How to respond to an ask or e mail in four easy steps:
Step 1: receive ask or mailStep 2: spend time contemplating answer. Make several written starts, trash them, then finally make a thoughtful and profound response that you can be genuinely proud of.
Step 3: receive no response.
Step 4: die.
… there must be a couple of very disappointed people...
… there must be a couple of very disappointed people checking out depression comix
tuliomir: A ship shipping ship shipping shipping ships! I ship...
A ship shipping ship shipping shipping ships!
I ship this
drunken-rambling: dimensionsintime: annespage: mutantbakabutt:...
this this this this this
if anyone hates me for this you're not thinking clearly
think about the amount of people killed in the middle east, too ..
lol so edgy xD
the only reason america dropped the atomic bomb was because we were at WAR idiots, if we hadn't dropped the bomb the war would've lasted at lot longer. 9/11 was an act of terrorism, why don't you go watch a video of the twin towers as they burn after the planes crash into them and later collapse in on themselves burying not only the people that worked there inside, but also the police officers and firefighters who were trying to rescue any survivors, and before they collapsed, when people were forced to choose to burn or jump out to their deaths. so yeah, the atomic bomb killed more people, but one was during WWII and the other was a direct attack of terrorism on America. And the only reason we were at war with Japan was because they attacked us at pearl harbor, if they hadn't done that the war would've stayed in Europe and the atomic bomb wouldn't have been dropped.
Not even remotely true, but thanks for playing. This misconception largely occurs because of the famous Stimson article that was featured in Harpers' magazine.
Of course, he didn't actually WRITE the thing and, though it presents itself as a fireside chat between two people it was actually a heavily engineered document, and almost every fact cited was knowingly wrong by the government at the time (declassified documents - read 'em). But hey! What better source for info!
That's neither here nor there though since Japan tried to surrender before we dropped the bomb.
Several Times.
Yes, Japan tried to surrender. Once through Russia, once through Switzerland, once through the Vatican of all places, and many times appealing directly to Truman. We turned them down because of the stipulation that we were not allowed to touch their emperor, a concession the US was not willing to make at the time.
"Foreign Minister Shigemitsu has instructed Ambassador Sato [in Moscow] to find out whether Russia is willing to assist in bringing about a negotiated peace. Shigemitsu's instructions, although cautiously worded, clearly imply that he has in mind a move by Russia to initiate peace discussions between Japan and the Anglo-Americans… [I]t seems hardly likely that he would have taken such a step without having consulted at least some of the more important members of the new Japanese cabinet… This is the first time that the Japanese have been willing to suggest to Russia directly that they are ready for peace."
-"Japanese Consider Peace Possibilities" War Department MAGIC reports of intercepted messages: EYES ONLY for President and closest advisers
"I learn from a very reliable source that in important civilian circles in Japan the peace problem is being discussed with increasing anxiety. A speedy German collapse is expected and it is not believed that Japan can then continue the war. It is therefore considered necessary to get peace as soon as possible before the country and towns are destroyed… If any willingness appeared to exist in London the Japanese would be ready for preliminary discussions through Swedish channels. Behind the man who gave me this message stands one of the best known statesment in Japan and there is no doubt that this attempt must be considered as a serious one."
-Telegram from Swedish minister in Tokyo given from the British Ambassador to the United States
"…It seems probably that very far-reaching conditions would be accepted by the Japanese by way of negotiation… Exchange of the Japanese constituted must also be considered as excluded. The Emperor must not be touched. However, the Imperial power could be somewhat democratized as is that of the English King"
-Report from Swedish minister in Tokyo sent to US State Department
AND EVEN LATER THEY GAVE THOSE CONDITIONS UP
"…Stated that he had been asked by Masutaro Inoue, Counsellor for the Japanese Legation in Portugal, to contact United States representatives. Source quoted Inoue as saying that the Japanese are ready to cease hostilities, provided they are allowed to retain possession of their home islands… On 19 May [1945], the OSS representative reported Inoue again had repeated to source his desire to talk with an American representative. On this occasion Inoue declared that actual peace terms were unimportant so long as the term 'unconditional surrender' was not employed."
-OSS Representative report directly to Truman
Of course, we did anyway. But that's not important.
Because the bomb wasn't about Japan.
In Derry and Ramsey's Memo to Groves (May 12, 1945) when picking a target for the atomic bomb, one of the primary listed reasons for picking a target was:
"making the initial use sufficiently spectacular for the importance of the weapon to be internationally recognized when publicity on it is released."
