“I must soon quit the scene.”
-Benjamin Franklin
Chris Onstad recently announced on his blog that he will be taking an indefinite haitus from his long running webcomic Achewood, the best thing on the internet. Regular publication of the comic -which followed the adventures of a group of foul-mouthed, hard drinking, manic/depressive, hallucination prone, wise ass stuffed animals – slowed beginning in 2010, and recently updates have been sporadic. After nine years and 1,700 strips, Onstad is officially abandoning a regular schedule, stating that:
Like a sparrow birthing a clenched human fist, Achewood must be reborn in strange ways over time to achieve this ideal. This may mean the occasional hiatus, or span of dark strips that do not make you laugh. This may mean a week of heavily-Photoshopped scans of pencil sharpeners, or simply stenciling a “bobby” on my garage door in a cheap imitation of Banksy.
If you aren’t familiar with Achewood, that “best thing on the internet” line might strike you as a tad hyperbolic, but I promise, it aint; in its run, Onstad did nothing short of elevate a new, more often than not, crappy form (the webcomic) to the level of art (or literature, or whatever) and it’s qualified retirement impoverishes the internet. Straight up. Real rap. I won’t oversing its praises, but would be a poor apostle if I didn’t encourage the uninitiated to give it a read, so next time you have a few weeks free (impending government shutdown??? biannual fit of depression??? divorce???) do yourself a favor and read about 6 month’s worth (I recommend the classic Great Outdoor Fight arc).
If you are a fan, and haven’t read Onstad’s blogpost (relinked), it’s a must. Both an explanation of his decision to “end” the strip – delivered with fanboy proof honesty – and a reflection on Serious Stuff:
One thing that’s always made me a bit sad is how Internet presentation seems to devalue content. So much art, writing, and news is suddenly available to us that each piece seems nearly a throwaway, lost in the gullet of our now-insatiable appetite for information. Here in the future, everyone is famous for 15kb. Fifteen reTweets. Fifteen LOLs. Should I work fifteen hours on something that will take fifteen seconds to read? The answer is yes, of course, because I love what I do, but after nearly a decade one wonders if one couldn’t do more for people with that time.
There’s more Onstad to come, evidently. Maybe some food writing or long form fiction, all of which is well and good…but goddamn will I miss Achewood. Rough chuckles all around.
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