Okay then, here’s this week’s comic. Back again with my galloping black hole of humor and restraint or whatever it is. A nice, straightforward christmas comic for the family to get Big Laffs! Got a new comic over at Cracked too, if anyone’s interested. As for me, i have to catch a train right now so i’ll catch YOU next year!
Thanks to Everyone for the thing that was 2009. Much appreciated. Handshakes all around, and merry new year/happy christmas for sure.
cheers,
winston rowntree
Virus Comix News 
December 22, 2009 at 1:45 pm
Okay, now you’re just fucking with us.
Happy Monkey! And may your goats catch fire.
December 22, 2009 at 1:53 pm
this was just too good, man, love it beyond what words can express!
December 22, 2009 at 2:26 pm
You should be writing novels! Or stories at least. This is way better than at least 60% of the shit they publish as sci-fi!
(Not saying comics are not a good medium though, but every time I read a new comic of yours, I feel frustrated that I can’t share it enough… In that sense, books speak to a bigger audience.)
December 22, 2009 at 2:44 pm
Best-wall-of-text-ever
Also, this story would make a great movie!
December 22, 2009 at 2:56 pm
Oh my. This one was totally wonderful. I agree with Andy that it’s a great movie script. Merry Xmas to WR and everybody.
December 22, 2009 at 3:10 pm
I lol’d hard at the soap billboard.
December 22, 2009 at 3:44 pm
I have to agree with those who call you to write novels/screenplay. The depths of despair, cynicism, observation of the human condition and the humor cry out for a wider audience. Merry Christmas!
December 22, 2009 at 3:44 pm
Wow… biggest wall of text ever, and also one of the best I’ve ever read.
I’m loving the story. The twists are great, the tone of the narrative is great (maybe a bit “fuck”-heavy at times), and you can really feel the emotion in there. I think this storyline deserves further exploration – there are clearly some great side-stories to be told here.
December 22, 2009 at 3:49 pm
Great comic, its beautiful in a really fucked up way.
December 22, 2009 at 4:05 pm
Oh, man, I’m exhausted after reading that. Screw the people at the sex shop; *I* need a cigarette.
Best wall of text yet. Nice job.
December 22, 2009 at 4:44 pm
Well I’m happy you posted it, making this page must’ve been really time consuming so not posting it up would’ve been a waste. And you should totally illustrate that guy’s story some day!
Great to see you on Cracked again as well! Merry Christmas, looking forward for more inspiring comics from you next year!
December 22, 2009 at 4:54 pm
That was full of nice little details that complimented the main story nicely. The SexStop uniforms, for example.
Thanks a bundle, man. I’m going to tell that story to the kids around the tree on Christmas Eve. “Can you imagine a cemetery coming alive, like a great single entity and holding you down and screaming into your soul for seven hours? Huh? Can ya’?”
December 22, 2009 at 4:58 pm
Oh my god, those sex worker outfits are *awesome*.
December 22, 2009 at 5:01 pm
holy shit.
December 22, 2009 at 5:48 pm
a) blown away.
b) I like the flap on the outfit; it’s very Star Trek II-VI era!
December 22, 2009 at 6:02 pm
man, you should have 20 lives and more to do all your great stuff… you alone would have enough creativity and inspiration for a medium sized, cozy (but not stuffy, more in the sense that people value good intentions and authentic, open-minded social relations) country with hills and maybe even some remarkable snow-covered mountains, part seaside, with traditions, that stay open to change but also offer a core of true wisdom and insight from the past, molten into a form that every time in its celebration enlightens the mind, frees the body and chafes the heart ^^
yeah, and the thing about the cemetery screaming into your soul…. makes me reconsider my complaints-to-come about the Christmas season. Well, Merry Christmas anyway and thanks for this gift
December 22, 2009 at 6:29 pm
Some link issues:
– homepage does not show current comic
– last comic does not link to this comic
– last comic does not link to homepage
Did I leave anything out? FIXEM.
December 22, 2009 at 6:33 pm
This is the best Christmas gift!
It’s unbelievably good writing, thanks for making it! 🙂
And btw, Happy holydays!
December 22, 2009 at 6:49 pm
As others have said, holy shit.
One of the best yet, this is.
December 22, 2009 at 6:59 pm
Holy shit. I wanna know more about that story… you could seriously write a book about that shit.
December 22, 2009 at 7:03 pm
Winston….I’m-a agree with everything anyone else has said. Damn. I haven’t been this creeped out by a non-movie in years. Man, that was riveting!! You are on fire!!
I am always so incredibly awed by these societies you create, where the strangest things happen (A cross between McDonald’s and a brothel, brilliant! I love the two hairy dudes too by the way) and the details set my heart on fire.
The art is gorgeous as usual (moreso?), such wonderful facial expressions and ‘camera direction’ on the guy…. but this story just has me blown away. This is a better science fiction story than I’ve read in many many years…….slash horror story (no pun intended). Absolutely top shelf man. I can’t convey my impressedness with this week’s comic……..you really knocked it out of the park…Great setup, art, society, innovation, STORY, WALLS OF TEXT, emotion, humour, and a great punchline. Sheeit. Merry Christmas indeed!
December 22, 2009 at 7:14 pm
Wow, that was the best wall of text ever. I’m not even a big fan of science fiction, but that was some great storytelling with a nice message too. I love walls of text!
December 22, 2009 at 7:23 pm
it was like reading a comic it was like reading the best comic written story ever, you should definatly post this.
December 22, 2009 at 7:28 pm
The story within a story here is incredibly vivid. It hits on a number of different areas. One of the best I’ve read. Way to go!
December 22, 2009 at 7:35 pm
merry christmas! the wall of text was too much for me, sorry.
December 22, 2009 at 7:41 pm
this was really very good. and you weren’t sure about it? you’re lucky you have all of us to set you straight on this important matter, then.
you’re a good man, mr. rowntree.
ps i think it’s spelled ‘cemetery’
December 22, 2009 at 7:55 pm
i enjoyed this. i think the underlying story would have made an excellent mini-series. still could.
December 22, 2009 at 8:33 pm
I enjoyed the story, I was pretty caught up in what was happening at Wonte IX. The conclusion provided is different than most of you’re other work because I believe its supposed to be more than just funny. I like how you tie in what the girl with the battalion motto. I thought it was kind of uplifting; and the whole setup is well worth reading. In conclusion, keep up the good work, much respect and am I glad I found this site! 😀
December 22, 2009 at 8:48 pm
Holy crap dude, that story right there is the kind of writing I think writing should be. It seems like you really cared about what you were writing, you know?
December 22, 2009 at 8:59 pm
I love your stuff, he writing and the drawing. Its all really super good.
One thing though. Even the best writing is really hard to follow when it is just a big block like that. I would find it really helpful if it was separated into paragraphs. The walls of text have never bothered me before. But that was a whole lot of text.
December 22, 2009 at 10:16 pm
Fucking brilliant.
December 22, 2009 at 10:22 pm
That was… awesome. For sure the best x-mas present I’ll get. Thanks, Winston!
December 22, 2009 at 10:36 pm
Sweet Jesus. Don’t let Micheal Bay get his hands on this idea or he will totally destroy its perfection.
Thank you for the great present and have a Merry Whatever!
December 22, 2009 at 10:40 pm
Excellent story, It’s alive and vivid with details that begs for more.
This would work very, very well with a ‘Chronicles of Riddick’ type of universe.
I get this feeling that there’s alot more details that didn’t make it’s way into the comic and I hope it would be fleshed out more in the (hopefully) near future.
There’s a reason why I keep up with the wall of text that tends to accompany this comic – It’s worth the effort, it’s like a reward at the end of the ‘wordy’ maze.
December 22, 2009 at 11:13 pm
I just hope “SexStop” doesn’t mean that it’s a place where sex stops… 😉
December 22, 2009 at 11:29 pm
Damn, son. This needs to be pitched as a movie, and fast!
Truly excellent strip, Winston. Merry Christmas!
December 23, 2009 at 12:13 am
FUUUUUUUUUUCK YEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!
I’m totally sorry, but that’s just about the most intelligent thing I could muster to describe how fucking AWESOME that was!
December 23, 2009 at 12:15 am
Winston, I’m proud to say I live in the same city as you…whatever that’s worth to ya. Another great one. Don’t ever stop.
December 23, 2009 at 12:42 am
Freaking Awesome! Merry Christmas!
Oh and COVIZAPIBETEFOKY, get back to mopping the spooge, you wanted to do it so get busy.
December 23, 2009 at 1:21 am
Bravo!
December 23, 2009 at 1:27 am
Damn.. fantastic as always.
I’m in agreement with everyone else at the Wall O’ Text awesomeness.
I like how you think sir.
December 23, 2009 at 1:52 am
This was fantastic. I want to see more of this story or this character. My curiosity is just too damn perturbed.
December 23, 2009 at 2:05 am
…wow, that was…really good…I agree wtih Amanda, I’d like to see more of this guy…
December 23, 2009 at 3:02 am
That was really, really good.
December 23, 2009 at 3:50 am
That was incredible. A truely unique sci-fi story mixed with the old “hooker with a heart of gold” story. It makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside despite the horrific story of this mans past year. Love it. Thank you for this 🙂
December 23, 2009 at 4:54 am
Holy. Shitfuck.
December 23, 2009 at 5:01 am
This is honest-to-god one of the best things I have read in forever.
December 23, 2009 at 5:55 am
that might be the best use of the wall of text i have ever seen. it worked really well to tell the story we did not get to see. glad to see more space stuff from you, you do it really well.
December 23, 2009 at 6:05 am
amazing. well told big and real story in short space and best use of time. comix not bad either. (ha ha) i tease.
love the coincidental need of use of flashlight as well.
nice.
merry christmas.
more
please
you
good.
♥
as to one of the last comments: oh… we saw the story all right. oh yes we did!
well done!!!
