Oh Christ and beans, man!
November 23, 2011 7:06 AM   Subscribe

It would appear that Chris Onstad's critically acclaimed webcomic, Achewood, has returned from a hiatus which most assumed would be more or less permanent.
posted by gilrain (67 comments total)

This post was deleted for the following reason: Poster's Request -- Brandon Blatcher



 
you know I jumped out of bed and ran to my desk so i could post this and I was still beaten. CURSES GILRAIN
posted by The Whelk at 7:08 AM on November 23, 2011 [5 favorites]


We'll see how long this lasts.
posted by The Thnikkaman at 7:09 AM on November 23, 2011 [3 favorites]


oh DANG
posted by Rory Marinich at 7:09 AM on November 23, 2011 [2 favorites]


Awesome!
posted by drezdn at 7:10 AM on November 23, 2011


There would seem to be some kind of story in the failure of the assetbar and the creation of the new archive system.
posted by The Whelk at 7:11 AM on November 23, 2011 [1 favorite]


Balance has been restored to the world.
posted by cirrostratus at 7:12 AM on November 23, 2011


Now we just need Homestar Runner to come back, too, and we'll be peachy.
posted by inturnaround at 7:14 AM on November 23, 2011 [12 favorites]


There would seem to be some kind of story in the failure of the assetbar and the creation of the new archive system.
posted by The Whelk


As I kept getting random strips from the past, I assumed Onstad had just set up something wacky to torment me.
posted by COBRA! at 7:14 AM on November 23, 2011


A Happy Thanksgiving to one and all!
posted by persephone's rant at 7:15 AM on November 23, 2011


Damn, that is much darkness.
posted by Maaik at 7:15 AM on November 23, 2011 [1 favorite]


Praise the lord!

Right into a new storyline, I see. Good. Let's all agree that the last arc never happened.
posted by Iridic at 7:15 AM on November 23, 2011 [3 favorites]


The van spiralled off into an alternate dimension of murder and cocksuckery.
posted by The Whelk at 7:16 AM on November 23, 2011 [3 favorites]


oh shhhhhiiiiiiiitttt
posted by robocop is bleeding at 7:17 AM on November 23, 2011 [3 favorites]


Well if that just ain't a thing.
posted by kaseijin at 7:18 AM on November 23, 2011


We have a lot to be thankful for this thanksgiving.
posted by I've a Horse Outside at 7:18 AM on November 23, 2011


I love me some Achewood, but one post does not a hiatus end, even if explicitly labeled as such. Really looking forward to more strips!

Now if the store would just come back in some way so I can get those kick-ass GOF "retro" Posters that no family ever bought off my Christmas wishlist, then disappeared.
posted by jsled at 7:18 AM on November 23, 2011


Hugs.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 7:21 AM on November 23, 2011 [2 favorites]


Hero sauce. This changes everything.
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 7:22 AM on November 23, 2011 [2 favorites]


Did any of you sign up for the premium content in the past, and was it worth it? I often wondered what I was missing.
posted by vanar sena at 7:22 AM on November 23, 2011


You guys seem to have broken it already :(
posted by jepler at 7:22 AM on November 23, 2011


ONSTAD YOU TEASE.

Although, I have to say, I kind of liked thinking of Achewood as an artifact. A complete thing. But, fuck, more Achewood!

Also, I once went to a signing for the release of The Great Outdoor Fight, at a comic shop in Brooklyn. The line was out the door and down the block. We got into the comic shop and it was a small joint (Rocketship, RIP) and the line kept going back further and further into the store and I couldn't see Onstad. Then, it curved into a weird little corner in the employees-only section of the store, and there was a merch table. Then it curved again into... the back private room of the bar next door to the comic store. And there was Onstad hanging out at the bar with like four or five empty drink glasses, drunk as the Dickens at the bar, signing books (and drawing the character of your request in 'em!) and chatting it up and having a blast.

Dude is ray Smuckles.
posted by griphus at 7:24 AM on November 23, 2011 [18 favorites]


I love me some Achewood, but one post does not a hiatus end


Lalalalaicanthearyoulalala
posted by The Whelk at 7:26 AM on November 23, 2011


Did any of you sign up for the premium content in the past, and was it worth it?

I was subscribed to the Serializer content and the later content. The Serializer stuff was nice; it was long after he was putting anything in there so it was just a bunch more (early) Achewood stuff. There was also a complete Nate Small story, which I really enjoyed although apparently even Onstad had forgotten he'd written the damn thing.

I can't recall too much about the later subscriber-only content, however.
posted by griphus at 7:26 AM on November 23, 2011


He's coining neologisms like the dickens so that's a good sign. I wonder if puppet arm is a Barfly reference. Where that drunk uses a scarf to ratchet his drinking arm to his mouth.

