Cardboard Tube Samurai is a character from the
webcomic Penny Arcade. He is a
samurai who, rather than using a
sword, fights with a
Cardboard tube.
Cardboard Tube Samurai (CTS) began in a particular strip in which the character Gabe found a cardboard tube which was to be thrown away. Gabe found it amzing that someone would throw this away, and began walking around hitting people with it. More strips followed, portraying Gabe with the tube, now named Cardboard Tube Samurai. These included an encounter with a Ninja hoarding the last issue of an X-Box magazine containing a very good demo disc, and a battle with the evil demon running the eating establishment Taco Hole, after his order was messed up.
Shortly after, CTS fever peaked. It had been in the news that the game Soul Caliber 2 was to include an exclusive character on each console it was released on. Penny Arcade ran a petition to see if they could get CTS as a character in the game. This was of course a joke, as there was no possible chance of it happening. To give some perspective here, I would like to point out that Earthbound is a video game with a cult following on the Internet larger than any game I have seen. The foremost Earthbound site has been running a petition to get another game in the series made. They have been attempting to get thirty thousand signatures for quite a while, and I do not think they have yet achieved it. After only a few days, the CTS petition had eleven thousand signatures.
Around this time, people called for CTS shirts, posters and other accessories to be made. A few wallpapers were released, and posters are in the making. They will be sold at a convention first, signed, for $17. Afterwards, they will be available online. Presumably, they will be posted out in a cardboard tube.
Update: A new series of comics is currently being released called "Cardboard and Steel". These tell the story of the Cardboard Tube Samurai, and his history. So far, the story is excellent, and so is the art. The comics are hand drawn by Gabe in a fantastic looking black and white pencil style. Also released is a new wallpaper, showing the first frame of one of the comics.
"Does anyone know how long he wandered?"