December 23, 2009 at 6:07 am
Absolute brilliance. This story line would make an incredible movie…if it could avoid getting mutilated by a bunch of egotistical hacks. Sadly, I have zero faith in the film industry to be able to do your work any kind of justice…but damn! CRAZY good stuff! I got chills!
December 23, 2009 at 6:22 am
You really outdid yourself here, Winston. Best comic in a good long while. 🙂
Merry christmas and all that to you too. ❤
December 23, 2009 at 6:45 am
Me again, and while I appreciate many of the other factors about this comic that others have pointed out – you do have a talent for creating strange and humorous worlds, and every time I look at one of them I find something new to enjoy in it – the wall of text presents another problem for me.
The story is great. The frame is great. The problem is, these are both great elements on their own, and mashing them together unfortunately subtracts significantly from both.
I want to stress that I’m not against the walls of text because I am dur-hurr stoopid and can’t figerr out whatcherr talkin’ ’bout, but I’ve been through the archives and have yet to see something where they actually really worked. I’ve seen plenty where I can’t figure out how you would work without them, but I have yet to read one of them and find it inherently amusing – I’ve never gone, “God, what a hilarious wall of text!”. This is a pretty textbook example.
I am not saying that the soldier’s story should have been funny – on the contrary, it’s an excellent scifi-horror idea and trying to make it funny would just result in a mess of bad humour. The problem is that you attempted to reconcile the story with a joke that, by itself, is honestly not particularly funny and not particularly directed. Where’s the joke? Is it in the fact that he actually has something to complain about for Christmas? That the woman’s gesture of kindness will be followed up by wild, raucous sex? The former could be handled much more quickly and the latter isn’t actually particularly funny.
This is on top of the fact that you’ve sacrificed the story for this joke, which does it a horrendous disservice. I would love to see the story done in a graphic novel like Captain Estar Goes to Heaven; it’s a textured, deeply interesting story with definable, sympathetic characters that is both a spooky horror and a commentary on political events. You could simply tell the story from the point of view of the soldier as it happens, or you could follow him at this point in time and tell it in flashbacks, maybe even following his story further as he tries to deal with what to do now that he’s on his home planet. When you compress it into a wall-of-text monologue, though, you cut out the dramatic elements and turn it into a dull, hard-to-read monologue delivered in a monotone, which I imagine the character does.
So, to sum up, in response to your wall-of-text I have produced one of my own. I don’t mean to be the one asshole in the back of the auditorium screaming “You suck!” over the hordes of people throwing their underwear at you, but I think that you often undersell yourself, which, knowing what you’re capable of, is incredibly painful to watch. You’re an amazing storyteller (Captain Estar) and you actually can tell a succinct and to-the-point joke (Abnormality); watching you decide to avoid doing both is painful.
December 23, 2009 at 7:00 am
Why aren’t you writing sci-fi? This shit is brilliant!
December 23, 2009 at 7:19 am
Heheheh, MacTavish brand soap. Tango sucka!
December 23, 2009 at 8:38 am
I just read every one of your comics with more lack of self control than I’ve had since I was 8 years old reading Calvin and Hobbes. I’d compliment you, but as a crappy, unpublished author I figure I’ve already given you a hellofa compliment. My only beef: it ends at page 324? What happened to 1 through 323? It’s like reverse-christmas here, I thought I was only around halfway through.
and Last Melon,
Joke? They’re literally about to fuck like no one ever has before. Think anyone’s ever gone into the bedroom under that set of circumstances? Doubtful.
Yeah, I’m pretty damned literal, but that’s what I got out of it; it doesn’t really have to be taken as a joke unless you’re already committed to the “the author’s going to use this awesome story to frame a joke that cannot possibly match up with the setup” mindset… After reading the soldier’s story, which is probably a better concept for a scifi horror novel/film than anything I’ve seen in either, I knew the joke was gonna be there as an excuse for the story…
So what?
That was a fuckin’ awesome story! Screw the joke!
December 23, 2009 at 8:54 am
Thanks for the story. Like everyone else, enjoyed this week’s Wall o’ Text. Made a crap night better.
December 23, 2009 at 9:07 am
Merry Christmas.
December 23, 2009 at 10:45 am
Wow!
My very favourite to date good sir. Just simply awesome. Loved the
story. You simply outdid yourself.
Just two observations (feedback from a fan, with love):
1 – The last panel is kind of ambiguous, one could understand either the
soldier posing the question and the prostitute answering or vice-versa,
as their bodies where on one side and the heads themselves in another
(crossed in the hug), either the soldier or the prostitute could have
said the altered motto, and I do believe there would be a slight shift
in the sense of that panel depending on whoever said the motto.
2 – It is my personal theory that people complaining about the walls of
text are not really put-off by the amount of text itself (the average
blog discussion will give you 10 times the text to read).
I think the real culprit here is typography:
2.1 – you write in small caps a paragraph in small caps or all caps is
always harder to read, it strains the eye, normal capitalisation would
greatly enhance the comfort, that is the main reason why legal
disclaimers are written in all caps, it is not to make the text seems
more urgent or important but to deter reading.
I do realise that you write by hand; that the writing style you picked
(your “font”) suits and complements your art very well; that it is
really easier to write in caps than it is to do a decent beautiful job
using normal capitalisation and also that the small caps give a crammed
feeling overall that is way more beautiful when you see the page as
whole without trying to read the page at all.
But the reading comfort (and speed) would greatly improve if you
switched to normal capitalisation, finding a way to make this shift and
still keep it all visually pleasing is of course a work for an artist
(such as you).
2.2 Leading, just a tad bit more of leading (heck, a pixel more of
leading) would greatly improve the comfort.
Aside from that, I will reuse that story (with full credit) tonight in
my RPG table. Ooooh yes I will.
December 23, 2009 at 10:46 am
I apologize for the newlines that were taken in consideration in the last comment, since I cannot edit it, I will repost a correction and then you can erase both the original and this comment
December 23, 2009 at 10:48 am
Wow!
My very favourite to date good sir. Just simply awesome. Loved the
story. You simply outdid yourself.
Just two observations (feedback from a fan, with love):
1 – The last panel is kind of ambiguous, one could understand either the soldier posing the question and the prostitute answering or vice-versa, as their bodies where on one side and the heads themselves in another (crossed in the hug), either the soldier or the prostitute could have said the altered motto, and I do believe there would be a slight shift in the sense of that panel depending on whoever said the motto.
2 – It is my personal theory that people complaining about the walls of text are not really put-off by the amount of text itself (the average blog discussion will give you 10 times the text to read).
I think the real culprit here is typography:
2.1 – you write in small caps a paragraph in small caps or all caps is always harder to read, it strains the eye, normal capitalisation would greatly enhance the comfort, that is the main reason why legal disclaimers are written in all caps, it is not to make the text seems more urgent or important but to deter reading.
I do realise that you write by hand; that the writing style you picked (your “font”) suits and complements your art very well; that it is really easier to write in caps than it is to do a decent beautiful job using normal capitalisation and also that the small caps give a crammed feeling overall that is way more beautiful when you see the page as whole without trying to read the page at all.
But the reading comfort (and speed) would greatly improve if you switched to normal capitalisation, finding a way to make this shift and still keep it all visually pleasing is of course a work for an artist (such as you).
2.2 Leading, just a tad bit more of leading (heck, a pixel more of leading) would greatly improve the comfort.
Aside from that, I will reuse that story (with full credit) tonight in
my RPG table. Ooooh yes I will.
December 23, 2009 at 11:01 am
Winnie, you know me, i have been reading and commenting for a while, but this one? Seriously, I’m typing through tears now. I don’t have a fraction of the story this guy had but the power of the hug?
/me will now be visiting a prostitute this Christmas holiday.
December 23, 2009 at 11:14 am
I posted my comment first and then went back to read the preceding comments (sorry!). To be honest I don’t think the majority of your readers got the point of this one.
Yes, in your infinite awesomeness you have written a sci-fi blockbuster (or maybe a trilogy) using well established movie tropes, ie corporations are evil and don’t care about lives versus profit, but the last two panels are the whole point of the enterprise. The grunt’s soliloquy could have been just any other extreme hard luck story, hell it could have been mine or others I know from last year, it’s the last two panels that hit me hard (like a hammer). Well done sir. I guess some people just ain’t as smart as they like to think they are.
December 23, 2009 at 11:37 am
Wow, possibly the most poignant and meaningful punchline ever committed to webcomic. I agree with everyone else: you should write an illustrated sci-fi novel.
December 23, 2009 at 12:07 pm
Quick question: Who says one in the final frame?
Other than that, I echo all the aforementioned praise. Man, I just made myself almost late for work reading this shit.
December 23, 2009 at 12:08 pm
Superlative, Winston, eleventy-twelve out of 5.
Merry Christmas & happy New Year!
December 23, 2009 at 12:37 pm
Wow.
Just, wow.
The story he tells is an amazing piece that could easily fill a longer work more fully; my hope is that someday, if you’re looking for a new project, you go back to this soliloquy and turn that into something (graphic novel, novel, screenplay); that’s just too good to leave there.
And the fact that you’ve got this great frame for it, the present day tale in the sex shop, with probably the best reaction to the story imaginable, just makes it work so well.
Again, wow…
December 23, 2009 at 1:24 pm
Glancing at the first couple of boxes: “hey, great! not too much to read” and then…. jesus. loved it though. best comic ever. cheers 🙂
December 23, 2009 at 1:44 pm
Inspiring!
December 23, 2009 at 2:03 pm
I always look forward to your comics. This one was definitely worth the wait. Simply stunning.
December 23, 2009 at 2:23 pm
Wow! That was one of your best. Will you please get to writing some science fiction novels? Your writing talent is pretty incredible.
December 23, 2009 at 3:02 pm
Thank you so much for going ahead and posting this, in spite of your doubts!
It was absolutely awesome, and at first I was a little intimidated by the text, but once I got into it I couldn’t tear my eyes away. An absolutely captivating story, made all the better by the personality in the way it’s told. The little details, the weariness.
And the last comment made me laugh, in spite of everything.
