Zombie Boy

I heard the news today, oh boy. The Obscure Gentlemen announced that they were pulling out of the webcomic race. Such an ominous thing, so subtly delivered, as if someone reached up and took a star out of the firmament when no one was looking. Their parting leaves a monstrous size hole in the pantheon of web comics, a passing of an era never to be duplicated.

In the years they were banded together, these six brave souls broached subjects that few would or could possibly get away with. No theme was too monstrous or too appalling. Not for the squeamish, they fearlessly tackled each strip, and held it, and everything they did, to their own standard, regardless of whose sensibilities they might trample.

The Gents had already hacked pretty deep into webcomics territory by the time I got my gear packed and started on my own webcomic journey. From my earliest footsteps into Twitter territory, James Alvarez has been a guide, a fierce warrior, a champion, a loyal and limitless supporter of me and my work. An honorable hombre like no other. And not just him, the entire Obscure Gentlemen gang has been nothing but entirely admirable, although they may bristle a bit at me saying that.

This webcomic business is unrelenting. It’s a gaping abyss that swallows everything you do as if it never happened. You are only judged by what you do tomorrow. It is unforgiving and tortuous, a hungry black hole that swallows all of your hard work in an instant, as if it never happened. “What have you done for me lately?” it asks incessantly. In all this chaos, it was always strengthening to know that the Gents had my back.

Here’s your tophat, Gents, what’s your hurry? Can’t you just linger for a while longer, maybe another decade or two? Farewell, Gentlemen, do not go gently into that good night!

Click image above to see my farewell tribute comic to those great Obscure Gentlemen.