The Oatmeal

The Oatmealis awebcomicand humor website created in 2009 by cartoonistMatthew Inman. It offers original comics, quizzes, and occasional articles. Inman has produced a series ofOatmealbooks with content from the webcomic and previously unpublished material, related board games, and other merchandise. The website won theEisner AwardforBest Digital/Webcomicin 2014.
In 2019, Inman announced plans to step back fromThe Oatmealfor a while to concentrate on other work including the "Exploding Kittens" television series.
Inman createdThe Oatmealwebsite in 2009.Early comics regularly made the front page ofDigg, driving traffic to the site.
Inman said that when he started the comic, he felt that drawing was a chore.In a 2010 interview, he said that when thinking of a subject to write about, he simply picks something he is interested in. He usually worked at home, but as he finds it difficult to go long periods without social contact, he often goes to a coffee shop to work. Inman said that he found it is much easier to gain exposure for his work through the internet than it would have been two decades earlier. He added that he enjoys making people laugh, and although he can't actually see the reaction of others to his work, he still appreciates seeing the high number ofpage viewsthat his website receives.
The format ofThe Oatmealhas been described as "storytelling-meets-infographics"and as "a quirky and often crudely-drawn comic".The comics cover an eclectic range of topics: a 2010 article describes comics on being chained to a bunk bed with a velociraptor, evil scheming kittens, people being sodomized by Bigfoot, and babies that taste like nachos.Other themes are zombies, horse care and English grammar.
His first viral comic was "How to Tell if Your Cat is Plotting to Kill You",and other comics have titles such as "How to Use a Semicolon","What it's Like to Own an Apple Product", "How the Male Angler Fish Gets Completely Screwed", "15-ish Things Worth Knowing About Coffee" and "How a Web Design Goes Straight to Hell."
One comic, "Why Nikola Tesla Was the Greatest Geek Who Ever Lived", was heavily critiqued by a writer forForbes.In response Inman made a second post going through theForbesarticle, acknowledging some good points but picking apart others, including calling multiple sections "bullshit" and defending his work as "a comedian [who speaks] in hyperbole."
In reaction toTumblr's regular downtimes, Inman created the TumbleBeasts in 2010 as a parody of the TwitterFail Whale, and urged Tumblr to use them. Tumblr added the artwork to their 404 page for some time, renaming them Tumbeasts.
In June 2019, just after the release ofThe Secret Life of Pets 2– a feature animated film in which Inman was credited as creative consultant – Inman told theWashington Postthat he "won't be regularly creating the Oatmeal much longer" and was planning a hiatus of around two years. Inman said that he lovedThe Oatmealbut "I'm just tired and it's been a decade of writing comics for strangers from my basement, and I want to try something different for a while."Around the same time, Inman signed a deal to develop an animated feature forIllumination Entertainment, though at that time the film did not appear to have beengreenlitand no details were announced.
The Oatmealreceived 300,000 visitors in its first month and within 10 months had received 4.5 million visitors.Inman said in 2010 thatThe Oatmealreceived more than 20 million page views per month;as of 2012 the site received 4 million visitors a month.
Inman said in 2012 thatThe Oatmealhad a revenue of $500,000 a year. TheGuardianconsidered the claim and found it reasonable given the site's visitor numbers.Fast Companydescribed Inman in 2012 as a "millionaire".
Campaigns for related products have also been successful. A fundraiser to develop and produce a card game calledExploding Kittensraised $8.8 million,and a game company co-founded by Inman received a $30 million investment in 2019.
Inman appeared on an episode ofLast Call with Carson Dalyin 2010 and mentioned his web site.
The website was awarded theEisner Awardin the Best Digital/Webcomic category in 2014.In 2016, Inman received theBob ClampettHumanitarian Award fromSan Diego Comic-Con, an award given "to people in comics and the popular arts who have worked to help others."
As of 2019, Inman had released ten books, which collect material from the website and feature new material.
At least one ofThe Oatmealbooks was aNew York TimesBestseller.How to Tell if Your Cat is Plotting to Kill Youspent at least 20 weeks on the NYT bestseller list "Paperback Advice & Misc.", often at #1.
Revenue fromThe Oatmealincludes the sale of wall posters, greeting cards, calendars, clothing, coffee cups, signed prints, stickers, magnets, and badges.
In January 2015, Inman, Elan Lee, and Shane Small launched aKickstartercrowdfunding campaign for their projectExploding Kittens, a card-based,Russian-roulette-style game with art by Inman.The campaign raised $1million in its first seven hours, and ultimately raised $8.8million, becoming the most-funded card game on Kickstarter.
The success of the game prompted Lee and Inman to found a company in 2015, also named Exploding Kittens.Since then, the company Exploding Kittens has released five more games:Bears vs. Babies(2017), You've Got Crabs (2018), Throw Throw Burrito (2019),On a Scale of One to T-Rex (2019),and themobile gameKitty Letter (2021).There is also merchandise of characters from the games.
In October 2019, it was announced that Peter Chernin, American businessman and the CEO of The Chernin Group (TCG), had invested $30 million for a minority stake in Exploding Kittens. Inman said that the funds will be used to mount alive gaming convention, Burning Cat; and to hire more artists and produce three to five new games a year.
