If It Weren't for Keenspace ...

[Ideal Comics]

My comic is one of the two most important creative works I've ever produced, the other being my novel. I've loved producing it these past 13 years. Having a regular artistic outlet during rough times has been invaluable to me.

And yet, when I think how much of myself I've poured into this comic over the years, and how little it has availed me in any real world sense... ah well. Such is art, I suppose.

I used to hang out on this forum a fair bit. Then one guy here offered to review other people's webcomics. I figured it was a chance for some very minor free publicity, so I said sure. He absolutely excoriated my work, seemingly just for the amusement of it, and then reposted his critique on a site he'd started expressly for mocking struggling artists. For years, his stupid review was one of the first things that came up on any google search of my comic's title.

I didn't want to hang out here again after that.

Good gravy, that sounds awful!

[Pimpette]

Oh hey, the ol' stomping grounds.
Someone poked the facebook group; cool to see it's not a complete ghost town around here.

If not for KS/CG, my life might be on a completely different track. I started a shitty comic as a way to keep in touch with a friend who moved several hours away. If not for the KS community, I probably would have eventually dropped it like I'd dropped every other website I'd ever made up to that point. Ended up making a lot of friends (I think Crossfire, phact0rri, and AoD were the first few I really started talking with) and we pushed each other to keep going.

But then we decided on the first Toronto meetup - K-Dawg and Ghastly and Tynan and yes, even VileTerror. I was late and so only ended up meeting K-Dawg and Tynan - we all hit it off immediately. Almost twelve years ago I moved to Toronto to be with Tynan, and Dawg is still one of my best friends. Gawds alone know where I'd be now without either of them.

I just sort of fell away from the forums when everyone else did. Life got busy and I didn't have time anymore to sit and watch threads like I used to. Also my internet went garbage for a while and I couldn't run mIRC anymore, so I lost touch with a lot of people.

I miss people, and don't know whatever happened to them. Yarpsdat (?), Mr. Bob (Star Bored), Ayame Ex Goddess (Newscast),RPin (Alex and Ilia), Grace (Because of Math Class),KensouX (The Fan), Ida (Mechagical Girl Lisa A.N.T.), Codeguy (Quest of the Silly), Sippan (Sippan Serie), FAUB (Fallen Angels Used Books)...

People who were just plain fun to hear from here: KittyKatBlack (I have waaay too many pictures of your avatar. See t-shirt reference below), VileTerror, McDuffies, Ghastly, Jim North, Terotrous (I miss the little blender avatar), Gooblah, DeityPermit, MixedMyth, Yeahduff, Coydog, Shinedog, Dogdog (Okay, I made that one up), Col, Cortland, Lag the Noggin, Soap Committee, Evil Jamie, Komiyan, MariaAndMichelle, Mercury Hat, Joel Fagin, KrisX, Ly, PeppermintAfterlife, Pimpette, ToxicAvenger, Brockway, Turnsky, That guy who got spotted and suddenly stopped doing his comic... Tortelli? Benelli? Minelli? Minestrone?

Sortelli

I facebook-lurk a few people, like the creep I am. BOMC (Grace), Komiyan, Mercury Hat, Soap, CJ, Vort, dragonmajik, Lego, Corgan Dane, MixedMyth, birdie, aeridus, Ti-Phillipe... all seem to be all right and doing things. (I am suddenly hit with just how many of my fb friends are from here. I still feel like I've missed a few though)

K-Dawg is good and often complains that I'm still his friend. It's what he gets for showing me where he lives.

Tynan is great and currently watching Disney+ and harassing our cat.



...so that was an essay and I apologize. But good to see familiar faces again

[Bustertheclown]

I feel like I never really made much of the platform or the community here. It's a great place, and the genuine connection I always understood was here is the reason I'm still lurking, even now. But that's a pretty common failing on my part -- recognizing potential, but not really reaching it.

My comic is one of the two most important creative works I've ever produced, the other being my novel. I've loved producing it these past 13 years. Having a regular artistic outlet during rough times has been invaluable to me.

And yet, when I think how much of myself I've poured into this comic over the years, and how little it has availed me in any real world sense... ah well. Such is art, I suppose.

