# Action Philosophers!

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{{more citations needed|date=January 2009}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
thumb|right|200px|Cover to ''Action Philosophers: Giant Size Thing 1''<!-- FAIR USE of AP.jpg.jpg: see image description page at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:AP.jpg.jpg for rationale -->
'''''Action Philosophers!''''' was a self-published [comic book](/source/comic_book) series by artist [Ryan Dunlavey](/source/Ryan_Dunlavey) and writer [Fred Van Lente](/source/Fred_Van_Lente), which was awarded a [Xeric Grant](/source/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 [philosopher](/source/Philosophy)s 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](/source/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](/source/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](/source/Nietzsche), [Bodhidharma](/source/Bodhidharma), & [Plato](/source/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](/source/Ayn_Rand), [Thomas Jefferson](/source/Thomas_Jefferson), & [Saint Augustine](/source/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](/source/Sigmund_Freud), [Carl Jung](/source/Carl_Jung), & [Joseph Campbell](/source/Joseph_Campbell).
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060901144741/http://www.eviltwincomics.com/action/ap4.php # 4]:  - "World Domination Handbook" featuring [Karl Marx](/source/Karl_Marx), [Niccolò Machiavelli](/source/Niccol%C3%B2_Machiavelli), & The [Kabbalah](/source/Kabbalah).
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20061007133437/http://www.eviltwincomics.com/action/ap5.php # 5]:  - "Hate the French" featuring [René Descartes](/source/Ren%C3%A9_Descartes), [Jean-Paul Sartre](/source/Jean-Paul_Sartre), & [Jacques Derrida](/source/Jacques_Derrida).
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20061022151357/http://www.eviltwincomics.com/action/ap6.php # 6]:  - "The People's Choice" featuring [Soren Kierkegaard](/source/Soren_Kierkegaard), [St. Thomas Aquinas](/source/St._Thomas_Aquinas), & [Ludwig Wittgenstein](/source/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](/source/The_Pre-Socratics), [Aristotle](/source/Aristotle), & [Epictetus](/source/Epictetus).
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070213052628/http://www.eviltwincomics.com/action/ap8.php # 8]:  - "Senseless Violence Special" featuring [Kant](/source/Immanuel_Kant), [Schopenhauer](/source/Schopenhauer), [Hegel](/source/Hegel), & [John Stuart Mill](/source/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](/source/Diogenes_the_Cynic), [Lao Tzu](/source/Lao_Tzu), [Michel Foucault](/source/Michel_Foucault), [David Hume](/source/David_Hume), [Confucius](/source/Confucius), [George Berkeley](/source/George_Berkeley), [Francis Bacon](/source/Francis_Bacon),  [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](/source/Jean-Jacques_Rousseau), [Thomas Hobbes](/source/Thomas_Hobbes), [Mary Wollstonecraft](/source/Mary_Wollstonecraft), [Baruch Spinoza](/source/Baruch_Spinoza) and [Gottfried Leibniz](/source/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

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Action Philosophers!](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_Philosophers!) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_Philosophers!?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.
