Van Von Hunter

Van Von Hunter is a weekly, hand drawn parody-manga begun in 2002 by Cleveland, Ohio-based artists Mike Schwark and Ron Kaulfersch of Pseudomé Studio. It has since been published in newspapers, books, and as a webcomic. The story takes place in the land of Dikay, a country fraught with undeath, and focuses on the warrior Van Von Hunter and his "never-ending fight against evil...stuff". The opening of the series and Von Hunter's presence gives the series a Castlevania-like feel, but essentially the comic spoofs role-playing games, fantasy creatures and folklore (in one instance Von Hunter slays an Irish pixie), among other things.

The series has been released in three printed volumes by Tokyopop in North America, after Van Von Hunter: Circlet of Necromancy won a first-place trophy and $1,000 in Tokyopop's first Rising Stars of Manga contest. The manga series runs a storyline that takes place after the events in the webcomic.

In summer 2006, Van Von Hunter started a 6-month run of the Sunday newspapers. It was syndicated by Universal Press Syndicate, with about 30 papers in North America and one in Sweden publishing the strip, including the Los Angeles Times, The Denver Post, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, The Detroit News, The Oregonian, The Vancouver Sun, and the Toronto Sun. Van von Hunter was the second Tokyopop manga to be syndicated to newspapers. The first was Peach Fuzz by Jared Hodges and Lindsay Cibos.

The comic's anniversary falls on Valentine's Day (February 14), which is jokingly referred to as Von Hunter Day on the site (after Van decided that anyone who didn't want to celebrate Valentine's Day should have an alternative).