Okay, comix return. Hopefully the length of this partly makes up for the preceding absence, for which it was partly responsible (paradox!!).
And thanks again for the consistently amazing support over the past five years, and i’m happy to finally get year six going (and the march to comic #200). And don’t worry, they won’t all be 3000 words and aggressively unfunny (although at least a couple more of them probably will be, knowing me).
-Wr
Virus Comix News 
April 22, 2012 at 12:35 am
100%, 6 gold stars, a true eleven.
April 22, 2012 at 12:46 am
One of your best.
April 22, 2012 at 1:06 am
Subtle, yet incredibly profound. I really want to buy a poster of this and hang it somewhere.
April 22, 2012 at 1:17 am
One of your best, though I saw where it was going about halfway through.
April 22, 2012 at 1:18 am
Wow. That was awesome.
April 22, 2012 at 2:29 am
You are someone special. A great artist. Keep up the good work. I really love your works.
April 22, 2012 at 2:34 am
Also, please make a poster of this comic.
April 23, 2012 at 1:10 pm
I don’t think that’ll happen unfortunately. It’s pretty much too big, i have no idea how i could get it into a reasonable size…
April 23, 2012 at 9:03 pm
It might need to be a series of posters.
May 1, 2012 at 1:57 pm
Make it a book!
April 22, 2012 at 3:19 am
Could figure out the ending in the middle of it too, still it’s a beautiful experience. Made my night
April 22, 2012 at 3:25 am
Yes… I saw where this was going right around the point when he chose to use “His” name for himself. What I like best about it is the artwork and overall atmosphere. Beautiful colour scheme.
April 22, 2012 at 3:41 am
The art is absolutely stunning. I especially like the first panel on the third page (the transparent light).
I hope I’ve understood this at least partially – does the colour change at the end to red signify that the old version of the world (which only got up to yellow) has been overwritten? I.e. the futuristic people erased themselves entirely out of history except for the time traveller they sent back?
April 22, 2012 at 4:40 am
Predictable and kind of cheesy, though entertaining and the art is good as always.
April 22, 2012 at 5:25 am
Lovely. One of your most visually beautiful to date too – no mean feat!
April 22, 2012 at 5:53 am
Uff, amazing stuff as always… and to those proud few who ‘figured it out’ halfway through, you’ve missed the point completely- it’s not about knowing how it ends but about the act of storytelling itself… then again, if you’re the type to get your kicks predicting that the protagonist in ‘the passion’ eventually dies, kick away friends
April 22, 2012 at 10:58 am
Completely agree. We are never told what ideas are being spread, but how they manage to do so is the central idea of the comic – an interesting viewpoint on the meme theory, in its original sense. The seemingly predictable plot twist, though enjoyable, is just a device to keep the flow of the story, in my humble opinion
As for the artwork, not much to say that hasn’t been said yet… classic, eerie-style Subnormality. At times I was expecting this to be one of those animated GIFs used for scare pranks, such was the level of tension.
Absolutely amazing stuff Winston, as always. Congratulations 🙂
April 22, 2012 at 7:16 am
Does “His” symbol remind anyone else of Klotski?
Also – thanks for another great read, Winston. 🙂
April 22, 2012 at 7:18 am
This reminds me of the Phillip K. Dick story The Skull:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Skull_(short_story)
April 23, 2012 at 9:12 pm
_The Science Fictional Dinosaur_ contains a story with a similar (but not as well executed) plotline. Time travel, Martians, and romance all combine nicely.
April 24, 2012 at 11:15 pm
I found it more closely related to Moorcock’s Behold The Man. Still, great comic.
April 22, 2012 at 7:31 am
You really have an incredible storytelling gift. Your comics are profound, subtle and they never seize to leave their mark on me. Thank you so much. This was wonderful.
April 22, 2012 at 7:56 am
Calling this comic awesome is probably the closest I’ve ever come to using the word in it’s true sense.
April 22, 2012 at 8:48 am
Awesome. I would say as ever, but this one is a head above most of the thers.
April 22, 2012 at 9:06 am
Thank for a wonderful tale. As always, your work makes me sit back and reflect in ways I never dreamed of.
April 22, 2012 at 9:13 am
What a wonderful story. Well done!
April 22, 2012 at 9:49 am
Beautiful. And I especially love the comments that seem disappointed that this story has been told before. In a nice, vivid way they reflect back on one of the main themes here . . . the misunderstandings people have about storytelling and authorship and the sculpting of truth or tales by the “network”. It’s like those reactions add an extra layer to your art-work.
April 22, 2012 at 9:54 am
I enjoy your comix that are illustrated stories just as much as I enjoy your comix that are comics. This one in particular was beautifully phrased.
April 22, 2012 at 10:02 am
the end of eternity by isaac asimov and the man from earth. one is a good book and the other is a good movie,
April 22, 2012 at 11:00 am
Very well done. I can understand that some people here use the word ‘predictable’ in terms of plot, but the ‘great twist’ is not the point here, I think. The whole thing becomes beautiful because of the conclusions he draws at the end.