Absolutely beautiful.
December 23, 2009 at 3:10 pm
In case anyone’s still curious – Bruno’s speech bubbles are actually light gray, while Eunice’s speech bubbles are bright white.
IOW – it’s the guy asking the question in the last panel.
December 23, 2009 at 3:13 pm
Amazing, seemed kind of a mixture of Captain Estar and ‘Horror Fiction Lady of the Night’ (http://www.viruscomix.com/page473.html) and just like last weeks (very different) comic, it could have come from no other writer than yourself.
PS, the decor of the sex stop is hilariously, shockingly unappealing. And that thing about the power cut is spooky as fuck.
December 23, 2009 at 4:02 pm
Wish I could see the whole story in comic-form.
December 23, 2009 at 4:04 pm
Holy crap, I was wondering why it took so long to load!
But damn was it worth it.
December 23, 2009 at 4:05 pm
Transcended the term web comic. Fantastic.
December 23, 2009 at 4:44 pm
Imagine the comments becoming, I don’t know, an entity, and holding you down and screaming into your soul for seven hours.
December 23, 2009 at 5:00 pm
Delightful to read. Once again you’ve made a comix I can really relate to. Love the hug; that tied it up superbly at the end.
Looking beyond the brothel themes, it was very charming and almost heartwarming in a way. You know what I mean. During a time of the year when we’re just sick of the same Christmas garbage is wonderful to have something new and deep. A wonderful present; it’d be bunkum to ask for more.
December 23, 2009 at 5:07 pm
Thank you. That was just perfection. Have a good xmas.
December 23, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Really good, and really honest. But the truth is, even though we’re running out of oil as fast as we’re turning Canada into a Carribean paradise (assuming you survive the floods and food shortages), if we had enough nukes to bomb a planet, and a compressor to age the mass, we could easily just disassemble the nukes and the compressor, and use them for power.
The world is very complicated, but the complications work in different ways that some interpretations lead you to think.
However, if it was more efficient to do what the Operation W guys did, it’d be done in a heartbeat. In that respect, you’re totally right, Winston.
December 23, 2009 at 5:54 pm
Absorbing. Fantastic. Peanut butter. Superb.
Only one of those words does not describe your latest comic. Can you guess which one?
Happy Holidays!
December 23, 2009 at 5:56 pm
That was actually really sweet. And an excellent if hard-to-read story.
December 23, 2009 at 6:05 pm
Another amazing tale. Have a great Christmas sir.
December 23, 2009 at 6:46 pm
This is one of the best comics I’ve ever read. This storyline just screams out to be embraced in graphic novel form. Also, I think anyone complaining about the joke is really missing the point. The rephrased motto is like the cherry on the sundae, not the ice cream.
You are a brilliant writer and artist, but I really think your talent could find even greater impact in novella or even novel form. I would miss the art, but at the same time you paint such a vivid picture with your dialogue that the art is nearly superfluous.
I can’t wait to see what you have in store for us next.
December 23, 2009 at 6:56 pm
I don’t know what’s more depressing. The fact that modern day soldiers go through similar trauma, or my idea that, as one who believes in some forms of supernatural bullshit, the scenario presented in this comic is one which may very well become a reality in the far future.
December 23, 2009 at 6:59 pm
Subnormality is still my favourite webcomic. Raw quality like this is quite a rare thing to find, and it’s always worth the wait to read – hell, I visit daily when I’m home.
December 23, 2009 at 7:11 pm
Yay! Very engaging, beautiful work.
December 23, 2009 at 7:41 pm
I hate to be in the minority here that is complaining, but I have to say this: You did your story a huge disservice by cramming it in those speech bubbles. Basically what you wanted to make was an illustrated story, but instead you presented it in the form of a comic. In my opinion, this doesn’t work; heck I almost skipped the story (mostly because of the strain it put on my eyes), and I love reading sci-fi!
IMHO… With the frame/speech bubble scheme, text takes a backseat to illustration. That’s the use it was intended for. When you want to have a character telling an entire story, you should either tell the story in comic form (as in, show us what happened in pictures while the person talking becomes “narrator”) or switch to a different mode altogether. Kind of like what you did with “lady of the night”.
December 23, 2009 at 8:05 pm
I really liked the story, even though I am like tentacledBeast about the text. I think, though, that the impression it gave of a guy glurging out the stuff that’s haunting him works very well. I’d have used a more font-like text for the glurge though. I had a hard time reading the soldier’s horror story.
Story-wise though, the sexstop thing really framed this well, and I got a real kick out of her last comment.
Bill
December 23, 2009 at 8:13 pm
The Wall of Text technique is brought to its final and glorious conclusion. Amazing story, excellently done.
December 23, 2009 at 8:22 pm
Wonderful, i loved it, it was a really good story with a nice little happyface at the end to break the sad mood.
December 23, 2009 at 8:47 pm
Gotta say,considering the timing on this it definitely hits home.There’re people I know(undoubtedly everyone here to an extent does)who are still fighting a war over oil half a world away,and the comparisons just seem staggering.Here’s hoping they can come home,and if not,at the least we can send some Christmas Cheer their way.I’ll drink to that.
December 23, 2009 at 9:11 pm
That was very moving and well-written, kinda like listening to an Eric Bogle song. Thank you.
December 23, 2009 at 9:23 pm
Holy shit, that was brilliant! In your face, James Cameron!
December 23, 2009 at 10:45 pm
Oh man, would this make an awesome movie 🙂 Excellent, excellent.
December 23, 2009 at 11:13 pm
This is godly.
Best wall of text ever seen.
December 24, 2009 at 12:01 am
Winston,
Easily the best one yet. It makes me yearn for more Captain Estar.
Thank you.
December 24, 2009 at 12:05 am
Dude, you could update once a year and I would still worship you for creations like this.
December 24, 2009 at 12:30 am
Unbelievable in any context. Kudos a million times over.
December 24, 2009 at 1:13 am
One of the best Winston, I laughed so hard at the Modern Warfare 2 reference, didn’t know u were a gamer sir Rowntree
Thanks for the amazing strip
Cheers!
December 24, 2009 at 1:55 am
Mate, this is the first time I leave a comment on any of your comics, despite enjoying all them thoroughly; but this Christmas one couldn’t pass away without one. Thanks for providing some of the best semi-weekly Internet experience I have in life.
December 24, 2009 at 4:04 am
THIS is sci-fi gold, reads almost like a Michael Cricton novel.
Expand on it! Make it into a graphic novel or something. I’d totally buy it!
December 24, 2009 at 4:24 am
This is sci-fi gold, but everyone’s said that already.
The line “You’re corpsin’ up on me here, dude, and i don’t do necrophilia” raises some interesting questions. Do zombies come in to SexStop regularly?
December 24, 2009 at 5:00 am
WR, long time reader but first time commenter, love your stuff. Especially Captain Estar, wow.
Anyway big props on this weeks comic, not gonna nitpick it because honestly it just struck a chord with me, just perfect. Not trying to get into any kind of a flame war or anything but some (looking at you Last Melon) seem to overanalyze your stuff, especially with regards to the “punchline”, if such a term can even be properly used to describe the conclusion of a subnormality comic.
For me anyway, “nobody has fucked like we’re about to” was pretty much the most fucking awesome thing this kind-hearted lady of the night could have said to our beleaguered hero in that moment, and made me laugh just by merit of its grimy, fractured beauty.
Just fucking perfect.
December 24, 2009 at 5:38 am
WHAT THE FUCK? THIS IS AMAZING 😀 Really smart!
December 24, 2009 at 6:05 am
*Classic* Twilight Zone quality, this one!
December 24, 2009 at 6:29 am
Perfect.
December 24, 2009 at 6:30 am
I’m blown away. Mr. Rowntree, you should be trying your hand at a novel sometime.
December 24, 2009 at 7:02 am
That is probably the best short story i have ever read, i say, bravo, good show, i am thoroughly impressed, blown away, i’d say speechless but clearly not. A master piece.
December 24, 2009 at 9:02 am
Holy crap that was awesome. It’s a great story all by itself, and one that should be published in some anthology some time.
But really, the last panel made this from something really nifty into something beautiful. It was… well, exactly the right response. That’s going to be some wild, animal, grunting, not-stopping-when-the-75-minute-timer-goes-off fucking, and I think they are both going to feel better after.
Light and laughter,
SongCoyote
December 24, 2009 at 10:08 am
Loved the art and design, thought the story was great and found the ending was poignant, funny and sweet.
However, the geek in me has a couple of technical issues with the story (tech issues being more important in sci-fi than most genres).
It seems odd, even illogical, that a civilisation capable of skipping across the galaxy via wormholes, with control over the very flow of time itself, would have any use for oil.
I’ve read enough of your comics to see that this might be a intended as a cynical story element, that we’re still destroying entire planets for gooey, black burnable shit. You sort of allude to this in one of the final panels, where the guy says “all oil’s good for is building oil rigs,” but this doesn’t explain why so much time and effort would be invested in procuring the stuff.
Ultra-smoggy futuristic skies could have been an interesting story element that covered this anomaly – showing that despite the space travel, time manipulation and all, earthbound people were still locked into using hydrocarbons by the controllers of the world.
All in all, it might have been better to use a symbol of oil – a polluting, difficult-to-obtain future fuel that was required to run the jump drives and time devices of the GDF. The metaphor would be very clear and it would avoid the anachronism of oil. If the anachronism was intended, it might have been good to show the effects of *another* century or two of burning fossil fuels down on Earth.
Also, nukes probably aren’t the best thing for turning organic matter into oil, what with the vaporisation. Disease-bombs might have been better. Can kill a planet just as fast (especially with time acceleration) and leaves all that valuable organic matter in a nice, mushy state.
Finally, the shuttle full of black-ops troops was a dream/hallucination, right? Otherwise, how did it land on the planet’s surface, rather than crashing when it hit the no-power zone? It could have been deigned with power failure in mind, and might have been able to glide in the 0.5 grav pull of the planet. But if eradication was the point, why not just a few more nukes from orbit?
