Don Markstein's Toonopedia
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Type of site
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Internet encyclopedia |
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| Available in | American English |
| Owner | Don Markstein |
| Created by | Don Markstein |
| Website | toonopedia.com |
| Commercial | No |
| Registration | No |
| Launched | February 13, 2001 |
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Content license
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All rights reserved |
Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is a web encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedia, termed it "the world's first hypertext encyclopedia of toons" and stated, "The basic idea is to cover the entire spectrum of American cartoonery."
Markstein began the project during 1999 with several earlier titles: He changed Don's Cartoon Encyberpedia (1999) to Don Markstein's Cartoonopedia (2000) after learning the word "Encyberpedia" had been trademarked. During 2001, he settled on his final title, noting, "Decided (after thinking about it for several weeks) to change the name of the site to Don Markstein's Toonopedia, rather than Cartoonopedia. Better rhythm in the name, plus 'toon' is probably a more apt word, in modern parlance, than "cartoon", for what I'm doing.
Toonopedia author Donald David Markstein (March 21, 1947 – March 11, 2012.) was fascinated with all forms of cartoon art since his childhood. During 1981, Markstein and his wife, GiGi Dane (August 7, 1949 - August 5, 2016), founded Apatoons, an amateur press association devoted to animation. He edited Comics Revue, a monthly anthology of newspaper comics, from 1984 to 1987, and 1992 to 1996. A writer for Walt Disney Comics, Markstein based Toonopedia on American and other English language cartoons with the goal of developing the largest online resource concerning American cartoons. Toonopedia accumulated over 1,800 articles since its launch on February 13, 2001.
During 2002, Charles Bowen reviewing the site for Editor & Publisher, said,
For journalists researching stories, these online resources can be golden. A case in point is Don Markstein's simply amazing Toonopedia, a vast repository of information about comics, past and future. Now, honestly, unless you're a comic book collector or a cartoonist, you're probably not going to put this on your frequent filer's list. However, if you're working on a story that deals with pop culture, that focuses on a particular time period, or that touches on classic villains and superheroes, Don just might become your own personal hero. The site serves up illustrated entries on nearly every comic strip, cartoon, and comic book you can think of, from the world famous Blondie and Peanuts to those ultra-obscure strips, such as The Pie-Face Prince of Old Pretzelburg.
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