The creators of HomestarRunner.com are Mike and Matt Chapman, known affectionately as The Brothers Chaps. Their cartoons are generally family-safe, yet very clever and amusing for all ages, and seem predominantly geared towards a college audience. Characteristic of their cartoons is a marked satire of both popular and "indie" culture, poking light-hearted mirth at movie and music genres, classic video games and technology, children's television programming and toys, among many other things.

HomestarRunner.com, started in January 2000, has become one of the largest, most popular flash animation websites on the internet. Its ever growing cast of characters (most prominently Homestar, Strongbad, and The Cheat) star in a wide variety of cartoons and games. Among these, the Strongbad Emails have probably garnered the website most of its popularity.