{{Short description|Series of comics by Evan Dorkin}} {{For|the animated television pilot|Welcome to Eltingville}} {{Infobox comic book title | image = The Eltingville Club HC collected edition 2014.jpg | imagesize = 250 | caption = Cover for the hardcover of the complete Eltingville series | genre = Humor, parody <!--| debut = ''Instant Piano'' #1, 1994--> | publisher = Dark Horse Comics<br>Slave Labor Graphics | creators = Evan Dorkin }} '''''Eltingville''''' (also referred to as '''''The Eltingville Club''''') is the name given to a series of comics created by Evan Dorkin. The series ran in his comic books ''Dork'' and ''House of Fun'' before it received a two-issue run through Dark Horse Comics in 2014. ''Eltingville'' was adapted into a pilot for Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming block in 2002, but was not picked up for an official series. The series has won three Eisner Awards, beginning with the 1995 story ''Bring Me the Head of Boba Fett''.<ref name=EA1>{{cite web|title=1996 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award Nominees and Winners|url=http://www.hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/eisner96.php|publisher=Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac|accessdate=15 June 2014}}</ref> Of the series' title, Dorkin chose to name the series ''Eltingville'' after Eltingville, Staten Island, where he worked off and on in a comic book store for six years.<ref name=CA1 />
==Synopsis== The ''Eltingville'' comics follow a group of four teenage boys (Bill, Pete, Josh, and Jerry) in Eltingville, Staten Island, who are interested in various elements of geek culture, with each member showing a specific interest in one area. Dorkin has described the characters as "four older teenagers who are fans, and they’re possibly some of the worst fans who have ever lived."<ref name=CA1>{{cite web|last1=Sims |first1=Chris |title=Evan Dorkin On The (Final) Return Of 'The Eltingville Club' [NYCC 2013] |url=http://comicsalliance.com/evan-dorkin-the-eltingville-club-interview-nycc-2013/ |publisher=Comics Alliance |accessdate=15 June 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140704085358/http://comicsalliance.com/evan-dorkin-the-eltingville-club-interview-nycc-2013/ |archivedate=4 July 2014 }}</ref> The series places the characters in various scenarios which Dorkin utilizes to parody common stereotypes and situations which he or others have come across in comic book and geek fandom.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Thompson|first1=Jason|title=Manga: The Complete Guide|date=2012|publisher=Random House|isbn=9780345539441|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GvEFDD4rdWMC&dq=%22eltingville+club%22&pg=PT450|accessdate=15 June 2014}}</ref><ref name="CBR2">{{cite web|last1=Sunu|first1=Steve|title=DORKIN DISCUSSES "BEASTS OF BURDEN," BIDS FAREWELL TO "THE ELTINGVILLE CLUB"|work=Comic Book Resources |date=5 March 2014 |url=http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=51265|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140307111215/http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=51265|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 7, 2014|accessdate=15 June 2014}}</ref>
==Characters== *'''William "Bill" Dickey''': Bill is the de facto leader of the quartet and is shown to have a heavy interest in comic books and sci-fi shows and movies. He has an extremely overbearing personality and is greatly disliked by his peers, including the other members of the Eltingville Club. In ''This Fan, This Monster'' he is hired to work at the local comic book store ''Joe's Fantasy World'' and quickly allows the power to go to his head, resulting in the store's destruction. He is of average build with light brown hair and wears glasses. In the comic series, it has been mentioned that he has a younger brother, Tommy, but in the pilot he is replaced with a younger sister, Jane. Bill has been frequently implied to be the most sadistic and sociopathic of the four, as he attempted to murder his whole club and Joe by setting fire to his store in a fit of insanity. During the final issue of the comics, Bill is shown to have unsuccessfully transitioned into adulthood as he is still living at his mother’s house, is still a virgin, has had at least one failed business, and is more unpleasant than he was before, as his bitterness towards life and women has further warped his personality. *'''Joshua "Josh" Levy''': Josh is an overweight Jewish teen with glasses and dark brown hair who is heavily interested in sci-fi films, books, and television shows, especially anything ''Star Wars''-related. He is one of Bill's primary antagonists in the series and the two often get into fights, either verbal or physical, which end in either Pete, Jerry, or both of them breaking it up. Dorkin has stated that Josh is a composite of two different people that he knows.