eFront sponsored many popular websites such as Something Awful and ran banner ads on all of them and paid webmasters for clicks. The primary source of revenue & server space for Penny Arcade was provided by a company called eFront. Eventually, after growing a fanbase on the internet, it became one of the heavy hitters in the webcomic scene. While doing their strip as a hobby, they tried to get their comic strip into Next Generation Magazine, who passed on them.

This is the explanation as to why the real Gabe & Tycho look nothing like their webcomic counterparts.

The creators found that they were projecting their personalities onto a character, and (legend has it) decided that one would be Tycho and one would be Gabe. In 1999, the characters were changed to Jack and John, but those names didn't appear to last. Mike chose John Gabriel, due to his interest in angel lore. Jerry chose Tycho Brahe, named after a slightly weird but famous astronomer. Jerry & Mike, however, took up internet screen names. Jerry & Mike both went to highschool with each other, and drew comics as 'sort of a hobby' in between their jobs to support their apartment & games. Penny Arcade started in 1998 with a much different art style.

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