On November 3, 2014, Austin Light shared 31 drawings on Reddit imagining what popular movies—like Robocop and Pulp Fiction—would look like if they were missing one letter. Enter Obocop and Pup Fiction.

“The story of how a police officer works through his PTSD and adjusts to his new robotic implants with the help of the sexy soothing sound of his oboe.” (Austin Light) “Two mob hit dogs go after a poodle who wrote a slanderous op-ed about their boss.” (Austin Light)

On October 10, 2015, less than a year after his original post, Light spent his Saturday manning his own booth at New York Comic Con, selling out of every single copy of Movie Title Typos, his newly published book based on that original Reddit post.

He took a break from the fanfare to share the story behind his book, tease his next project, and address his fans who discovered him on Reddit.

Avid Letterman

Although he’s now famous for his drawings, the 31-year-old Charlotte, N.C. resident is quick to correct anyone who refers to him as an illustrator:

“I’ve always considered myself a writer more than an artist.”

A proud author posing with his new book. (Austin Light)

Light spent most of his professional life writing—but his other work is a far cry from Obocop.

“I was a newspaper reporter, a marketing person, and now I write advertising copy,” he explains.

Light even had a notable stint at TC (formerly Teenage Christian) magazine.

“I don’t even think it exists anymore,” he says with a laugh. (We checked: It does.) “Our biggest claim to fame there was when we interviewed some of the kids from High School Musical.”

While writing remained his primary source of work, drawing was simply “always something [he] loved to do”—until someone at his office encouraged him to share his talent online.

“I lurked on Reddit a couple of times, but I was always too intimidated to post anything.”

Experiment in Error

In early October 2014, a co-worker (who was “on Reddit all the time”) at Light’s advertising firm suggested that he illustrate ideas from the comments of a memorable post by Reddit user NostalgicX, who challenged users to think of “Movie Titles Minus 1 Letter.”

Comments on the post were filled with cleverly abridged titles:

Perhaps inspired by Reddit artists like Shitty Watercolour, Light spent the next month scouring the comments for movie ideas and illustrating scenes from the fictional films.

Scenes like this pivotal moment from Harry Otter:

“A young boy finds out who, and what, he is. Magic ensues.” (Austin Light)

And this tense exchange from Twilight: New Moo:

“A young man tries to win a girl’s heart with his new found bovine transformation skill. It doesn’t go his way.” (Austin Light)

At the end of the month, Light posted a gallery of all 31 drawings to Reddit and nervously waited to see users’ response.

“I was always intimidated by that community,” he confesses. “I have friends that are creative and have shared things on Reddit and they’ve gotten eviscerated. I really didn’t know how this was going to go.”

Soon, however, redditors upvoted the titillating typos to the front page, with praise aplenty in the comments:

The Passion of the Chris

Light remembers the morning of November 11, 2014, when he first realized that his Reddit post had gone viral, appearing on comedian Chris Hardwick’s Comedy Central show @midnight:

“I woke up and I had dozens and dozens of tweets saying, ‘Congratulations on @midnight!’ And I thought, ‘What is everyone talking about?’ So I’m literally standing in my kitchen, washing my younger son’s bottle for the day, and I had the episode of @midnight on my phone, streaming in front of me. I dropped the bottle when [my art] came on. I just couldn’t believe what I was looking at.”

Hardwick imitates Obocop in the November 10, 2014 episode of @midnight. (Austin Light)

As the post spread—aided by social media shares from celebs like Nick Offerman and Robert Downey, Jr.—Light decided to pitch a book-length version of the idea to Chronicle Books.

Recognizing the writer’s talent (and the massive online audience he captured), the publishers accepted. But there was a catch: They asked him if he could take Movie Title Typos from an idea to final, full-color draft in just eight months.

“I said yes, but immediately hung up the phone and said, ‘Holy crap. What did I just do?'” he laughs, recalling his initial panic. “At the time the book deal happened, our youngest son was only eight months old and still not sleeping through the night. I was up late drawing and also trying to get him to go back to sleep.”

“I drew on Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, and while my eight month old rolled all over the place. It was a grueling pace, but I can’t complain.” (Austin Light)

Field of Reams

Light finished the book before his eight-month deadline, but he had to cut several ideas to keep the draft to a manageable length. Some—like Jango Unchained, a Star Wars-inspired take on the Quentin Tarantino film—were ruled to be too obscure.

“I just took the silent ‘D’ off.” — Austin Light (austindlight.com)

His editor didn’t believe mainstream readers would understand the reference to Mandalorian bounty hunter Jango Fett. Fortunately, Light was able to recycle the idea by giving away free prints at Comic Con, the perfect audience for Star Wars puns.

Another movie that didn’t make the cut: Superad, inspired by the Judd Apatow comedy Superbad.

“It was the story of a couple of high school students getting in over their heads in the advertising world,” he explains. “That one never made it past the writing stage.”

Light offered these images as examples of ideas that did make it past the final cut:

Mr. Doubtfire

Light says he’s encouraged by the reception Movie Title Typos earned from Comic Con fans, many of whom remembered his 2014 Reddit post:

“I would say 80 percent at least—when they came up in the line—said, ‘I saw you on Reddit!’ That’s how almost every conversation started.”

Although some label Light as an overnight success, he notes that “Having a publishing career is something I’ve been working towards for the past several years of my life.”

Even with the new book, he’s sticking to his usual, busy routine: “I have a full-time job, I have an art career, and on my lunch breaks I drive over to [Winthrop University] to teach writing.”

For most writers, that schedule wouldn’t leave much room for creativity. But Light is already dreaming up his next project.

“I have a novel that I’ve written that I’d love to get published,” he shares. “And I’ve already written up a bunch of [music album] title typos.”

* * *

As a thank you to everyone in the community who shared his post last year, Light asked to append an animated gif to this article:

Austin Light

“I just cobbled it together this afternoon,” Light explains via email. “But the point of it is: I’d been rubbing sticks together for years. I saw a few sparks here and there, but progress was slow. Then the Reddit community came along with a match. And I’m forever grateful.”

Light’s book, Movie Title Typos, is available now from Chronicle Books.