In fact, they ranked targets - AA to B. Know what got the lowest ratings? Military targets. The ones that got the highest ratings were civilian ones.
Japan was currently researching wooden planes. WOODEN PLANES. They had attempted to give up, we said no. They had already lost the war when we dropped the bomb. They knew this - hell, they tried to surrender.
So why did we drop the bomb, then?
A close reading of the memo tells all. It was to make an impact on the international community.
Do you know how Truman was first informed about the Manhatten Project and the bomb? It was in a discussion with the Secretary of State in regards to negotiations with Russia after the war.
Truman kept delaying the "Big Three" discussions, the most important political talks in recorded history, until basically the day AFTER the Trinity Tests - he wanted to wait until he knew he had the bomb as a political piece. Stalin and Churchill were VERY angry at him pushing the date back with little to no reason given (they knew, of course, because of spies and intelligence).
Still don't believe me?
The Secretary of War, and MOST of the army was against dropping the bomb. They wanted to give the option of doing a demonstration and giving Japan an option of total surrender (that we get to do whatever we want with the Emperor) or of giving Japan time to evacuate the civilian population before bombing a city.
Oh, and there's this from Stimson's Memo of Talk with Truman (June 6, 1945)
"I told [the President] that I was anxious about this feature of the war for two reasons: first, because I did not want to have the United States get the reputation of outdoing Hitler in atrocities; and second, I was a little fearful that before we could get ready the Air Force might have Japan so thoroughly bombed out that the new weapon would not have a fair background to show its strength. He laughed and said he understood."
He laughed.
An estimated 500,000 people died between Nagasaki and Hiroshima if you count deaths by radiation poisoning and long-term cancer.
And Truman could only laugh because he was worried the bomb might not be noticeable amongst the wreckage of Japan.
The reason for dropping the bomb was to give America a better condition amongst the international population, particularly Stalin and Russia, in the coming years. It was to make Russia afraid to invade Japan (and from there, the fear was, the rest of Asia) when they knew America had interests in it. They dropped the bomb to give them an advantage when negotiating in the future and to give them a start when everyone began arming (a situation tons of scientists warned everyone about in The Franck Report).
But don't pretend it was about Japan. And don't you dare pretend it was about peace.
500,000 people died and all Truman could do was laugh.
So many citations needed
Most of the citations are here:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debate_over_the_atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_and_Nagasaki
Courtesy of your friend, Google
dimensionsintime: annespage: mutantbakabutt: foreverisreal: b...
this this this this this
if anyone hates me for this you're not thinking clearly
think about the amount of people killed in the middle east, too ..
lol so edgy xD
the only reason america dropped the atomic bomb was because we were at WAR idiots, if we hadn't dropped the bomb the war would've lasted at lot longer. 9/11 was an act of terrorism, why don't you go watch a video of the twin towers as they burn after the planes crash into them and later collapse in on themselves burying not only the people that worked there inside, but also the police officers and firefighters who were trying to rescue any survivors, and before they collapsed, when people were forced to choose to burn or jump out to their deaths. so yeah, the atomic bomb killed more people, but one was during WWII and the other was a direct attack of terrorism on America. And the only reason we were at war with Japan was because they attacked us at pearl harbor, if they hadn't done that the war would've stayed in Europe and the atomic bomb wouldn't have been dropped.
Not even remotely true, but thanks for playing. This misconception largely occurs because of the famous Stimson article that was featured in Harpers' magazine.
Of course, he didn't actually WRITE the thing and, though it presents itself as a fireside chat between two people it was actually a heavily engineered document, and almost every fact cited was knowingly wrong by the government at the time (declassified documents - read 'em). But hey! What better source for info!
That's neither here nor there though since Japan tried to surrender before we dropped the bomb.
Several Times.
Yes, Japan tried to surrender. Once through Russia, once through Switzerland, once through the Vatican of all places, and many times appealing directly to Truman. We turned them down because of the stipulation that we were not allowed to touch their emperor, a concession the US was not willing to make at the time.
"Foreign Minister Shigemitsu has instructed Ambassador Sato [in Moscow] to find out whether Russia is willing to assist in bringing about a negotiated peace. Shigemitsu's instructions, although cautiously worded, clearly imply that he has in mind a move by Russia to initiate peace discussions between Japan and the Anglo-Americans… [I]t seems hardly likely that he would have taken such a step without having consulted at least some of the more important members of the new Japanese cabinet… This is the first time that the Japanese have been willing to suggest to Russia directly that they are ready for peace."