Sorry if I’m being a dick, but the inconsistencies (if that’s what they are) only bother me because I think this is a really good piece of work in every other way. I even enjoyed the extra-large walls of text, as they add to the ‘fevered monologue’ feel of the soldier’s speech.
Love your art, writing and view of the world. Please keep it up in 2010 and have a great end-of-2009.
December 24, 2009 at 10:32 am
Absolutely brilliant. My favorite one out of all of them so far.
December 24, 2009 at 11:13 am
That was absolutely touching! Totally appropriate for the holidays. I’d say by far one of my favorite comix. Happy Holidays. =)
December 24, 2009 at 11:15 am
Wow, that was truly epic.
December 24, 2009 at 1:56 pm
Blackness hits me around this time of the year. This has lifted my spirits. Absolutely outstanding.
December 24, 2009 at 2:09 pm
Awesome. Avatar for intellectuals, with sex too! Dude. Don’t ever sell out to Hollywood. For the sake of all that is Holy Shit! Don’t sell out. I need my reality check too much.
December 24, 2009 at 4:00 pm
+1 votes for a screen play of this. Really you have some amazing elements to a movie in this. The whole thing with the lieutenant going crazy and locking herself naked in a room, going through a psychological pregnancy. Its horrifying! So perfect for a movie.
December 24, 2009 at 5:04 pm
Wow, that was a wonderful comix. I loved it, and I’ll probably read it a couple more times before the next one is posted.
December 24, 2009 at 5:26 pm
Man this one is fantastic
greetings from Italy
December 24, 2009 at 6:25 pm
Scrolled down, saw a wall of text, took a deep breath… started reading…
Goddammit, Rowntree.
There should be a movie made out of this, seriously.
December 24, 2009 at 7:49 pm
That was really something…
Very good story and setting!
The thought of pay-for-sex turned into something like fast-food seems both plausible and really sick and perverted (not the kinky kind of perversion, more in the abominable sense).
Even prostitution as it is today isn’t that bad.
This… it just takes every ounce of romance and intimacy out it. It’s like a mechanical yearning you need to fulfil in order to get more work done, like eating.
And sex reduced to that is really abominable to me. Maybe I’m too much of an incurable romantic.
And yet you also subvert it with the poignant reply and reaction of the girl at the end, because what is that if *not* intimacy (on more than one level)?
To me the last panel wasn’t funny, it was powerfully bittersweet.
After that confession their lovemaking is something the girl wants, perhaps even needs to give; something the guy needs and something they need to share.
Well, that’s how it seems to me. 🙂
I’ll also go against the stream and say that this should *not* be made into a film or graphic novel.
The reason is his descriptions of the deteriorating situation in general and the nightmares in particular.
It’s hard to do a descent into madness well on film with just the characters, but it can be done.
However, with the nightmares, you simply can’t make that have the same impact in a film where you see them as you get when you read it.
Now every reader gets a vivid impression of what those nightmares must be like. Film it and it gets tied down into the vision of one man, and it won’t have the same impact anymore, since people have different images of it based on the descriptions.
A graphic novel would fare better because drawn and animated media is not limited to the same constraints that a live film is.
However, it will still get tied down to one man’s vision, and even if Winston drew it himself (and we know he can draw some really freaky stuff based on the earlier strips (the tripping teacher comes to mind) it would still have less impact than it has as text and our imaginations.
Thanks for a wonderful comic. 🙂
December 24, 2009 at 9:38 pm
Well told Story for the most part,
when I reached the end, I got a little teary-eyed before I could catch myself. Awesome work! (Yes, I am probably a pussy)
December 24, 2009 at 9:40 pm
OK, I’ve read several strips in this comic and I have one question to ask you all:
It seems that every single unsubtle statement made by these strips on how life is supposed to be uplifting and admirable. I ask: WHY? What is the point of having such a bleak outlook on life? Why do people read this stuff? Every time I see stuff like this, or the “Service” strip or the “awards” strip, etc it makes me want to ask “If life sucks this much, then why don’t you KILL YOURSELF?” Are you simply AFRAID TO DIE? I am tired of this mentality going across several mediums on how “Dark and edgy” is the way to go because it’s more “realistic” and “That’s how the world works”. WHY does fiction have to be that way? I’m not saying that fiction has to be ALL about entertainment but if you want any kind of respect these days you HAVE to get across a nihilistic vision since everything else is “mindless junk”.
George: “(assuming you survive the floods and food shortages)” WHY TALK THIS WAY? I’m not saying it COULDN’T happen but why do people discuss things like this so lightly? Do you think you’ll be dead by then? If not, what’s the point of scaring people like that? Why not say stuff like “Well, if disaster is to be averted, then mankind must shape up and I’m sure it will.”. You know, A HOPEFUL message?
I know I’m not making much sense but I just want to know: how can you live hating life so much? What are your reasons to live? Because I hear so much of these opinions every day and sometimes it feels like people only live because they are scared to die.
December 24, 2009 at 10:39 pm
Excellent use of the wall of text. Anywhere else my eyes would glaze over, but knowing subnormality, it’s well-worth the effort to trudge through that to the end.
BTW: Hey Winston, is this yours?
http://www.nakidness.com/images/funny/cartoons_drawings/the_circle_of_life/
December 24, 2009 at 11:37 pm
@Brian L: Absolutely…
http://www.viruscomix.com/page435.html
@Psycloid:
Yep, you’re making absolutely no sense. Please kill yourself, now. KThxBye.
December 25, 2009 at 12:44 am
I liked this one.
@Psycloid:
“It seems that every single unsubtle statement made by these strips on how life is supposed to be uplifting and admirable.”
It is not what this strip and other strips from subnormality are about. You confused this strip with something else or you are delusional. Have a nice day.
December 25, 2009 at 1:47 am
It is nice that for a brief wile she got what he asked for “To forget _my_ troubles for an hour” … i wonder if the fact that the two companies mottos are so similar is because they are owned by the same parent company? I also wonder if SexStop gives out stims with their paycheques?
The parallels in both employers values and methods would have been even MORE apparent if the salesgirl at the counter had offered to “time compress” the hour to just 30 seconds for $5 more…
December 25, 2009 at 2:10 am
That’s a great story and if I remember correctly, pretty darned accurate.
December 25, 2009 at 4:02 am
Fantastic!
December 25, 2009 at 4:45 am
Go look for the blog, “Grace Undressed”. You’ll be amazed.
December 25, 2009 at 7:52 am
“Picture a cemetary or something becoming, I don’t know, an entity, and holding you down and screaming into your soul for seven hours and maybe you’re in the ballpark of what we were experiencing at night.”
That, sir, is the best, and most horrifying description of a nightmare I’ve ever read. It brought me chills down my spine.
Oh, and since everyone else are talking about a movie adaptation, let me suggest the director: Neil Blomkamp. He’d pull it off, if anyone.
December 25, 2009 at 8:48 am
Very Impressive comic. I liked this story much more than Horror fiction lady of the night’s story, (Which I thought was kinda predictable) I skipped to the end first, so I’d know how long it would last and read the punchline before I read his story. That was a mistake, I’m sure I would have enjoyed it a little more if I’d read her last line at the end. I also think this should have been another comic with several pages in it, kinda like Captain Estar, but even as is, you added some great dramatic touches.
@Psycloid
I think I kinda get what you are talking about, but I think your difficulties are your mindset clashing with the mindset of the author.
Subnormality is a great example of subversive thinking, challenging and questioning conventional wisdom. And this type of thinking appeals to some people. Some people like questioning theirs and others worldview, and these people end up being more optimistic and hopeful of the future after doing so, than people who are uncomfortable with questioning their worldview.
For some people it stabilizes and reinforces their convictions, and for other people it does the opposite and makes them uncomfortable about their ideaologies.
Most fans of this comic are the former type of people, including me. I thrive on subversive thinking. Another wonderfully subversive webcomic, (but in a different way) is Sinfest. Right now he’s running a “Satan Claus” story line. Is that subversive or what?
Many posters here have mentioned “Captain Estar Goes to Heaven” : http://www.viruscomix.com/estar.html Don’t read it. It is incredibly depressing and was almost too much for even my own worldview and preconceptions to enjoy it. But when I read the comments people have made in response to that story, I was impressed by the number of people who affirmed their lives have been changed for the better.
In conclusion, I doubt many of us are really depressed and nihilistic. What some people take as inspirational and heart warming, probably just doesn’t make any sense to others with an opposite mindset.
Sometimes when I see a message that is meant to be hopeful, it actually depresses me, because problems seem to be glossed over and not addressed. A too happy picture is painted and it becomes unbelievable. some things that you see as inspirational wouldn’t be so for me, and as you’ve expressed, vice versa. No offense is intended here, and if you actually read this, I hope you didn’t take it that way.
December 25, 2009 at 10:39 pm
This is the best sci-fi story I’ve read this year, one of the best Subnormalities out there. Well fucking done.
It’s like Avatar’s emo cousin or something (haven’t seen).
Still I wonder how come long after earth’s oil has been depleted people still go bonkers over it. Aren’t they like, “no fossil fuels plz, we’re all sustainable now kthxbye”?
December 26, 2009 at 4:21 am
I have nothing creative to add, but this was spiffing. Many thanks for a truly engaging comic.
December 26, 2009 at 4:40 am
Great story. In a strange co-incidence, I’m just re-discovering a sci-fi RPG I loved as a teenager – Traveller (hell, it’s THE sci-fi RPG as far as I’m concerned) and I’m on the hunt for inspiration for stories.
I did read from the start, and I loved the last line. I’m a sucker for the hooker-with-a-heart story as well.
Psycloid, I’m afraid the simple message to you is that you don’t “get” subnormality. It’s really not a bleak outlook. It’s just truthful and having a laugh at how silly life can be. Have a re-read of “Weird” a couple of strips ago. I think that’s an extremely positive outlook on life – it’s about accepting people for who they are and what life is really like. In that way, I like subnormality because it’s about loving life for what it’s really like, not only loving life for the good bits. That’s good honest writing.