<ref name=N1>{{cite web|last1=Arrant|first1=Chris|title=Evan Dorkin Lampoons The Dark Side of Comic Fandom In ELTINGVILLE CLUB Finale|url=http://www.newsarama.com/20534-evan-dorkin-lampoons-the-dark-side-of-comic-fandom-in-eltingville-club-finale.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140315062725/http://www.newsarama.com/20534-evan-dorkin-lampoons-the-dark-side-of-comic-fandom-in-eltingville-club-finale.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 15, 2014|publisher=Newsarama|accessdate=15 June 2014}}</ref> It is implied that he has an ill mother, as she takes strong medications and has a history of heart attacks. As an adult, Josh is depicted as working for a comic book news website, with the hopes that it will serve as a stepping-stone to becoming a comic book writer, despite his fiction writing getting repeatedly rejected by publishers and his former college professor. *'''Peter "Pete" DiNunzio''': Pete is primarily interested in horror. He is somewhat based upon a friend of Dorkin's as well as a "certain kind of Staten Island resident".<ref name=N1/> Pete has black hair, is shorter than his counterparts, usually wears a backwards baseball cap, and is of otherwise average build. Pete is an Italian-American, and it has been mentioned in the comics that Pete has a younger sister and several older brothers. In the final issue, Pete is a mostly bald adult that has found employment as a member of a film crew that specializes in creating horror porn, a position that he frequently uses to exploit desperate female performers. *'''Jerry Stokes Jr.''': Jerry is more withdrawn and quieter than his counterparts and is interested in fantasy role-playing games and role-playing gaming in general. His meek demeanor causes his fellow club members to view him with some disgust, as evidenced in ''This Fan, This Monster'' where Pete uses gaming terms to insult him and Bill later rants that Jerry has never really made any of his "saving throws". Jerry is based upon several different people.<ref name=N1/> Jerry is of average weight and height and has blond hair. He has a habit of imitating Twiki and appears to be of a pacifistic nature. Jerry's real name has been said to be Jerome, but in ''This Fan, This Monster'', his real name is Gerald. At the end of the series, Jerry is shown to be the most successful of the former club, as he has found employment as a professional ''Magic: The Gathering'' player, grew out his hair, has a much higher sense of self-esteem, and is dating a beautiful, popular female pop and geek culture correspondent named Mandi. In the epilogue, he intended to bring his old club members back together at the comic con and mend their friendship but after Bill caused a riot and revealed he ruined his chance at love with his childhood crush and the rest are worse than they were before, he finally had enough and angrily tells them to do what they want and no longer cares what happens to them. He then leaves, finally severing ties with them for good and cutting them out of his life. *'''Joe Gargagliano''': Joe is an overweight, slovenly adult male and the owner of ''Joe's Fantasy World''. He is shown to have little to no morals when it comes to selling items and frequently mistreats his customers.<ref>{{cite web|last1=MacDonald|first1=Heidi|title=PREVIEW: THE ELTINGVILLE CLUB #1 takes on Fake Geek Girls and so much more|date=12 March 2014 |url=http://comicsbeat.com/preview-eltingville-1-takes-on-fake-geek-girls-and-so-much-more/|publisher=Comics Beat|accessdate=15 June 2014}}</ref> He also has a book containing nicknames for different customers, including the Eltingville Club. At the end of ''This Fan, This Monster'', Joe's comic book store is destroyed in a fire.
