Who or what is Joe the Circle?
Joe the Circle is a science fiction comic about a disgruntled, sarcastic circle who travels around the universe with a triangle, a Boobian, and a flying fish who frequently hallucinates but can occasionally hear the future.

Fig. a: A typical interlude in the adventures of Joe the Circle

What does Joe do?
Joe has adventures with an assortment of companions, who strive vainly to undo the damage Joe causes during said adventures. Sometimes Joe serves the greater good as an unintended consequence of impulsive, self-serving plans. The typical Joe adventures follows the pattern: crisis, call-to-action, series-of-horrible-screwups, departure-from-planet-in-a-hurry.

Why does this art look this crude?
This is about how well the cartoonist can draw. Note that the issues drawn when he was in college look the same as the issues from twenty years later.

There are like a zillion back issues. Where do I start reading?
The good news is that since Joe as a character doesn’t really mature or evolve, you can jump in almost anywhere. That said, we think JTC Series Ten is a decent starting point. Feel free to move forward from there, or read prior series.

How does Joe carry things? He’s got no arms.
Joe’s race has a limited form of telekinesis that allows him to pick up objects in proximity. (Joe would look stupid with arms.)

What the hell is Bob supposed to be?
This is a difficult question to answer, on account of nobody here having a very clear idea.

Do you realize that in the time since the last issue I could have completed a four year college degree twice?
I’ll bet you didn’t though. So let’s not hastily criticize other people’s productivity.

Is Joe really social commentary on
No.

How did this comic start?
Joe evolved from crude scribbles on the cartoonist’s notebook divider in eighth grade to crude scribbles in the pages of Carnegie Mellon’s student newsletter to crude scribbles on the web. Some of the character designs were created by Mike’s friend Amit, who at one point was the entire readership.

Why isn’t there a Joe the Circle theme song? Isn’t the cartoonist a composer?
He is a composer for hire, which makes writing a song for his own zero-budget comic problematic. Perhaps if enough Joe fans request it, the cartoonist will be goaded into writing one.

Why does this website look like it was designed in 2006 and has never been updated since?
Some questions contain their own answers.

How can I get in touch with Team Joe?
Drop us a line via this page. We advise keeping your expectations in check. We’re tired.

Should I fervidly tell all my friends about this site? Preferably to the exclusion of all other activity.