The humble T-shirt isn’t just a piece of clothing.

It’s an artist’s canvas. It’s a fashion statement. And it’s an obsession of many on the Internet, where Web sites and bloggers such as the Shirt Snob and the Tcritic review the latest and greatest T-shirts.

“There’s a whole graphic T-shirt counterculture that exists,” said Michael Kwesell, chief marketing officer for Lucky Threadz (www.luckythreadz.com), a Colorado Springsbased Internet T-shirt business.

That community of T-shirt enthusiasts appears to have embraced Lucky Threadz, which launched at the start of the year. The company is on track to having more than $200,000 in sales by year’s end, Kwesell said.

“We’re in the black every single month,” he said.

Lucky Threadz’s shirts are mostly meant to amuse, typically through their graphics or a play on words — Mickey Mouse meeting a bloody end, for example, or a “Star Wars” shirt that reads “Abuse the Force.”

“We were racier at first,” Kwesell said, but added the focus has turned to shirts that are more clever than shocking. Probably the most popular shirt, he said, reads “Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die,” quoting the persistent swordsman played by Mandy Patinkin in the movie “The Princess Bride.”

“Lucky Threadz has done a good job of creating funny T-shirts that connect with various subcultures and cult followings,” said Karl Long, a San Francisco man who started Tcritic.com about a year ago and receives about 30,000 unique visitors to his site each month. Long, via e-mail, also praised Lucky Threadz for seeking out top designers, such as “superstar” T-shirt designer Tom Burns.

“We work with artists all over the world,” Kwesell said. Dozens of designs are submitted daily, he said, but most are rejected for being too raunchy or distasteful.

Lucky Threadz’s roots lie in a custom T-shirt business that Kwesell started as a college student in Missoula, Mont. After about a year and a half of making sales calls between classes and screen-printing T-shirts in a frigid garage, Kwesell teamed up with his sister, Rana Kwesell, and his pal Jake Seymour to form Lucky Threadz.

The three grew up in the Springs and decided to return here to run Lucky Threadz. Michael Kwesell packed his van with his printing equipment and drove to the Springs, while his sister and Seymour moved back from Chicago. Seymour was a Web developer there, and Rana Kwesell was a waitress. Now Seymour is the chief technology officer for Lucky Threadz, and Rana Kwesell is chief executive officer.

Working at Lucky Threadz’s nondescript offices on East Bijou Street, the three typically work 70-hour weeks, Michael Kwesell said. They have one full-time employee, who oversees production, and they bring in people to help with printing when needed.

“The hours in waitressing are better, but this is more rewarding for sure,” Rana Kwesell said.

Lucky Threadz uses a “just in time” manufacturing model, which means instead of having stacks of, for example, “Bwuce Wee” shirts printed and waiting for shipment, it waits until orders come in. The only inventory Lucky Threadz keeps on hand is the blank shirts, manufactured by American Apparel in California.

All phases, including printing the shirts, are done inhouse except for bigger bulk orders, which are printed elsewhere. One thing the company prides itself on is its nimbleness, Michael Kwesell said.

“A graphic designer in Japan can e-mail us a design and, if we consider it a marketable item that fits the Lucky Threadz brand, we can have it live on our Web site, fully implemented into our production system, and be selling the item the world over within about an hour,” he said.

One of Michael Kwesell’s jobs is seeking wholesale accounts with retail outlets. Lucky Threadz recently acquired its first national account with Urban Outfitters, which according to its Web site targets “well-educated, urbanminded young adults.” It’s the company all T-shirt businesses such as Lucky Threadz aspire to, Kwesell said.

Success that is too mainstream could hurt Lucky Threadz’s edgy appeal, he said: “If we were to get into Wal-Mart or Target, it would almost do more harm than good.”

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0272 or bill.radford@gazette.com

T-SHIRT FAVES

We asked the three behind Lucky Threadz what their favorite T-shirts are.

Rana Kwesell, chief executive officer: Lucky Threadz’s “Clash of the Titans” shirt, showing Chuck Norris and Mr. T embracing. “I wear it with pride,” she said.

Jake Seymour, chief technology officer: “The wolf shirt, hands down,” he said, referring to a shirt on which a wolf laments, “Dude, wolf shirts are totally lame.”

Michael Kwesell, chief marketing officer: “I don’t even have time to be aware of what’s on my body.”