Can a Kickstarter save Pepe the Frog? His creator is willing to try
Last month, in a strip he created for Free Comic Book Day, Matt Furie had his characters mourn a memed-to-death friend, Pepe the Frog, as the cartoonist buried his chillaxin’ amphibian.
Now, Furie is launching a crowd-funding campaign to bring his iconic “Boy’s Club” character back to life.
On Monday, the same day that Furie cracked Time magazine’s list of the 25 most influential people on the Internet, the 37year-old cartoonist activated his “Save Pepe” Kickstarter, a $10,000 campaign that aims to “resurrect Pepe the Frog in a new comic book by reclaiming his status as a universal symbol for peace, love and acceptance.”
The fundraiser continues Furie’s effort to “take back” his character after the frog was co-opted as an emblem of supremacy and hate, eventually becoming thrust into controversy during the 2016 presidential election, with both sides referencing Pepe.
“Before Pepe the Frog was a meme designated a hate symbol by the Anti-Defamation League,” Furie writes, “he began life as a blissfully stoned frog.”
Pepe’s wide recognition as a mascot of hate was “a nightmare, so I killed him off,” continues Furie. The funding campaign’s pledge rewards include that original “Death of Pepe” art. The cartoonist wants to fund a new zine “that shall shine a light in all this darkness.”
The campaign will run through the end of July.