The Creator Of Pepe The Frog Has Launched A Kickstarter To “Save” The Character From The Alt-Right

Matt Furie quickly raised $10,000 for a new comic book.

June 28, 2017

Pepe The Frog's creator Matt Furie and his brother Jason have launched a Kickstarter called "Save Pepe" that seeks to fund a new comic starring the character. Watch the promo video for the fund above.

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As Furie writes on the Kickstarter page, the comic does not actually aspire to take back Pepe from the neo-Nazis and alt-right who appropriated the cartoon and turned him into a hate symbol, as designated by the Anti-Defamation League last year. "We understand there's no way to fully control the internet or how people decide to use Pepe the Frog. Trying to control that would be a completely unreasonable goal. That said, the aim of this project is to positively resurrect Pepe through the creation of a brand new comic in the spirit of the original BOY'S CLUB."

Furie hopes that the new comic will "[reclaim] his status as a universal symbol for peace, love, and acceptance."

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Pepe was a character in the slacker mini-comic series Boy's Club before a panel of him saying "feels good man" became a meme in 2010. Towards the 2016 presidential election, images of Pepe became associated with the more hateful corners of the internet – one was even retweeted by then-candidate Donald Trump.

After the ADL branded Pepe as a hate symbol, the organization collaborated with Furie on the #SavePepe campaign. A press release described the endeavour as "an effort to take back the popular meme from racists and use the frog’s likeness as a force for good."

But In May, Furie released a new comic that depicted Pepe's funeral, and it seemed as though the character was done for good.

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Furie's Kickstarter has reached its funding goal of $10,000 not long after it debuted, but you can still donate to receive rewards, like digital and physical copies of the comic and one-of-a-kind drawings.

The Creator Of Pepe The Frog Has Launched A Kickstarter To “Save” The Character From The Alt-Right