April 22, 2012 at 11:13 am
Not just “The Skull” by PKD, but also “As Never Was” by P. Schuyler Miller, and the one that popped into my mind first, “Behold the Man” by Michael Moorcock.
Thank you for the best demythologizing I’ve ever seen in a comic!
April 22, 2012 at 11:56 am
I love the trees appearing as his family grows. 🙂
April 22, 2012 at 12:06 pm
did i just spend half an hour reading a comic to not laugh?
April 23, 2012 at 11:19 am
you sure did buddy
April 22, 2012 at 12:25 pm
i’m laughing. at you.
April 22, 2012 at 1:02 pm
Your comics have always left me with an interesting feeling. Thank you.
April 22, 2012 at 1:44 pm
I really like the idea here. There’s something to be said about the predictable nature of the story actually enriching the point of the story told. A better wordsmith than I could probably clarify what I’m after, but an interesting story about stories.
April 22, 2012 at 3:09 pm
Lovely
April 22, 2012 at 3:37 pm
Amazing. Doesn’t matter when I saw what the ending would be, utterly amazing. I cried.
April 22, 2012 at 4:29 pm
I like the ambiguity. Is he Jesus? Mohammed? Moses? Buddha? Or someone else? Who he is isn’t the point…
April 28, 2012 at 5:01 pm
Agreed, who He is isn’t the point. But I take the appearance of a ringed moon in the sky as a suggestion that this isn’t intended to be Earth.
On that score, this reminds me a bit of Arbre in Neal Stephenson’s Anathem.
I do have a hard-to-express disquiet with this episode’s stirring conclusion, though. It strikes me as having the flavor of navel-gazing, “if it’s great or terrible it’s because we (mankind) made it so”.
In constrast, Stephenson’s Anathem focuses on the ideas like the Pythagorean Theorem, consistently given an alien name in the novel, to stress the Platonic notion that some ideas are consistent and discoverable, but uninventable. It’s the difference between “that tune’s great, and a credit to the species that composed it” and “isn’t it awesome that we live in a world where musical notes exist as things we can reproduce and rearrange”?
April 22, 2012 at 5:07 pm
I have so seen that coming from the start and it still left me with this strange feeling that only your work can provoke.
April 22, 2012 at 5:21 pm
Wordswordswords, as always… but as always, lovely wordswordswords. Thank you.
April 22, 2012 at 5:27 pm
Just awesome! and I mean awesome like, Asimov or P. K. Dick, you are a genious!!!
April 22, 2012 at 6:12 pm
“comics” or novels?
also wordswordswordswordswordswordswordswordswordswordswordswordswordswordswordswordswordswordswordswordswords
April 22, 2012 at 6:35 pm
Despite of it appearing at least twice in this comic, no one has commented why Saturn (or some planet with rings) can be seen in the sky.
I think this comic takes place on Titan.
The slowly changing colors might be due to the slow changes in Titan’s atmosphere (clouds or something. uh.. I wikipedia’d it.)
But then again, it can be any other planet anywhere… and I guess that is the point. WR has kept this comic so general, that it cannot be associated with any place on Earth. The only common factor is that it is about humans, a certain religious philosophy and human nature…
writing that I just realize that I’m stating the obvious because 95% of subnormality comics are about human nature….
Not trying to demystify anything in this story, just adding food for thought…
April 22, 2012 at 8:31 pm
Wouldn’t Saturn look a lot bigger than that from Titan? Anyway, good eye as I didn’t notice it at all until you pointed it out. Since then I saw it at least 3 times though.
Perhaps I shall look for more now
April 22, 2012 at 11:41 pm
“aboveusonlyskyandsomeringedplanetorother.jpg”
April 22, 2012 at 7:16 pm
Gave me chills…
btw: the new comic is not updated on the main page (just on the blog)
April 22, 2012 at 9:07 pm
There was Captain Estarr, then there was this, so seriously WR, when are you going to do some kind of full length sci-fi graphic novel. That NEEDS to happen.
April 23, 2012 at 1:13 pm
I fully agree that it needs to happen, and the stories lie in wait. No time right now though. When subnormality one day ends, if i have the incredible fortune to be able to continue as an artist then graphic novels are the plan– all of them sci-fi.
April 22, 2012 at 10:52 pm
This was well worth the wait. It hit the spot.
April 22, 2012 at 11:10 pm
That was so incredible.
It makes me so glad when I see people like Winston Rowntree. Though it’s becoming an overused phrase, saying that this gives me hope for the human race really sums it up as best I know how. Knowing that there are people out there so infinitely smarter than me gives me hope in the great heights humanity may someday reach that I can’t even begin imagine yet.
Thank you.
April 22, 2012 at 11:11 pm
Honestly, I loved the big twist, and didn’t see it coming at all. No, not the whole “the time-traveller is HIM!” bit, but the shape of the symbol and the layout of the frames. Seeing it in pure yellow made it clear that this is a story being told about stories being told. And in the completion the frame changes. The medium is quite deliberately the message, or at least part thereof.
