Theater Hopper is a semi-autobiographical webcomic based on the escapades of characterized versions of author Tom Brazelton, his wife Cami, and buddy Jared, as they discuss, attend, and purchase films.

Brazelton covers the cost of running the site through advertising and selling physical books of Theater Hopper strips.

Brazelton created DMMO to practice web design and enhance his heavily print media-based skill set; the site lasted about a year and a half, closing when it became too involved and intense for him to continue running solo.

Looking for a new web project to further expand his repertoire of skills, Brazelton found Penny Arcade comics being run in The Official Playstation Magazine; Penny Arcade led him to PvP, and it was while reading these that Brazelton realized his interest in doing the same:[1][2][14] "Webcomics were the perfect way to blend my interest in storytelling, illustration and web design.

"[14] Considering himself to be equally interested in music as he is film, Brazelton eschewed a music-interest based comic so as not to re-tread the paths beaten by web cartoonists Mitch Clem and Jeph Jacques.

[15] This shortcut also hamstrings Brazelton's potential for development; he cannot reveal too much back story of the characters out of concern for their counterparts' privacy, yet he can't make something up because readers will attribute the fiction to the real person.

[2][3] Brazelton has gone on record saying his young son, Henry, will not be joining the comic strip because of the limitations it would put on his and his wife's characters to be responsible and parental.

[6] Brazelton began introducing more recurring characters in the strip's third year (Jimmy & Charlie) in an effort to emulate Jeph Jacques' success with Questionable Content.

He backed away from converting the theme of the entire strip when some alienated fans complained, and Brazelton felt as though he were abandoning his roots.

COMIXtalk's Xaviar Xerexes described Theater Hopper as straddling the fence between two other popular film-based webcomics, Joe Loves Crappy Movies (a movie review in comic form), and Multiplex (a serialized, character-driven story); Xerexes likened Theater Hopper more to Penny Arcade or VG Cats as opposed to PvP or Questionable Content.

"[2] Conceding his writing as the weakest point of Theater Hopper in 2006, Brazelton noted his tendency to be overly verbose, and how it was detrimental to his four-panel formatting and a difficult obstacle to overcome.

[14] Enjoying the writing of "Mamet, Sorkin, Whedon [and] Allen", Brazelton also feels the bizarre dry humor of Berkeley Breathed is a good match for his own sentiments.

[1][2][8] Though he was originally careful to analyze a topic from all sides before penning a script, he now eschews the pretense in favor of writing his "hard line" opinion and sticking with that.

[25] In 2007, after the birth of his first child, the site occasionally replaced thrice-weekly comics with movie reviews while the Brazelton family adjusted to change and considered the future of Theater Hopper.

He was more successful when he began selling t-shirts and posters featuring his comic, but it was still insufficient to cover Theater Hopper's costs.