I’m sure there are plenty of successful animators on the net, but none spring to mind that have done as well as the creators of homestarrunner.com. Birthed around eight years ago by two brothers Matt and Mike Chapman, the site was just an outlet for practising theirflash animation skills.

Adelaide artist Nial O’Connor (a.k.a. Zeldz Magnoonis) left Australia four years ago to take his comic to the world. Now, on the eve of his return, Nial talks to Merge about the Adventures of Pepe through the luscious curves of the earth’s creation. How the beautiful game flows through his fingers and the importance of love.