this post was submitted on 10 May 2025
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[–] [email protected] 18 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

it was far more than an indie comic at the time, it rivalled penny arcade for readership. there was a convention and everything.

reading the preceding and following ten pages is insane tonal whiplash because the comic didn't tell coherent stories and it wasn't about to start just because there was a horrible, traumatic event written into it. also, there was no indication from tim at the time that it was connected to real-world events. that came later.

none of which, of course, is an excuse. however, the reaction to the comic was typical of fans at the time, and tim's reaction to the fans was more of the same. it passed into memehood not because of any connection to the artist's internal turmoil, but because of the very visible turmoil of the webcomic ripping itself apart from inside in an attempt to reestablish normalcy. it was crazy to witness.