I used to hang out on this forum a fair bit. Then one guy here offered to review other people's webcomics. I figured it was a chance for some very minor free publicity, so I said sure. He absolutely excoriated my work, seemingly just for the amusement of it, and then reposted his critique on a site he'd started expressly for mocking struggling artists. For years, his stupid review was one of the first things that came up on any google search of my comic's title.

I didn't want to hang out here again after that.

Good gravy, that sounds awful!

Remember the internet fad where people entertained themselves by being malicious assholes who rip apart the earnest creative efforts of others? Glad that went away.

[Brockway]

I literally just thought of this forum again after seeing a guy in a Doctor Who review wearing a t shirt in a YouTube video that looked like Woot riding a motorcycle from Sortelli's Elf Only Inn and got nostalgic. After checking out the comic I realized to my horror it hadn't updated in over 11 years. It makes me happy you remembered me Mr. Ekshin, it's been so long since I was here.

I met alot of cool people here, nice to see so many familiar faces still. So for the short story, I got married, still in the Navy, and have 2 sweet adorable little baby girls. No comics, though my Coronacation has led me to taking up baking sourdough.

This place really helped me out when I needed friends, it was really my only consistent form of human contact outside people I worked with. The jams and forum events with company both present and long gone are some of my most fond memories.

[Ti-Phil]

Wow! Brock has little Brockettes now! That's quite cool! Thank you for passing by!

*sounds of echo*

[Brockway]

Heh Phil!

B66B986A-FAC4-4B86-8591-5EF3709E3C14.jpeg (106.35 KiB) Viewed 39379 times

[VeryCuddlyCornpone]

Just hopping in to say I still love you guys & miss you, many of you are never going to log in to read this but I'm just putting those vibes out

[Brockway]

Only facebook friends I have from here are K-Dawg and Kirb. I see other people from here occasionally show up as "do you know" but don't want to creep, I mostly just use it nowadays to post pictures of my babies, get rid of extra junk, and see updates on Kirb's game anyways.

[Ti-Phil]

Wait wait wait waiiiiit....

Kirb has a game?

[Cope]

Kirb has a game?

Yep.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1104 ... er_Illyia/

[Brockway]

Kirb has a game?

Yep.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1104 ... er_Illyia/

Can't wait for it to come out, Bloodstained on Switch really reignited my love for the Metroidvania genre.

[Pimpette]

I literally just thought of this forum again after seeing a guy in a Doctor Who review wearing a t shirt in a YouTube video that looked like Woot riding a motorcycle from Sortelli's Elf Only Inn and got nostalgic.

I was oddly pleased to see your eyebrow avatar is still intact.

[Brockway]

I literally just thought of this forum again after seeing a guy in a Doctor Who review wearing a t shirt in a YouTube video that looked like Woot riding a motorcycle from Sortelli's Elf Only Inn and got nostalgic.

I was oddly pleased to see your eyebrow avatar is still intact.

Figured why change it after 17 years?

...

OH GOD MY ACCOUNT IS ALMOST OLD ENOUGH TO VOTE

[Ti-Phil]

Kirb has a game?

Yep.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1104 ... er_Illyia/

....yet another game I'll put in my wishing list then! But wow!

[Sippan]

I miss people, and don't know whatever happened to them. Yarpsdat (?), Mr. Bob (Star Bored), Ayame Ex Goddess (Newscast),RPin (Alex and Ilia), Grace (Because of Math Class),KensouX (The Fan), Ida (Mechagical Girl Lisa A.N.T.), Codeguy (Quest of the Silly), Sippan (Sippan Serie), FAUB (Fallen Angels Used Books)...

Hey man! I am touched to see my name mentioned in such good company

Here's whatever happened to me since 2007, in case any of the old folks ever wonder: met a girl, stopped drawing comics because she absorbed my life in a kind of super dysfunctional way, got engaged, some horrible things happened, broke up, some more horrible things happened, was adopted by a circle of really good friends, recovered from that lifelong depression and social anxiety disorder that I used to do comics about, wrote a decent novel (self-published but hey it's got 4 stars on goodreads, don't ask about the number of reviews), met another girl, true love this time, became a therapist, got married, am currently studying to become a licensed psychologist, hoping to pay back to the universe by helping some other people get out of the place I used to be in.

If anybody is reading this have a great week and a great life and perhaps we'll cross paths again in another 15 years

[Cope]

...well, that was quite a tale.

[Ti-Phil]

That is quite a tale Sippan! It seems to be going better at least!