A Fond Look Back at Etymology Man

BY MARK REMY

Etymology Man is a character that I created* during my editorship of the late, great GIANT magazine, circa 2004, for a comic strip of the same name. The idea was that Mr. Man would swoop in to explain the origins of certain words, and... Well, that's it. Sometimes he would swoop back out. Not always.

In hindsight, I suppose I could have given more thought to the strip's story arcs. (Also: I literally just now realized that I never gave Etymology Man an origin story—how did I miss that? Gah!)

Though he appeared just five times, Etymology Man made an indelible mark. Because he was drawn with indelible ink. I miss him.

Here are all five installments, in order of appearance.

* As noted in the strips themselves, artwork is by TheHappyCorp.com, which apparently is now defunct. I never knew who, exactly, drew the things—our art department handled that stuff—but I was always happy with the results.

GIANT magazine, October/November 2004, page 80

GIANT magazine, December/January 2005, page 86

GIANT magazine, February/March 2005, page 77

GIANT magazine, April/May 2005, page 129

GIANT magazine, June/July 2005, page 129