Nick Seluk never expected that a horrible painting could launch him into Internet comic notoriety. A blue yeti? Silly. And yet it seemed to catch on with a fire behind it. Eventually he created a website, averaging hundreds of thousands of views monthly.
How did it get so big so fast? The viral aspect of memes. “It all just kind of happened by accident.”
“My Facebook group. The fans there are incredible. Not only do they like the comic, but they share it and spread it around.” Over two hundred thousand of them are in The Awkward Yeti Facebook group. Nick shares not only his work but the work of others, including his Kickstarter supporters. And, the mundane the topic, the more Seluk is able to put a spin on it that is fresh and unique.
“I went to school for Psychology and Advertising. I’d always wanted to get into comics but never knew where to begin. Advertising let me experience some of the artistic skills and tools that would later guide me back to comics.” And Psychology? “That’s where I get some of my subjects from”. Of course. Situated in the same row as writers and artists for Marvel, DC and Image, Seluk is as much in awe as we are. “I don’t know how I’m here. Although, now I wish I’d done this earlier.”
Lars (the Siberian yeti and lead of the series) is a charming character. Socially inept, he doesn’t quite know how to react to situations, thanks in part to a life of basically being a blurry photograph. What’s worse is that he’s blue. Fitting in to society means that he opts to wear thick glasses and a speckled bow tie, reads over the shoulder of people on trains, and strikes up deep conversations with french fry chefs. When he tries date, for instance, he expects the romantic moments to play out like a Will Smith or Adam Sandler romcom.
It’s enough to make us clench our teeth sometimes, and facepalm all the time.
What’s most likable about the comic isn’t just the situational aspect of it; the art style plays as much, if not more, of a role. Seluk chooses to make elements big and graphic, with bold contrasts of color. A big blue yeti means that there are generally a lot of reds, oranges and white, and the thick line weights make each scene punchy. In fact, they’re perfect for t-shirts, which have helped Seluk’s art become even more noticed. It’s appeared on Buzzfeed, Mashable, Reddit and I Fucking Love Science. The artist has created comics based on a variety of topics. Apart from Yeti, some of his most well known are based around science.
Let’s take a quick step back in time and chart the Yeti’s (and Nick’s) popularity growth.
- 2010: Nick creates the horrible painting, which goes viral
- 2011: Seluk creates more Yeti comics, dabbling in science and other topics
- 2012: The Awkward Yeti character becomes a children’s book
- Early 2013: The Awkward Yeti Facebook page is born
- Mid 2013: A collection of Awkward Yeti comics makes its way to to book format
- 2013: Nick creates a shirt design for Woot
- Early 2014: The Awkward Yeti hits 100k members
- May 2014: The Awkward Yeti hits 200k members
There doesn’t seem to be much slowing down. For someone with such a huge fanbase, it’s a wonder why Seluk’s booth was as small as it was at the con: one table, with a few books and cards and a small banner behind Nick, who sat back in a folding chair smiling at everyone that walked by. “I’m not pushy. I don’t need to wave my hands. I just like it when people stop by to have a look.”
Two hundred thousand people are having a look. We’re sure there will be more.
Images courtesy Nick Seluck | The Awkward Yeti website
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