Wherein I Sort Of Become a Stuckie
I haven’t posted in the past few days because I’ve spent most of my free time trying to catch up on Homestuck.
What is Homestuck? Good question, but there is no good answer.
It could be called a web comic, but it so much more than that. Homestuck incorporates comics, animated gifs, text, Flash movies and Flash games in an epic undertaking that is, to date, upwards of 5000 pages in length.
The story begins as the tale of four teenagers who play the beta version of a computer game, Sburb, and inadvertently bring about the end of the world. They manage to escape to an alternate plane where a higher destiny awaits each of them. Oh, and there are trolls. And these trolls are immensely popular.
The core audience is teens and young adults, called Stuckies, and they are obsessed with it. Homestuck is popular among the cosplay crowd at anime and comic book conventions, even though it exists only on the Internet. Here are some photos I took at Fanime 2012 in San Jose, CA.
Mike Rugnetta of PBS’ Idea Channel likened Homestuck to James Joyce’s Ulysses. I think he’s got a point. Check out the video below to get some idea of what the deal is with Homestuck.
Confused? Don’t worry. You’re supposed to be. Homestuck has a wiki, of course. It’s helpful, but dense, with layers upon layers of information. It’s a useful guide for when the story winds back around on itself and you’re trying to figure out who or what a certain character and/or thing is.
Homestuck is part of a larger work called MS Paint Adventures. The creator, Andrew Hussie, wrote and drew three other interactive comic adventures before beginning on what became his masterpiece.
I’m on Act 4 and there are currently six acts with at least one more to go. On top of that, Mr. Hussie has decided to create a Homestuck game. To raise the money, he’s appealed to the Stuckies with a Kickstarter fundraising page. The primary goal was to raise $700,000 in a month, starting on September 4, 2012. As of this post, he has raised over $1,155,000. Pretty impressive and a testimony to the popularity of Homestuck and the strength of the fan base, especially considering the game won’t be delivered until June 2014.
So, if you’re looking for something to read/watch/play/experience or are interested in exploring a cultural phenomenon, you might want to check out Homestuck.
Lori Writer 