Apr 20, 2016 4 min read

Over the years, the Internet has generated countless trends and works of fiction, yet few are more polarizing than the webcomic known simply as “Homestuck.”

A name which invokes both collective delight and disdain from different sectors of the online community, “Homestuck” has become infamous for its large and pervasive fan following. References to the work can be found in numerous digital and real-life forums.

Despite the comic’s divisive nature, I decided to look into it several months ago and found myself pleasantly surprised by the story as a whole. Following its formal conclusion April 13 and with an epilogue in the works, it seems more appropriate than ever to break down this phenomenon that has kept thousands of readers enthralled for years.

“Homestuck” was first published April 13, 2009, by creator Andrew Hussie for his website, MS Paint Adventures, which hosts a number of the author’s previous comics. Like these prior works, “Homestuck” parodies classic text-based adventure games in its format – the story progresses as readers issue commands to its characters by following links between pages. Originally, the plot was guided by reader input, with participants suggesting actions for the characters which then would be illustrated and narrated through periodic updates to the site. Eventually, this suggestion box was removed as the comic shifted focus to the lengthy and complex narrative it had spawned.

The story begins simply enough: a 13-year-old boy named John plans to play a game with his online friends and each must contend with various domestic obstacles in order to do so. However, playing the game has devastating effects on the world as they know it and the group must face a series of increasingly difficult challenges in order to succeed.

Over the course of its seven-year run, the plot gradually expanded into a sprawling life-or-death quest that spans multiple universes, timelines and realities, with a total of over 8,000 pages and 800,000 words.

Possibly the most intriguing part of this expansive story is its presentation – “Homestuck” spares no expense in attempting to set itself apart from other webcomics. For instance, much of the action is expressed through traditional comic panels spread throughout a series of linked webpages, either as static images or animated GIFs.

Most of the narration and dialogue, on the other hand, is found outside of these panels, often in the form of “pesterlogs” – transcripts from an in-universe chat client utilized by many of the characters. These logs and descriptions also contain much of the comic’s original sense of humor, a bizarre mixture between crude, language-based jokes, pop-culture references, callbacks to previous moments in the story and parodies of gaming and Internet culture as a whole.

Most notable is the comic’s experimental incorporation of multimedia elements. Battles and other major plot events are often expressed through Adobe Flash animations, while more open-ended areas of the story are sometimes shown through exploration-based browser games. These animations even sample from a massive original soundtrack by various composers. The result is a uniquely “Internet” product that is impossible to replicate in any other medium. In practice, it functions incredibly well.

Over the course of its seven-year run, “Homestuck” has attracted both a large and devoted fan following and a substantial amount of criticism, much of which I find completely justifiable. The most crippling issue the comic faces is its inaccessibility.

As previously mentioned, “Homestuck” is positively gargantuan and contains many confusing plot points which are never truly explained until much later in the story, which takes a long time to pick up speed. Furthermore, since much of the comic contains less-than-subtle nods to the author’s previous works and side projects, complete comprehension of “Homestuck” requires near-encyclopedic knowledge of MS Paint Adventures’ other content.

Finally, thanks to the convoluted narrative and overwhelming presence of self-referential humor, it is all but impossible to skip through the first few sluggish acts. To the uninitiated, the fanbase’s apparent fear of cake mix or preoccupation with strange typing quirks seems even more absurd than it already is, and to understand the relevance of these details would take hours of reading and analysis.

“Homestuck” is far from perfect, and it is certainly not for everyone, but despite the widespread stigma toward its fans, those intrigued by the comic’s premise should certainly give it a fair shot. Regardless of opinion, it is impossible to deny the creativity that went into making “Homestuck” – a unique online experience – and the impact it has had on the Internet and digital media as we know it today.

By Alex York

Senior, Commonwealth Connections