-"Japanese Consider Peace Possibilities" War Department MAGIC reports of intercepted messages: EYES ONLY for President and closest advisers
"I learn from a very reliable source that in important civilian circles in Japan the peace problem is being discussed with increasing anxiety. A speedy German collapse is expected and it is not believed that Japan can then continue the war. It is therefore considered necessary to get peace as soon as possible before the country and towns are destroyed… If any willingness appeared to exist in London the Japanese would be ready for preliminary discussions through Swedish channels. Behind the man who gave me this message stands one of the best known statesment in Japan and there is no doubt that this attempt must be considered as a serious one."
-Telegram from Swedish minister in Tokyo given from the British Ambassador to the United States
"…It seems probably that very far-reaching conditions would be accepted by the Japanese by way of negotiation… Exchange of the Japanese constituted must also be considered as excluded. The Emperor must not be touched. However, the Imperial power could be somewhat democratized as is that of the English King"
-Report from Swedish minister in Tokyo sent to US State Department
AND EVEN LATER THEY GAVE THOSE CONDITIONS UP
"…Stated that he had been asked by Masutaro Inoue, Counsellor for the Japanese Legation in Portugal, to contact United States representatives. Source quoted Inoue as saying that the Japanese are ready to cease hostilities, provided they are allowed to retain possession of their home islands… On 19 May [1945], the OSS representative reported Inoue again had repeated to source his desire to talk with an American representative. On this occasion Inoue declared that actual peace terms were unimportant so long as the term 'unconditional surrender' was not employed."
-OSS Representative report directly to Truman
Of course, we did anyway. But that's not important.
Because the bomb wasn't about Japan.
In Derry and Ramsey's Memo to Groves (May 12, 1945) when picking a target for the atomic bomb, one of the primary listed reasons for picking a target was:
"making the initial use sufficiently spectacular for the importance of the weapon to be internationally recognized when publicity on it is released."
In fact, they ranked targets - AA to B. Know what got the lowest ratings? Military targets. The ones that got the highest ratings were civilian ones.
Japan was currently researching wooden planes. WOODEN PLANES. They had attempted to give up, we said no. They had already lost the war when we dropped the bomb. They knew this - hell, they tried to surrender.
So why did we drop the bomb, then?
A close reading of the memo tells all. It was to make an impact on the international community.
Do you know how Truman was first informed about the Manhatten Project and the bomb? It was in a discussion with the Secretary of State in regards to negotiations with Russia after the war.
Truman kept delaying the "Big Three" discussions, the most important political talks in recorded history, until basically the day AFTER the Trinity Tests - he wanted to wait until he knew he had the bomb as a political piece. Stalin and Churchill were VERY angry at him pushing the date back with little to no reason given (they knew, of course, because of spies and intelligence).
Still don't believe me?
The Secretary of War, and MOST of the army was against dropping the bomb. They wanted to give the option of doing a demonstration and giving Japan an option of total surrender (that we get to do whatever we want with the Emperor) or of giving Japan time to evacuate the civilian population before bombing a city.
Oh, and there's this from Stimson's Memo of Talk with Truman (June 6, 1945)
"I told [the President] that I was anxious about this feature of the war for two reasons: first, because I did not want to have the United States get the reputation of outdoing Hitler in atrocities; and second, I was a little fearful that before we could get ready the Air Force might have Japan so thoroughly bombed out that the new weapon would not have a fair background to show its strength. He laughed and said he understood."
He laughed.
An estimated 500,000 people died between Nagasaki and Hiroshima if you count deaths by radiation poisoning and long-term cancer.
And Truman could only laugh because he was worried the bomb might not be noticeable amongst the wreckage of Japan.
The reason for dropping the bomb was to give America a better condition amongst the international population, particularly Stalin and Russia, in the coming years. It was to make Russia afraid to invade Japan (and from there, the fear was, the rest of Asia) when they knew America had interests in it. They dropped the bomb to give them an advantage when negotiating in the future and to give them a start when everyone began arming (a situation tons of scientists warned everyone about in The Franck Report).
But don't pretend it was about Japan. And don't you dare pretend it was about peace.
500,000 people died and all Truman could do was laugh.
