Okay, i’m back finally, but hopefully it’ll be apparent why the new comic took so long. Wanted to do something irresponsibly large for the ol’ 5th anniversary, since you only get one of those. God knows there’re probably some typos/hilarious mistakes/game-braking bugs in there, so if you find any please let me know in the comments as usual.
PLEADING THE FIFTH
Yeah, thus marks five years of this here comic strip, so i’d just like to offer thanks to each and every one of you out there for reading and then reading again and then coming back month after month despite the crushing walls of text and general weirdness on offer. Huge thanks to everyone who takes the time to leave comments or send an email, and apologies to anyone who hasn’t gotten a reply over the years as i occasionally lose track of the occasional email. And thanks So Much for buying so many posters, and for any such purchases in the future because it’s a huge help, frankly. And of course thanks so much to anyone who’s donated over the years as well! Oh my, the generosity of You Out There is pretty inspiring at times, so thanks for wanting me to shut up and take your money because it’s genuinely an honor (and helps offset my raging food & shelter addiction). Handshakes to all, for you all are pretty special. I know updates are Not Exactly Weekly anymore, but thanks for understanding the realities of working as a Comix Person (entailing the taking of commissions for the paying of bills, and such). Let’s see what happens in the next five years…
LOOK OUT, KIDS
This month also begins my poisoning of the minds of an entire generation of children!! Children in the Czech Republic, to be precise, who will have a pretty good chance of running into one of the 10,000 prints of The Goats Comic that’ll be distributed in schools there as a Promotional Thing for education services company SCIO (click the picture below to see the translated posters lying in wait). Thanks so much to Jiri and everyone at SCIO for their interest in my work, and i’m so glad to be part of a project that once again shows the potential and relevance of webcomics. I look forward to the media catching on in about 50 or 60 years.
ALRIGHTY THEN
Yeah, so Thanks Again to Y’alls, because it’s been unquestionably The Best Five Years Ever, and i honestly can’t even believe i got here sometimes. Half my brain is still back in some sketchy apartment making zines for seven people and is still unused to actually having an audience, but holy hell am i ever grateful to be where i am now (wherever it is that i am). Oh, and just a reminder that there’s a Subnormality Wiki going now, so anyone who feels like contributing is to be commended in advance, and if it starts to fill out nicely i’ll do up some exclusive character art or something to say thanks. Until then, i genuinely love you all, it’s off to bed for me, and i’ll see you again soon…
Cheers and high-five,
Wr
PS: SACRILICIOUS!
Oh, and this month also sees an ebook release by my mom, which i’m of course happy to mention here (standing offer: give birth to me and get free publicity). It’s available here, and is summarized thusly: When Elspeth Finnie is falsely accused of having signed a pact with the Devil, and of having procured a human infant for him, both Elspeth and Enoch are forced to choose between their humanity and their God.
Virus Comix News 
March 7, 2012 at 4:03 am
Oh Winston, I love you.
You’ve even managed to make capitalisation funny. ❤
March 7, 2012 at 4:09 am
I can’t even formulate an appreciative enough comment for the things I feel and come to understand through reading Subnormality. So just THANK YOU, I guess. You’re one hell of an inspiration.
March 7, 2012 at 5:01 am
The comic made me cry, by the way. And I can’t help but be envious of the aliens. What I wouldn’t give to be ‘just visiting’ Earth. (Well, I mean other than in the whole ‘laughably brief lifespan in a tiny portion of the planet’ way.)
March 7, 2012 at 5:01 am
Too good. Just too good.
March 7, 2012 at 5:05 am
Wow. Thanks for this!
March 7, 2012 at 5:22 am
Even by your high standards, this is special. Thank you.
March 7, 2012 at 5:25 am
I think I actually never been to the comment section, but the caption was to close to a “goodbye all” and that was *scary*.
Thank YOU for all those comics. I don’t know when I stumble on subnormality, but it is definitely one of the sweetest and most delightful things out there. Gorgeous, interesting, funny… somehow demanding too, but always rewarding. Some webcomics are entertaining, some make my day, but subnormality always changes the mindset and mood until another one comes up (and that usually means for a long time 😉 ).
So thank you sir, I feel privileged to be able to read, and read again, your work.
March 7, 2012 at 6:18 am
I must admit that I find your walls of text daunting on occasion, and I found the layout of this one disconcerting for a little while, but the journey turned out to be particularly rewarding. Thanks for 5 years of thoughtful strips, and here’s to many more.
March 7, 2012 at 6:41 am
I suddenly feel like doing out and doing some qualitative field sociology.
Also, if the comix get any larger than this, I’ll need a video projector or something.
March 7, 2012 at 6:53 am
My first glimpse of awesome was at the age of 18 listening to Dark Side of the Moon (1st) by P. Floyd (1st) on a high quality stereo (1st) on headphones (1st) in the company of real friends (1st) while smoking dope (1st).
Nothing has ever come close. Maybe lurve. Maybe fatherhood.
This comic is awesome.
March 7, 2012 at 6:54 am
Yes, thanks so much. Interesting: Subnormality shares a birthday with Gabriel García Márquez.
March 7, 2012 at 7:33 am
I understood… Some of that.
Also, I bet that women in the story did sign a pact with the devil. I mean, it’s the sort of thing people do.
March 7, 2012 at 7:49 am
Also, she should have charged ’em 2 bucks anyhow for the awesome band names she gave.
Maybe they would have had to busk for the bucks to pay her for the “band names” (what’s life like on earth?).
Also, my answer is: life is mostly water.
Also, the pads should have had “don’t panic” written on the back in large friendly letters.
April 27, 2012 at 11:31 pm
I’m kind of ashamed i sit around and come up with band names myself sometimes for fun. I have a list somewhere, that i won’t share, but i’ll drop two:
7th day inventists (band members dress up like tesla, or einstein, or any famous inventor)
and Lycans Likin’ Lichen.
March 7, 2012 at 8:09 am
Thank you for writing for these past 5 years! Subnormality is too awesome.
March 7, 2012 at 8:11 am
I always get mad at how long the comics take, then something like this comes along and I’m reminded we don’t owe you anything and you can take as long as you goddam want to, and I feel like a selfish prick. Then I take the 20 minutes it takes to read the whole thing and I’m left with a mixture of feelings out of which the most discernible one seems to be gratitude. Happy birthday man.
