Before Webcomics: Selling Political Cartoons On BBSes In 1992 (breakintochat.com)
(Saturday April 04, 2026 @05:34PM (EditorDavid)
from the pre-Clinton dept.)
- Reference: 0181219382
- News link: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/04/04/0547259/before-webcomics-selling-political-cartoons-on-bbses-in-1992
- Source link: https://breakintochat.com/blog/2026/03/25/don-lokke-and-mack-the-mouse/
Slashdot reader [1]Kirkman14 writes:
> A year before the Web opened to the public, Texas entrepreneur [2]Don Lokke was trying to syndicate weekly political cartoons to bulletin board systems . His "telecomics," as he called them, represent an overlooked early experiment in online comics.
>
> Lokke launched his main series, "Mack the Mouse" at the height of the 1992 Clinton-Bush-Perot presidential race. His mouse protagonist voiced the frustrations felt by everyday Americans about rising taxes and the recession.
>
> Lokke gave away "Mack" for free, but sold subscriptions to his other telecomics, betting sysops would pay for exclusive content. The timing wasn't crazy: [3]enthusiasm for BBSes as an industry was surging , with conferences like ONE BBSCON [4]promoting "BBSing for profit."
>
> But the Web soon deflated those hopes, and Lokke left BBSes behind in 1995. Decades later, about half of his nearly 300 telecomics were recovered and [5]preserved on 16colors .
[1] https://slashdot.org/~Kirkman14
[2] https://breakintochat.com/blog/2026/03/25/don-lokke-and-mack-the-mouse/
[3] https://breakintochat.com/blog/2026/03/16/business-of-bbsing/
[4] https://archive.org/details/Boardwatch_6.6_JUL_1992/page/49/mode/1up
[5] https://16colo.rs/artist/don+lokke+jr
> A year before the Web opened to the public, Texas entrepreneur [2]Don Lokke was trying to syndicate weekly political cartoons to bulletin board systems . His "telecomics," as he called them, represent an overlooked early experiment in online comics.
>
> Lokke launched his main series, "Mack the Mouse" at the height of the 1992 Clinton-Bush-Perot presidential race. His mouse protagonist voiced the frustrations felt by everyday Americans about rising taxes and the recession.
>
> Lokke gave away "Mack" for free, but sold subscriptions to his other telecomics, betting sysops would pay for exclusive content. The timing wasn't crazy: [3]enthusiasm for BBSes as an industry was surging , with conferences like ONE BBSCON [4]promoting "BBSing for profit."
>
> But the Web soon deflated those hopes, and Lokke left BBSes behind in 1995. Decades later, about half of his nearly 300 telecomics were recovered and [5]preserved on 16colors .
[1] https://slashdot.org/~Kirkman14
[2] https://breakintochat.com/blog/2026/03/25/don-lokke-and-mack-the-mouse/
[3] https://breakintochat.com/blog/2026/03/16/business-of-bbsing/
[4] https://archive.org/details/Boardwatch_6.6_JUL_1992/page/49/mode/1up
[5] https://16colo.rs/artist/don+lokke+jr