Mr. Boop

Mr. Boop was a satirical webcomic created by Alec Robbins about him being married to Betty Boop. The comic launched on February 28, 2020.^[1] The comic comprises four "books" made up of 217 strips.^[2]

Mr. Boop
The first strip
Author	Alec Robbins
Website	https://mrboop.net/
Current status/schedule	Concluded on January 1st, 2021
Launch date	February 28, 2020
Preceded by	Show Me Less Like This
Followed by	Crime Hot

Background

Alec enjoyed the notion that a character designed as a sex symbol was now mostly remembered by grandmothers.^[1]

Robbins' comedic style was influenced by a company he works for, Abso Lutely Productions, especially Jon Benjamin Has a Van, The Birthday Boys & Nathan for You.^[3]

Plot

Book III features a meta-narrative about Betty Boop's father breaking up the marriage between Alec and Betty as it breaches copyright law. The arc was fuelled by a "scare" Robbins had with copyright violation combined with a want to shift gears into other topics.^[3]

Book III concluded with a series of two short videos, featuring appearances from Tim Robinson, Mara Wilson and Justin McElroy.^[4]

Book IV contains horror elements. Robbins had his reservations about the ending, unsure if he was sending out the right message. He noted that he didn't want the message to be that "it's bad to fall into fantasy worlds and enjoy them."^[1]

Physical releases

The physical releases of Book I, II, and III featured guest strips drawn by other artists, notably Kate Leth, Ryan North, Julia Kaye, and Night in the Woods creator Scott Benson.^[5]

Reception

Mr. Boop was shortlisted for Heidi MacDonald's 2021 Cartoonists Studio Prize,^[6] and was nominated for an Ignatz Award.^[7] Zachary Jenkins of ComicsXF said "Until the team behind Sonic understands our dark desires, we will have to fulfill our needs with underground art like Mr. Boop."^[8] In 2022, Silver Sprocket released a hardcover collection of the entirety of Mr. Boop, which won the Ignatz Award for Outstanding Collection later that year.^[9][10]

The Verge called it "a hilarious, sometimes existentially troubling interrogation of what’s fascinating about fandoms and dumb about copyright law" and "a note-perfect satire of a very specific time on the internet".^[11]