April 22, 2012 at 11:33 pm
Maybe the holy symbol came from him talking to his friends about the holes in his doorway, and how he should really patch them up, but see, in the afternoon they let in sunlight to make shadow puppets for his family with. Which reminds him of this time he and his wife were…
I really love these longer story comics, especially when they don’t require horizontal scrolling. My favorite was the one about the oil planet, but this was fantastic too. The only problem with these time-circle stories isn’t the time travel, but that self causation is even less probable than time machines. Kind of requires that the character be both the chicken and the egg. But that wasn’t the point of the story, so I’m not complaining.
April 23, 2012 at 1:15 pm
Yeah, the first law of time travel stories is that the minute one starts really thinking about the details is the minute they unravel completely.
April 22, 2012 at 11:49 pm
Imagine! You certainly did Winston, with an awe-inspiring version of a tale oft told,
I like how the panels on most pages form His symbol, and the ringed planet shows that this is happening on another world, and so cannot be related to any earthly religion.
Keep up the good work!
April 23, 2012 at 12:32 am
I just received my print of Choose Your Own Adventure. Shit is amazing.
And now this.
If only I had waited. Oh well, nothing wrong with two prints…
April 23, 2012 at 1:16 pm
This will i think be too big for a print, but thanks very much indeed for buying one of a previous comic! The support is hugely appreciated.
April 23, 2012 at 12:52 am
i love you winston
April 25, 2012 at 4:08 am
Have a cuddle (:)
April 23, 2012 at 2:41 am
Yeah, I know from the very beggining that He was he. But I know you, WR, and I love you, and I knew you would deliver something more. The last panel, the last words, they take me by surprise and just hit something inside me. I cried of pure joy. So thank you. You are a wise man and I am happy to have stumbled upon your comic all those years ago. If youe ver come to Mexico (or want to come visit!) let me know.
April 23, 2012 at 6:47 am
This is great. Thank you very much.
April 23, 2012 at 7:43 am
I follow your comic now since Nr. 84. I must thank you very much for this wonderful piece of art. You manage to convey basic truths in a way other comics/graphic novels fail to do (even while tring hard) over thousands of pages. I salute you and thank you very much
April 23, 2012 at 9:21 am
From the perspective of a Catholic (and assuming I’ve interpreted this latest piece correctly), I think this is the most tactful, polite, and respectful way anyone on the internet has ever told me they aren’t Christian as well. Thank you for your respect, Winston, as well as for your powerfully imaginative works.
April 23, 2012 at 10:04 am
hey dude, are u supporting urself through the comic, like sales and such, or just a pass time? just curious cuz u know, seems like it would take a lot of time to produce this sort of stuff…
April 23, 2012 at 1:29 pm
With the combination of commissions, work for Cracked, donations, and poster sales, i can often cover the rent (and thanks So Much to anyone who continues to support the comix in such a manner), but it’s not quite at the level of Making a Living yet (i do apply for arts grants, but i never get any, in part i think because in the public eye comic strips=frivolous. Which is why i hate non-bill-watterson newspaper-style comix so much, for making that the milieu over what it was in the early 20th century). My current lot is, however, a ludicrous upgrade over the days of five years ago when i was selling $2.00 zines and mowing lawns full time, so i’m unendingly grateful for this opportunity. I DO work full time as an artist (as is necessary because my work takes approximately Forever to finish), and the livin’s meagre compared to a lot of people in western society i guess, but i am most assuredly where i want to be.
April 23, 2012 at 10:54 am
That was great. The story and art is cool but I liked the little things like the tile layout mimicking the book symbol. That and i’m a sucker for Sci-Fi / Past stuff.
April 23, 2012 at 11:05 am
first time i ever comment… that was beautiful, great comic i think i have a new favorite. Love to read your comics, the wait was definitively worth it.
April 23, 2012 at 11:47 am
This comic was well worth the wait!
April 23, 2012 at 1:01 pm
Awesome. Worth the wait. Doesn’t matter that I saw where it was going it was totally awesome all the way through. I love the unique use of space and panels and the way that scrolling added a nice pacing in between panels. Great little story. Kind of heart-warming/hear-wrenching
April 23, 2012 at 1:31 pm
Yeah, in the writing it quickly became clear that there was no way to make the story not predictable, but the twist wasn’t my motivation in writing it anyway so i was tenuously cool with that.
Plus there’s this:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2011/aug/17/spoilers-enhance-enjoyment-psychologists
May 31, 2012 at 9:58 am
If you do that at least go to the source: http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/soc/2011_08spoilers.asp
“.. spoilers helped only when presented in advance, outside of the piece. When the researchers inserted a spoiler directly into a story, it didn’t go over quite as well.