Boiled nonsense, I am so using that.
posted by fleetmouse at 7:31 AM on November 23, 2011 [2 favorites]


Is our long national nightmare finally over?
posted by X-Himy at 7:31 AM on November 23, 2011 [3 favorites]


Also, it's Offical, now Dresden Codak is the slowest updating web comic in the world.
posted by The Whelk at 7:34 AM on November 23, 2011 [7 favorites]


Let's all agree that the last arc never happened.

No. I demand to know what Teodor did in the back of that van.
posted by hwyengr at 7:34 AM on November 23, 2011 [5 favorites]


You know exactly what happened there hwyengr, I'm not going to spell it out in lavish detail for the delight of your freak nodes, there are yahoo groups for that.
posted by The Whelk at 7:35 AM on November 23, 2011 [1 favorite]


Also, it's Offical, now Dresden Codak is the slowest updating web comic in the world.

I wish A Lesson Is Learned But The Damage Is Irreversible would come back.
posted by griphus at 7:37 AM on November 23, 2011 [7 favorites]


...which I now realize hasn't been updated in half a decade. What the FUCK, time?
posted by griphus at 7:37 AM on November 23, 2011 [1 favorite]


"More or less permanent" is not - I mean, you can't be more than permanent. And less than permanent is not permanent.
posted by Wolfdog at 7:38 AM on November 23, 2011 [1 favorite]


I'm pretty happy if it's actually back, even if it winds up being kind of an irregular schedule or whatever it is he needs to do to get more comics out there. I got kind of tired of strips which were like, "hello I'm back and am going to start making comics again," followed by a month of nothing.
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 7:38 AM on November 23, 2011


I am going to use "had Dutch potatoes on the brain since algebra times" in something. Not sure what, but I'm going to use it.
posted by tommasz at 7:39 AM on November 23, 2011


I feel like I should say something here, something I've been saying for eight years.
posted by Stan Chin at 7:40 AM on November 23, 2011 [10 favorites]


It never went on hiatus.

Philippe was just standing on it.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 7:43 AM on November 23, 2011 [24 favorites]


You know, I had to look up who made my absolutely favorite instance of "Achewood sucks," and it turns out it is you, Stan.
posted by griphus at 7:44 AM on November 23, 2011 [1 favorite]


"More or less permanent" is not - I mean, you can't be more than permanent. And less than permanent is not permanent.

That's a very unique viewpoint you have.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 7:44 AM on November 23, 2011


Also, it's Offical, now Dresden Codak is the slowest updating web comic in the world.

Hey, it takes a while to journey to the 6th dimension to research non-Euclidean panel layouts.
posted by COBRA! at 7:46 AM on November 23, 2011


this is the best thing
posted by entropicamericana at 7:47 AM on November 23, 2011


fleet mouse: I wonder if puppet arm is a Barfly reference.

Maybe it's a reference to The Beaver?
posted by unsupervised at 7:48 AM on November 23, 2011


Hells yes. Now if JonR would just write the rest of Goats, we'd be all set.
posted by jferg at 7:51 AM on November 23, 2011


I had over the years slurped up, in occasional fits of consumption, great discrete chunks of the archives, but I finally, finally started reading Achewood on a regular daily part-of-my-rounds basis about two months before it went dark. And I was like, dammit.

I finally stopped checking to make sure there was nothing new a couple months ago, even though I knew I shouldn't bother.

So this better stick, Onstad. I'm a creature of habit. Work with me here.
posted by cortex at 8:00 AM on November 23, 2011 [1 favorite]


Anybody have a script thing that would take all of the people who favorited "achewood sucks" and remove them from any page I ever view on metafilter because I don't ever need to know a damn thing you say about anything ever again.
posted by dobie at 8:04 AM on November 23, 2011 [8 favorites]


THIS... IS... A HOMEBOY!
posted by dhens at 8:06 AM on November 23, 2011 [4 favorites]


EVERYBODY DANCE LIKE THERE'S ASS IN YOUR PANTS
posted by omnikron at 8:06 AM on November 23, 2011 [8 favorites]


Now get back in the grave, DFW!

One of the very, very few "returns from hiatus" that I would be more excited abut than this one.
posted by penduluum at 8:07 AM on November 23, 2011 [1 favorite]


No. I demand to know what Teodor did in the back of that van.

Let's put it this way: Some even got on the mayor!

