R. K. Milholland - History

History

Raised in Bedford, Texas, Milholland attended Harwood Junior High and Trinity High School in neighboring Euless, Texas. During high school he won several awards for his editorial cartoons. He went on to enroll in the art department at the University of North Texas where he spent four years.

Milholland moved to Boston in the spring of 1999. He worked odd jobs, including stints at a dot com startup, scientific non-profit, medical billing and medical research companies. During this time he started the Something Positive webcomic, in response to a criticism from his friend, voice actress Clarine Harp, that he should "do something positive" with his life. The protagonist in this comic, Davan, is loosely based on Milholland and the stories are often inspired by real life experiences. Like Davan, he has one sister and is not married. Harp was included in the comic as well in the form of the explosive Aubrey Chorde.

In June 2004, faced with increasing complaints about his lateness in updating the comic, Milholland challenged his readership to donate enough money to pay for a year of his salary, so that he could quit his job and become a full-time cartoonist. To his surprise, this amount was reached and surpassed in less than a month, making Milholland one of the successful pioneers of micropatronage. Since then, his webcomic has expanded into many realms of merchandising.

Milholland has moved from Boston and travels the con circuit frequently. He also sometimes performs in community theater, especially children's theater.