Wow. 2 pages of flames in 6 days. Very little about the intended topic, though - so I'm gonna put a few opinions out there...
I'll be honest, I'm fairly new to the world of webcomics. I'd followed XKCD for a little while after seeing print versions for years (I teach Math). It linked here, and I thought I'd need to read from the beginning to get it. I was put off by the indie references (hey, I'm old and out of touch, deal with it). I came back one day and saw Hanners Sledding, and had to find out WTF was going on. So I started reading, backwards at first, then back to the beginning. I
love it.
But remember, please, it's a "slice of life" comic (little robots aside). I've seen a lot of others - Anders loves Maria, Red String, Octopus Pie, and several I can't recall. Some I've stayed with, others I abandoned pretty quickly (4 years of LICD archives, and it was still mostly one-off sex gags, I can live without it).
Now, I've probably seen a little more of life than most of you. And life is like this, people come and go, things change, stories continue without you, and you may never know what really happened. You laugh, you cry, and you make the best of it.
Of all the comics I've seen so far, none compare with QC. Sure, I miss some of the older characters, and I'd love to know what happened to them. They may reappear, like Steve did, with a condensed storyline that catches us up, like an old friend. They may not. I know full well that old friends can vanish off the face of the earth despite the best of intentions!
Do I want the story to go in a particular direction? No. I tried that with
my life, and that didn't work. Do I miss old characters and want them back? Sure. Will I be upset if it doesn't happen? Naah... the new ones are fun, too. You lose old friends, you make new ones.
The art work is fabulous, and as Jeph has said, it's always changing. He's an artist, and won't mind constructive criticism. I put up a whole tirade about the fancy dress hats a while ago (I don't know if you saw it, Jeph - it's
here). Did he take it well? Don't know, don't care. It was
my opinion, and like assholes, everyone has one (and is entitled to it). Also like assholes, no one else has to look at it if they don't want to!
Of course, it would be easier if i weren't SHOVING IT IN YOUR FACE!!!
[flame:burner=low]So, maybe it's time to start a new "semantics" thread so people can give their opinions about the comic in here? [/flame]