Ananth Panagariya

Johnny Wander
Strip #191 "Motivational Speaker", published September 21, 2010
Author(s)	Ananth Hirsh and Yuko Ota
Website	http://www.johnnywander.com/
Current status / schedule	Bi-weekly
Launch date	September 30, 2008
Genre(s)	Slice of life story

Johnny Wander is a webcomic written by Ananth Hirsh and illustrated by Yuko Ota. It is published bi-weekly. In its earlier days, the comic generally focuses on slice of life stories involving Ananth, Yuko, and their friends and family following graduation from college. However, the comic occasionally encompasses unrelated fantasy storylines. The comic is currently focusing on one of its ongoing fictional storylines, "Lucky Penny." The name "Johnny Wander" is meant to evoke the creators' desire to use the comic to "wander" through whatever topics interest them at the moment.

The webcomic has been generally well-received, with reviewers calling it as a humorous and sweet comic that invites new readers to continue reading. The artwork has also been praised for its depth and quality. The first physical book collection "Johnny Wander Vol. 1: Don't Burn the House Down" was published in 2010.

Hirsh and Ota first published Johnny Wander in 2008. Originally intended to encompass more subjects than autobiography, Ota picked the name "Johnny Wander" because it sounded both catchy and broad in scope. The name implied that the two could "wander" to whatever subject they were interested in. The first few test strips were done sporadically, as Ota was attending school and Hirsh was working full-time as a graphic designer. They eventually decided on autobiographical work because it seemed quicker to do, though the webcomic quickly became focused and polished. A collection of the comics, entitled Johnny Wander Vol. 1: Don’t Burn the House Down, was published in 2010. The book was released under a Creative Commons license. A second and third volume were subsequently published, entitled "Johnny Wander Vol. 2: Escape to New York" and "Johnny Wander Vol. 3: Ballad of Laundry Cat", respectively.

The webcomic generally focuses on slice of life storylines involving the lives of the creators and their friends. Occasionally, it ventures into surrealist short fantasy stories. Each comic consists of a stand-alone, single page comic. Often, the inspiration for a comic comes from a simple conversation or occurrence in the characters' everyday lives. However, one storyline, The Girl with the Skeleton Hand, involves a woman's romance with a personified death. "Delilah and the Basilisk" and "Lucky Penny" are among the other serial fiction pieces published on the site. The artwork is inked by hand and done in grayscale. First, a strip is penciled, then inked with a brush, and finally shaded and toned in Adobe Photoshop.