Action Philosophers!

{{italic title}} {{more citations needed|date=January 2009}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} thumb|right|200px|Cover to ''Action Philosophers: Giant Size Thing 1'' '''''Action Philosophers!''''' was a self-published comic book series by artist Ryan Dunlavey and writer Fred Van Lente, which was awarded a Xeric Grant in 2004,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.xericfoundation.org/comicbooks/2004.html |title=Xeric Foundation Comic Book Self-Publishing Grants for 2004 |publisher=Xericfoundation.org |accessdate=2012-11-16 |archive-date=2019-12-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191203172532/http://www.xericfoundation.org/comicbooks/2004.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> leading to Action Philosophers! # 1's publication in April 2005.

The series focused on a concise biography of some of the most notable philosophers and their ideas. To quote the book's homepage:<ref>[http://www.eviltwincomics.com/action/index.php the book's homepage] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061022151339/http://www.eviltwincomics.com/action/index.php |date=October 22, 2006 }}</ref>

<blockquote> ACTION PHILOSOPHERS! is a comic book series detailing the lives and thoughts of history's A-list brain trust in a hip and humorous way that proves that philosophy is not just the province of boring tweed-enveloped college professors. </blockquote>

The series concluded with issue # 9, published in September 2007. The series was also collected into various self-published paperback collections. Dark Horse Comics published a deluxe hardcover collection of the series with new material in October, 2014.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.darkhorse.com/Books/25-905/Action-Philosophers-HC |title=Action Philosophers! HC |publisher=darkhorse.com |accessdate=2014-12-10}}</ref>

==Reception== The American Library Association included Action Philosophers vol. 1 in its 2007 Great Graphic Novels for Teens booklist.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ala.org/yalsa/booklistsawards/booklists/greatgraphicnovelsforteens/annotations/07ggnt |title=2007 Great Graphic Novels for Teens |date=30 July 2007 |publisher=ala.org |accessdate=2017-06-20}}</ref> The series was nominated for a 2007 Ignatz Outstanding Debut Award<ref>{{cite web |url=http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=84016 |title=SPX announces Ignatz Nominees |publisher=Newsarama.com |accessdate=2010-04-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090126033151/http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=84016 |archive-date=2009-01-26 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and received a positive review from ''Philosophy Now''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.philosophynow.org/issue57/57snider.htm |title=Action Philosophers! by Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey |publisher=Philosophy Now |accessdate=2010-04-20| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20100415153920/http://www.philosophynow.org/issue57/57snider.htm| archivedate= 15 April 2010 | url-status= live}}</ref>

==Issue summary== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20060901144208/http://www.eviltwincomics.com/action/ap1.php # 1]: - Nietzsche, Bodhidharma, & Plato: "Wrestling Superstar of Ancient Greece!", featuring one of the series' most famous lines, "PLATO SMASH!" * [https://web.archive.org/web/20061106095048/http://www.eviltwincomics.com/action/ap2.php # 2]: - The "All Sex Special", featuring Ayn Rand, Thomas Jefferson, & Saint Augustine. * [https://web.archive.org/web/20060901144928/http://www.eviltwincomics.com/action/ap3.php # 3]: - "Self Help for Stupid Ugly Losers" featuring Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, & Joseph Campbell. * [https://web.archive.org/web/20060901144741/http://www.eviltwincomics.com/action/ap4.php # 4]: - "World Domination Handbook" featuring Karl Marx, Niccolò Machiavelli, & The Kabbalah. * [https://web.archive.org/web/20061007133437/http://www.eviltwincomics.com/action/ap5.php # 5]: - "Hate the French" featuring René Descartes, Jean-Paul Sartre, & Jacques Derrida. * [https://web.archive.org/web/20061022151357/http://www.eviltwincomics.com/action/ap6.php # 6]: - "The People's Choice" featuring Soren Kierkegaard, St. Thomas Aquinas, & Ludwig Wittgenstein. * [https://web.archive.org/web/20061022150845/http://www.eviltwincomics.com/action/ap7.php # 7]: - "It's all Greek to you" featuring The Pre-Socratics, Aristotle, & Epictetus. * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070213052628/http://www.eviltwincomics.com/action/ap8.php # 8]: - "Senseless Violence Special" featuring Kant, Schopenhauer, Hegel, & John Stuart Mill. * [https://web.archive.org/web/20060813130158/http://www.eviltwincomics.com/action/ # 9]: - "The Lightning Round", the final issue featuring Diogenes the Cynic, Lao Tzu, Michel Foucault, David Hume, Confucius, George Berkeley, Francis Bacon, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Thomas Hobbes, Mary Wollstonecraft, Baruch Spinoza and Gottfried Leibniz.

==Collected editions==

{| class="wikitable" |- ! Title !! Material collected !! ISBN |- |Action Philosophers! Giant-size Thing 1 |''Action Philosophers'' #1-3 |{{ISBN|0-9778329-0-2}} |- |Action Philosophers! Giant-size Thing 2 |''Action Philosophers'' #4-6 |{{ISBN|0-9778329-1-0}} |- |Action Philosophers! Giant-size Thing 3 |''Action Philosophers'' #7-9 |{{ISBN|0-9778329-2-9}} |- |The More Than Complete Action Philosophers! |''Action Philosophers'' #1-9, plus new content |{{ISBN|978-0-9778329-3-4}} |- |Action Philosophers! |Published by Dark Horse Comics, reprints "More Than Complete…", with a new story and historical material, hardcover format |{{ISBN|978-1-61655-539-9}} |}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *[http://www.eviltwincomics.com/ Official series website, featuring free issue previews] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20080513231059/http://www.comixology.com/podcasts/41/NYCC-Special-11-Fred-Van-Lente-and-Ryan-Dunlavey Interview with Fred and Ryan] at [https://web.archive.org/web/20070825025818/http://www.comixology.com/ comiXology] on Action Philosophers and Comic Book Comics *[https://web.archive.org/web/20070510124212/http://www.bamkapow.com/action-philosophy-101-479-p.html BamKaPow.com's interview, also examining the creative team's post-AP! projects] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20080117003348/http://www.talkaboutcomics.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=549 Official Action Philosophers! message board] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20061003113344/http://www.philosophynow.org/issue57/57snider.htm Philosophy Now's review] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20110930232655/http://www.indiecomicsnews.com/2007/04/12/episode-02-action-philosophers/ Interview with Indie Comics News] *[http://live.hollywoodjesus.com/?p=4308 HollywoodJesus.com Review] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120229202249/http://live.hollywoodjesus.com/?p=4308 |date=2012-02-29 }}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Action Philosophers}} Category:2005 comics debuts Category:2007 comics endings Category:Comics magazines published in the United States Category:Philosophical mass media Category:Humor comics Category:Biographical comics Category:Satirical comics Category:Educational comics Category:Comics based on real people Category:Cultural depictions of philosophers Category:Cultural depictions of Friedrich Nietzsche Category:Cultural depictions of Ayn Rand Category:Cultural depictions of Sigmund Freud Category:Cultural depictions of Carl Jung Category:Cultural depictions of Karl Marx Category:Cultural depictions of Niccolò Machiavelli Category:Cultural depictions of Aristotle Category:Cultural depictions of Diogenes Category:Cultural depictions of Laozi Category:Cultural depictions of Confucius Category:Cultural depictions of Plato Category:Cultural depictions of Thomas Jefferson Category:Cultural depictions of Baruch Spinoza Category:Cultural depictions of René Descartes