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I remember being seventeen and on High School March Break, refreshing the gently caress out of the site during the daily updates of the Great Outdoor Fight's climax. I remember when the alt text for one strip was Onstad caps-yelling at people for ruining his bandwidth, and I was happy it was so popular. I remember wondering the site crash was due to an influx of new readers (!!who wouldn't -get- why the GOF was so cool, because they didn't know the characters at all!!), or solely because of the sore-wristed adulation of the established fans. That arc demonstrated how good of a writer Onstad is when he's motivated. It was both funny and badass, while seemingly eschewing all of the tropes and cliches that works saddled by those adjectives use as crutches. It provided relevant characterization while establishing a continuity. Best of all, it was daily, with the occasional couple-day break taken between the storyline's big beats, the author possessing complete understanding of Joe Internet's ephemeral attention span. It's sad to see such an exemplary webcomic go out like this; the store non-functioning, updates sporadic, and storylines discarded. It's worse than the final months of Perry Bible Fellowship, because not only was that strip gag-a-day, it provided a satisfying and appropriate conclusion. Not to say that there's a dearth of funny comics on the Internet, but they all seem so limited in comparison to Achewood. Wacky skull-and-nerd related non-sequitur? Historical figures behaving in contemporary fashion? Flowcharts and cock jokes? Achewood did it, and then moved on a few weeks later. It should just end. Like an aging, bigoted celebrity, every year it continues to exist tarnishes the brilliance it demonstrated earlier in its lifespan. Here's to ten years of Achewood. *grabs dicksack*
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Jan 4, 2011 22:45
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Guava posted:It hurts me when I go to that site every day and there's no update, but I don't really think that I have the right to complain since I pay nothing for Achewood and there aren't even ads on the site (are there?). As much as I desperately want the old M-F schedule to come back it's not like I'm gonna go "HEY! ONSTAD! I DEMAND THAT YOU ENTERTAIN ME EVERY DAY, FOR FREE!!!" It's true that Onstad doesn't owe his fans anything, but then it's a two edged sword: his fans don't owe him anything either. If he's not going to update for almost a month at a time, there's nothing compelling people to continue checking the site. Eventually people will stop buying the books and paying for the fan flow content. It already looks like the store has evaporated into the aether, along with several pending orders people had already paid for.
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Jan 4, 2011 22:50
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I'm all for Achewood quitting when it's past its prime. The only thing is...when Achewood deigns to update, it's still great (usually- I wasn't digging Lash of Thanatos). There have been (kinda) recent strips that made me tear up and laugh at the same time. I'll take one of those every couple months over nothing at all.
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Jan 4, 2011 22:55
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MizuZero posted:every year it continues to exist tarnishes the brilliance it demonstrated earlier in its lifespan. But it's still just as good as it ever was, there are just less strips at the moment. The quality hasn't diminished in the slightest (in my opinion, obviously).
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Jan 4, 2011 23:00
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Guava posted:I'm all for Achewood quitting when it's past its prime. The only thing is...when Achewood deigns to update, it's still great (usually- I wasn't digging Lash of Thanatos). There have been (kinda) recent strips that made me tear up and laugh at the same time. I'll take one of those every couple months over nothing at all. That's the thing, though. There comes a time where we're all "oh god why won't he update anymore SCREW ACHEWOOD I'M OUT" but then he updates with a hysterical, beautiful, incredibly clever and likeable comic and everything is forgiven, until a month later where the cycle begins anew.
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Jan 4, 2011 23:03
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Calaveron posted:That's the thing, though. There comes a time where we're all "oh god why won't he stop hitting me SCREW HIM I'M OUT" but then he takes me out to a dinner show with a hysterical, beautiful, incredibly clever and likeable comic and everything is forgiven, until a month later where the cycle begins anew. Slight changes to the above and there it is: ladies and gentlemen, we are in an abusive relationship 
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Jan 4, 2011 23:17
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McGravin posted:It already looks like the store has evaporated into the aether, along with several pending orders people had already paid for. Were people actually charged for those orders? I hadn't heard one way or the other. That's kind of bad if they were. It does seem like now would be a good time for him to move into prose or long-form stuff, Achewood-related or not. If I counted right he put out 55 strips in 2010, which isn't really that bad considering their relative size and complexity, and all his parallel projects (though he used to do more of those while also putting out more strips, I can't fault the man for not being superhuman and possibly having Circumstances). It might be more satisfying to the fans and less worrying to his reputation if he released one fat book every year or two. The abrupt ending of the Nice Pete storyline might have been assessed a little differently if we had first read it in a Dark Horse collection. "Holy poo poo David Lynch awesome" or "I didn't care for that part" instead of people asking if it's really over for two months and then declaring him creatively bankrupt when they realize that it's really over. Can't blame him for wanting to let the work speak for itself and not putting too much of himself out there, but that style of misdirection and unpredictability (you might call it self indulgence or just running out of ideas) is usually reserved for novelists and auteur filmmakers (like David Lynch) for a reason.
