How 'PAX' went from webcomics to massive gaming conventions

How PAX changed the world through webcomics

PAX West is back for its 20th anniversary, but how did the biggest gaming convention in the U.S. start from just a webcomic?

SEATTLE - This weekend, tens of thousands of people are expected to flock to downtown Seattle for the video game convention PAX West.

However, many don’t know the humble origins of the massive event, which started as an online comic.

"The ‘P’ and the ‘A’ in PAX stands for Penny Arcade, and I’ve always liked that. I think that’s like, I think that’s a secret lore," said Jerry Holkins.

In the late 90s, Holkins and co-creator Mike Krahulik dreamed up the world of Penny Arcade. A groundbreaking series at the time, as one of the first major webcomics.

Holkins, the writer, and Krahulik, the artist, focused their content on their mutual love of video games.

The two produced the online comic series while in their Spokane apartment before relocating to the Seattle area. For Holkins, it was a return home to western Washington, as he grew up in South King County and Pierce County.

In 2004, the duo discovered there was a demand for their online comic to host an IRL (in real life) event. The first ever PAX (Penny Arcade Expo) hosted hundreds of fans of their comic and of video games at the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue.

Twenty years later, things changed.

This year, PAX West is celebrating its 20th Anniversary. The convention expects tens of thousands of people in attendance on each of the four days of the event.

"Just how weird it is that two introverts, we don’t want to be observed. We don’t want to be seen, but somehow, like, one of the things that resulted out of all this was a convention where lots of people are going to be there all the time," said Holkins.

Penny Arcade now has several global events, including PAX West (Seattle), PAX East (Boston), PAX Unplugged (Philadelphia) and PAX Australia.

Holkins and Krahulik also created a charity for children.

The Child’s Play Charity was created in 2003 in response to reports that video games and gamers had no positive impact.

Since the creation of Child’s Play in the early 2000s, the charity has raised nearly $60 million dollars and put video games into nearly 200 hospitals across the world, providing therapeutic and fun distractions for sick children.

"The notoriety of that project (Penny Arcade) allowed us to found a children’s charity and a global series of gaming conventions, but the comic strip is still something I do several times a week with my best friend and for us, that’s still the core of it. But I think these other things, and we knew this instantly, basically, these other things have surpassed it," said Holkins.

PAX West is happening all weekend, and tickets are still available. For more information, you can visit the PAX West website.

Also, Penny Arcade posts new webcomics weekly. To catch up on the latest in video game related comedy, click here. The comics are NSFW.