December 26, 2009 at 12:09 pm
This is one of the best short stories i have read this year.
Inspiring.
December 26, 2009 at 12:43 pm
Best.Subnormailty.Ever.
Now… about the sequel?
December 26, 2009 at 1:12 pm
Long time reader, best Subnormality yet. Thank you and Merry Christmas to you.
December 26, 2009 at 3:18 pm
“I wanna give you something and it’s not gonna last…..”
Brilliant. Once again, thanks for a great comic.
December 26, 2009 at 4:31 pm
DUDE! I loved it! Just WHOA,y’know? This would be like the best SF movie in decades!
December 26, 2009 at 5:31 pm
I don’t say this alot, but that was truly mind-blowingingly good. I have been a longtime Subnormailty fan, but this far surpasses any thing i have seen out of you. Hell, it surpasses ANY webcomic I’ve seen. the pure creativity that flows through your work is truly something to behold. People, tell your friends about Subnormailty, and tell them to tell THEIR friends. This shit needs to be seen.
December 26, 2009 at 6:13 pm
Heyyy, sorry wasn’t able to get on top of the comments and answer a few of y’alls questions before they started piling up (i’m “out of the office” right now, xmas vacation and all), but i will say i’ve read what everyone has to say and i really appreciate everything said, both positive and negative (except for that one guy towards the end). As to some of the very constructive criticisms (some great critiques this time round, i’m excited about that), i do agree that some more time would have been ideal to think about formatting, ie: paragraph divisions and such. I have the same problem when i write emails, i just kind of go and go and then hit “send” on a huge mass of text that definitely could have been divided up a bit for better reading (apologies to anyone i’ve ever emailed…). And so yeah, the comic definitely could have been easier to read, but i think i’ve learned my lesson.
But i’m happy that tons of you obviously had no problem looking past the gigantic amphibious landing of text, millions of letters streaming ashore from one horizon to the next, so thanks for plowing thought it all and letting me know what you thought. Happy new year; see youse in January.
December 26, 2009 at 7:59 pm
Awesome comic. Absolutely brilliant.
Rugged space marine + prostitute with a heart of gold = merry christmas!
December 26, 2009 at 10:39 pm
Edit : what’s the girl’s left hand supposed to be doing in panel 7?
December 26, 2009 at 10:46 pm
Wow. Reading all that was a real commitment! Great payoff, though.
I would definitely call this the archetypal “Subnormality” comic.
– Deep, intricate story or moral used to explain a seemingly simple situation.
– Brooding and troubled, yet likable characters.
– Light-hearted and satisfying ending that wraps it all together.
This comic utilizes all of these, and I’d like to call it the best one yet. Great work, Winston!
December 27, 2009 at 4:23 am
I’m blown away. It was like an entire novel, compressed into a small, visual space. I honestly can’t tell if there were too many words, or not nearly enough. It was, too over-simplify the matter, amazing.
December 27, 2009 at 5:26 am
Fucking brilliant.
December 27, 2009 at 6:21 am
This was brilliant and a great read but it was really very hard to read. There were too many words, in a small space, with not enough space between them where it became a daunting task to actually focus on the words.
I can understand wanting to hand write that but i feel like typing it out would have made it much easier on the readers eyes.
December 27, 2009 at 7:11 am
OUTSTANDING! “Too many words” Hogwash! The crowded text helps convey the claustrophobia that will be systemic in a Kafka-Capra-Gibson-Orwellian future dystopia. A vision of the future that looks more likely and less fictional with every passing day…. or not.
December 27, 2009 at 8:25 am
Absolutley brilliant! I could vividly picture his story in my head the entire time, gave me chills. Well done sir, well done!
December 27, 2009 at 7:21 pm
The wall of text means nothing. The visual writing you do creates a movie’s worth of imagery. The story is both familiar as a gamer and fresh as a writer/reader. How had you planned to top this?
December 28, 2009 at 5:50 am
Dude, fantastic story. I was very impressed.
December 28, 2009 at 6:09 am
Wow, that was an incredible story.
December 28, 2009 at 7:05 am
Mr. Rowentree, you really know how to push the envelope of the comic medium. A short story, joke, and message all rolled in to one beautifully illustrated and well-imagined strip. Well done!
December 28, 2009 at 9:10 am
Wow, that story was both chilling and to me, quite original. Keep up the good work.
December 28, 2009 at 10:19 am
Never read a short story that had me hooked like that one. You are a prodigy.
December 28, 2009 at 10:33 am
I don’t usually read your walls’o’text so it took me a while to make myself do it. Did it cause the punchline was funny. It was worth it.
December 28, 2009 at 11:07 pm
I’m reminded of something Larry Niven said about how marijuana ruins potentially great science fiction authors. They get a great idea for a science fiction story, tell their friends the idea, soak up all the praise, and feel like they’ve already written and published the novel and collected the check. I’m afraid this comic strip is keeping Mr. Rowntree from being a great SF author – he has great ideas for stories, but instead of actually writing the story, he has a character in a comic strip tell a summary of the plot, gets tons of praise from his fans, and leaves it at that. Not sure if marijuana is involved or not.
December 29, 2009 at 3:15 am
And i might reply that larry niven is doing a really shitty job of being a cartoonist. I mean, it’s just page after page of words without pictures. Unless he’s, y’know, not trying to be a cartoonist…
December 29, 2009 at 3:34 am
Yikes man, just yikes. Then the ending, couldn’t stop laughing.
December 29, 2009 at 9:07 am
Well, regardless of what you might think of Niven, that would be an awesome, great story for you to tell in its entirety, Winston.
December 29, 2009 at 3:22 pm
Winston, this is an ingenious and moving story, but I must agree with those who say that, this time, there was far too much text, too tightly-spaced and uninvitingly formatted, for easy reading. That is, incidentally, the original and proper meaning of “wall of text,” not the “durr hurr me no like reading” sense that it’s devolved into, and which accounts for most of the backlash against Subnormality.
I had to digest this strip in small chunks with breaks in between, kind of like how Mark Twain suggested long German compound words should be presented if German writers insist on using them.
I know people, including Winston himself, get their back up at comments along the lines of “This would’ve worked better as a prose story than as a comic,” but I’m sorry; it really would’ve.
That, or a long-form comic like “Captain Estar Goes to Heaven,” a comic which actually illustrates the events of the story, rather than having one of the survivors recap the whole schmeer. True, it wouldn’t then fit the Subnormality format, but that’s what the overall Virus Comix site is for, isn’t it?
December 29, 2009 at 5:47 pm
Been following you for a long time, but this was the first time you really moved me. Great story.
December 29, 2009 at 6:18 pm
>>>Winston, this is an ingenious and moving story, but I must agree with those who say that, this time, there was far too much text, too tightly-spaced and uninvitingly formatted, for easy reading.<<>>I had to digest this strip in small chunks with breaks in between<<<
Dude, it takes barely a few minutes to read the whole thing. It's not the comic's problem you can't read for a few minutes straight.
The text is clear, it's well aligned, it reads normally from left to right (I'm looking at you, Penny Arcade and CAD crap) and it tells a nice story. It just takes 5 minutes instead of 30 seconds. Big deal. Stop complaining.
December 29, 2009 at 7:58 pm
Cool idea mixing vengeful alien ghosts with resource motivated imperialism. Good stuff.
That said – I think the text needs to be clearer if there’s going to be this much reading. Maybe all caps isn’t the best choice?
December 29, 2009 at 10:26 pm
“Dude, it takes barely a few minutes to read the whole thing. It’s not the comic’s problem you can’t read for a few minutes straight.
“Stop complaining.”
Sir, or madam, I happen to be one of the readers who comments in a positive and enthusiastic way on pretty much every strip. I’ve been reading and enjoying Subnormality for two years and am always generous with my praise, something you would have discovered if you had taken a moment for the merest skim of the comments on this blog over time. Therefore, I have the right to offer constructive criticism of a strip once in a while.
I am not one of those “durp hurp reeding wurdz iz teh hard” trolls, and I must insist you do not lump me in with them. Good day to you.
December 30, 2009 at 1:35 am
Oh, my. One of the best so far in my opinion. INteresting story, lots to read (<3) and a fucking awesome ending (the hug almost got me crying, the last comments almost threw me on floor, laughing).
I loved it!
December 30, 2009 at 2:39 am
The soldier’s story would make for an awesome graphic novel.
December 30, 2009 at 3:06 am
Michael Ezra: Don’t worry, your criticism is appreciated by me at least. And you’re probably right, the “Wonte IV” (read it backwards…) story would probably be better as prose or as a graphic novel, in a perfect world that is. Unfortunately we live in a world of compromise, and given my long-term goals there’s zero chance of me ever writing a graphic novel based on that story. And so i decided to get it out there by doing something Else with it, and so here we are.
Writer: I appreciate the support, but don’t be rude to people who leave legitimate criticism (especially those who leave super-excellent and hugely appreciated comments on a regular basis).
December 30, 2009 at 4:40 am
Winston: I love you, man. 🙂
December 30, 2009 at 6:15 am
that wasn’t a joke at the end. i think it would probably be the most natural thing to do at that point in time. 🙂
best. hug. ever.
December 30, 2009 at 6:50 am
Zero chance? I’m going to cry.
December 30, 2009 at 6:53 am
Deke, there’s no one to define how a webcomic should be. No rules to limit the number of pages or the layout, style, or size. No word count that must be reached, no minimum sentence requirement.
Winston can do what he likes with his creation, and if he chooses to tell his stories in images and words, all the power to him.
December 30, 2009 at 7:06 am
Hey, sorry I won’t be original here, but this was absolutely brilliantly fucking awesome, and I can’t even find the strong enough words to describe how much awesome..
Reminded me of the horror telling girl comic – that was also awesome, but I guess science fiction horror stories appeal to me even more.