March 7, 2012 at 8:19 am
Wow, this is the first time I’ve ever left a comment on one of these comics, and I’ve been reading for three years. This is my favorite webcomic and I have been really inspired by reading it every few weeks. I absolutely loved this comic. I almost cried reading it. It’s so strange how my main source of philosophies in life is a webcomic, but the stuff you write here is truer than a lot of professional books on philosophy and life.
Anyway, congratulations on a 5th anniversary. Hoping for 5 more great years!
March 7, 2012 at 9:10 am
Now THAT’S how you celebrate a 5th anniversary! From the Enterprise cameo to the file name. Pure Rowntree excellence
March 7, 2012 at 9:35 am
Your comics always make life worth living. Happy five years.
March 7, 2012 at 9:53 am
You have a brilliant way with words, my friend.
March 7, 2012 at 10:02 am
Happy 5th anniversary!
And I do hope there’s non-lie cake for this occasion… 🙂
March 7, 2012 at 10:10 am
A magnificent tour de force! Thank you.
Beatles, Pink Floyd, Hitchhiker’s, & Trek references and no doubt many more to be discovered on re-reading, plus just about all of your recurring cast. Can’t see where the bus is going though.
March 7, 2012 at 10:21 am
I always loved reading your comics, the sheer amount of details put in each is just amazing, especially with the hidden references and similar.
This one is amazing, id say, one of my favourite things ive ever read on the internet.
Congrats on 5 years, keep up this amazing thing, and lots of cookies, love and luck to you.
March 7, 2012 at 10:29 am
Huge congratulations on 5 years of wildly insane, sometimes incomprehensible, often eye-fatiguing and always consciousness-expanding artwork.
March 7, 2012 at 10:55 am
Congratulations on five years of fantastic comics. I hope to see many many more from you, walls of text and all.
Specific comments on this particular comic: the alien’s final paragraph was so on-target that I actually teared up a little. And I absolutely love the little alien figures wandering about in between the panels.
So awesome. Keep ’em coming, Winston. We’ll be here, reading and enjoying, as long as you care to share with us.
cheers,
Phil
March 7, 2012 at 12:26 pm
Sums it all up pretty well. 🙂 Thank you!
March 7, 2012 at 1:01 pm
Thank YOU for this five years! And hoping more texts… er, comics for the next years ahead.
March 7, 2012 at 1:10 pm
Yay!
March 7, 2012 at 1:15 pm
Great! This was the pick me up I just was needing! Thanks! 😀
If someone asked me what is like to live on Earth, I would go with either one of two responses (depending on my mood):
A. Straight honest say what I really think: that life on Earth, as I see it, depends on three factors: the actual physical elements of the environment (like weather, flora and fauna, etc.); the cultural elements of the environment (religion, politics, the behaviour of your neighbours, etc.); and how one responses to those two previous factors.
This would mean, I believe, there are 9 different ways in which one experience life on Earth. Lets say a good situation is “1” and a bad one is “0”, then a life situation that one would see as “111” could be translated as: “I live in never-ending spring, my neighbours are wonderful/generous people, my country lives in perpetual peace in all levels of our society, and I just love to be alive”. But then of course, it a way, it all depends of the third factor.
A person could live in the tundra, but have good people as neighbours, and if said person were a good person too, even the tundra could be a paradise. The same way, a person could live in Vancouver, yet have horrible neighbours, while being said person a good one; and in such situation living in Vancouver may get difficult at times, but it could still be a pleasant situation. But if instead, no matter how good or bad be the environment, or how nice or unpleasant be the neighbours; if you are a “0” kind of person (like a bitter, heartless, soulless, selfish, and/or gratuitous violent kind of maternal fornicator); then no matter what, life on Earth should seem like hell to you.
Or… B. Quickly say with an emotionless voice “I don’t really know; excuse me”, hoping the person asking would believe me to be an Alien just passing through, walking away; some times even pretending I’m calling the mother ship for directions.
Like I said, it depends on my mood 😀
March 7, 2012 at 1:45 pm
Great uh, installment of the series? Grats on the five years, and I’m glad I have a decent-size monitor, heh.
March 7, 2012 at 2:28 pm
Congratulations! You can stop now, we are content and you did a great job.
(Just because I hate comments in the vein of “good going, now do it all again for another 5 years).
March 7, 2012 at 2:32 pm
Five years already, huh? I guess time flies when you’re reading the greatest thing on the entire internet.
By the way this comic was just the PERFECT way to mark your anniversary. It is completely fucking epic and I’m gonna have to read it like 20 more times. You completely fucking nailed it as per usual. Here’s to another five years.
March 7, 2012 at 2:51 pm
You’re welcome! Five more maybe? Please?
March 7, 2012 at 3:30 pm
Truly epic. Like, the way I felt after reading Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse 5 or Heller’s Catch 22 or Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land. Or, whatever it is that makes you feel like you’ve just experienced something profound, and you know it might take a long time to process the whole thing, but what matters is that you had the experience and now you can never go back to the way you were before that happened. Winston, dude, you do with a web comic what should not reasonably be possible, so, um, damn.
Thanks.
March 7, 2012 at 3:42 pm
I’ve been reading these comix for a while now, not sure how long, but I get a great big smile on my face every time I see that there’s a new one up. So thanks for all of the smiles, and may the adoration of your audience continue to be enough to keep you fed and sheltered.
March 7, 2012 at 4:06 pm
Beautiful. When will this be available as a print?
March 7, 2012 at 4:09 pm
I’ve never left a comment before and I’m not totally sure why I am now, it just felt appropriate. For me these comix have become an addiction. I read one, get nice and high from the new ideas or viewpoints that race through my head and then fiend for a new one. I know there won’t be a new comic the next day, but I involuntarily check each day until a new one arrives. Repeat. It is a habit I hope I never break. Thanks for taking the time to share something you love doing with the world.