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Jan 4, 2011 23:29
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csammis posted:Slight changes to the above and there it is: ladies and gentlemen, we are in an abusive relationship
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Jan 4, 2011 23:41
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McGravin posted:I'm sorry, but that's stupid. Let's not blow this out of proportion. Not drawing a comic strip is not the same thing as beating your wife, and it's very dumb of you to try to put those things on the same level. There are other problems with your analogy, but let's just leave it at that big one. Preeeetty sure he was joking and you took that weirdly seriously. McGravin, you should probably consider leaving your husband.
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Jan 4, 2011 23:45
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I like the shirt his avatar is wearing what do we call that kind of shirt again?
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Jan 4, 2011 23:47
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Guava posted:Preeeetty sure he was joking and you took that weirdly seriously. McGravin, you should probably consider leaving your husband. Ha ha, spousal abuse! Let's make more hilarious jokes! What's next, rape? Chris Onstad is raping us by not giving us webcomics! It was a loving terrible joke, and nobody should be making it.
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Jan 4, 2011 23:48
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Jerusalem posted:But it's still just as good as it ever was, there are just less strips at the moment. The quality hasn't diminished in the slightest (in my opinion, obviously). I was a little hyperbolic. It hasn't declined in quality; the art is nice, and every once in a while there is a turn of phrase that really sticks to the consciousness (For example, the other day I woke up thinking "Restroom Eyes gets his way"), but it has reduced in both frequency and originality (though the latter is subjective). Earlier, I praised Achewood for its effortless shifts in tone and composition, with each sequence of strips either contributing to continuity, developing a character, or just being hilariously crass. Lately, it seems as if the strip has stagnated. I know that it's difficult for a work to remain innovative over a decade, but I've felt as if I've laughed at the exact same gently caress you Friday or Roomba Theatre or Depressed Beef jokes before, while the direct David Lynch cameo came off as contrived. There -was- one engaging storyline last year, but it was summarily abandoned. All of this is made worse by the infrequency of the updates. If Achewood hadn't been excellent before, I wouldn't hold it to such a high artistic standard now. As it is, the current state of affairs undermines the legacy of the comic. Onstad should end the strip, and whenever he's got new material, he should blog it or get it published effortlessly in any number of venues. Right now, everything just comes off as lazy.
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Jan 4, 2011 23:49
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McGravin posted:Ha ha, spousal abuse! Let's make more hilarious jokes! What's next, rape? Chris Onstad is raping us by not giving us webcomics! http://achewood.com/index.php?date=03192007 I see you paid close attention to the bottom right corner.
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Jan 4, 2011 23:54
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Man, this thread. Please don't fight, guys! I've been reading Achewood since I was 15 (jeez really) and for a lot of dumb reasons it ended up being a very important comic to me personally. It's the sort of story I'll tell Onstad in person or an an email, if I ever hit that point in my life where I feel the need to sincerely express my gratitude toward People Who Did Me Solids (Even the Ones Who Didn't Know It). Anyway, my point is, in looking back on my relationship with Achewood I realize I've changed a lot, and so has the comic. But it was a good run, and it's not necessarily a great tragedy if we part ways. I still have Achewood in my RSS reader, and it will only be removed if Onstad finally comes out and says the show's over. Still, I'm not going to be too torn up if the comic does end -- though it is sad to end like this. If it needs to be put to bed I'd like to see it sleep easily. So if Achewood does sign off, I'll mentally rearrange the archives so it happens right about here, or the comic after. A clean exit makes for less baggage, indeed. The little otter is learning about life, and who his friends are, and that they will always be waiting for him.
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Jan 5, 2011 00:26
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H.P. Shivcraft posted:A clean exit makes for less baggage, indeed. I forgot that this arc was last year. I agree with this post 100% edit: except for the sappy personal poo poo, grow a pair you janey
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Jan 5, 2011 00:42
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McGravin posted:Ha ha, spousal abuse! Let's make more hilarious jokes! What's next, rape? Chris Onstad is raping us by not giving us webcomics! you caught your wife loving the mailman you threw her down a flight off stairs your son came home with 4 d's and an f you kicked him in the balls and in the face if i was a cop, called to your house i'd congratulate you for beating your spouse i'd shake your hand for beating your son if he was my son, i'd take out my gun domestic violence is really really really funny domestic violence is really really really funny domestic violence is really really really funny
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Jan 5, 2011 01:39
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What is he doing with the book that makes it eat all his time? Isn't it just a collection of previous strips?
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Jan 5, 2011 02:31
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Sigma-X posted:What is he doing with the book that makes it eat all his time? Isn't it just a collection of previous strips? Are you talking about the Dark Horse collections? He writes up commentary for each individual strip and writes up large sections of in-character articles/interviews/backstory to add in to the start and end of the books. I have no idea if that is responsible for the current irregular updates or not but the books certainly aren't just a bundled up collection of previous strips.