No offense to those affected by 9/11 but this has great commentary
dimensionsintime: annespage: mutantbakabutt: foreverisreal: b...
this this this this this
if anyone hates me for this you're not thinking clearly
think about the amount of people killed in the middle east, too ..
lol so edgy xD
the only reason america dropped the atomic bomb was because we were at WAR idiots, if we hadn't dropped the bomb the war would've lasted at lot longer. 9/11 was an act of terrorism, why don't you go watch a video of the twin towers as they burn after the planes crash into them and later collapse in on themselves burying not only the people that worked there inside, but also the police officers and firefighters who were trying to rescue any survivors, and before they collapsed, when people were forced to choose to burn or jump out to their deaths. so yeah, the atomic bomb killed more people, but one was during WWII and the other was a direct attack of terrorism on America. And the only reason we were at war with Japan was because they attacked us at pearl harbor, if they hadn't done that the war would've stayed in Europe and the atomic bomb wouldn't have been dropped.
Not even remotely true, but thanks for playing. This misconception largely occurs because of the famous Stimson article that was featured in Harpers' magazine.
Of course, he didn't actually WRITE the thing and, though it presents itself as a fireside chat between two people it was actually a heavily engineered document, and almost every fact cited was knowingly wrong by the government at the time (declassified documents - read 'em). But hey! What better source for info!
That's neither here nor there though since Japan tried to surrender before we dropped the bomb.
Several Times.
Yes, Japan tried to surrender. Once through Russia, once through Switzerland, once through the Vatican of all places, and many times appealing directly to Truman. We turned them down because of the stipulation that we were not allowed to touch their emperor, a concession the US was not willing to make at the time.
"Foreign Minister Shigemitsu has instructed Ambassador Sato [in Moscow] to find out whether Russia is willing to assist in bringing about a negotiated peace. Shigemitsu's instructions, although cautiously worded, clearly imply that he has in mind a move by Russia to initiate peace discussions between Japan and the Anglo-Americans… [I]t seems hardly likely that he would have taken such a step without having consulted at least some of the more important members of the new Japanese cabinet… This is the first time that the Japanese have been willing to suggest to Russia directly that they are ready for peace."
-"Japanese Consider Peace Possibilities" War Department MAGIC reports of intercepted messages: EYES ONLY for President and closest advisers
"I learn from a very reliable source that in important civilian circles in Japan the peace problem is being discussed with increasing anxiety. A speedy German collapse is expected and it is not believed that Japan can then continue the war. It is therefore considered necessary to get peace as soon as possible before the country and towns are destroyed… If any willingness appeared to exist in London the Japanese would be ready for preliminary discussions through Swedish channels. Behind the man who gave me this message stands one of the best known statesment in Japan and there is no doubt that this attempt must be considered as a serious one."
-Telegram from Swedish minister in Tokyo given from the British Ambassador to the United States
"…It seems probably that very far-reaching conditions would be accepted by the Japanese by way of negotiation… Exchange of the Japanese constituted must also be considered as excluded. The Emperor must not be touched. However, the Imperial power could be somewhat democratized as is that of the English King"
-Report from Swedish minister in Tokyo sent to US State Department
AND EVEN LATER THEY GAVE THOSE CONDITIONS UP
"…Stated that he had been asked by Masutaro Inoue, Counsellor for the Japanese Legation in Portugal, to contact United States representatives. Source quoted Inoue as saying that the Japanese are ready to cease hostilities, provided they are allowed to retain possession of their home islands… On 19 May [1945], the OSS representative reported Inoue again had repeated to source his desire to talk with an American representative. On this occasion Inoue declared that actual peace terms were unimportant so long as the term 'unconditional surrender' was not employed."
-OSS Representative report directly to Truman
Of course, we did anyway. But that's not important.
Because the bomb wasn't about Japan.
In Derry and Ramsey's Memo to Groves (May 12, 1945) when picking a target for the atomic bomb, one of the primary listed reasons for picking a target was:
"making the initial use sufficiently spectacular for the importance of the weapon to be internationally recognized when publicity on it is released."
In fact, they ranked targets - AA to B. Know what got the lowest ratings? Military targets. The ones that got the highest ratings were civilian ones.
Japan was currently researching wooden planes. WOODEN PLANES. They had attempted to give up, we said no. They had already lost the war when we dropped the bomb. They knew this - hell, they tried to surrender.
So why did we drop the bomb, then?
A close reading of the memo tells all. It was to make an impact on the international community.
