Penny Arcade's Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik

Interviewed by Chris Dahlen
June 7th, 2007

Nine years ago, writer Jerry Holkins and illustrator Mike Krahulik started the web-comic Penny Arcade, starring their alter egos Gabe and Tycho as two friends who love video games and hate each other. The strip quickly took off, becoming one of the most popular comics on the Web, and the centerpiece of a nine-person company. Holkins and Krahulik's other projects include the Child's Play charity, which raised more than $1 million last year for children's hospitals, and the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX), which expects to host 30,000 gamers in Seattle this August. Holkins and Krahulik are also developing their first video game, Penny Arcade Adventures: On The Rain-Slick Precipice Of Darkness, working with Hothead Games and Ron Gilbert (best known for the LucasArts Monkey Island games). Holkins and Krahulik recently talked to The A.V. Club about their lack of ambition, their new sympathy (or lack thereof) for game developers, and their role as the spokesmen for video gamers everywhere.

The A.V. Club