Not the mayor!
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 8:30 AM on November 23, 2011 [3 favorites]


I was sort of hoping that he would move on to other stuff. I agree with what he said, that the more recent comics were like someone doing an Onstad impression, which is also how this one strikes me.
posted by codacorolla at 8:40 AM on November 23, 2011


I wish A Lesson Is Learned But The Damage Is Irreversible would come back.

I'll go bug David and Dale. In the meantime, David is working on Jeff and Casey Time and Dale is working on The Nerds of Paradise.
posted by Faint of Butt at 8:42 AM on November 23, 2011 [3 favorites]


We're not favoriting the sentiment, dobie, we're favoriting the consistency. Even those of us who dearly love Achewood are comforted knowing that "when the last dingdong of doom has clanged and faded from the last worthless rock hanging tideless in the last red and dying evening, that even then there will still be one more sound: that of [Stan Chin's] inexhaustible voice, still" telling us that Achewood sucks.
posted by Ian A.T. at 8:43 AM on November 23, 2011 [2 favorites]


Man what that ain't sensible
posted by mr_crash_davis at 8:53 AM on November 23, 2011


"Man, we ain't calling nobody Michael."

Dang.
posted by steambadger at 9:14 AM on November 23, 2011 [1 favorite]


I just want to make like a big life size origami of myself and be all HOW ARE YOU

HOW HAVE YOU BEEN
posted by evisceratordeath at 10:13 AM on November 23, 2011 [1 favorite]


man he had to go and do a thing

(this is excellent!)
posted by Wrinkled Stumpskin at 10:26 AM on November 23, 2011


I just want to make like a big life size origami of myself

On the subject of large replicas of one's self, this remains one of my favorite Achewood strips. The first four panels are funny just on the basis of the way they are drawn, and Ray's indignant, hungover dialogue is gold throughout.
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 11:18 AM on November 23, 2011


I just want to selfishly point out for the internet record (which we all know is FOREVER) that I started the Achewood train on Metafilter almost 9 years ago to the day.

It was me. . . . ME, I tell you! Stan Chin, you have a debt to me motherfucker. All of you, you wouldn't even be here reading this if it wasn't for me*.


*Not technically true
posted by jeremias at 11:27 AM on November 23, 2011 [1 favorite]


God d-d-d-dammit Onstad! Make up your f-f-f-fuckin' mind! I g-g-g-got shit to do!
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 12:02 PM on November 23, 2011 [2 favorites]


Hallelujah!
posted by Sticherbeast at 2:21 PM on November 23, 2011


I swam in Achewood for several years, bought stuff, donated, did the whole Assetbar thing right up until about a year ago, and most importantly, foisted it on all my friends until they got sick of it or the same thing happened to them. As the hiatus lengthened, I began noticing changes in my speech. My ability to extemporize neologisms and cavalierly bend grammar to my whim was at a low ebb before I even noticed. Even my outlook on life, best expressed as kind of a precarious Ray/Beef balance, began to not so much tip to one side but to bifurcate along its balance as dialogue between these two sides of myself became a more distant memory. For today, my equilibrium is restored, even if all this return talk ends up being, in the main, so much sass.
posted by Rustmouth Snakedrill at 3:23 PM on November 23, 2011 [7 favorites]


ahem

A BIDET'S ONLY AS MEAN AS THE GUY USIN' IT

Are you guys still getting the random comic showing up when you hit achewood.com? How about resetting that, Onstad?

Also, I'm wearing my "What we need more of is science" shirt to thanksgiving dinner

posted by Existential Dread at 8:16 PM on November 23, 2011


A couple of days ago I sat next to a guy on the bus whose cracked iPhone screen had a Roast Beef background. I waited until the doors had opened at my stop, elbowed him gently, and nodded at the iPhone. His eyes narrowed until he saw what I was looking at--then he nodded back. It was like meeting a fellow cult member, far from home.
posted by hototogisu at 8:23 PM on November 23, 2011 [3 favorites]


@Ian A T

i'm favoriting the sentiment though
posted by This, of course, alludes to you at 4:22 AM on November 24, 2011


Ray PLEASE man you ain't need to imitate Jack White
posted by subbes at 9:59 AM on November 24, 2011 [1 favorite]


Ok Mr. Onstad... waiting... dude... still sitting on the hots, man....
posted by From Bklyn at 11:21 AM on December 1, 2011


I have just today recalled that it is MeFi's own Plutor who registered and maintains the Great Outdoor Fight wiki.
posted by subbes at 11:18 AM on December 4, 2011


Huzzah! The great Achewood comeback of 2011 has now tied the great Homestar Runner comeback of 2010.
posted by ormondsacker at 5:12 PM on December 5, 2011


I like where this is going.
posted by drezdn at 6:15 AM on December 6, 2011


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