March 7, 2012 at 4:26 pm
See above. I just read te last one and I LOVE how this is a big fat homage to what EVERY single comic is trying to say. And fun fact – I can’t write it down. It’s a giant amalgamation of all the characters – whatever their names may be – and all their opinions and all their mindsets and it just blew me away. This is something I might actually buy. Or not. I’m cheap.
March 7, 2012 at 4:36 pm
Thanks for the last five years, I really love reading your comic and it always makes my day when it pops up in my RSS feed.
Keep up what you’re doing, I for one appreciate your work.
March 7, 2012 at 4:45 pm
Profound on many levels, as always. You are a brilliant and talented artist, and I eagerly anticipate each comic. Thanks!
March 7, 2012 at 4:48 pm
I loved it. 🙂 ❤
March 7, 2012 at 5:16 pm
This is wonderful and epic, and it really needs to be a poster as well. 🙂
Congratulations on your fifth anniversary, and many happy returns!
March 7, 2012 at 5:28 pm
I love you, never stop.
March 7, 2012 at 6:06 pm
Someone shut that old goat up I’M TRYING TO ENJOY THE PLAY.
But srsly, bravo. You have to keep this going till at least 2067 now.
For one thing, Barbara looked over my shoulder and was amazed at how your art’s improved. It was the panels with Justine– “She is really pretty,” was her comment.
Oh, I’ll just let her take the keys. Bar?
…
?
..
where’d she go
March 7, 2012 at 6:47 pm
please make this one a poster…
March 7, 2012 at 7:05 pm
Thanks.
March 7, 2012 at 7:35 pm
You are, as always, awesome. Thank you for what you’ve produced, congratulations on five years, and here’s to another 25 to come 🙂
fb
March 7, 2012 at 7:36 pm
I wish I had a monitor big enough to make this a readable wallpaper. I need to be staring at this at all times.
March 7, 2012 at 8:11 pm
Very cool. It was nice to see all those characters together .
March 7, 2012 at 8:37 pm
I cried.
Thankyou so much.
March 7, 2012 at 8:48 pm
Oh, sweet Celestia! This was so good I was afraid it was Subnormality’s Swan song.
Thank you so much for the last 5 years. These comix have meant great deal to a great many people, I think. To me, anyway.
Looking forward to walls of text for another five years.
March 7, 2012 at 9:22 pm
I am always MORE than happy to wait however long it takes for your amazing comics! I’m so glad this is just the latest in a still-growing archive and not a “Good-Bye, thanks for reading!”
March 7, 2012 at 10:01 pm
Congrats on five years and yet another comic filled with so much truth it makes my eyes moist.
March 7, 2012 at 10:43 pm
Sometimes I need arrows and directions to read these comics…
March 7, 2012 at 10:52 pm
I feel like I just watched another Charlie Kaufman movie. And that’s a good thing.
Now I want to buy a print. But how on earth am I supposed to choose one?
March 7, 2012 at 11:42 pm
The negative effect was awesome.
March 8, 2012 at 12:16 am
And thank you for all the comics and text 🙂
March 8, 2012 at 1:59 am
reading your comics has been… therapeutic. i can’t thank you enough. absolutely incredible.
March 8, 2012 at 3:27 am
Really awesome. That was like 11 comics in one! At some point, with the little aliens strolling around the big blocks of comic, I was reminded of the board game Clue.
Now, how are you gonna top this at strip #200? 😉
March 8, 2012 at 4:42 am
Sometimes it feels like your comics should be a part of a philosophers study.
I really think you hit a lot of nails with this one.
March 8, 2012 at 7:50 am
There’s something that really bugged me about this comic. I always take issue when falling in love with someone (and subsequently having your happiness depend on them) is presented as a choice. It isn’t. It’s just something that happens to you.
Anyway. Congratulations on 5 years of great comics! They’re usually very thought-provoking. Whether I agree with them or not, I thank you for the experience.
March 8, 2012 at 8:52 am
Wow!
March 8, 2012 at 9:06 am
Thank you for your work all these years! Here’s to another 5 years of excellence!
March 8, 2012 at 9:07 am
Do you know if you’ll be making prints of this comic purchasable? I doubt I have the money or a wall large enough to hold it (which is in no way a bad thing), but it’d still be awesome to own.
March 8, 2012 at 10:14 am
That was absolutely wonderful… I’ve been reading for a long time and haven’t left nearly as many comments as I should have. Thank you very much for five amazing years, and here’s to many, many more. You’ve got a gift, Winston, and I’m just glad you live in an age where you can share it with as many people as you do.
lol, just noticed the ‘sweet Celestia’ above and it occurred to me. If there’s one person who would benefit from becoming an MLP fan, it’s you. Try it out someday.
March 8, 2012 at 11:14 am
Wow, I never realised how many fans you had until i decided to leave a comment.
I’ve been reading these comics for quite a while now but never left any comment and I would just like to take this moment to say that your comics are wonderful.
My favorite so far was the Christmas in the future were the man tells his horror story about the planet that was destroyed for fuel.
I wish you all the best and have a nice life!
March 8, 2012 at 12:31 pm
Fan-freaking-tastic.Thanks so much!
March 8, 2012 at 1:45 pm
By Nature, WR, you just forced me into an epiphany of my life. I’ve been searching for what life is about here on Earth since just before New Year’s, when I tossed all the drugs and rigs (two months eight days clean, yay me).
I think you might have struck at the very heart of the matter – which is that there is no true heart to the matter and that everyone has their own meaning for it, when it’s said and done, and their own perception when it’s said and done.
Thanks. I’ve not been with you all five years, but I’ve read every page (and then some). I’m off to try to find what this whole crazy planet means to me, now.
March 8, 2012 at 1:51 pm
Thank you so much for all those comics.
March 8, 2012 at 2:47 pm
If some aliens were to ask me that, I would answer “Well, I can’t give you any good answer, as I haven’t been to any other planets, so I have no context, I can’t make any comparisons.” Then they would take me to visit some other planets, and only after thus getting some context I would give them my opinions… about like, climate and atmospheric conditions, because that’s my mindset. Looking everything with the materialistic, science-y eye!
Also, what in the world is a browner??
April 27, 2012 at 11:15 pm
browner = brown noser. suck up, teachers pet, yes man, etc.