Great comic regardless, underwhelming perhaps, until the notion of the “founders” pops up the second time because essentially they are God here & that did get me thinking a little. Always have issues with your work though, so nothing new; will still be back every other week & I’m not sure which I’m anticipating more GTAV or Captain Estar gets rebuffed again, at least from those sketches Peace.
p.s GTA is big deal to me
April 23, 2012 at 1:31 pm
Marvelleous.
April 23, 2012 at 1:32 pm
Wow. Just wow.
Reading this comic has been a wonderful journey, even though the thought everything may be of human origin scares me a bit. I wouldn’t call myself religious, but the existence of a little bit of “higher power” helps me not to feel purposeless.
And the fact that, despite my “beliefs”, I found this comic that moving and wonderful says all abaout your storytelling talent.
Thank you for sharing it with us.
April 23, 2012 at 1:36 pm
Everything you have ever done is great, but this surpasses ALL!
April 23, 2012 at 2:18 pm
Absolutely epic; this brought tears to my eyes. I won’t delve into the metaphysics, but the story and the artwork are stupendous.
April 23, 2012 at 3:08 pm
Fantastic comic. I have been reading your work for a couple of years now and love it almost every time – for the text as much as for the great art. Thank you, good sir, for making this.
April 23, 2012 at 3:19 pm
Shit man, I cried.
I missed these works of art – thank you
April 23, 2012 at 3:20 pm
That was fantastic beyond words. Thank you.
April 23, 2012 at 3:43 pm
A Subnormality recopilatory book is becoming more and more necessary. Compulsory, even. I’ve also felt teary.
April 23, 2012 at 4:03 pm
At first i was put off by the early realization of where the story was going, but it soon became clear that the “grandfather paradox” was not a secret to be kept but instead it was part of the basis of the story. In the end, and maybe being my on interpretation, i loved how the story portrayed the character as the big fingernail that came to scratch the scratch & sniff book that is humanity, not bringing enlightment, but instead helping it surface.
April 25, 2012 at 4:53 pm
Well said. 🙂
April 23, 2012 at 5:56 pm
Wow… When I saw there was a new comic I grinned and when I saw it was long my eyes misted and I cheered, but when I had finished it? I cried a little. Winston, in my personal opinion, this is the best epic you have crafted to date. thanks.
April 23, 2012 at 8:12 pm
The last page brought tears to my eyes, this is truly, a beautiful work, a work which borrows ideas, concepts, pieces of other stories. It is a work of great meaning, because it is a work of mankind.
April 23, 2012 at 9:01 pm
People who have made me cry:
bullies: |||
my parents: ||||||
Winston Rowntree: ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
thanks for another magnificently human masterpiece
April 24, 2012 at 3:13 pm
Agreed.
April 23, 2012 at 9:02 pm
That, dear one, strikes a profound chord in this instrument. Beautiful writing; a very human story. If I ever teach a Comparitive Religion course, this story will be assigned reading.
April 23, 2012 at 11:02 pm
Nice work, truly. If this isn’t art, I don’t know what is.
April 23, 2012 at 11:20 pm
Truly, we live in an unjust world, for the name of Rowntree is not shouted from every rooftop. Or not.
Is there any chance that some kind of clickable thumbnail index for the available prints might materialize? I feel an urgent need to throw money at you, but I am constantly paralyzed by indecision, especially since reading and re-reading and re-re-reading all the comics for which prints are available is such a time-consuming exercise.
April 24, 2012 at 12:07 am
Just felt the need to say that this was an awesome comic. The text, the art… epic illustrated storytelling. Thanks for making this and sharing it.
April 25, 2012 at 1:52 am
You the same brashieel from SP? You should come back and visit the fleet some time 🙂
April 24, 2012 at 1:16 am
Thank you Winston
I find it funny that someone else somewhere in the world read this just 14 minutes ago and it makes me wonder how they found it was uploaded.
I just brushed my teeth and made my webcomics rounds and found this, 15 or so minutes, that means that I started just as soon as brashieel finished.
odd
April 24, 2012 at 2:45 am
Wow ….. I’ll have to think a lot more about this before I can say more than that. Brilliant as always, deeply human, hearfelt, moving,
April 24, 2012 at 5:18 am
Cool Story, Bro.
April 24, 2012 at 8:52 am
Wow.. That’s really the only thing that seems to cover this strip.. Wow.
You have a really beautiful drawing style and some of the most fantastic stories in the comics, after i’ve read one i just spend a little time just.. feeling the story.
April 24, 2012 at 10:01 am
…
=O
April 24, 2012 at 10:59 am
Another masterpiece for the pile. ❤ I feel like printing this one out.
April 24, 2012 at 11:24 am
“fucking epic” would just sound too vulgar. This is the first time i compliment you, but some of your stuff is just beyond ordinary.
I found Arcenstone by Summoning to be perfect soundtrack for this graphic story.
April 24, 2012 at 1:36 pm
Is this a sci-fi series???
I’m really caught up in it now.
April 24, 2012 at 3:12 pm
I eagerly look forward to each months comic, This one is a gem! When these are combined into an omnibus book I will most assuredly by MANY copies. Thank you for all the thought provoking work, I love the places your mind wanders to!
