After a 12-year lifespan that began on Myspace, Pepe the Frog is dead. Creator/artist Matt Furie first shared the character with the world in Boy’s Club #1, and the anthropomorphic frog became famous for the line, “Feels good, man,” said in the strip as he justified urinating at a stall with his pants and underwear fully down to his ankles. However, after the character was co-opted by followers of Donald Trump during the 2016 Presidential Election, the continued negative use of Pepe forced Furie to make a decision.
In a Fantagraphics comic published on Free Comic Book Day this month, Furie said goodbye in a fashion suitable for the beloved frog in a one-page story. This came after a campaign to “Save Pepe,” in which the writer/artist encouraged everyone to flood the Web with positive, in-character representations of him. As Furie told Esquire: “It sucks, but I can’t control it more than anyone can control frogs on the Internet.”
Furie was last featured on HiFructose.com here.