March 8, 2012 at 3:40 pm
All the imagination, creativity, and effort put into your work shows in every panel. Congratulations on 5 years of awesomeness, and thank you!
March 8, 2012 at 4:18 pm
Hey, nice to see the Generals again!
And as usual, the comic rocks.
March 11, 2012 at 1:03 pm
It was great seeing so many familiar characters, especially them and the Sphynx 🙂
This is my favourite Subnormality comic in quite some time.
March 8, 2012 at 4:44 pm
First time commenter, and all I have to say is:
No, thank YOU for writing these past five years — AND I DO MEAN WRITING.
March 8, 2012 at 6:46 pm
Holy crab, this is the first ‘toon of yours in a long time that took me two ‘sessions’ to read. I mean that in a good way: I didn’t want to miss anything. And yet, even so, I think there’s way more there than I’ve noticed.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
March 8, 2012 at 7:37 pm
I’ve been reading Subnormality for about 3 years, and I have to say you’ve been knocking it out of the park for the past 6 months. Thanks so much for your creative insight. This one in particular was just grand.
March 8, 2012 at 8:16 pm
This was amazing! I love the multiple-perspective pieces you do and this was the brood-mother of them all. Also it was wicked to see the guy from The Generals again, I always wondered what happened to him.
March 8, 2012 at 10:06 pm
This is without a doubt my favourite one. a perfect way to round off five years of Subnormality When I get a reliable source of income you can bet your ass I’m buying this print.
March 8, 2012 at 10:58 pm
Such a daunting remark over what it is to be human; here goes for more years that your art will inspire others!
March 8, 2012 at 11:01 pm
Really good comic. I always check back once a week, and always feel sad that there’s no new comic. Then that one day I check back and BAM! there’s a new comic. The waiting is half the fun. All the different perspectives was a really nice touch. And I almost recognized all the black and and white from previous comics. You’re really that memorable.
March 9, 2012 at 12:40 am
love the photonegatives
March 9, 2012 at 2:47 am
ive been reading your stuff for a while now, so much of what is written has resonance with my own existence. well played sir. well played indeed
March 9, 2012 at 2:53 am
congratulations on the deal with the schools, that’s really great news
March 9, 2012 at 3:12 am
Just in regards to the band “the generals” Western Canada’s premier novelty rap-metal band, how about those “Flight of the Concords” New Zealand’s 2nd best folk polka pop group. One of those guys just won a grammy and an oscar. What I’m trying to say is, you can do what you love and still live. You don’t have to do what is expected of society. Can’t wait for a new comic focusing on “The Generals”
March 9, 2012 at 3:41 am
WR, you outdid yourself, again, and that is already one hell of a task. Thank you so much for your thought-provoking down-to-earth brilliant comics.
And thanking just feels… not good enough. I seriously have to put my money where my mouth is.
Happy fifth, and here is to another five!
March 9, 2012 at 4:05 am
Thank you for five years of inspiration and heart-piercing truth.
Thank you for keeping me sane, Winston.
March 9, 2012 at 4:58 am
I feel bad for the aliens, all that work and they couldn’t find a single scientifically-minded person, or at least someone who could point them to Wikipedia.
March 9, 2012 at 8:21 am
This was the perfect reward, when checking my rss, after a no-sleep 24 hour sociology-examn.
Thank you!
You just made me remember why I want to be a sociologist, again.
March 9, 2012 at 9:14 am
I wish I had a 4-foot monitor so I could easily see/read these…
Aside from that, loving it.
Thank you.
March 9, 2012 at 12:49 pm
thanks for the last five years of comix
March 9, 2012 at 2:33 pm
hope to see (at least) five years more 🙂
March 9, 2012 at 3:05 pm
Sir,
you exceed yourself. This was most excellent. Also, happy anniversary! I love your work.
March 9, 2012 at 3:20 pm
I have the goats poster in my office (I’m a university Prof.). Always good to remember these things..
Congrats on making it to 5 years!
March 10, 2012 at 2:59 am
I have the goats poster too! and if i were to become a university prof, would no doubt hang it in my office prominently. Everyone can learn from it
March 9, 2012 at 3:59 pm
It’s amazing.
March 9, 2012 at 6:08 pm
Thank you. For everything. You are truly inspiring.
March 9, 2012 at 6:58 pm
Holy… The whole epic sprawl of it was amazing. The final single paragraph essay was pure poetry.
Subnormality is art in the best sense.
March 9, 2012 at 7:10 pm
“Crushing Walls of Text” should be a trope. Thanks a lot for those five years. And since you mention it is some comics, I’d appreciate to know a bit more about the kind of music you listen to – if you have the time, that is.
March 9, 2012 at 8:18 pm
What can be said that hasn’t been said already? Thank you for sharing yourself with us. It’s a real treat, and kind of feel bad for not paying to read it (not having credit card and living in the ‘developing world’ it’s still a drag).
March 9, 2012 at 10:10 pm
Great one! Any plans to publish a Subnormality collection as a way-oversize coffee table book? I would definitely buy at least two – one for myself and one as a gift.
March 13, 2012 at 12:22 pm
Me too! Me too! Just read through every comic in this site and wish so much i could carry them all around or show them to kids at important times. Is this a possibility?
March 9, 2012 at 10:12 pm
P.S. I love Subnormality! Since I discovered it, it has always been by far my favorite webcomic, even though it only comes out once a month and even though it takes a half-hour of scrolling and zooming to read it. Yours is some of the most interesting and thought-provoking material I have ever seen in comic form. And I love your characters, every one of them is like a familiar friend. Congrats on hitting the five-year mark, and I hope you continue doing this for many many years to come. You clearly love your work and pour your heart and soul into doing it well. Kudos.
March 9, 2012 at 10:35 pm
Thank you for your wonderfully thoughtful, funny, sarcastic, insightful, very human weirdness. Happy Fifth!
March 9, 2012 at 11:26 pm
They should have just gone with “mostly harmless”.
March 10, 2012 at 2:56 am
I’m just so pleased to see The General again. My favorite character by far, no matter how minor. Is novelty rap-metal a real genre? because it sounds perfect.
April 27, 2012 at 11:09 pm
I think rap metal is novelty enough by definition.