April 30, 2012 at 4:02 am
Not a reply just a shameless blurb for the author, I bought my first poster recently #112 “a webcomic” with Shamus And Lara Croft. This has been a longtime favorite of mine. The posters are fantastic, and just having it up in my house has gotten other people reading the archives rabidly. Is there any chance of clothing? Many e-stores print on demand, and I would love a sphinx hoody or tee-shirt.
April 30, 2012 at 1:05 pm
Thanks for buying a poster, totally appreciate the support!
And to answer your question, I actually do have shirts available, which you can find here: http://viruscomix.spreadshirt.com/
April 24, 2012 at 3:31 pm
Hooray!
April 24, 2012 at 4:21 pm
Absolutely fantastic.
April 24, 2012 at 7:41 pm
Behold The Man!
April 24, 2012 at 11:39 pm
Thank you! I Stumbleupon’ed you about a year ago and have always come back. Your comic’s are thought provoking, funny when needed, and always have a nugget of truth and hope to them. I love your comic strips, keep up the great work!
April 25, 2012 at 12:06 am
I love you, and i love your work, thank you, it is truly wonderfull, 😀
April 25, 2012 at 1:42 am
I might have cried
April 25, 2012 at 3:06 am
That was beautiful. Bravo!
April 25, 2012 at 7:45 am
I understand the appeal and this is a truly great comic (although it IS very similar to the short story the skull), but please please please don’t shift the entire series to metaphysical rambling.
April 25, 2012 at 12:28 pm
Ha, don’t worry, i won’t. And i genuinely appreciate the candor, so cheers for speaking up.
April 25, 2012 at 6:42 pm
How can you say that? It’s always been metaphysical ramblings….the aliens, the time travelers, the rich man who we thought was a homeless man, all of it random musings about life, the universe, and everything.
April 25, 2012 at 8:02 pm
I like those metaphysical ramblings. Your art is well complimented by your ideas.
April 25, 2012 at 10:27 am
Well done.
April 25, 2012 at 12:04 pm
loved it
April 25, 2012 at 6:09 pm
That was beautifully written. Well done
April 25, 2012 at 6:59 pm
*Standing Ovation*
April 25, 2012 at 7:06 pm
You can fit a better story in one webcomic than hollywood does in an entire movie. Just to let you know, if I ever see a movie (or graphic novel, or anything really) written by Winston Rowntree, I’m buying it. You’ve seriously earned yourself a lifelong patron (albeit one who’s broke at the moment).
April 25, 2012 at 7:14 pm
You made me cry D: no fair.
April 25, 2012 at 8:12 pm
Wow.
Reminds me of “A Christmas Eve in the Future”, another of my favourites.
Please make movies, you are awesome.
April 25, 2012 at 11:51 pm
Some of your best work yet. It was absolutely touching.
April 26, 2012 at 10:06 am
How many story plots are there supposed to be in the world? Five? Seven? Four? “Not many.” It’s the details that matter, and the details in this are wonderful.
April 26, 2012 at 11:21 am
And boom – you made another comic that blew my mind.
April 26, 2012 at 1:09 pm
Anyone read Doris Lessing’s Canopus in Argos series? Not really the same, but it’s nonetheless what this reminded me of.
April 26, 2012 at 4:19 pm
I was going through a bad bit here. Thanks Wince. I needed that.
April 26, 2012 at 5:18 pm
This reminded me of Behold the Man by Moorcock but just… So much better done. Jasgfhgshfgahsaaaah amazing.
April 26, 2012 at 9:44 pm
Awesome Winston, thanks for a great comic. Love the little touches that don’t seem much but have an impact. The guy’s blackened eyes give him anonomity, the shape of the panels is the logo of the book/recurring motif, etc…
The story reminded me of ‘The End of Eternity’ by Isaac Asimov. It’s exactly this : a guy is sent in the past to seed it so his own world exists in the first place. The eternal loop, ecetera.
Manly hugs. Hope you feel better now.
April 26, 2012 at 11:08 pm
shee-yit Rowntree, this may be your best ever.
April 26, 2012 at 11:12 pm
One of the best yet. Very good work.
April 27, 2012 at 2:51 am
Thank you, WInston. I hope there’s a book some day.
April 27, 2012 at 5:06 am
I must say, this was definitely worth the wait.
April 27, 2012 at 6:57 am
Thanks.
I don’t know if I’ve said it before, but thank you so much for drawing and writing these.
April 27, 2012 at 8:24 am
Urm… I knew how the story was going to end all along. I feel like I’ve missed something here?
April 27, 2012 at 8:26 am
Is it… “We write our own story”? Something like that?
April 27, 2012 at 11:36 am
Really powerful comic. Although, yes, as others have said previously it is a bit predictable around the first quarter, but then again it’s the same with Ki-duk Kim films which doesn’t make it any less beautiful or emotional. Nobody could explain it before, but I think I now understand why they say that the story is not important, but how you tell it.
