HoboTrashcan Turns Eleven

hobotrashcanturns11

On August 23, 2005, HoboTrashcan burst onto the Internet like an adorable, bad ass girl with a shaved head and the ability to mess you up with her mind. In honor of the site turning 11, we look back at 11 of our favorite moments …

11. Getting to Know … Bane
To help prepare fans for the release of The Dark Knight Rises, we tracked down the writer and artist who created Bane to reveal how the villain came to be. In addition to interviews with some comic book greats, this piece features some really fantastic original artwork, including a Graham Nolan sketch of Bane wielding a hobo trash can.

10. Hobo Radio – Star Wars: Remorse Awakens

This Hobo Radio promotional video imagined what would happen if Joel Murphy and Lars Periwinkle got working lightsabers … and Molly Regan was there to egg them both on.

9. Overrated – Bob Dylan
When Ned Bitters wrote a column saying that people don’t actually like Bob Dylan’s music, they just pretend to like it to seem sophisticated, it opened the floodgates. Dylan supporters flocked to the site to take umbrage with Bitters’ claim. Whether you are pro-Dylan or anti-Dylan, the entire debate is highly entertaining to read.

8. One on One with Billy West, Pt. I & II
Any time you get a chance to talk to iconic voice actor Billy West, it’s going to be entertaining. From working with Howard Stern to making all of your favorite Futurama characters come alive, West had had an eclectic career. But it is his candid discussion of his battle with depression, drugs and alcohol that make this interview truly memorable.

7. Bacon and Legs – Hobo Stu’s Hobo Stew: An Anniversary Special
Three years ago, Fontina Turner shared this recipe to help celebrate the site’s eighth anniversary. You may argue that including a tribute to the site on a list of the best moments over the past 11 years is overly self-congratulatory, but to that we say, shut up!

6. Positive Cynicism – Steven Spielberg’s entire career in one word
Aaron R. Davis’ friend Harlan came up with the following theory while watching Steven Spielberg’s films: “Penis symbolism is everywhere. Spielberg is terrified of not being able to measure up, so it’s all about either conquering it or mastering it. And that’s it.” Davis applies this theory to wide variety of Spielberg’s films in this fantastic column.

5. Murphy’s Law – In which I attack a nationally-syndicated movie critic
Joel Murphy reached out to a nationally-syndicated movie critic asking for some advice. The response he got back was an angry tirade. So Murphy decided to devote an entire column to tearing film critic Roger Moore apart. The column itself is great, as are the comments from readers, but the best part is that Moore himself was actually foolish enough to comment.

4. Hanging Around … Archer Live!
For the final stop of their four-city tour in 2013, the cast of FX’s Archer made their way to Irving Plaza in New York City. The live show featured readings of episodes from the cast members, plenty of teasers from the upcoming fourth season (including hints at their plans for Bob’s Burgers and Sealab 2021 crossovers) and lots of fan interaction. We were there with a complete breakdown of and photos from the live show.

3. Poppin’ Molly’s Handy Guide to Navigating Your Facebook Page in the Midst of the Baltimore Riots
In 2015, riots broke out in Baltimore after Freddie Gray died in police custody. Molly Regan was able to write about the riots – and people’s reaction to them – with grace. When most news outlets were making sweeping assumptions and generalizations, this piece by a longtime Baltimore resident was a welcome counterpoint.

2. Hobo Radio Cafe – Kevin Conroy’s thoughts on Batman’s voice

For Joel Murphy, getting to interview Kevin Conroy, the voice of Batman, was a childhood dream come true. Thanks to this Hobo Radio Cafe animation, we can see the interview the way it played out in Joel’s head, with him sitting across the table from Batman shooting the breeze. (If you click the link above, you can also listen to the entire Kevin Conroy interview.)

1. One on One with Michael K. Williams
When HoboTrashcan launched in 2005, it featured this interview with Michael K. Williams, who at the time was playing Omar on The Wire. This interview set the tone for every interview to follow and helped legitimize the site. Eleven years later, as Michael K. Williams continues to do amazing work, now on The Night Of, it’s still one of our crowning achievements.

It’s been an amazing 11 years. And as long as none of our contributors get sucked into the Upside Down, we look forward to at least 11 more.

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