(insert bad chocolate in my peanut butter pun)
March 10, 2012 at 6:38 am
Be sure to offer a print of this one 🙂
March 10, 2012 at 7:37 am
Thank you for doing this. Each and every comic you make is a work of art.
March 10, 2012 at 9:34 am
I bloody loved your fifth anniversary comic.
You are one of life’s good guys.
March 10, 2012 at 11:10 am
Beautiful!
March 10, 2012 at 12:56 pm
This is the third time one of your comics has made me cry, I feel like such a fangirl right now you do such awesome work. Gorgeous.
March 10, 2012 at 1:09 pm
I’ve been a fan for a rather long time, although I’ve never commented before. The Fifth Anniversary seems an appropriate enough time to start.
Unfortunately I don’t have anything terribly interesting to say, I just wanted to add to your virtual pile of gratitude, admiration & congratulatory remarks.
Walls of text and general weirdness are enough to make my day any time. As long as you keep posting, I’ll keep reading. (“Yes, of course, THAT’S all the motivation he’ll need to keep making comix forever – the approval of some random Canadian! My plan is foolproof!”)
I encourage you to have a nice life and celebrate your accomplishments over a refreshing glass of limeade with a person you particularly enjoy.
/successfully contains Inner Fangirl
March 10, 2012 at 2:18 pm
No comment I leave here could adequately describe my appreciation and enjoyment of this comic, so I’ll just say: Thank you.
March 10, 2012 at 2:50 pm
Always hard to sum up a comment for these, but ‘awesome’ goes part of the way I suppose. Always nice to see such a broad, detailed comic from you, thank you.
March 10, 2012 at 4:16 pm
Bang on with your take here. How do you cram all the complexity and experience of individual lives into a single, legible statement?
Glad I’m not alone!
March 10, 2012 at 5:06 pm
Thanks again, Winston. You always manage to give me food for thought and some weird peace of mind.
March 10, 2012 at 5:48 pm
I guess I’m not a sufficiently hardcore fan, but as much as I’d like to read this, it’s just too cumbersome.
Of course you don’t owe me anything, it’s just meant as feedback not as a complaint.
March 10, 2012 at 5:51 pm
Thank you for that. You just sold a poster. (As soon as you make this a poster… which I recommend doing soon.)
March 10, 2012 at 5:58 pm
5 years and we still don’t know the true identity of Winston. But I’m a late joiner to the party so I can wait a bit more 😉
Thanks for all the awesome comics, I still check for a new one every day. (Or just too lazy to use some kind of update notifier)
March 10, 2012 at 10:26 pm
You’re actually a computer monitor salesman, right? Because it’s impossible to read these wondrous things without a dual monitor setup. 🙂
Keep on truckin’. This stuff is awesome. Brings to mind the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers.
March 10, 2012 at 11:15 pm
Once again, you give us an amazing comic.
It’s honestly pretty hard to think of a proper comment for your strips… The only thing I can say is thank you for giving us 5 years of a truly amazing comic!
March 10, 2012 at 11:17 pm
*you’ve given (creative writing minor couldn’t forgive myself if I didn’t correct that…..)
March 10, 2012 at 11:17 pm
ok. i only found one. you said game braking instead of breaking ;^p but realy Winston may you be blessed by the grand holy power of your choice. I actuly dont know what I would hope for during the week if not to find another mind bending wall of text. and if you take requests? more Pink Haired Girl and Sphynx if you would.
March 11, 2012 at 1:01 am
Brilliance.
March 11, 2012 at 3:39 am
t
March 11, 2012 at 7:27 am
Simply brilliant. Thank you.
March 11, 2012 at 9:59 am
.Great strip!
Thumbs and Big Toes up for four years of awesome.
For my part, starting with “The Atheist Apocalypse!”-virus strip #66(6) in 2008.
There was a link at horseman Dawkins’ (white horse) site, and, also at some other guy’s (red pony) HUGE site as I remember it. Kudos kudos!
Funny thing is: in that 2008-strip and in this last* very strip, the same blond girl appears in the first as well as last panels.
* Just a rythm** thing. Should be “latest” of course.
**There is no free will, according to Harris (black horse).
ben, wating for pitchfork guy.
P.s. Does anyone know from which strip the band-aided hitchhiker-girl comes? I recognize most of the other negatives.
March 13, 2012 at 12:21 pm
But she does appear a lot in between…
In the Apocalypse comic in in this one she wears the same shirt, but along the years smething happened to her, she lost touch or something, and became homeless.
March 11, 2012 at 3:40 pm
Amazing comic! I can’t believe it’s been 5 years. I’ve been looking forward to each and every update for the past 5 years.
You know what would be better than a poster of this comic? T-Shirt Girl’s “life in 3 panels” T-shirt. I’d wear the hell out of that shirt. Pleeeease?
March 11, 2012 at 7:02 pm
Happy Anniversary
Love You and as always
Thank you So very much
March 11, 2012 at 10:24 pm
PERFECT!!!
Thank you so much for giving us this piece of gold year after year, for showing us that there is no such thing as “normality”, thank you
with love
March 11, 2012 at 11:57 pm
Once again, you have beautifully explained something that has been clear to me all along, but I didn’t know it until I read it here.
Thanks for edu-taining me.
Libby
March 11, 2012 at 11:58 pm
HAHA (“once again” repeats in these comments). Nothing new under the sun, eh?
March 12, 2012 at 4:18 am
…Justine Murray?
March 12, 2012 at 6:42 am
❤ All I can say.
March 12, 2012 at 12:19 pm
Re: just visiting
excellent stuff, as always
I think I’m in love with the guy in the movie theater.
Thanks for continuing to put your work up, it’s always fun to read.
B
March 12, 2012 at 12:49 pm
Personally, I would just have said, “I don’t know. We’re still trying to figure that out.” Lol. 5 years eh? Congrats man. Great work as always.
March 12, 2012 at 2:37 pm
Thanks for doing this comic. It’s damn good.
March 12, 2012 at 5:33 pm
“It’s garbage, but it’s having a job because there’s garbage”
That one was probably my favourite of the entire lot, sums it up quite nicely :).
March 12, 2012 at 6:28 pm
You… complete me.