April 27, 2012 at 1:57 pm
Tons of thanks for this awesome and moving comic.
April 27, 2012 at 2:47 pm
Like everyone else, I want to say welcome back and yes, truly, this was a beautiful story.
I also figured out the ‘twist’ about halfway but… I thought that the twist was going to be that the ‘hero’ had been sent back to create and then become a mythical prophet, thereby either creating monetheistic religion, or a particular monetheistic religion.
With that accomplished, a future world in which populations could be controlled and divided at will would remain. The generals and politicians would have their global conformity and perpetual war for all time. The world that had been, where people welcomed innovation and difference, fades away.
The moral of the story being that even the most dedicated champions of good can be used for evil if they cannot tell the difference between good and evil.
April 27, 2012 at 3:04 pm
God-damn you are on a such a friggin’ roll at the moment. great to have you back rowntree, don’t ever change.
April 27, 2012 at 3:06 pm
Loved it.
I thought our time traveller and the real man would once meet throughout his life and affect one another to make the story of mankind, but your ending is much better.
This reminded me very much of ‘The End of Eternity’ by Isaac Asimov.
April 27, 2012 at 4:18 pm
Absolutely beautiful. Thank you.
April 27, 2012 at 6:40 pm
excellent strip, i really enjoyed reading it and i wondered if it was part of that one where the guy jumped through the portal with the other three dead guys in the room in spacesuits ..
April 27, 2012 at 7:32 pm
Serandipity brought me here. Compelling admiration drives me to write here. That was an amazing tale, with so many levels. You truly are a gifted writer.
April 28, 2012 at 3:40 pm
“And if ideas ever cross the hills and are so persistent as to transcend the ages then they are the ideas of mankind”
Amazingly beautifully written & drawn. In essence, the story seems to be based on a well-known thought, a thought that is at least worth everybods consideration for a moment: If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him.
April 28, 2012 at 5:12 pm
As soon as I read a couple panels in, I was like “This guy is gonna time travel and accidently become his own religious figure.” But then, I’ve always been pretty good at predictiing twists like that… lmao.
April 29, 2012 at 5:15 am
Poster schmoster, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itasha (in fairness, I was thinking first of the pillow slipcovers over the seats with characters on them; though feel free to punt democracy-size pillows; and it’s not like sun shades or rechargers are gonna be out this year) or POV microprojection (nevermind the biker, read the trail off the panniers!)
Way to set up a MacGuffin, Rowntree. Clearly team 2 overshoots almost doubly to bury their payload of turned citations and missed tellings deeper, only to see alluvial migration fold people and tales deeper up under each others’ gloves.
April 29, 2012 at 8:15 am
Holy crap, Winston, no wonder the delay was so long. Glad to see you’re back and especially glad to read another of your serious story comix. Fantastic job on this one.
April 29, 2012 at 4:23 pm
Wow! It was worth the wait. It may not be a poster, but a short graphic novel, yes.
April 29, 2012 at 8:39 pm
i really appreciate what you did with color over the course of the comic, as it shifted with time. very effective (especially as he first entered the past, with the yellow on blue)… subtly moving the reader back into that state of yellow. the solid block of yellow panels was so moving. perfect. and then, orange. lovely. it reminded me a bit of nietzsche, when he’s comforting.
also:
the shape of the panels was really brilliant, really subtle. i loved it. it was such a happy surprise for the reader, reinforcing the idea of his life as constituting his book…
April 30, 2012 at 4:55 am
the colour changes are truly amazing, but each part of your every comic is a precisely placed element that can be interpreted in its way on the masterwork art you produce.
you are the best thing ive discovered on the internet. ever.
April 30, 2012 at 2:07 am
That one gave me chills.
April 30, 2012 at 8:19 am
Thank you.
April 30, 2012 at 12:41 pm
brilliant. when i realized the panels were the shape of the holy symbol, i stopped living for a moment.
April 30, 2012 at 3:34 pm
.Good Grief!
Neither nature nor factoids in sight. Only artifacts.
Funny allegory and a really nice piece of art!
It’d be like pressing Edit-Enter buttons, though I doubt the “happy”, rural times would last more than, say, some millenniums extra.
Conclusion:
Investing tips 101:
the Happy Asteroid, mining inc.
Pennies from Heaven
Unlimited
ben, philanthropist
April 30, 2012 at 4:18 pm
I enjoy analyzing your comics backwards after reading them. Sort of like reverse engineering. Makes me think alot more. Thanks!
April 30, 2012 at 7:01 pm
A little bit sad but also inspirational.
April 30, 2012 at 7:06 pm
The causality paradox time travel story has been done before, of course, but I like your idea of treating a man as a seed and the past as soil. It’s almost like he’s Patient Zero of a benign pandemic.
I love the use of color. He comes from a gold future and lands in a blue past. As the the years pass, he’s completely oblivious to the way that the world is becoming less blue and more gold. When he runs from the book, his village is just as gold as his future. And then he takes it farther than when he was an ignorant man in the future. He looks at his wife and the the world becomes red. This woman was originally a beard he took to maintain his cover. Now he knew her to be an angel; if our holy books are written by men who weren’t even trying, then we’ve been living in Heaven all along.