Do you know how Truman was first informed about the Manhatten Project and the bomb? It was in a discussion with the Secretary of State in regards to negotiations with Russia after the war.
Truman kept delaying the "Big Three" discussions, the most important political talks in recorded history, until basically the day AFTER the Trinity Tests - he wanted to wait until he knew he had the bomb as a political piece. Stalin and Churchill were VERY angry at him pushing the date back with little to no reason given (they knew, of course, because of spies and intelligence).
Still don't believe me?
The Secretary of War, and MOST of the army was against dropping the bomb. They wanted to give the option of doing a demonstration and giving Japan an option of total surrender (that we get to do whatever we want with the Emperor) or of giving Japan time to evacuate the civilian population before bombing a city.
Oh, and there's this from Stimson's Memo of Talk with Truman (June 6, 1945)
"I told [the President] that I was anxious about this feature of the war for two reasons: first, because I did not want to have the United States get the reputation of outdoing Hitler in atrocities; and second, I was a little fearful that before we could get ready the Air Force might have Japan so thoroughly bombed out that the new weapon would not have a fair background to show its strength. He laughed and said he understood."
He laughed.
An estimated 500,000 people died between Nagasaki and Hiroshima if you count deaths by radiation poisoning and long-term cancer.
And Truman could only laugh because he was worried the bomb might not be noticeable amongst the wreckage of Japan.
The reason for dropping the bomb was to give America a better condition amongst the international population, particularly Stalin and Russia, in the coming years. It was to make Russia afraid to invade Japan (and from there, the fear was, the rest of Asia) when they knew America had interests in it. They dropped the bomb to give them an advantage when negotiating in the future and to give them a start when everyone began arming (a situation tons of scientists warned everyone about in The Franck Report).
But don't pretend it was about Japan. And don't you dare pretend it was about peace.
500,000 people died and all Truman could do was laugh.
deathtasteslikechicken: perfectdisarray: yourrdarkpassenger: l...
These are the heroes of our generation.
why do none of these teachers have a sense of humour
These are all funny until you get to the one I've seen plenty of times before about the kilometer vs mile. The student was right, plain and simple, and the teacher is giving him detention for disagreeing with the teacher's false information. "In the future, Alex would be better off accepting my teachings without resistance." How about no.
I am that
Thou art that
I am he is
you arewe is
and we are all together
I have to admit that the letter from the teacher about accepting his teaching without question really pissed me off as a teacher myself.
If our teaching is misleading, we're in the wrong, not the student for pointing it out. Unless, the teacher is doing a class on fascism, in which case he's doing a mighty fine job.
If your teacher is wrong, point it out. Their job is not to teach you something that's just plain wrong.
Personal notes on publicize
Well, I updated, and some things worked and some things didn’t.
1) tumblr: this automatic repost worked beautifully.
2) Facebook: not so cool. Basically uploaded a link to the page, not the image itself. I had to delete and redo.
3) Twitter: okay, but didn’t upload the image like tumblr usually (90%) does. As it’s not a comic that really should be read through Twitter, I can live with this, but it kind of sucks.
I guess for now, I’ll turn off publicize for Facebook. Too bad, it worked so well for tumblr.
As for depcom #127, I said I’d return to the “can’t love anyone unless you love yourself” theme, and here’s one. I hope the point gets through. Because love and depression aren’t oil and water.
Another update
I managed to fix #128 in time so there will be two updates this week (yay). Also, when I update on the next hour, it will be the first time I do so using the publicize feature in the new site, so it simultaneously publishes the strip on tumblr, Facebook, and Twitter. The WordPress.com mirror will have to be done by hand, and so will the Google plus mirror.
However, the Google plus mirror will have to wait: the Google+ app sucks in a big way and I can't update with it. The app will only allow one to add pictures if they come from a camera on your phone and will not allow you to upload pictures from anywhere else on your phone. I'm usually a big Google fan, but this is total suckage. I can't even update it on a browser on my phone, so I have to wait for computer time in order to get the job done.
Anyways, update in an hour, see you then.
A political science fiction story
Scene: a UFO lands on earth in front of the United Nations. After days of silence, a door opens and the world leaders, who have been assembled in front of the spacecraft, wait for the aliens to appear.Aliens: (emerging from the aircraft) Take us to your leader.
Scene: There is a murmur in the crowd, and they agree that the Secretary-general of the United Nations, Ban Ki Moon, is best able to --
President of the USA: (stepping up) That would be me. What's up?
think about this for a moment.