Uh, ironically.
March 12, 2012 at 6:59 pm
loved it dude
March 12, 2012 at 8:23 pm
Great work men. I have been reading your work fomr some time, and i love it (specially the sphinx strips). I have to admit that all the letter walls becomes a little hard to read (specially when english is not your original lenguage), but i enjoy it a lot. Thanks.
March 12, 2012 at 9:09 pm
This really made me tear up, and it’s not easy to trigger that. It’s been a brilliant five years Winston, keep up the good work as always.
March 12, 2012 at 10:46 pm
Sorry, i’ve been to busy/flu ridden to respond to individual comments this time out, but let me just say a Huge Thanks to All of You for such obscenely nice comments– it’s been a privilege for sure, and i most certainly plan to go for another five years.
Also: i’ve made this comic and eight other more recent ones available as prints in the shop, for anyone interested in that. I even fancied up the print of #196 here with a bunch of different/extra character art in the black areas, so it’ll hopefully be worth the cost. Cheers!
March 13, 2012 at 3:51 am
You… complete me.
Uh, ironically, obviously.
March 13, 2012 at 1:07 pm
I loved that. Thanks for the thought 🙂
March 13, 2012 at 2:31 pm
You give my brain an erection. Happy 5 years WR!
March 13, 2012 at 10:07 pm
Subnormality is a meditation on the human heart and soul, not just a petty source of humor. Through looking at these strips I have learned something larger about myself and the world around me. There aren’t really that many places where I can find this sort of contemplative thought. I personally wonder which character you most identify with, although you would probably answer that you are a conglomerate of all of them.
I have never commented before, but I felt that for a strip this good, it was warranted.
Travis
March 14, 2012 at 12:38 am
It always makes me happy to see the couple from “Stairs”, young version or old (I see both!). Maybe it’s the ultimate awkward person fantasy, that friendship can be upgraded to romantic love. Not that I’m counting on it.
March 14, 2012 at 9:44 am
I just want to say thank you Winston, for all the work you’ve done over the years. Love the strip. Also, stop doing stuff for Cracked.com. It does give you more exposure but the idiots there don’t appreciate what you do.
March 14, 2012 at 3:43 pm
Coming from a long time reader, there’s really no other webcomic like this one. Keep it up and don’t change your style.
March 14, 2012 at 3:46 pm
Ok. First of all – ‘I understood some of that’ is getting printed on a tshirt as soon as possible.
Second – Their question reminded me of a long forgotten incident at my bachelors party. It was long after all the chaos, the french maid costume, the stripper, etc. It was a great Bachelors Party. I was severly drunk – of course – and only have brief flashes where I remember anything of that night. The strangest one is where I’m sitting with a good friend, and he is looking at me with this wierd expression of grief, anger and sadeness. I have no idea what I’d just told him, but I think I’d been rambling on about life and choices. Thing is – next thing I hear he’d broken off his engagement, and started dating a girl at his office. They are still together – have a kid on the way. I still wish I knew what I’d told him. Probably the only time in my life I knew what I was talking about.
March 14, 2012 at 7:06 pm
This is the kind of thing that is so good that I can’t even formulate an opinion as to why it’s so good. I’m essentially speechless here, Rowntree. This is amazing.
March 15, 2012 at 9:49 am
This is probably the most enjoyable comic I’ve ever read.
March 17, 2012 at 1:51 pm
.I’ve just ploughed through 196 strips, searching for the positive of that damn negative hitch-hiker. Negative…
On the plus-side though: finding, again, super-funny strip #151 “This job is Hell”.
On the minus-side: feeling as groggy as the guys in todays Piranha Club-strip.
ben, Subnormality expert in spe.
March 17, 2012 at 2:02 pm
Ha, sorry for the wild goose chase– it’s not actually art from a comic. You can see it here though: http://www.viruscomix.com/deltaquadrant.html
March 18, 2012 at 9:44 am
.Thanks!
Coincidentally, here, at 59th parallel north, we spotted our first Canada goose couple of the year – earlier this week. Heh.
March 17, 2012 at 7:44 pm
Wow… It’s amazing how one person can conclude as much in one drawing. As always, I am amazed. As Keenan Kornegay said, “This is the kind of thing that is so good that I can’t even formulate an opinion as to why it’s so good. I’m essentially speechless here, Rowntree. This is amazing.”
As usual, thanks for this. Keep on.
(I can’t read the ending, though: it is pixelated as Hell. [I’ve tried to reload the page and open it in other cmputers and in other devices and checked my glasses and so on…] Can you fix it?)
March 26, 2012 at 10:40 am
I can’t see a pixelation issue on my end, so i don’t know what to say unfortunately… Hopefully it was just a glitch in the matrix.
March 18, 2012 at 12:15 am
Five years, and never a bad comic.
You know, it would be interesting to meet someone who is actually happy with their life.
March 18, 2012 at 3:50 am
I absolutely love this one. It’s ones like this is why Subnormality is my favorite webcomic!
March 18, 2012 at 7:05 am
I’ve been reading Subnormality for a while but haven’t commented before, although I guess I should have. It’s one of my favourites, for having so much to read that is completely good and thought-provoking, wonderful characters and designs and fabulous inventive layouts 🙂 Basically, awesome all round. Which I could have just said in the first place if I wanted to be succinct. Which I’m not very good at.
Also congratulations on having some of your work nationally distributed as educational material, it is certainly good for it for children in any country 🙂
March 18, 2012 at 8:56 am
*slow clap*
Bravo. Braaavooo.
Five more years! Five more years!
March 19, 2012 at 9:20 pm
I love your art, and the depth you put into your writing.
I pity the poor aliens sent to make sense of us!.
Just a random thought, but you could have a few less ugly male characters, or maybe some balancing ugly female ones?. Or is that wrong somehow, to want equality?.
March 26, 2012 at 10:38 am
No, there is definitely nothing wrong about wanting equality, and your point is well taken.
March 20, 2012 at 5:01 am
bloody hell…. that was incredile
March 20, 2012 at 7:07 am
Gah!!!
I wish I could verbalise my thoughts the way you do – it’s a rare gift you have. Thank you so much for sharing it.
