threshold, show comment] - 5 diggs
  43. + 1 digg bury this digg this
    out of curiosity I see that she sells her pictures, isn't that copyright infringement since she did not have permission to draw the characters let alone sell them for a profit? I give her mad props and shes a great artist I am not bashing her at all I am just wondering.
    1. + 3 diggs bury this digg this
      Hrm. I suppose that she MIGHT get away with it as derivative work or satire or something else that's allowed under fair use, since they are only vaguely similar to the original... probably couldn't use the name or the logo, etc, but the 'likeness' might be ok.
    2. + 1 digg bury this digg this
      No, it would not violate copyright law. You are allowed to use likenesses in your own artwork as much as you want for such things as parody and the like. Artistic License.
  44. [below viewing threshold, show comment] - 12 diggs
    1. + 5 diggs bury this digg this
      As a nerdy woman, I find your last sentence rather unintentionally funny.
    2. - 1 digg bury this digg this
      HAHAHA, NERD!
  45. - 4 diggs bury this digg this
    If Apple had a Rumour department,Steve would BUY Digg and hire all the diggers ;-)
  46. + 1 digg bury this digg this
    What a great story. The creative class is often under appreciated until they have success.

    Cheers,
    Ithaycu
  47. + 0 diggs bury this digg this
    Man i think that's awesome props to digg stuff like this is what makes this site kickass. I happy for u Waffledog i'll be watching Futurama so don't fuck it up!
    1. + 3 diggs bury this digg this
      I'm not the same person. Go here to give the artist comments:
      http://spacecoyote.deviantart.com/
      http://www.spacecoyote.com/
    2. phaed by phaed on 1/11/07
      + 2 diggs bury this digg this
      haha wafledog is the poster of the story not the subject of the story rofl
  48. - 2 diggs bury this digg this
    That's badass. Hey, ask Matt Groenig if you can make The Simpsons funny or relevant while you're at it. :)
  49. BossX by BossX on 1/11/07
    + 2 diggs bury this digg this
    That's wicked, congrats!
  50. + 2 diggs bury this digg this
    1. Draw some stuff
    2. Post to digg
    3. ??????
    4. Profit!!!
    1. + 4 diggs bury this digg this
      Actually you found the elusive Step 2:

      1. Draw some stuff
      2. Post to digg
      3. Profit!!!

  51. + 0 diggs bury this digg this
    So actually we digger do something good?! wow! Now I feel proud :D
    Congrats to the artist...
    And good luck
  52. + 1 digg bury this digg this
    Now, if she would only do Family Guy!
  53. + 1 digg bury this digg this
    Congrats. maybe she can draw some funny into the simpsons
  54. + 3 diggs bury this digg this
    Congrats man that's great and thank digg buy a t shirt or put digg on the Simpson's or something.
  55. + 1 digg bury this digg this
    Great news!!! Since i dugg your article...are you going to give me part of your signing bonus? ;)
  56. + 1 digg bury this digg this
    Big ups to contextual ads. Love is Hell, Life is Hell, School is Hell ... all hilarious Matt Groening creations. GET THOSE BOOKS!
  57. - 1 digg bury this digg this
    Has fox bought the movie rights to this yet?

    P.S Good for her, seriously
  58. + 2 diggs bury this digg this
    that rocks man, I'm just afraid that loads of people are going to be posting fan art here now. And trust me... there's a lot of crappy fan art out there. : (
  59. + 1 digg bury this digg this
    I hope this doesnt mean theyre going to make Futurama look more anime-ish. Whether in style or design.
    1. + 1 digg bury this digg this
      Of course not, don't be silly.
  60. + 0 diggs bury this digg this
    I'm glad she got scouted by Groening, she really is an amazing artist. Go DIGG!
  61. Yder by Yder on 1/11/07
    + 0 diggs bury this digg this
    That's great for her!
  62. + 1 digg bury this digg this
    Congratulations.
  63. - 3 diggs bury this digg this
    God thats the coolest thing I have ever heard. I would KILL for that. Maybe I will post my cartoons on deviant.
    Come to me Seth Macfarlane.... oh yes, you will be mine.

    *disclaimer*

    please don't flame me if you hate family guy/American dad. I wont re-read this comment thread and I really could care less about your opinion of my opinion.
  64. - 1 digg bury this digg this
    Congrats! What a great story!
  65. + 0 diggs bury this digg this
    Woohoo!
  66. - 1 digg bury this digg this
    Wow, that's pretty righteous! Congrats. ;)
  67. - 2 diggs bury this digg this
    I've never been impressed with this guys works. I prefer some Simpsons/Futurama style anime stuff like Dame does.

    Dame: http://morpheus306.deviantart.com/
  68. + 1 digg bury this digg this
    I honestly spent 20 minutes reading the deviantart journal posts and space coyote's personal website and could not find a single instance of the Simpsons anime that he/she drew. This person may be a great artist, but they are lacking some skills.

    Thanks to the commentor(s) that posted the relevant links.
  69. + 1 digg bury this digg this
    1. + 1 digg bury this digg this
      TOTORO!!! :D

      i can only cry tears of joy for this story. CONGRATS!! AMAZING!! :)
    2. + 1 digg bury this digg this
      very well deserved!
  70. - 1 digg bury this digg this
    That is so cool, I guess some of the people who work on the simpsons visit here a lot :).

    Good for her!
    1. + 1 digg bury this digg this
      or at one of the many other places on the net that her art is shown.
  71. + 1 digg bury this digg this
    excellent.
  72. + 1 digg bury this digg this
    God that's hilarious! Digg is one crazy website. XD Anything that makes the front page instantly gets viewed by tons of people. Easy way to get known and connected.
  73. + 1 digg bury this digg this
    Grats on the job her work is great
  74. - 1 digg bury this digg this
    Cool! Congrats man
  75. + 1 digg bury this digg this
    Congratulations! I wish i had any kind of talent for Matt Groening, one of my heros might i say.
  76. + 1 digg bury this digg this
    hopefully he gets to do the couch gag
  77. + 0 diggs bury this digg this
    Congrats! that should be an awesome gig.
  78. + 1 digg bury this digg this
    Congrats! Matt G. is great but don't forget about Sam Simon...another of the geniuses behind the Simpsons.
  79. + 1 digg bury this digg this
    Do something you love, and get paid for it. The internet really is serious business. Mad congratulations to the intergalactic canine. :o
  80. + 1 digg bury this digg this
    How cool is that. Congrats!
    The art was truely awsome. Groening knows what he's doing.
  81. + 0 diggs bury this digg this
    lucky girl :)
    live your dreams but don't forget us here :D
  82. + 1 digg bury this digg this
    Do you realize how many amazingly talented and hardworking artists there are out there just fuming right now?

    How many talented artists likely had this exact notion (maybe even have it in their sketchbook *right now*) but never posted it online or anything. Such a lucky fluke. It's awesome and hilarious.

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