==Awards== * ''Eisner Award for Best Short Story'' for ''Bring Me the Head of Boba Fett'' (1996, won)<ref name=EA1 /> * ''Eisner Award for Best Short Story'' for ''The Marathon Men'' (1998, won)<ref>{{cite web|title=1998 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award Nominees|url=http://www.hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/eisner98.php|publisher=Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac|accessdate=15 June 2014}}</ref> * ''Eisner Award for Best Short Story'' for ''The Intervention'' (2002, won)<ref>{{cite web|title=2002 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards|url=http://www.hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/eisner02.php|publisher=Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac|accessdate=15 June 2014}}</ref>
==Publishing history== The first ''Eltingville'' story was an untitled strip that ran in the first issue of ''Instant Piano'' in 1994. Dorkin initially intended for the strip to be a one-shot, but chose to continue writing ''Eltingville''-themed stories due to reader response and his own enjoyment of the comic.<ref name=CA1 /> Following stories were published through various different publications such as ''Dork'', ''House of Fun'', and ''Dark Horse Presents''. ''Eltingville'' was published in the United Kingdom in ''Deadline'' as well as in Spain, where strips ran in the Spanish language magazine ''El Vibora'' and a collection of the strips were published in 2007 as ''El Club Eltingville De Comics, Ciencia-Ficcion, Fantasia, Terror y Juegos de Rol''.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Dorkin|first1=Evan|title=El club Eltingville de comic, ciencia-ficcion, fantasia, terror y juegos de rol|date=2007|publisher=LA Cupula Ediciones|isbn=9788478337521|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-gvAPAAACAAJ|accessdate=15 June 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Dorkin|first1=Evan|title=The Nightmare Almost Realized: The Eltingville Club Complete HC Collection|url=http://evandorkin.livejournal.com/306935.html|publisher=Evan Dorkin|accessdate=17 June 2014}}</ref>
# ''Untitled first strip'' (''Instant Piano'' #1, Dark Horse Comics, 1994 - Reprinted in ''Dork'' #6) # ''Bring Me The Head of Boba Fett'' (''Instant Piano'' #3, Dark Horse Comics, 1995 - Reprinted in ''Dork'' #6) # ''Bread and Suck-Asses'' (''Dork'' #3, SLG Publishing, 1995) # ''The Marathon Men'' (''Dork'' #4, SLG Publishing, 1997) # ''Captain's Log, Stardate 5/5/98'' (''Dork'' #6, SLG Publishing, 1998) # ''Unstable Molecules'' (''Wizard'' #99, 1999 - Reprinted in ''Dork'' #8, 2000) # ''The Intervention'' (''Dork'' #9, SLG Publishing, 2001) # ''As Seen On TV'' (''Dork'' #10, SLG Publishing, 2002) # ''They're Dead, They're All Messed Up'' (''Dark Horse Presents'' Volume 2, #12, 2012 - Reprinted in ''House of Fun'' #1, Dark Horse Comics, 2013) # ''This Fan, This Monster'' (Dark Horse Comics, 2014 - also known as ''The Eltingville Club #1'') # ''Lo, There Shall Be an Epilogue'' (Dark Horse Comics, 2015 - also known as ''The Eltingville Club #2'')
* ''The Northwest Comix Collective'' (''Dork'' #6, SLG Publishing, 1998 - considered to be an alternative comics version of the Eltingville Club)
===Collections=== * ''El Club Eltingville De Comics, Ciencia-Ficcion, Fantasia, Terror y Juegos de Rol'' (LA Cupula Ediciones, 2007) * ''The Eltingville Club'' (Dark Horse Comics, 2016) * ''Nerd Inferno: The Essential Evan Dorkin'' (Dark Horse Comics, 2026)
==Development== Dorkin came up with the idea for ''Eltingville'' after witnessing comic book publisher and author Dan Vado receive abuse while he was working with DC Comics.<ref name=CA1 /> Vado killed off the popular character Ice while writing ''Justice League America'', which caused various fans to send him death threats and hate mail.<ref name=CA1 /> Dorkin published the first ''Eltingville'' strip in ''Instant Piano'' in 1994 and ended up writing follow-up stories in the ''Eltingville'' world over a period of 20 years. The ''Eltingville'' characters are an exaggerated portrayal of several people that Dorkin knows and also draws on Dorkin's own likes and experiences as a fan, retailer, and professional.<ref name=N1/><ref>{{cite web|last1=Arrant|first1=Chris|title=Evan Dorkin's BEASTS Collected, Soon to Meet HELLBOY|url=http://www.newsarama.com/5515-evan-dorkin-s-beasts-collected-soon-to-meet-hellboy.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714151211/http://www.newsarama.com/5515-evan-dorkin-s-beasts-collected-soon-to-meet-hellboy.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 14, 2014|publisher=Newsarama|accessdate=15 June 2014}}</ref> They are meant to portray the fanbase that does not "change or evolve" to embrace changes in geek culture such as the "increasing acceptance and swell of fandom", as they see their fandom as making up their entire identity and being.<ref name="CBR2"/>
