• zifnab25 [he/him, any]@hexbear.net
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      1 year ago

      You really need to (a) have followed the comic fifteen years ago when it was relevant or (b) seen the HBomberGuy recap video to understand it.

      But the TL;DR; of the original joke is that the webcomic was this incel tier whiny gamer wall-of-text throw away web comic. But it managed to produce a singular momentary deeply moving piece of real art.

      Imagine flipping through Ben Garrison comics for five years and then - literally right after a panel of Joe Biden firing a giant turd labeled TAX HIKES into AOC’s mouth, Garrison decides to produce a fully rendered pointelist abstract on par with Starry Night. Or catching Charlie Kirk doing this hypnotic interpretive dance evoking the pain experienced by a young girl falling out of love with her first boyfriend. Or Bill Maher cutting from some panel rant about millennials to do Moonlight Sonata.

      It was such an incredible jarring shift in tone and quality, and one that vanished as quickly as it appeared. It wasn’t based on any kind of real life event, just a moment of deep personal drama the author felt the need to explore in an otherwise totally superficial piece of navel gazing bullshit.

      In some sense, it was self commentary. The idea of a better piece of art, dead before it was even born. Known but not seen or heard or felt, saving in the soul.

      One word to describe what could have been.

      Loss.

      Everything that came after is just jokes referencing the absurd unanticipated masterpiece.

      • BelieveRevolt [he/him]@hexbear.net
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        1 year ago

        It’s also funny to me that the author was such a smug-ass freeze-gamer type and now all anyone remembers of his formerly super popular webcomic is the very poorly done miscarriage drama.

        I also remember that time he made a racist joke and tried to awkwardly edit it out, though hitler-detector

        • zifnab25 [he/him, any]@hexbear.net
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          1 year ago

          all anyone remembers of his formerly super popular webcomic is the very poorly done miscarriage drama

          I mean, I consider that comic the unintentional high point of his career. He had a following, but was always sorta mid-tier. His technique was decent but never great and I don’t think he ever brought into the professional industry.

          But Loss was a genuine powerful piece of work. If he’s going to be remembered for anything, it should be that.

      • Drewfro66@lemmygrad.ml
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        1 year ago

        Imagine flipping through Ben Garrison comics for five years and then - literally right after a panel of Joe Biden firing a giant turd labeled TAX HIKES into AOC’s mouth, Garrison decides to produce a fully rendered pointelist abstract on par with Starry Night.

        Not sure if this is a reference or not, but check out Garrison’s cubism abstract paintings.

      • Tastysnack [she/her]@hexbear.net
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        1 year ago

        So the original freeze-gamer author of loss actually lost their child to miscarriage and the comic itself is about that?

        I can’t find anything to say that’s the case but I personally agree with this criticism:

        It has received negative reception from critics and webcomic creators, especially for the shift in tone in the webcomic, and as an example of “fridging”—showing a killed or injured female character with the intention of provoking a male character.

        Cos if the author is a bad gamer chud then that’s exactly what he did do lets be honest and that’s disgusting.

        I feel weird that my take on this is dependent on whether the author lost a child because without that context its absolutely “fridging” but surely someone can lament a loss of a child in a family or a friend and put that emotion into art? Arghhh it’s so confusing and I remember that comic being super edgy so it feels more “see people lose kids and you women want abortions?!” sort of veiled political energy.