Richard Stevens' Diesel Sweeties, which began in 2000, adhered to the aesthetic with original characters. Its creator, Robert Anez, was called 'the father of sprite comics' by Brian Clevinger (creator of the Eisner-nominated Atomic Robo), who also had a popular sprite comic: 8-Bit Theater (2001-2010), which followed adventurers on quests in the Final Fantasy universe. Often getting credit for being the first to popularize the sprite comic, Bob and George (2000-2007) told stories within the Mega Man universe. Kind of like combining chocolate and peanut butter. With early webcomics gaining a big fandom among the gamer crowds, combining sprites with webcomics is a completely natural development. Who doesn't want plushies of the various squat, big-eyed avatars of the 8-bit era? For that reason, sprites flourish among indie gaming companies and app games, such as the charmingly retro sims from Kairosoft. Other times, it's a combination of nostalgia and programming efficiency. The style reminds people of a large chunk of their childhood spent wiggling joysticks or pressing buttons in their living rooms. A lot of it is deeply rooted in nostalgia, as when Community aired an episode in which the characters are sprites in an '80s-style RPG. The aesthetic itself has evolved and flourished in a variety of media. The sprite comic uses aesthetics from the early generations of video games, an era spanning the rise of Pac-Man and Donkey Kong to the video game crash of 1983 to the rebirth under Mario and Mega Man once Nintendo came to dominate the market. If you've ever done a random browse of webcomics over the past decade, chances are you ran into a sprite comic.

Megaman sprite game creator