Dorkin has received both praise and backlash from readers over his description of comic book readers and the geek fandom.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Means Shannon|first1=Hannah|title=Maxx's Super Awesome Comic Review Show – From The Flash To Eltingville Club And Original Sin|date=4 June 2014 |url=http://www.bleedingcool.com/2014/06/04/maxxs-super-awesome-comic-review-show-from-the-flash-to-eltingville-club-and-original-sin/|publisher=Bleeding Cool|accessdate=15 June 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Davisson |first1=Zack |title=Review: House of Fun (one-shot) |url=http://www.comicsbulletin.com/reviews/5222/review-house-of-fun-one-shot/ |publisher=Comics Bulletin |accessdate=15 June 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130130193649/http://comicsbulletin.com/reviews/5222/review-house-of-fun-one-shot/ |archivedate=30 January 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Cheng|first1=Jennifer|title=THE ELTINGVILLE CLUB #1 (review)|work=Comic Book Resources |url=http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=user_review&id=7246|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140427190049/http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=user_review&id=7246|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 27, 2014|publisher=CBR|accessdate=15 June 2014}}</ref> Of ''Eltingville's'' humor, he has stated that "The humor is supposed to hit close to home, ''Eltingville'''s a joke but it's supposed to be an uncomfortable one, it's not about cuddly, cute, awkward fans, it's always been about the unsocial, self-absorbed, arrogant little tyrants that make fandom a less fun place, the idiots who make death threats to creators and rape threats against women writing about sexism in the video game industry, who flip out about the casting of an actor playing a fictional character, who argue the most ridiculous points of trivia as if they honestly matter in the scheme of things, who put fantasy above reality and don't know how to behave like credible human beings and go bonkers if they're called on that behavior. Most fans aren't like that, but in all aspects of life the trolls are the loudest and the proudest and they really junk the joint up."<ref name=CA1 />
==''Welcome to Eltingville''== {{main|Welcome to Eltingville}}
In October 2001, work completed on an animated adaptation of the ''Eltingville'' stories, entitled ''Welcome to Eltingville''.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Worley|first1=Rob M.|title=Cartoon Net Suits Decide Fate of Eltingville Club|url=http://www.mania.com/cartoon-net-suits-decide-fate-bieltingville-clubib_article_87556.html|publisher=Mania.com|accessdate=15 June 2014|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714212439/http://www.mania.com/cartoon-net-suits-decide-fate-bieltingville-clubib_article_87556.html|archivedate=14 July 2014}}</ref> The pilot episode aired in 2002 as part of Cartoon Network's late night programming block Adult Swim and adapted the story ''Bring Me the Head of Boba Fett''.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Price|first1=Matthew|title='Eltingville' characters to show up on TV show|url=http://newsok.com/eltingville-characters-to-show-up-on-tv-show/article/2783898|publisher=News OK|accessdate=15 June 2014}}</ref> Critical response for the pilot episode was positive,<ref>{{cite web|title=WELCOME TO ELTINGVILLE!! Tonight On Cartoon Network!! Like A Big Twisted Funhouse Mirror Of Geekdom!!|url=http://www.aintitcool.com/node/11659|publisher=AICN|accessdate=15 June 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Beck|first1=Jerry|title=TV Review: Welcome To Eltingville|url=http://www.awn.com/animationworld/tv-review-welcome-eltingville|publisher=AWN|accessdate=15 June 2014}}</ref> but the pilot was not picked up for a full series. Dorkin has stated that if he could have done the pilot over again, that he would have delegated more work and that he would have chosen a different story to animate for the episode, as it would have shown a wider perspective for the series and characters.<ref name=N1 />
==References== {{reflist|2}}
{{Unofficial Star Wars media}}
Category:Dark Horse Comics titles Category:Slave Labor Graphics titles Category:Eisner Award winners Category:American comics Category:1994 comics debuts Category:American black comedy comics Category:Teen comedy comics Category:Works about fandom Category:Comics about comics Category:Comics set in New York City