At the same time as announcing his fifth book,The Terrible and Wonderful Reasons I Run Long Distances, Inman announced "Beat the Blerch", an organized running race in 10 kilometer, half, and full marathon formats which was held in Carnation, Washington, on September 20 and 21, 2014.All 2,000 spots originally offered for the first race day were sold out in 20 minutes, prompting Inman to open a second day for more runners to enroll.The Beat the Blerch event took place every year from 2014 to 2019.In 2020, the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but a "virtual race" was organized instead.
In June 2019, Exploding Kittens Inc. announced the planning of a live gaming convention. The two-day event was to take place in May 2020 inPortland, Oregon, U.S.It was named Burning Cat in reference to theBurning Manfestival, and was to conclude with the burning of a large wooden statue of a cat in homage to Burning Man's burning of a human-shaped figure. Burning Cat was to feature appearances from guest speakers alongside a series of gaming and networking activities. The event was postponed until 2021, then indefinitely, due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.
Exploding Kittenswas being made into aNetflixseries byMike JudgeandGreg Daniels.A teaser trailer was released on November 11, 2023,followed by a full trailer in May 2024.The series premiered in July 2024.
In August 2012, Inman launched a fundraising campaign on thecrowdfundingwebsiteIndiegogoto support a nonprofit organization offering to purchaseWardenclyffe TowerinShorehamonLong Island,New York. The organization,Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe, hoped to buy and restore the facility that wasNikola Tesla's last laboratory, preserving the site and creating a museum to Tesla. There was a sense of urgency, as apparently there was an offer from another party to buy the site for commercial use.Inman, a fan of Tesla, promoted the fundraiser with a blog post onThe Oatmealcalling for people and companies to donate.Thestate of New Yorkagreed to match donations up to $850,000.
The fundraiser raised $1,370,461 from over 33,000 backers,including Joseph Sikorski, director of the Tesla filmFragments From Olympus,andElon Musk.With the grant from New York state, the campaign totaled over $2.1 million.After the fundraiser, Jane Alcron of the Tesla Science Centre said the additional funds would be used to start converting the ruins into a science center and perhaps building a replica of the original tower.
In May 2014, Inman produced a comic onThe Oatmealtitled "What it's like to own aTesla Model S- A cartoonist's review of his magical space car",and a follow-up comic titled "Part Two: Man Vs. Motor"in which he talked about Nikola Tesla, andElon Musk, the CEO ofTesla Motors. After publishing the comic, he tweeted Musk, inviting Elon to donate to the Tesla Museum.At 2 a.m. the following day, Elon responded by tweet: "I would be happy to help". Musk then donated $1 million for the development and construction of the museum.
Inman is featured inTower to the People, a 2015 documentary on Wardenclyffe by Joseph Sikorski.
Inman alleged that FunnyJunk, acontent aggregatorwebsite, repeatedlyinfringedThe Oatmeal'soriginal content.FunnyJunk alleged that those accusations weredefamationand demanded $20,000 in damages.Infuriated by the demand, Inman set up aIndiegogofundraiser to raise $20,000, but to give the money to theNational Wildlife Federationand theAmerican Cancer Society.The campaign raised $220,024 at completion.He stated he intended to take a photo of himself with the cash, then send the photograph along with a satirical illustration of FunnyJunk'smother "seducing aKodiak bear" to FunnyJunk.
FunnyJunk's lawyer,Charles Carreon, attempted to shut the campaign down, alleging it violated Indiegogo's terms and conditions.Carreon also filed apro selawsuitCarreon v. Inman et alinUnited States District Court for the Northern District of Californiaagainst Inman, Indiegogo, the American Cancer Society, and the National Wildlife Federation in response.On July 3, 2012, Carreon filed a notice ofvoluntary dismissalin his lawsuit against all partieswithout prejudice.
On November 21, 2012,greeting cardmaker Oatmeal Studios sued Inman and Recycled Greetings fortrademark infringement. Oatmeal Studios holds the trademark for their name and afterThe Oatmealworked with another company to make greeting cards based on the comic, Oatmeal Studios argued that this was too similar and likely to cause confusion.On August 28, 2013, a Stipulation of Dismissal with prejudice was filed by Excelsior Printing Company, the litigants in the lawsuit, meaning that the two parties had settled the dispute.
The Oatmealwas created by Matthew Inman (born 1982 or 1983).Born inChino,California, he moved with his family to the small, rural town ofHayden, Idaho, when he was in grade school. Hayden was in an ultra-conservative environment and Inman rebelled against those views.
Inman created websites for others from age 13, and he moved toSeattleat age 17 to work in technology. After some jobs for other companies, he created a dating website called "Mingle2", which became popular. He sold Mingle2 but stayed on with the new company, and wrote comics and quizzes to attract readers. Inman says this work was the inspiration forThe Oatmeal.
Inman opposed theStop Online Piracy Act(SOPA). He said that while the act would have afforded him more rights, he disliked like the way that SOPA would have put the onus on sites to prove their innocence. He joined a global day of action against the legislation.
Inman lives onBainbridge Islandin theSeattlearea.He is a long-distance runner, includingultramarathons.