Infertitle Zone

Stephen Hillenburg made The Intertidal Zone in the mid-1980s to teach children about different sea creatures. He worked as a marine science educator at the Ocean Institute in Dana Point, California. While working on Rocko's Modern Life, Martin Olson found pages from the book and liked them. He suggested that Hillenburg develop The Intertidal Zone into an animated series, which became SpongeBoy Ahoy! (later retitled SpongeBob SquarePants).

Hillenburg was interviewed about the book for SpongeBob Comics No. 1. He said, "I drew it while teaching at what is now called the Ocean Institute, to help explain the life of organisms living in tide pools along the Southern California coast in an entertaining way." He named Robert Crumb and Paul Driessen as influences on the visual style of the comics.

The full comic was considered lost media for several years until April 21, 2024 when it was revealed by artist Chris McCord on his Twitter account that he got it from his friend.[1][2] A few days later on April 24, 2024, he published the entire comic for viewing on Internet Archive.[3] Format

The book was co-hosted by two sea creatures: a shrimp named Rocky and Bob the Sponge, a very early version of SpongeBob. Each issue featured ocean facts and illustrations of tide pool creatures. Starfish, snails, scallops, and anemones were some of the sea creatures that appeared.