Subnormality is, without a doubt, the best Webcomic I have ever read and congratulations on five years!
So much more I want to say… blah blah etc! 🙂
March 20, 2012 at 8:28 am
simply awesome.
March 20, 2012 at 12:26 pm
I dig the art-style and don’t mind what other people would think as excessive dialogue, but I hate the layout. I get what you were trying to do, but believe this strip might have worked better in separate pieces. Other than that it was a good read.
March 21, 2012 at 12:46 pm
Congrats on five years Winston! You’ve consistently blown my mind and put it back together again.
March 22, 2012 at 1:27 am
So, I just found this comic today and this is what I’m greeted to. I think I’m gonna like this. You certainly have a way with both words and pictures my friend.
March 22, 2012 at 6:19 am
I daydream of a Subnormality book, but then I have no idea how pages like this would actually be laid out. In order to read it, the book itself would have to be poster sized, or you’d have to split the larger comics into several pages. Have you given thought to how you’d do that yourself?
March 26, 2012 at 10:36 am
Yeah, i’ve definitely thought about it. That’s the handicap of not having a consistent format of course: if/when it makes sense to do a book, it’s gonna be a gigantic pain in the ass. On the plus side though i made the comix i wanted to make. And they can always be cut into sections for the printed page. As fun as a coffee-table-sized book would be, i severely doubt it would make sense economically. Any book i do is still a ways off at this point though. Hopefully in the next 12 months it will start looking like a good idea.
March 23, 2012 at 4:11 pm
Thank you.
March 24, 2012 at 6:09 pm
This is beautiful.
You are a good person and you should feel good.
March 26, 2012 at 10:37 am
Well i have to say i really appreciate that, so cheers!
March 26, 2012 at 5:34 am
Comments with too few words since… well ever.
Yeah! Nice one. ^^
March 26, 2012 at 11:31 am
Hell of a lot of reading. But I loved every bit of it.
My favorite part was the General, I wish I could be like that dude. Thank you so much Winston!
March 26, 2012 at 5:07 pm
Whether i agree or disagree with a particular piece, i still enjoy the work.
Well done – please keep it up.
btw – will you be at http://torontocomics.com/ ?
March 27, 2012 at 1:49 am
Naw, i won’t be there. I used to do shows back in my ‘zine days, but i honestly hate the whole process. Sitting at that little table for 7 hours, it’s just diabolical… So you’ll not see me at TCAF unfortunately, but i’ll, uh, be there in spirit.
March 27, 2012 at 1:01 am
Happy Fifth Anniversary, Mr. Rowntree.
Your comics are utterly, fantastically, mind-blowingly brilliant!
That is all…
March 27, 2012 at 10:40 am
Awesome! Congratulations on reaching the five year mark! These comics are well worth waiting the time it takes the images to load, and I look forward to many more in the future 😀
March 27, 2012 at 10:44 am
holy crap that was a big one…
like so many others here.. another first time poster…
I think I started reading about 4 years ago.. and quickly back-read everything.. and then stayed for the rest.
I usually read late at night.. zooming, and panning around on my big screen, to take it all in..
But this one… this one.. I think it was almost 2 weeks ago, and I could tell that it required a bit more time to dedicate to it..
So finally tonight… found time (in between procrastinating over doing a work-timesheet due tomorrow), to sit down, and take it all in.
I might be 16,000 km’s away… but reading your comics, when they happen.. is like catching up with an old mate, and having one of those deep and meaningfuls, over a coffee, or beer!
March 29, 2012 at 11:50 am
i really like the ideas about the big picture in these comics, not to mention the fact that they are so beautifully drawn as well. I’m glad for the internet were these ideas can be shared.
March 29, 2012 at 2:45 pm
It’s funny, just a couple of weeks ago I was thinking about the stories told by alleged alien abductees. The behavior of the aliens in those stories is consistent with the behavior of grad students who are doing just enough research to finish their thesis and go home.
March 29, 2012 at 8:25 pm
Love this webcomic, much more thoughtful than any other I’ve encountered. While I disagree philisophically, and therefore politically with the artist/author I do enjoy it a lot. I think I started reading years ago, I don’t remember when, but I check for a new one every once and a while. Here’s to five more years! 🙂
March 31, 2012 at 11:51 am
I’ve been reading Subnormality since it was first posted on DrunkDuck, and it’s always been one of the highlights of my week. Your work has made a huge influence on how I write comics, and in some ways on how I see the world. Thank you for five years of philosophy, time travel, monsters, and beautiful women who know entirely too much about the Cold War.
April 2, 2012 at 6:35 am
You’re a fantastic writer and artist. Thank you.
April 3, 2012 at 6:53 am
Wow. just wow.
April 3, 2012 at 12:27 pm
This comic fills me with joy! To know that there are people away from where I am now that I can relate to and sympathize with makes my week worth getting through. I don’t know if you can imagine the type of dull un-imaginative type of people that populate my day-to-day life. They personify these characteristics more than any other group of humans: slow-witted, clumsy, irritable, lazy, and narrow-minded.
April 5, 2012 at 7:16 pm
I just stumbled onto this site by mere chance and clicked on the first thing I saw and this comic is what appeared on the screen before me and I have to say with the deepest of truths that this is one of the greatest things I have ever read. It fills me with joy to read something from someone with such deep thoughts and who is willing to express them when no one else will even though we’re all thinking the same things but maybe just too afraid to say what we feel. You have captured the meaning of life in one “little” comic and I don’t believe anyone has ever said it better than you. I will from now on be a regular to this site. Thank you!
April 6, 2012 at 12:56 pm
Winston – I hate to gush, but I’m going to anyway. This is pure genius. Your comix are a voice that rarely finds the words to express itself, but when it does, it’s beautiful.
Thank you.
April 6, 2012 at 3:21 pm
Winston, i don’t know how you do it but you always manage to express how i feel a lot better than what i do it, i truly love your work, but even if i would like to see it more often i understand how hard must it be to write comix and truly, your comix are worth any waiting that it takes,
Thank you so much 🙂
April 8, 2012 at 9:13 am
I loved this comic. Such high quality literature =)
April 12, 2012 at 10:26 pm
Hello Wr,
I was curious where you got the idea for the heart design on the blonde’s burgundy sweater. It almost looks like some kind of rock formation. I know this must sound like a trivial question for such a complex strip (which I loved), but what was the original inspiration for the heart?