December 30, 2009 at 7:26 am
Oi Winston, I’m just wondering what exactly you meant by “read it backwards”. Do you mean the name of the planet? (Vietnow? some sort of Vietnam reference?)
Can you help me out here?
December 30, 2009 at 7:41 am
Yes.
December 30, 2009 at 4:17 pm
“Vietnow”…
Wow. I think I get it. That’s awesome.
December 30, 2009 at 4:24 pm
Allright, apologies to M Ezra. Won’t happen again.
December 30, 2009 at 4:39 pm
I just got blind after reading all this… But it worth it. He totally deserves a Break… full of hot sex.
December 30, 2009 at 6:29 pm
Writer: You’re all right. Apology accepted.
December 30, 2009 at 7:06 pm
You’re comic series always seems to take online comics further into the unknown. I never expect just what the next one will truly be:P
This one in particular I found amazing, as it appeals to all people’s feelings of displacement or loneliness, and delivers a sort of ethical commentary. Most of all, this is terrific science ficition.
Whatever problem a reader feels with any story, the ideas you have are always powerful enough to make me keep reading. Thanks Winston.
December 30, 2009 at 8:05 pm
nicely done. cheers. -e.
December 30, 2009 at 9:33 pm
What a fantastic story! Thanks very much for making such an awesome comic.
December 31, 2009 at 2:19 am
While I am disappointed to hear that this will never be a graphic novel, I must say that the disappointment is far outweighed by the sheer awesomeness of the concept. If it means that we get more of the awesomeness that Subnormality represents, well, it’s a sacrifice I don’t have a problem making.
Well done all around, Mr. Rowntree, well done.
December 31, 2009 at 4:51 pm
Wow, If you write SciFi, I want to read it. That was a great story.
December 31, 2009 at 6:28 pm
Honestly? People that said that there’s too much text: Ever read a book before?
No? Well, it kinda looks like the comic. Just words on paper. Check it out.
And that was awesome, as always, good job! 😀
December 31, 2009 at 7:17 pm
Hard read words make head angry. derrrrrp. like the whores tho.
December 31, 2009 at 10:27 pm
You rock, Rowntree. Thanks for making these. They’re depressing as hell but they make me feel better for some reason.
Hope 2010 is a good year for you.
December 31, 2009 at 10:45 pm
Beautiful. Amazing and creepy and beautiful.
Kim.
January 1, 2010 at 7:13 am
Seriously amazing.
January 1, 2010 at 5:59 pm
Damn near cracked a tear at the end there, beautiful response from her, excellent comic, As Liam said: Seriously amazing.
I’ve returned to this one several times now, just to read, once again, the compassion and humanity in this strip. Thank you, you touch something deep here.
January 1, 2010 at 6:41 pm
Man, it’s awesome to start 2010 finding your comics. While reading through your latest I goggled and wondered. Pure and simple – it’s may be the best short story I’ve read (and I’ve read tons of them). You’ve got talent, buddy – the serious type. ThankX!
January 1, 2010 at 9:07 pm
Some consolation from 2009… some people do have taste. Shitleback is #4 in ‘worst things of the decade’.
http://fansided.com/2009/12/29/2000s-the-top-10-worst-things-of-the-decade/
Still needs a couple more burns from Subnormality though. How about the Sphynx eating them? 🙂 Nah, wouldn’t want the poor gal to get sick.
January 1, 2010 at 9:51 pm
Even the Sphynx has standards.
January 2, 2010 at 12:41 pm
@Michael Ezra: so thanks to the Sphynx gradually only the worst of the worst will be left? Eugh.
I guess I’ll better schedule an eating with her soon to spare me the horror…
np: Gravenhurst – Trust (The Western Lands)
January 2, 2010 at 12:45 pm
This is like the bad ending of Avatar, awesome story!
January 2, 2010 at 6:28 pm
That was the most beautiful and intriguing thing I have ever read.
January 3, 2010 at 5:34 pm
I’m nearly speechless, a very rare condition in my case. It took me three tries to get through it, mostly because reading lettering as dense as that requires focused effort. The story is absolutely worth it. This is tomorrow’s hell with eternity’s solace for the lost and desperate. I’m in awe.
January 3, 2010 at 6:03 pm
I…
I’m very moved by this. it was beautiful, in a very odd way.
January 3, 2010 at 9:30 pm
I almost cried at the end. I just stared in shock for a while when the guy ended his story, then I feeled fucking tears in my eyes. You are awesome.
January 4, 2010 at 3:52 am
I really enjoyed this. Like, I REALLY liked this a lot haha. Idk, it was interesting to read.
January 4, 2010 at 12:39 pm
Awesome.
January 4, 2010 at 3:38 pm
I’d just like to point out that it is very clearly the man asking if they’re going to fuck.
1) They have different coloured speech bubbles. Hers is white, his is a very light pink.
2) The reply is ‘Dude’. Since ‘dude’, 90% of the time, refers to a male, it would only make sense if she was saying it to him, not the other way round.
January 4, 2010 at 5:09 pm
insane (:
January 4, 2010 at 7:42 pm
Long time reader, first time commenter.
Just wanted to add to the well-deserved calls of AWESOME and GREAT JOB. And I loved the ending!
Just wow.
Sorry to those who don’t like the wall of text, no offense but I wish I could make you understand how it feels to lose yourself in such a damn good tale.
January 4, 2010 at 11:25 pm
I like that you are willing to piss people off to develop mood and stretch out a joke nearly (or past, occasionally) the point of breaking. Plus your artwork is fantastic, I sometimes go back over old strips just to look at them.
Also, I thought the ending to this strip was oddly very touching.
January 5, 2010 at 12:01 pm
Best Avatar sequel ever! 🙂
January 5, 2010 at 6:49 pm
unbelievably awesome
January 5, 2010 at 8:43 pm
That was brilliant. It could have been anything, this comic. A short story, a novel, a film, and you chose to condense it perfectly into those (not-so-)little boxes. I can’t really comment, I’m too impressed by it. The ending ‘stop bitching about how much christmas sucks for you’ moral seemed almost random compared to everything above it.
January 6, 2010 at 4:55 pm
Winston Rowntree,
a delicate and sensitive soul such as you has much to offer mankind. Use more than one sheet of toilet roll, and wash your hands thoroughly before stirring your coffee with your fingers. How do I know you do this? I am The Prober – I see all.
January 7, 2010 at 3:25 am
Bravo.
January 7, 2010 at 2:57 pm
That was some of the most intense webcomic writing I have ever seen. Nice work. I really enjoy your bubble-gum style art. Some of your stuff is a bit ranty, but that’s cool sometimes. I bet you’re totally a white guy.
January 8, 2010 at 6:27 am
Get a fucking movie deal. Seriously.
January 8, 2010 at 8:20 pm
that was great. it could make an AMAZING movie
January 9, 2010 at 5:19 pm
That was the craziest story I read in a long time ! GREAT !
January 9, 2010 at 7:32 pm
Hell, I’d like to watch that instead of Avatar.
January 9, 2010 at 8:04 pm
This deserves a movie.
January 10, 2010 at 7:01 am
seriously, just awesome.
January 10, 2010 at 7:46 am
You should 100% make films. Do it!
January 10, 2010 at 12:24 pm
Have you ever written a book? if not you have to!! jesus christ
January 11, 2010 at 9:53 am
This comic is without a doubt the scariest fucking horror movie I have ever seen. Ever. Ever. Ever. Also that power outage mention scares the shit out of me.
January 11, 2010 at 7:47 pm
Holy freakin’ bejeezus.
Terrifying, gripping, absolutely amazing from pretty much every angle.
By the way, best closing line ever.
January 14, 2010 at 12:36 pm
This is a great science-fiction story. It would even make an awesome movie, because it has a well-contained premise with lots of strong imagery.
I agree with the other commenters that you should also try your hand at writing. Because, otherwise, you feel like you’re doing “comics with too many words” and it may feel a bit restricting, maybe.
Love your comics too, tho.
January 16, 2010 at 3:29 pm
OH MY! This was fairly acceptable.
January 18, 2010 at 8:58 pm
Awesome, you should really turn that into a graphic novel, perhaps from the point of view Banicek
January 22, 2010 at 5:46 pm
One of the best stories I’ve read, all in the space of a single comic page (well…sorta.)
If only more writers had the same kind of inspired genius.
January 23, 2010 at 6:10 pm
I really wish prostitution was legal in my country … sigh.
January 24, 2010 at 5:59 am
I never knew something so awesome was on the Internet. I’m glad I found this website. : )
January 25, 2010 at 6:37 am
This is my favourite piece of work you’ve done so far. Hats off to you, sir, I check this comic everyday, just in case you thought it was Monday and updated early.
January 25, 2010 at 9:44 am
This here? This is an excellent story.
And as other people have mentioned, would probably make a good movie as well.
January 27, 2010 at 5:36 am
This makes me want to be a new Ghandi. You sir are a philosopher. I would make literature students read that.
January 28, 2010 at 12:27 am
Thank you for this.
January 28, 2010 at 2:00 am
“VI etnoW” is… what, a Vietnam reference? A Rage Against the Machine reference? Because… oil companies wiped out life in Vietnam? I don’t get the analogy. Aside from leaving soldiers with emotional scarring, there are no significant parallels between the situations. Also, backwards words are a really edgy way to name things in science fiction.
What’s a “brick brickhouse?” Did you mean “brick shithouse,” a term describing a physically imposing person (even though this character’s ability seems to be more in the realms of emotional and mental fortitude than physical strength)?
Also, I’m going to be one of the few to say I really didn’t like the story much. Corporations turn a planet’s biomass into oil, the security team is stranded and tormented by the ghosts of the dead organisms… I mean, talk about heavy handed. I’m thinking this must be a Rage Against the Machine reference, because it has the same kind of overstated cynical bitterness as their lyrics, albeit lacking any of the emotional power or excitement that comes from the music itself.
