One day, a hundred or two thousand years ago, some early humans were hanging out, digesting the roots and berries that they had gathered that day. One of the humans, (my guess) a female, began to idly stir a stick in the dirt in a circular direction. When she saw what she had done, she drew another circle and another and another. She showed the others what she had created and humans have been ripping her off ever since.

"If you're not promoting or incorporating some kind of cartoon content on your adult site, you're missing out on one of the biggest phenomenons the Internet has to offer. Toons are almost as big on the web as porn."

Line drawing is as basic to collective human memory as are hand gestures. Ancient cave paintings prove that. Weren’t these renderings of bulls and stick-figure warriors, nothing more than really old cartoons? Isn’t cartooning the OG art form? I say, hell yeah.

Some thousands of years later, there were civilized humans called artists. Some of these artists got paid to sculpt or paint for kings and rich people. Materials like canvas, paint and stone have always been costly, especially when wasted. Artists adopted the practice of drawing a lined sketch of an intended project. Full-sized sketches or 'cartones' were particularly helpful to those painting frescos or designing tapestries. Students of painting and sculpture learned quick study sketching as part of a curriculum. The 'cartone' was considered a step in the progression towards an end result.

The ironic part is that despite the historical/archeological pedigree, cartoons have always been deemed less than great when it comes to artistic merit. The term 'cartoonist' came into the vernacular barely a hundred years ago. It would be late in the twentieth century before cartooning would gain a reputation as a legitimate form of art.

When the printing press finally took hold, publishers suddenly needed artists that could turn their talents to the quick study. Newspapers and catalogs favored toons because they could be drawn quickly and they looked good in print. Advertisers loved toons because customers loved them. Kids liked toons because children naturally relate to primal forms of communication. Cartooning was a way to present ideas that reflected current events, usually with humor and on a mass- produced scale. Cartoons were a free form of expression during the height of the dismal industrial age. Political cartooning gained a foothold with artists like Thomas Nast who were able to speak truth to power without words. Children of the industrial age and the depression were able to escape reality in the pages of comic books and panels printed on newsprint. Cartoons were disposable art that served a disposable service: instant gratification.

Oh sure, we saw cartoon work in advertising, product packaging and Saturday morning programming. There are animated cartoons dating back to the 1910’s. Walt Disney produced the first full-length animated film by 1939. Comic book publishers like Marvel and D.C. achieved prominence in the 1940’s- 50’s. Hanna-Barbara proved that toons can star in prime time with "The Flintstones". Just the same, while cartoonists and animators garnered fans among the public, they had to fight for respect within their own realm. Art critics and tastemakers refused to take tooning seriously. Sometime during the latter half of the twentieth century the public won out and Toons have taken over...

If you’re not promoting or incorporating some kind of cartoon content on your adult site, you’re missing out on one of the biggest phenomenons the Internet has to offer. When I say biggest, I mean biggest. Toons are almost as big on the web as porn. To prove my point let me give you the results of these keyword searches on Google:

Cartoon porn = 3,190,000

Anime porn = 3,260,000

Erotic toons = 1,570,000

Hentai = 29,200,000

Cyberspace contains tens of thousands of fan sites, message boards, newsgroups, online communities, virtual gaming communities and homepages dedicated to cartoons, animation and anime, anime, anime. The Internet has helped to validate cartoons more than any other venue.

When the web was new, processors were slow, monitor resolutions were low and modems literally crawled. During the infancy of the web, nobody hesitated to download toons because they looked good and opened promptly.

Toon content is massively popular today because it found a receptive audience looking for entertainment in an exploding new medium. If you have been paying attention for the last ten years then you already know that the toon market is insanely large.

In part two, I will explain the differences in toon content and audiences. I’ll cover Cartoons vs. Anime. Anime vs. Hentai. I’ll write about successful sites, sponsor programs and content providers that deal in this widespread niche. I’ll give you my thoughts on the future for this late-blooming, yet ultimately ancient art form.

Toons are taking over. Will you be ready?