Brad Neely is an American comic book artist and television writer/producer known for his work on television series such as South Park, China, IL, and Brad Neely's Harg Nallin' Sclopio Peepio; the web series I Am Baby Cakes and The Professor Brothers; and Wizard People, Dear Reader.
Neely's work includes the comic series "Creased Comics" and the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone spoof Wizard People, Dear Reader, which consists of an alternate soundtrack of narration in the style of a book on tape, which viewers can play over the muted movie. Neely is featured in the documentary We Are Wizards. Neely is the creator of the cartoon Cox & Combes' Washington. Aside from occasional one-off videos, he has also created three series: I Am Baby Cakes, The Professor Brothers, and China, IL, all of which take place in the fictional location of China, Illinois. Baby Cakes shorts are typically in the style of diary entries narrated in the first person by Mark "Baby" Cakes, a philosophical and possibly mentally ill 30-year-old man. The Professor Brothers follows the professional and personal misadventures of Frank and Steve Smith, two brothers who are professors at a local community college whose mascot is a panda bear. China, IL interweaves the two other stories, as Baby Cakes falls in love with Frank's recently dead girlfriend after finding her diary, and the two men attempt to come to terms with their emotional pain upon learning of her death. Neely worked on a comedy novel about the Civil War, but when asked about it at an event at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, Texas, said, "I realized about 500 pages in that it wasn't that funny", and said that he is no longer planning on releasing the book. However, during a November 2013 Q&A session on Reddit, he said, "I work on this book every day. It's become a problem." He has also produced America Now, a 12-part series of 30-second musical shorts for Adult Swim, which was made available on the station's website. Neely was a consultant on the animated seriesSouth Park for the second half of its eleventh season. On May 5, 2008, Super Deluxe began releasing a four-part mini-series by Neely entitled China, IL. The site published an installment once a week, culminating on May 25 with a broadcast of the entire series as one 11-minute episode on Adult Swim. The show is the first original Brad Neely work to be shown on television. On May 23, 2011, Adult Swim announced that China, IL would be one of the new full-length premieres for the fall line-up with Neely having creative and executive producer credits. The first episode was broadcast on October 2, 2011, on Adult Swim. The last, "Magical Pet", aired June 14, 2015. His second series for the network, Brad Neely's Harg Nallin' Sclopio Peepio, was announced in May 2015. In January 2020 it was reported that CBS All Access had ordered an animated comedy series titled ‘The Harper House’ developed by Neely and Katie Krentz.