First of all, the premise is about as plausible as the one in Space Balls. The technology exists to bend time around an entire planet, and yet fossil fuel is still in high demand? It seems like a planet’s worth of nukes and time-compressors and robot oil rigs (by the way, they have robot oil rigs, but no robot security guards?) and interstellar flights would take more energy than you would get out of the oil. Is that the point? That the corporation’s business model is completely ludicrous? The only way I can really see this story working is as a satire, so overblown is the premise and angst.
You know how sometimes, in a novel, when someone starts speaking in a pages-long monologue, their style of speech changes from something that sounds like normal dialogue to something much more poetically and gracefully stated? That’s because it’s absolute trudgery to read through all the “I mean”s, “just… fuck”s, and “like”s. I know you’re subversive and don’t submit to conventions and all, but this sounds incredibly awkward, and constantly pulls me out of the narrative.
And the trope of the hooker who says, “you’re the first person who’s tragic story has broken through my jaded exterior and touched me personally?” Jeez-louise. This narrative isn’t intended to be taken seriously, right? The joke is that the excess of this man’s suffering is so hilariously exaggerated that it leads to a cliche emotional climax, subverted by the assurance of some crazy fuckin’, right?
January 31, 2010 at 1:39 am
dude. i’m not gonna lie i didn’t have the 30 goddamn minutes it would take to read this shit. And I know it would have just been some bizarre liberal propaganda anyways, so… yea.
January 31, 2010 at 1:42 am
but you do get originality points for making your grungy miserable communist lowlife look like… wait. he looks exactly like curt cobain…
February 3, 2010 at 6:24 pm
As previously stated…………
MOVIE RIGHTS!
MOVIE RIGHTS!
February 9, 2010 at 7:26 am
Very cool. I usually hate text heavy comics, but that was totally worth reading.
February 12, 2010 at 3:37 am
Excellent.
February 12, 2010 at 3:43 am
I have been a fan of your work for a long time, but I never thought a one shot strip could suck me in so well. I had to bookmark this one because I was at work, but I had to comment and say kudos, well done. You have some serious talent. Also, I didn’t notice the bit about the flashlight/lettering until after I read the last bit. I loved it!
February 12, 2010 at 7:37 am
I am going to be one of the rare people who speak FOR your “wall of text” approach as it creates a higher barrier of entry for those who wish to read the story, and gives a small sense of reward when done, knowing few others survived the gauntlet 😉
February 12, 2010 at 7:39 pm
thank you
February 17, 2010 at 4:47 pm
Man … amazing story …it feels real with a bit of dark humor
February 19, 2010 at 9:55 am
I actually already sent an email about this cause I didn’t notice the comment box before…
But anyway. This is seriously, so fucking good. You’re my hero(es) for the next fifty fucking years.
I think the thing that really gets me, is that if we ever got to that point of technological and space-age advancement, this sounds like a very, very likely and believable scenario… And in the midst of all that greed and need for more wealth and power, average joes like Bruce in the story get fucked really really hard by a dildo made of chainsaws, and have to suffer for it. Even though it’s fiction, I’m still so happy he got off that dune-ball alive. And… yeah… Thank you for making this.
February 22, 2010 at 3:52 am
I found Subnormality because someone posted this comic on a forum I frequent. Lots of text is great; hell, I read and love novels, why not a wordier-than usual comic?
February 26, 2010 at 3:09 am
This is the first comic I read of yours and I have to admit I was totally blown away. I pretty much devoted the rest of my day to reading everything you’ve ever done that I could find. Just wanted to say you have incredible talent and I am stoked to have found out about you.
February 26, 2010 at 3:19 am
Brilliant.
You’re always good, but there are times when you’re so good that I feel indebted just reading it. This was one of those.
February 26, 2010 at 4:29 am
Thank you. Sometimes when you read something really good, you just fall into a daze, you really sense the emotion of the characters rather than your own. I had to take a moment to come back to reality after this one. wonderful stuff.
March 8, 2010 at 7:43 am
I love you. And I love that you have Eleanor Ripley up at the top of this comments / post description page. Can I send you $20 USD? Would it help? Or should I keep it for beer and cigarettes? I have been reading your comic for a long time. My words are stupid, but I want to give you a few of them just to show how much I value the results borne of the effort you put into releasing Subnormality, here at Viruscomix. Thank you so much, please keep them coming.
-Alex
March 8, 2010 at 7:52 am
I just had to leave an addendum. I also spend my money on beef noodle soup from my favorite Chinese joint, and I buy new boots occasionally. You’d be the second donation I’ve made in my entire 14 year career as an Internet surfer. The first 20 went to the guy who’s doing the Symphony of Science auto-tuned music videos, I was so moved by those. The primary purpose of this secondary comment was to plug SoS… Good day.
March 10, 2010 at 11:33 pm
I would pirate the crap out this movie
March 18, 2010 at 5:16 am
First panel (upper-left corner) MacTavish Soap! Someone’s been playing Call of Duty!
March 18, 2010 at 5:34 am
@Da, In case you didn’t notice, you’re critiquing and applying literacy rules… to a Goddamn web comic. Let’s get one thing straight- taking the time out of your day to type up a wall of text dissecting a web comic doesn’t make you look intellectual, it makes you look like some Ivy League asshole that has nothing better to do with a Bachelor’s Degree in English. Lighten the hell up and let the rest of us enjoy our “cliches”, or at the very least voice your opinions plainly. No one likes it when someone flaunts their vocabulary, beating around the bush like that. Get to the point, would you?
P.S. Don’t post your pet peeves either. I’ll say “like” all I want, you uppity, wide-brimmed asshat.
March 18, 2010 at 5:44 am
@this guy, Oh, a tin-foil-hat wack job. Watch out, or them Bilderberger Illuminati Reptilians is guna com in their black helicopters and probe ya liek they did tuh Unkle Cletus, hyuk. For the love of God, please, PLEASE crawl back into whatever Appalachian incest shack you were birthed in, and take your moonshine with you. I didn’t even know you could type with webbed hands, you mistake of nature. I prefer my Internet unsullied and with some semblance of the ability to spell.
March 29, 2010 at 5:50 pm
I…
I don’t have the words.
I started reading the entire archive early this morning as a random link-hop to this site. On reading this one… I had to take a break. Very rarely have a read books that broguth me to the edge of tears with thier power. Never with a webcomic… until today.
This one short (but perfectly long enough) tale is easily the best material I have read or seen in any medium in at least 3 years.
I had to stop and say something about this. Whatever you are doing now, however you were inspired to create like this, keep doing it. Either here, or in another media, but do not ever stop. Our culture would be weaker for it. Thank you for your addition to it.
March 30, 2010 at 2:10 am
damn, that was good.
March 30, 2010 at 8:50 am
That was beautiful.
April 22, 2010 at 12:27 am
Reminds me of Dead Space.. Only written beautifully. This is what that game SHOULD have been like, and I’d love to see the story adapted into film or novel or the like. Simply awesome.
May 29, 2010 at 4:01 am
this was incredible. holy crap. i don’t even have the words to describe how much i enjoyed this one.
June 6, 2010 at 7:24 pm
You should really make that a movie, it was amazing I know that this is what everyone else is saying but, please, please, make that into a book or movie. It’s basically giving the same message as Avatar, except it is actually an original story, instead of a retelling of Pocahontas (it’s better written too).
Love your comic,
Shadows
P.s.
Amazing!
June 13, 2010 at 4:35 am
When I was reading this, I really wanted to stop because it looked like way to much text. But the story was just had me hooked and I couldn’t stop reading until it was over. You definitely should try writing this into a novel or something along those lines. Keep up the amazing work.
June 30, 2010 at 4:08 pm
Your combination of writing and artwork creates a fantastic medium, and as everyone said the story overpowers the “too long didn’t read” urge. The one thing you could do to improve your work is letter in sentence case rather than all caps for heavy-text panels.
August 1, 2010 at 9:55 pm
I dunno; I could always like reading. But reading this for the nTh time reminded me of the first time I saw your walls of text and momentarily balked at the climb.
Thank fuck for your perseverance in making this mountainous artwork work Winston Rowntree. You’ve definitely got summit to be proud of.
August 7, 2010 at 2:04 pm
This is either the beginning or ending of an amazing “web graphic novel, I hope you decide to include web graphic novels in your repertoire (or paper ones)
Stephen King would still be decent if he wrote like you, though it reminds me somewhat of Dean Koontz “Seize the Night” trilogy which were also amazing reads.
Amazing job
August 7, 2010 at 4:33 pm
Oh..My..God, that story was amazing I mean you should write a screen play for that because it was Awesome. Not only did it involve our oil crisis, but it involved the nature of humans, and the idea of Christmas!?! This is Oscar worthy right here!
August 8, 2010 at 4:18 am
Oh hell yea! You listen to Malcom there… That was fucking amazing!
August 15, 2010 at 10:44 pm
Wow – awesome comic, Winston. Very compelling story – one of your best walls of text yet.
August 21, 2010 at 2:14 am
He has to have inspiration to make up a cover, I think. Medicine by the century, eh?
August 23, 2010 at 10:02 am
great comic!
I kinda skipped all of the text (it’s like a book!) but the punchline ended up being hilarious!
good work.
August 23, 2010 at 3:15 pm
Holy shit that is an epic story. All you tl;dr’ers need to man up and read it– It’s well, WELL worth the patience.
Seriously, this could be a movie and it would be the movie of the year.
August 23, 2010 at 6:36 pm
hey i just submitted this comic to digg.com you guys should jump on the bandwagon and digg it just sayin.
http://www.viruscomix.com/page505.html
August 23, 2010 at 6:55 pm
sorry i accidently put the wrong address in the comment. here it is
http://digg.com/comics_animation/A_Christmas_Eve_In_the_Future
August 25, 2010 at 6:06 am
I reminds me a lot of a short science fiction story a read as a kid, and now I cannot remember the name. It had a very simular premise though. (minus the tie in with the Irag war and the evil corporation angle)
August 25, 2010 at 6:11 am
@Da
Wonte IV is a homonym (or whatever) for “What For.”
