Jerry Holkins

Jerry Holkins
Jerry Holkins, February 9, 2009
Born	February 6, 1976 (1976-02-06) (age 35)
Nationality	American

Keith Gerald "Jerry" Holkins né Parkinson (born February 6, 1976)^[1] is the writer of the webcomic Penny Arcade and co-founder of Child's Play, a multimillion dollar charity that organizes toy drives for children's hospitals. Holkins goes by the pseudonym "Tycho Brahe." This is also the name of one of the two main characters of Penny Arcade, who is a cartoonized self-insertion of Holkins. However, as the character of Tycho was not originally meant to represent Holkins, the two have few physical similarities; for example Holkins is bald, unlike Tycho. They are primarily similar in their various interests and attitudes.^[2]

Holkins writes news posts or rants which accompany each comic drawn by Mike Krahulik. These newsposts/rants generally take the form of computer and video game commentary. Jerry is also featured in the Dungeons and Dragons 4E podcast, playing the CEO of Acquisitions Incorporated, "Omin Dran", a Cleric of the Goddess Avandra.

It has been mutually agreed between Krahulik and Holkins that Penny Arcade would not be the same with just one of them. The two have been said to give an indication of the diversity of styles among gamers, with Krahulik representing action-oriented gamers and Holkins representing the more cerebral players.^[3]

Holkins' other exploits include being a lead singer/guitarist in a band called The Fine Print, whose works are freely available over the internet and who have opened for Anal Cunt in the past.^[4]

Holkins and Krahulik had the opportunity to play the new release of Dungeons & Dragons Fourth Edition in Seattle for a day with Chris Perkins from Wizards of the Coast, Scott Kurtz of PvP, and Wil Wheaton.^[5]

Along with Krahulik, Holkins was included on the 2010 Time 100^[6] for their work on Penny Arcade.

Epic Legends of the Hierarchs: The Elemenstor Saga

"Epic Legends of the Hierarchs: The Elemenstor Saga" (abbreviated as ELotH:TES) is a fan-driven parody of the generic fantasy fiction that serves as the backstory of many fantasy game franchises. It was created by Holkins as a single PBWiki page and rapidly grew in size as Penny Arcade fans joined in expanding the parody.

The tales of the Saga itself rotate around several (non-existent) bases: The original 13 'canon' books, the Japanese anime series, the American re-make of the anime, the collectible card game, and even the odd life of the author himself, and such events as his several-year long "pills and booze binge." These are only the major pieces of the story, and other fragments abound. A version of the wiki is available for purchase in the form of a reference guide to the 13 novel cycle.

Bibliography

• Year One: A Penny Arcade Retrospective (with Mike Krahulik) (KiwE Publishing, Ltd., 2001)
• Penny Arcade: Attack of the Bacon Robots (with Mike Krahulik) (Dark Horse, 2006)
• Penny Arcade: Epic Legends of the Magic Sword Kings (with Mike Krahulik) (Dark Horse, 2006)
• Penny Arcade: The Warsun Prophecies (with Mike Krahulik) (Dark Horse, 2007)
• Penny Arcade: Birds Are Weird (with Mike Krahulik) (Dark Horse, 2007)
• Penny Arcade: The Case of the Mummy's Gold (with Mike Krahulik) (Dark Horse, 2008)
• Penny Arcade: The Halls Below (with Mike Krahulik) (Del Rey, 2010)
• The Splendid Magic of Penny Arcade: The 11½th Anniversary Edition (with Mike Krahulik) (Del Rey, 2010)
• Penny Arcade: Be Good Little Puppy (with Mike Krahulik) (Del Rey, 2011)

References

1. ^ Holkins, Keith (2009-01-16). "Updates Of Various Kinds". Penny Arcade. http://www.penny-arcade.com/2009/01/16/updates-various-kinds/. Retrieved 2009-01-17. 
2. ^ Searles, Brad (2006-01-19). "Penny Arcade vs MIT". Bradley's Almanac. http://www.bradleysalmanac.com/2006/01/penny-arcade-vs-mit.htm. Retrieved 2006-11-24. 
3. ^ Holkins, Keith (2005-10-07). "We Were Playing The Second Digital Devil Saga" (JPEG). Penny Arcade. http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2005/10/07. Retrieved 2006-09-16. 
4. ^ "Penny Arcade, Downloadable Content 05/04/2007, "The Broodax Imperiate." (Podcast)". 2007-05-04. http://www.penny-arcade.com/podcasts/The%20Broodax%20Imperiate.mp3. Retrieved 2007-05-07. 
5. ^ Pascale, Anthony (January 21, 2009). "Wil Wheaton Talks Geeking Out At Phoenix Comic Con w/TNG Co-stars + more". TrekMovie.com. http://trekmovie.com/2009/01/21/exclusive-interview-wil-wheaton-talks-geeking-out-at-phoenix-comic-con-w-tng-co-stars-more/. Retrieved 2009-11-25. 
6. ^ Grossman, Lev (April 29, 2010). "The 2010 Time 100: Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik". Time. http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1984685_1984940_1985513,00.html. Retrieved May 10, 2010. 

External links

• Original Penny Arcade strip from 2005-11-07
• ELotH:TES Official Wiki
• The Saga of The Saga from Wired, accessed November 22, 2005
• More info on the book project

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Name	Holkins, Jerry
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Date of birth	February 6, 1976
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