If Captain Estar was your Inferno, then this is your Paradiso.
May 1, 2012 at 3:22 am
this was awesome.
thank you WR
i have goosebumps that won’t go away
May 1, 2012 at 1:34 pm
Another amazing comic, and a wonderful picture of humanity. Your comix may be wordier than most, but even so each piece is laden with meaning. Your art ought to be used as a textbook. Here in India the number of textbooks using loads of words with no apparent meaning and with no ending in sight is Too Damn High ! ( My exams are coming)
Thank you, Winston. Thanks for taking the time to craft this amazing story for us. Above all, thanks for coming back.
May 1, 2012 at 7:11 pm
amazing stuff
May 2, 2012 at 1:33 am
I’m sorry, but I’ve been reading through your comic archive for the last week. Each panel has given me something to think about. Every character is someone that I can relate with in some obscure, self-revelatory way. You metaphors, your technique–they never fail to grip me. And this last one–I just couldn’t stop seeing the implications and the subtleties and how you managed t string them all together.
You, my friend, are brilliant. And it is to my great sadness that my reading your work has ended for the moment, but it is also my great hope that you will continue to make these beautiful tomes of human thought.
May 2, 2012 at 4:09 am
I have never bothered to comment before, but, I have to voice exactly how beautiful this story was. No, not the story, but, the piece as a whole, it’s transcended it’s web-comix origins into true art. This should be in a museum, or sprawled across a brick wall as a mural.Kudos from me to you, and thank you for putting something wonderful into our world.
May 2, 2012 at 1:59 pm
.
Of course. The shift in colours. Very observant of you -Tomas Inguanzo-! (6 posts north). “Patient Zero” has probably been infected with Malus domestica, which SOUNDS… malignant sooner than benign though.
And, to be honest, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if that evil-looking woman is involved somehow. Apple pie?
ben
May 3, 2012 at 12:04 am
Fantastic comic, beautiful and ingenious. Bet I’ll be daydreaming and reflecting upon it for a long time. Thank you very much (it was truly worth the wait)!
May 3, 2012 at 2:03 am
This is something I needed to break away a bit of the cynicism that was growing on me today. Thanks
May 3, 2012 at 6:24 pm
I know you may not read this, for it is one among many. Your work humbles me. It makes me laugh, it makes me cry, but most importantly, it makes me ask questions. Sometimes the questions don’t make sense, and sometimes the people I ask don’t make sense, and sometimes the answers don’t make sense, but few questions and people and answers ever make sense. I am a simple poet, barely an adult, trying to find a way in this world, but every time I sit, for 20, 30 minutes at a time to read your most recent work, I am inspired to keep living until I find a purpose. I thank you for the teachings you have spared.
May 4, 2012 at 11:19 am
I used to and sometimes still psychoanalyze everything. Over the past year, I’ve shifted out of that frustrating loop of thought and learned to let go. Your comics offer a profound experience and I am eternally grateful for the work you’ve done and will continue to do. Thank you so much! Rock the fuck on!
May 4, 2012 at 9:09 pm
Oh my god, me too.
May 4, 2012 at 4:41 pm
this should be made into a movie!
May 4, 2012 at 6:34 pm
I’ve liked your comics for some time now, usually though they’re a little to verbose for my attention span to let me read fully (put it this way, when I read a book I tend to skim, absorbing the crux of the message without reading all the words), but this, this I went back and re-read just to make sure I had actually absorbed every single word. Thank you for writing it so well that I had to go back and make sure I had everything committed.
May 4, 2012 at 9:58 pm
Hey Winston, now that you’ve done a lot of comix, have you thought about having a thumbnail system to make it easier to browse the comics. It would make it a ton easier to find a comic I’m looking to read
May 6, 2012 at 3:43 am
Thank you.
May 6, 2012 at 7:00 pm
Profound and beautifully written. Even though I knew where it was going the it unfolded was astounding
May 6, 2012 at 11:19 pm
I hate gushing, because I do with seemingly every comic, but this gave me chills. Truly brilliant work, Winston. Don’t ever stop (please!).
May 7, 2012 at 1:41 am
Truly awesome (meant in the old, not-watered-down way). Keep up the good work.
May 7, 2012 at 8:48 am
Epic as usual, Rowntree!
May 8, 2012 at 7:19 pm
thank you. a wonderful read, as always.
May 8, 2012 at 9:06 pm
Would it be rude to ask you why you weren’t present at TCAF?
May 11, 2012 at 5:28 pm
Not rude! Ask me Whatever. Why not at tcaf? Not a huge fan of shows, essentially. I used to do shows back when i was selling $2.00 ‘zines instead of having a website and i just never really enjoyed the experience. As an introvert, it’s frankly exhausting (i’m good for about two hours in A Massive Room Full of Strangers), and financially it’s just pointless– i could sell literally a hundred zines and that would be breaking even. Even if i had something to sell right now (my Stuff You Can Buy is all handled third-party) i wouldn’t feel like gambling on covering the cost of the table. Plus i have comix to make.
