Matthew Inman

Matthew Inman, the Seattle-based webcomic artist better known as The Oatmeal, has raised more than $100,000 to fight cancer and support wildlife in less than a day, after receiving a demand to pay $20,000 or face a defamation lawsuit from a lawyer for FunnyJunk.com.

Yes, you read that right. Here’s the background: The dispute dates back a year, when Inman called out FunnyJunk for reposting large amounts of his work without credit or permission.

This week, Inman posted a letter he received from a lawyer for FunnyJunk saying that Inman’s post on the topic amounted to defamation. Inman has posted a hilarious annotated version of the letter, in the style of one of his comics.

But rather than simply refusing to pay the money, Inman announced an online campaign to raise $20,000 — promising to take a picture of the money and send it to the lawyer along with a drawing of the lawyer’s mom “seducing a Kodiak bear,” and then donate the money to the American Cancer Society and the National Wildlife Federation.

To call the philanthropic initiative a success would be an understatement. So far the “BearLove Good. Cancer Bad” campaign has raised $109,000 on the indiegogo fundraising site. The number is rising quickly — and there are 15 days left to go.

Photo of Matthew Inman by Randy Stewart via Flickr.

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