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Jan 5, 2011 02:37
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Happy Hippo posted:There's a huge difference between nerd-raging that we aren't getting tons of free content and realizing that Onstad doesn't care enough about the fans to offer any sort of an explanation as to why the schedule has slowed to the point of a crawl. This sort of thing seems common with comics artists for some reason. There's probably been a dozen comics that the creator disappears for 2 years, and then they come back and find it surprising that people were annoyed when they were left hanging that whole time.
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Jan 5, 2011 04:17
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McGravin posted:Ha ha, spousal abuse! Let's make more hilarious jokes! What's next, rape? Chris Onstad is raping us by not giving us webcomics! Lighten up, Francis.
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Jan 5, 2011 04:20
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Bloody Hedgehog posted:Lighten up, Francis. Let's hope he never sees the CAD mock thread.
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Jan 5, 2011 04:41
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Has anyone archived all of the Achewood strips?
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Jan 5, 2011 08:25
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Johnny Aztec posted:Let's hope he never sees the CAD mock thread. Or the Dominic Deegan thread.
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Jan 5, 2011 11:59
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I hate to rag on the guy, and I'm sure he has good reasons to not be updating, but it would probably behoove him to actually make like an official hiatus announcement, and have plenty of new content lined up for when he comes back? It would at least be less frustrating than being left wondering, is all.
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Jan 5, 2011 13:45
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Young Freud posted:Or the Dominic Deegan thread. Or jokes in general Like this one about Circumstances 
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Jan 5, 2011 15:16
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Whatever. I love achewood, but it's a webcomic. When it shows up in Google Reader, it's awesome. When a book is for sale, it's awesome. If it's not there, my life moves on accordingly. I'd rather have one good comic a month where he puts his heart into than three a week if he's not into it. That said, I didn't renew my fanflow subscription because of the downturn in content. That's pay, though - stakes are higher.
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Jan 5, 2011 17:36
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H O TAFT posted:Were people actually charged for those orders? I hadn't heard one way or the other. That's kind of bad if they were. For anyone else who has an unfulfilled order from the store, the only support link I can find in my receipt e-mail goes to the now-defunct AchewoodShop.com. I did, however, inquire about this order back in September, and the reply came from an address at Amplifier.com, which appears to be the company that handles the store. They have a support page that I'm going to use to ask about canceling my order. This will probably be faster than trying to e-mail Onstad directly.
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Jan 5, 2011 17:58
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csammis posted:Or jokes in general That comic tells me that Ray was definitely an rear end man(boy) back then. J cups are definitely real.
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Jan 5, 2011 18:24
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McGravin posted:Ha ha, spousal abuse! Let's make more hilarious jokes! What's next, rape? Chris Onstad is raping us by not giving us webcomics! Real life Pat Reynolds found. I am calling you an rear end in a top hat.
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Jan 5, 2011 19:01
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H O TAFT posted:Were people actually charged for those orders? I hadn't heard one way or the other. That's kind of bad if they were. Connellingus posted:Actually, thank you for bringing this up. I've been waiting for a year to hear anything new about the second cookbook. I ordered the cookbook along with some other stuff when Achewood had the 8th Anniversary Pint deal and was charged for it. The rest of my stuff got here, but obviously the cookbook didn't. The last update I officially received from Amplifier was last December, and then there was that article with Nice Pete's recipe for fried chicken from May stating it was still in the works. I don't really mind waiting because I still want it and it was only $14, but I guess I just wanted to know if anyone else has had a similar experience or if I should just read the writing on the wall and try to get a refund. e: This turned out to be a whiner post than I originally intended. I went ahead and emailed Amplifier support to see what they have to say. a skeleton fucked around with this message at 19:45 on Jan 5, 2011 |
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Jan 5, 2011 19:32
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 2011 PREDICTIONS!!! Alt-text says "I'm back" but... I just don't know if I can trust again after all the other promises... Edit: The ones I imagined in my brain.
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Jan 5, 2011 22:16
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Phillipe is canadian?
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Jan 5, 2011 22:19
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withak posted:Phillipe is canadian? I think Phillipe is engaging in an ill-advised costume time
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Jan 5, 2011 22:27
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choobs posted:
That strip ruled, Achewood rules, long live The Onstad.
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Jan 5, 2011 22:38
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HAHAHAHA It is the first dog ever correctly shot on YouTube.
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Jan 5, 2011 22:43
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What happens if we pay the chain-smoking Cambodian mercenary to nail Beck's other nut with a Phillips-head? How much of an improvement can we expect from the Dow Jones?
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Jan 5, 2011 23:04
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A "brain problem..."
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Jan 5, 2011 23:26
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You know Guy Fieri listens to Smashmouth every loving day. He wakes up to "All Star" because they're singing about him, baby! "Starboard Nut." The Lord bless and keep you this day, Chris Onstad.
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Jan 5, 2011 23:32
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Beef doesn't really want to drink from that tallboy, and I eagerly await the great Welsh Zune rush of 2011.
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Jan 5, 2011 23:35
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Jan 5, 2011 23:40
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