April 13, 2012 at 2:04 am
i can’t really remember but i don’t think there was any special inspiration behind it other than it fit the character (sorry, boring story…). If you liked it though i’m glad!
April 14, 2012 at 9:04 pm
“Work with what you have. Write stories about the rest.” has just become my motto in life.
Thanks Winston.
April 15, 2012 at 4:06 pm
I always like to speculate on what the next comic will focus on, subject matter wise. I’m leaning towards politics, but then I never see you attack the system that passionately, more so in a philosophical sense. I’d love to see the Sphinx take Parliament Hill though, one day.
April 15, 2012 at 10:31 pm
As a avid reader of this comic I know that there are times when it is put on pause. I find this time though, maybe it is my mood, or my lack of ever reading any of the comments here, it feels like if the comic ended at this, I wouldn’t mind. It seems like Aliens would be the perfect ending. For me subnormality has always been a quirky window into our own reality. There are often fantastical elements, and creatures, but what I think many don’t realize is how fantastical reality can be. There have been some elements I have noticed in life that almost appear like magic. There are people so amazing that it is hard to believe that they are not some other worldly creature. I think I have gotten off track here. What I am trying to say is that, though this comic is dear to me and it drives me crazy waiting for it to update and yet this last comic, going back through many of the characters, their ideas, and what living on earth is to them, it’s so simply complex that it creates this perfect beautiful tranquility. It feels like saying good bye to an old friend. That sad little smile on your lips, as your brain tells you that you will meet again but your heart tugs at your chest as you separate.
It’s perfect.
Thank-you
April 27, 2012 at 9:45 pm
as “an” avid reader of this comic. sorry, i do that a lot.
April 16, 2012 at 1:30 pm
Your comic is phenomenal. if you ever decide to publish this entire piece of genius (in a physical can-pick-up-and-flip-through format), my/my friends bookshelves would be happy to make room. Keep up the wonderful work! 🙂
April 17, 2012 at 6:34 am
I would SO like to live in a decommissioned Soviet cargo helicopter, eating nachos all day long! I’d set it up with solar panels powering a small but state of the art sound system, a projector and an ice machine (I like my drinks cold, ok?). And a properly comfy hammock, big enough for two.
Little garden patch outside, with space set aside for hemp. For like, err, rope. A few chickens. A dog.
Hell yeah.
April 18, 2012 at 9:26 pm
wur are you ???
April 20, 2012 at 7:13 pm
Really appreciate these last 5 years of awesomeness thanks WR!
April 25, 2012 at 7:50 pm
That was really cool. Nice job
April 27, 2012 at 9:41 pm
awesome comic as usual. i personally like how checker pants black t girl sitting on the steps of what looks suspiciously like a pyramid with her girlfriend talking to the alien about life on earth has absolutely no nose whatsoever.
and if you think thats bad, i once bs’ed my way through an english assignment by writing a page and a half sentence using every conjunctive word i could think of.
i got an -A and my teacher called me robert frost 🙂
keep it up winston.
May 4, 2012 at 6:03 am
I’ve been following this comic since 2008. This is my first comment here. While there have been very good pieces before, comic #196 is fabulous. Congratulations on completing five years. May you continue this work for as long as you wish.
May 4, 2012 at 6:14 pm
“Sincerely yours, the Breakfast Club.”
Seriously, that was amazing and profound and genuinely thought-provoking, like so many of your works. Thank you, and congratulations on your anniversary.
May 22, 2012 at 1:56 pm
Wow, awesome comic!
I’ll be following for sure, glad to have found Subnormality.
May 26, 2012 at 4:02 pm
You, my friend, have done it again. Good job, i will always be mesmerized by your drawings, words, and themes in each and every comic.
June 17, 2012 at 3:35 am
Im just an occasionally humble fan of monstrous discrepancies stumbling in one night to find this – and I’d just like to say this thing pretty much floored me almost to the point of tears.
And also I got all of that.
July 16, 2012 at 12:17 pm
fucking marvelous
September 28, 2012 at 3:50 pm
I was really afraid after reading this, because it would be such an excellent way to let the series out that I was afraid this would be the last comic!
Once again I have to say thank you for an amazing series, the best thing I’ve read in a long time, maybe my whole life. It’s practically making me tear up at the simple beauty of your ideas. Really just an incredible work.
December 4, 2012 at 12:26 am
Yesterday I read a blog entry about how to find your purpose in life, why you are here. The process was to simply write out various purposes you might have until you find the one that makes you cry. I had planned to do this some time over the next few days when I had some alone time. But, while sitting here at the table with my partner reading your comics (which I have increasingly enjoyed since I Stumbled upon it) I made it to the end of the General Pete section. “I understood some of that.” I started to cry, right there at the table. I then had to explain to my partner what was going on, and through tears of explanation he held me. That simple statement is my propose, why I am here. Thank you so much for creating this comic. In a span of seconds you have given me an incredible sense of peace with myself.
January 17, 2013 at 9:23 am
Man, the 57-year old ex-teacher is all about The Society of the Spectacle.
September 9, 2013 at 9:53 am
Anneliese and Marie from the future are in the background of Anneliese and Marie in the present?
http://www.viruscomix.com/page519.html
November 24, 2013 at 2:37 am
Goddamn gorgeous. Thank you, and I know I’m late to the party, but I’m just catching up!
August 1, 2017 at 9:01 pm
I’ve been reading this comic for I don’t even know how long. Years. Since I was 13. But I think it touches me a bit deeper now that I’m older. And I’m really thankful for everything about it. Thank you.
July 13, 2019 at 2:05 am
I first discovered subnormality on stumbleupon, years ago. I fell in love immediately, and have revisited many times over the years. Each time it crosses my head, I peek in and discover another comic that blows my socks off. This is no exception. Your ability to communicate the complication, magnitude, and beauty of the human experience takes me breath away. Thank you for doing your part to speak a collective truth. You are a shining star, and I want this as a poster on my wall. Thank you so so so much for what you do. It’s magic.