FUCK! NO! GODDAMNIT WHY DIDNT I BUY A SHIRT *BONG HIT* GRBLEEGRBLE

November 30, 2003 1:04 PM

Leisuretown's "A Comedy Crisis" Dear Members of Metafilter: Unless one of us posts our Leisuretown archive up for all to see, this might be your last chance to see the amazing work of Tristan Farnon. This link wil only be up for a few days.
posted by Keyser Soze (26 comments total)

"Beloved Constant Reader,

Nobody cares about Leisure Town except you.

These full-color features are created by a single individual. Each is the result of incalculable structural complication and financial expense. None appears to exist for a very good reason, and they can only continue with your generous pledge of support.

The income generated from banner ads, third-party text links or Leisure Town related “merchandise” is not projected to eclipse more than three or four dollars per month.

In today’s competitive literary and artistic arenas, every penny is a treasure. Without exception, online content providers must get down on their hands and knees, and ask each passing patron for spare change.

The characters in Leisure Town have nowhere to go. They’ll never be immortalized in print or make that leap to the silver screen. They can’t compete with robust, animated entertainment available elsewhere. They lie awake each night staring at the ceiling, afraid of their dwindling bank accounts and afraid of tomorrow.

At the core of their depression is an even harsher reality. Throwing money at a problem doesn’t always fix it. They could receive millions of dollars and still not have the strength to get up off the floor and participate in the world around them. They can’t imagine anyone giving two shits about their stupid opinions, their insignifcant problems, or their life stories.

They hate themselves. They consider suicide at least once or twice a day. At no point do they ever stop wondering if there might be a kind, conscious force at work somewhere at the universe, a god or a goddess like yourself willing to bear witness to their lives.

Thank you all, ever so much, for your time and consideration with regard to these delicate personal matters.

Very Very Sincerely,
Tristan"
posted by Keyser Soze at 1:12 PM on November 30, 2003

Totally irrelevant, but it drives me nuts with wonder:

Why is the guy's pseudonym a character from All Creatures Great and Small? I love those books, but they don't have a lot to do with Leisuretown.
posted by Mayor Curley at 1:18 PM on November 30, 2003

Afraid I prefer the original.
posted by rushmc at 1:19 PM on November 30, 2003

I just don't think it's funny.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 1:21 PM on November 30, 2003

thanks Keyser (and I hope that guy knows how good he is) : >
posted by amberglow at 1:51 PM on November 30, 2003

Perhaps if Tristan thanked the people who donated funds in the past they'd have been more inclined to do so again. I sent him $10 or $20 a few years back. He accepted the payapl but sent not a peep or thanks. He did have some funny strips though.
posted by dobbs at 1:53 PM on November 30, 2003

Leisuretown was never my favorite netstrip, but I was glad it was around; I remember a few frikking hilarious pieces, though I usually couldn't get myself to read more than one or two at a time. As such, I'm sad it's gone, though if Tristan doesn't want to put it out anymore, it would be great if he turned over an archive for someone to run for him...
posted by kaibutsu at 2:30 PM on November 30, 2003

Don't know if this was ever linked here, but here's a detailed interview with Tristan Farnon at The Comics Journal.
posted by Big Fat Tycoon at 3:11 PM on November 30, 2003

I have difficulty believing Scott Adams hasn't gone after him ith a very large lawyer fuck stick. And those were the only funny bits anyway.
posted by billsaysthis at 3:52 PM on November 30, 2003

Ok, fine. Here's a BitTorrent download of my archive: leisuretown.tgz.torrent

It'll be up for at least a few days. Please don't sue me.
posted by hades at 3:53 PM on November 30, 2003

(Scott Adams did go after him with a very large lawyer fuck stick. The version that's linked to is the original. It was soon replaced by stick figure drawings of rabbits.)
posted by hades at 3:55 PM on November 30, 2003

ehh... I'm going to guess that Tristan is just in the process of getting a micropayment system up and running. or committing suicide.

if it turns out that he killed himself, e-mail me and I'll send you the archived comics that I have thus far. But I don't wanna eat into his profits quite yet, y'know?
posted by LimePi at 4:04 PM on November 30, 2003

Here is an article regarding Comics online, and if you haven't read either of Scott Mcclouds books yet, you can read the first few pages via amazon here.
posted by Keyser Soze at 4:04 PM on November 30, 2003

What profits LimePi? He doesnt sound like he's coming back. If he made them hardcover or sold some T-shirts (and commemerative bongs) online he could be making a few bucks.
posted by Keyser Soze at 4:06 PM on November 30, 2003

Keyzer, with WiFi and all these newfangled mobile technologies, there is going to be a new demand for "content," to read on the subway or in the middle of lecture or what have you. I'd pay a buck to read one of the longer Leisuretowns. I'm kind of talking out of my ass right now, but I think that Tristan took down the site in preparation for making it a pay site.

or he's horribly ashamed of it, like some of his textfiles from the 80s, and wants to erase them from the universe.
posted by LimePi at 4:21 PM on November 30, 2003

Zip it and put it in your P2P share folder.
posted by skallas at 4:32 PM on November 30, 2003

Thats a good idea LimePi, although to thoroughly implement a "pay" mobile structure for comics there would need to me a mediator which structurally takes away from the freedom of online comic strips, not to mention the page layout and bandwith requirements would piss off even the most conservative artist. Good idea though.
posted by Keyser Soze at 5:39 PM on November 30, 2003

Hades, thank you so much for the BT link. I'll keep my client up as long as possible.
posted by zsazsa at 5:49 PM on November 30, 2003

Another Archive, accessible through HTTP if BT is borking out on you for some reason.
posted by Ryvar at 7:46 PM on November 30, 2003

Yup. It worked. You goons thought you were just posting but I knew there were those that had the secret manuscripts. My FPP worked!

gurgle *flick* GURP bonghit
posted by Keyser Soze at 9:33 PM on November 30, 2003

Are they supposed to be funny?
posted by paddbear at 10:11 PM on November 30, 2003

You know, another way to save the amazing work of Tristan might be to send a donation. Maybe if he saw that people were sending him money instead of archiving his strips for P2P, he might just make some brand new ones. Then again, if he jumped off the Bay Bridge, all bets are off.

He accepted the paypal but sent not a peep or thanks.

Did you go to his Winter Solstice party?
posted by jabo at 10:50 PM on November 30, 2003

Yawn. He should consider it an honor to be distributed like this! What websites have you heard that people were actually trying to look for and go to the point of P2P'ing the entire directory?
posted by Keyser Soze at 1:00 AM on December 1, 2003

Paddbear: "Comics" don't have to be "funny".
posted by chrid at 1:04 AM on December 1, 2003

I know I'm late to the party but I want to add how blown away I was by the complete and utter meticulous detail that went into the 'QA Confidential' piece. (it's in that BT link archive.) The other pieces were always so so-so for me, but that one was such an obvious labor of love (or hate) and so perfectly executed. I'm so sad that he took his collection down and hope he's doing well and hopefully getting a book deal or something.
posted by neustile at 3:41 PM on December 1, 2003

thanks for the bt link..i'll leave mine up too
posted by amberglow at 3:52 PM on December 1, 2003