And, again, shows are exhausting. I make comix because i like being alone in a room, y’know? I’m not saying i’ll never ever do a comix show ever again ever, i’m just really not into it. I do have an idea for a Toronto-specific comic that would make a nice poster, maybe get a bunch printed and sell them anonymously at Canzine (actually affordable tables), but that’s the closest thing i have to future plans in terms of shows.
May 8, 2012 at 9:41 pm
Beautiful, beautiful. Those of us a bit on in life understand.
May 11, 2012 at 8:01 am
Beautiful.
Thank you.
May 11, 2012 at 8:51 am
amazing.
May 11, 2012 at 10:26 am
Really beautiful. Reminds me of something I read sometime ago?
May 15, 2012 at 1:51 pm
Wow. This is my new favorite. Incredible work WR.
May 15, 2012 at 5:05 pm
After your last comic came out in February, I was checking the site every week for new comics, like I usually do. Then after a couple misses it became every other week. Then every month. I had about decided to start a search and rescue party. But my, this was breath-taking, and 110% worth it. I want to go on praising everything I loved about it, but after reading the comments, I see that’s been covered several times over. So instead, I’ll just say thank you. Thank you for this amazing thing, this incredible little bit of humanity you’ve taken the time to create and share.
May 17, 2012 at 10:48 am
:’-) Wow, what else can I say? What a moving tale.
May 19, 2012 at 10:22 am
This is the first comic of yours that I have read (after a link to “The Atheist Apocalypse”). I found it gripping from the start and enjoyed it a lot. I suppose the question is, where did this loop in time begin? Thought provoking, whatever the answer may be 🙂
May 20, 2012 at 2:25 am
you sir/madam have been an inspiration for me to live a life spontaneous.
May 21, 2012 at 1:26 pm
Very well written and eloquent (as I have come to expect from this fine comic). Though I guessed the Jesus metaphor/Terminator time-loop quite early into the story – as soon as he decided to “go native”.
May 23, 2012 at 7:42 am
mind. blowing.
June 2, 2012 at 2:58 am
Fantastic. While the “twist” was hardly surprising (having anticipated almost as soon as time travel was mentioned,) the delivery was surprisingly, phenomenally, well done. Thank you for the pleasure of reading it.
June 5, 2012 at 10:50 am
I love you Winston!!!!
June 12, 2012 at 11:54 pm
That was amazing.
June 16, 2012 at 6:24 pm
I don’t know what else to say, but thank you for that.
And because I haven’t said so yet, thank you for making me read so many other words these past few years. They’ve been full of profound truths and beauty, and they’ve gotten me through many a time when the world seemed utterly bleak.
Hey, the way I see it, we’re each a sole occupant of a richly beautiful island, but we’re usually limited to standing on our beaches and waving to each other from afar. You actually wade out into the waves and see how much closer you can get. Again, thank you.
June 19, 2012 at 2:09 pm
Sublime. I enjoy masters of Sci-Fi like Frank Herbert and Aurthur C Clark. The scope, ease in which the ideas are communicated and the mastery of story telling is on par with them. I cannot describe the joy and wonder I feel reading this. Well told stories like these help us mundane people break free the shackles of mediocrity in day to day life.
June 28, 2012 at 6:41 am
*applause*
July 22, 2012 at 8:28 pm
Thanks.
August 23, 2012 at 9:04 pm
Bravo great piece. It really would work well as a book, especially with the holy symbol shape repeating with the layout of each page.
August 27, 2012 at 10:46 pm
I fell in love with your work in just 3 comics. Congratulations. This one brought a tear to my eye.
September 5, 2012 at 9:36 am
i think this is one of your best works yet!
October 10, 2012 at 4:08 am
Beautiful
June 14, 2013 at 2:36 am
I think I’m crying.
June 20, 2013 at 3:52 pm
I do hope that you are a sincere fan of the old Heavy Metal magazine of the 70s … for you are among those who wrote like they did.
September 9, 2013 at 11:20 am
That was awesome.
I smiled when I realized the symbol on the sacred book was the arrangement of the panels.
October 24, 2013 at 2:26 pm
With some of these comics, I can hear my brain shrieking for joy at finally being used.
March 1, 2014 at 4:20 pm
I know it’s been said about a bajillion times, but this one’s unreal, WR.
July 14, 2016 at 10:21 am
This story reduces me to tears every time I read it. Thank you.
October 13, 2018 at 12:55 pm
I began to suspect where this was going pretty quickly, but watching it happen was still hauntingly beautiful.
I LOVE this one.
November 12, 2021 at 9:12 pm
still a stellar page. i love this.
May 6, 2022 at 3:37 pm
I read this 10 years after it was written. I’m tempted to stop here because it can only go downhill. But I won’t.