August 25, 2010 at 1:37 pm
Did I just read the script for the sequel of avatar?
Would sure make a whole lotta sense.
September 16, 2010 at 4:32 pm
When I was reading this I couldn’t help but to wonder about what your influences for this story were. As a pretty avid SF fan I noticed some similarities between this story and Joe Haldeman’s “The Forever War.” In it he uses both the idea of humans inflicting physical damage on a different world and receiving a psychological response and the whole if you take stimtabs for too long you lose the ability to think.
He also tackles the theme of a militarization of space exploration, so I was just wondering if his work was an inspiration. If not I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to read SF that looks at really interesting themes
October 24, 2010 at 8:53 pm
This story from a guy sitting on a bed has caused more emotion in me than almost all of the scifi epics I’ve read in the last two years…and I’ve read lot of scifi. All I can say is that I hope I can write half as well as you one day and hope you continue on with your great stories and social commentary. You have a fan for life.
October 25, 2010 at 4:08 am
Unbelievable. I have read your stuff on and off for months, working my way through the archives, but when I came to this, I still had to blink. It is a wall of text. Because I knew you do smart writing, I plunged in, and fuck…all. That was the best sci-fi short I can remember ever reading. The pictures just brought a reality to the story that really helped to enhance it, too, which for a book guy like me was startling. I am officially a fan, and you need to get on the movie rights to this stat.
October 26, 2010 at 11:48 pm
Wow, you are an amazing writer, and the ending still cracked me up alot. As someone planning to take an english major I think I’m in love with you. Normally I’d bitch about the walls of text, but you sir are amazing
November 28, 2010 at 9:25 pm
Please write a novel. I beg you.
December 15, 2010 at 8:48 am
I usually don’t read too much sci-fi, but this is possibly one of the most poignant and disturbingly pieces of fiction I’ve read in a long while. I absolutely love the way you’ve done the framing of the narrative, and the fact that the planet in question or the nightmares aren’t illustrated just adds to the suspense and allows me as a reader to imagine them for my self.
(If Cameron had you as a writer-on-staff, he might have actually made a good Avatar. Or even better, if you had him as a director-on-staff. With his budgets, of course)
I work full time at the Literature department at the University of Oslo (Norway), and I have added this comic to a short story course I’m outlining for the next semester. Truly great!
December 19, 2010 at 5:40 pm
your best yet.
December 20, 2010 at 11:23 am
This stuff (the entire site) is genius. I love it.
December 26, 2010 at 6:48 pm
Amazing
January 2, 2011 at 5:51 am
One year later, still awesome.
This strip was actually my introduction to the site/comic – someone linked it for me, and I’m glad.
January 18, 2011 at 10:39 pm
This was AMAZING! I’ve been a long-time fan, but I always am re-reading this one because, frankly, it’s the best. I agree with everyone else: do make a graphic novel. I will love you forever if you do!
March 13, 2011 at 7:17 pm
i just want to let you know that that is one of the most inspiring and well written pieces of short fiction that i have read in my life
March 20, 2011 at 9:50 pm
Wow! An amazing story, and then BAM! I laughed so hard at that last part.
April 24, 2011 at 4:33 am
It’s hard to read several large blocks of handwritten text, but I’m glad that I did. This is a very beautiful story.
May 6, 2011 at 1:48 am
I really like this.
May 6, 2011 at 3:03 am
That was so awesome. Somehow the few images tied the whole thing together, and the story is dark and noir, I love that shit I can’t help it.
May 6, 2011 at 2:58 pm
Though you must hear this a lot, this story would do a damn awesome movie. The setting reminds me of David Lynch’s Dune.
May 9, 2011 at 9:05 pm
I stumbled across your art this morning, I have no idea where. Clicked a random link on another comic I think, free-floating through comic pages. That was 9 hours ago. I have been reading your archives all the day long. Leaving comments like this is not something I do often, and I don’t think I have ever done so without knowing name of the creator. But that last was just… brilliant. To the point that just needed to send you a deep bow from another stranger in the world. I just wanted to say thank you, for writing so well that I had to say it. :>
May 16, 2011 at 5:46 pm
Wow! I’ve never ever spent that much time reading a webcomic before, but that one was worth every second. I almost had an old yeller moment there at the hug frame but it was narrowly averted by “nobody’s ever fucked the way we’re gonna fuck” and the subsequent fit of hilarity. so well done that words don’t do it justice. bravo!
May 22, 2011 at 4:48 am
Oh my god this should be a movie
dome in the style of amedeus, maybe, where they cut back and forth between closeups of the story teller and flashbacks showing what he is describing
no seriosly: SOMEONE NEEDS TO MAKE THAT MOVIE
May 22, 2011 at 5:40 pm
This would’ve been better/easier to read if it was using good fonts.
Decent sci-fi at least.
July 20, 2011 at 10:29 pm
Could You possibly make this available as a print? I’d love to hang this on my wall!
August 2, 2011 at 8:40 pm
You are a fucking genius. I can only say that. And thanks by the way.
August 18, 2011 at 9:09 am
Very very very good story, hard to read for a french, but it worth the effort, thanks a LOT !
September 3, 2011 at 7:37 am
Wall Of Text but… that’s completely pure Awesomeness. It would make a really brilliantly fucked-up movie \o/
September 11, 2011 at 7:57 pm
make this a movie, cause it’s fucking brilliant.
October 14, 2011 at 6:41 am
My favourite strip yet- I can’t put it any better than has been expressed many times above.
November 15, 2011 at 10:38 am
Holy Living God! If you ever write a book about Colonel Banicek I will buy the SHIT out of it!
December 1, 2011 at 1:23 am
This strip is inspiring! You have come up with a story that would be amazing to expand on! If I weren’t a moral person I would steal this idea and write a novel about it.
December 23, 2011 at 12:13 pm
This is one of the greatest walls of text ever produced.
December 25, 2011 at 6:07 pm
Please don’t ever have anything like this made into a movie, or it will totally mind-fuck any sane person >.<
Amazing stuff WR, fantastic… and laughed at the alt-text (i would have died if i wrote that story and the power went out at the same time lolol)
March 11, 2012 at 1:19 am
Dude.
March 27, 2012 at 4:19 pm
Damn, you are an incredible storyteller.
April 11, 2012 at 3:20 am
Just noticed the MacTavish brand soap. Brilliant. These aren’t comix with too many words, I’d say they have just the right amount.
April 11, 2012 at 11:47 am
Wow. Just wow. It is rare to read material containing this much brilliantness 🙂
July 3, 2012 at 10:29 am
Should be expanded into a book
July 27, 2012 at 12:44 am
christ.
September 16, 2012 at 1:45 pm
Dude. You should write Doctor Who.
October 11, 2012 at 7:02 pm
Freaking Awesome! Simply Brilliant.
April 1, 2013 at 1:14 pm
THIS, fuckin THIS, what a read, seriously, this NEEDS to be a movie, better fuckin history that most sci-fi flicks I´ve seen in a while, HATS OFF
April 24, 2013 at 1:31 pm
That was incredible. I’m glad I read all of it!
April 25, 2013 at 8:09 am
I just stumbled across this, and I can’t get over it. Fucking incredible.
May 1, 2013 at 4:19 pm
To long did not read. Did not apply for me wow what a read. Glad i have read it 😀
May 13, 2013 at 9:43 pm
I normally don’t comment but this particular one hits hard. Way to close to a can happen/probably would happen.
July 21, 2013 at 7:23 pm
That story was incredible, felt like crawling into a modern Phillip K. Dick story. The ending was brilliant!
Been hammering through these the past few days in my down time and your work is insanely wicked.
If ever you wanted to fling a Kickstarter campaign (or another site, can’t quite get behind Kickstarter even though I use PledgeMusic… Ah well, c’est la vie) I’d fling cash at you (both literally and figuratively, I suppose).
September 30, 2013 at 3:02 pm
Not to be clichéd or overly-terse, but that was fucking epic.
December 9, 2013 at 3:30 pm
If we have space travel at that level, we’ll certainly have controlled fusion by then. Not to mention the energy density of oil is too low to be useful (i.e., would take more energy to transport over interstellar distances than you’d get from it at the end), although, you could get around that by using the energy to generate and store antimatter. I don’t know if this would actually happen if practical; if it were done secretly, it probably could, but it would be stopped pretty fast if there was any public exposure.
March 31, 2014 at 10:37 am
Yeah, people’ll probably stop doing stupid ill judged pointless stuff in far distant lands that retrospectively ends up being a horrible idea at some point. In the far distant future if ever, I have my doubts though.
January 17, 2015 at 7:09 am
My theory is that they still need the oil for other mean of production like plastic, polyethylene, polypropylene, food preservative, fertilizers, nylons, Aspirin, Glycerin, and many many more.
Also rich people who still want to drive petroleum cars.
May 12, 2014 at 9:33 pm
Thank you, Virus. This is ricockulous place to say, but your work helped make me happy enough to get through a divorce and the aftermath.
May 13, 2014 at 9:53 pm
Why is this not a book, a video game or at least a comic book yet!? It’s so well written!
September 18, 2014 at 3:13 pm
Awesome comic is awesome!
January 17, 2015 at 7:03 am
I came here thanks to TVTropes’ topic “Death Planet.” Holy shit man this story can be turned into a mindfuck horror movie worthy of Guilermo Del Toro direction. It was a wall of text but I just can’t stop reading.
Also plot twist what if that comic is his dying dream? Like they actually failed to escape and he’s in the wreckage of the shuttle with his friends and he keep struggling not to fell asleep and when he’s busy fucking the girl turned into a monstrosity?
September 24, 2016 at 5:25 am
this was great, i really enjoyed this comic, thank you for sharing
April 25, 2017 at 8:22 am
The whore who seemed to truly understand, yet who still truly loved him, after all of that, hit me the hardest. For my own twisted mind, she was a goddess, or maybe even The Big Guy Himself!