We live in a world dominated by whiteness and white people that would sooner romanticize white serial killers and mass murders before even thinking to recognize a sliver of humanity in Black folks and people coded as Black.
Seriously. How fucked is that?
Actually, you don’t live in a world like that, you live in a country like that.
Update
The last week for depcom was probably one of the best. Compared to the week before when I had to deal with a controversy that affected me so much I had to unplug for a few days, last week was heaven. Not only did I manage to get three strips up, I also got the new site up and running. One of my favorite strips (#109) also passed the two thousand note mark, and to top it all off, I was interviewed in Persephone Magazine, the first interview ever for depcom. Now I’m back in the swing of things, although it will probably be a while before I have another week that good.
depcom #127 well be up on Tuesday night. I had #128 done too but I looked at it and it’s not as clear as I should have made it. if I can redo it tomorrow morning I’ll have #128 up on Wednesday. Both strips deal with the theme of love and depression.
As for the new site, I’m slowly getting it together. one of the things I accomplished last week was to make it easier for those with triggers to avoid triggering material by labelling comics and creating a category called “trigger-free” so that one can view all the safer comics. Other things were a contact form that allows anonymous sending, like buttons and share buttons, as well as create some info pages. it’s amazing how much I’ve been getting done from a phone.
as for this blog, I’m still here, I’m not going anywhere.
Hi! I was just going through my RSS feed that I was a couple weeks behind on and I saw the Sexy Losers comic posted on Depressioncomix. I was such a big fan of Sexy Losers back in the day. You were the first webcomic I ever got into and years later your comics about depression have really meant a lot to me. I always really enjoyed your humor and I'm glad to find out that you are making the thin H line. I know it was probably a big mix up, but I'm really glad you made it!
Yeah, I fucked up on that one. I honestly don't care who knows, but I respect that the intended audiences for both comics are quite different. Thank you for continuing to read my work.
Finished inking depcom 128
Finished inking depcom 128
Thank you for making these. It's always nice to know you aren't suffering alone and some people actually do understand. Especially the frustration at yourself and the cycles you lock yourself into when you feel bad for feeling bad because you have no 'reason' to feel that way.
Thank you for the kind words and let's keep on surviving.
thinhline: THL #15 - Parent-Preacher Night Click on the picture...
THL #15 - Parent-Preacher Night
Click on the picture to view in better resolution.
How This Comic Inspired Depression Comix
My original goal in 2011 was to do a kind of "portable version" of Sexy Losers, one that was done with whatever stationery I could carry with me, which was usually just a couple of pens and some greyscale markers. When I came to this strip, I knew that the pens i had were going to be no good for drawing Macintosh. I needed something good, thick and expressive cartoonish lines. I found the Kuretake Fudegokochi, a really expressive pen that gave me the lines I needed for Macintosh. I loved the pen so much, I tried to figure out how I could draw a comic using only this pen.
At first, I did a couple of 'Lil Losers strips featuring Mike and Shiunji (I had another one planned with Mrs. Shibata that I never finished) but it wasn't the comic that was inspiring me. I needed to do a completely different comic with a different style, and it had to be done entirely with this pen.
that strip was depression comix.
recently, I've switched pens and use more of a variety in the strip. the Fudegokochi ink took a painfully long time to dry and I would always smear it by accident, so now I use pens that give me the same lines but dry faster. but the title at the top is always written with a Fudegokochi.
this strip got recently reblogged and I saw it again in my notifications. with over six hundred notes, it's probably the most reblogged of all the Thin H Line strips, and it gained me a lot of followers (who were eventually disappointed by the total lack of My Little Pony elsewhere on the blog). But I saw it and thought to myself, Thank God I Bought That Pen.
Interview with the Artist: Clay (Depression Comix) in Mental Illness on Persephone Magazine.
Interview with the Artist: Clay (Depression Comix) in Mental Illness on Persephone Magazine.:"Depression is complicated, and so is the stigma surrounding it. But Clay, creator of Depression Comix, tackles depression and other mental health topics with respect and understanding. He brings to light complex issues that others shy away from, and he does it all in 4 panels."
On depcom 126
ThisThis strip has something new in it, but I'm afraid it got missed.
For the entire length of the series, all friends and family of depressed characters served as examples of how NOT to talk to depressed people. There are no positive examples anywhere.
It wasn't because I thought it unnecessary. I received mail suggesting I have examples of positive behavior, and while I thought it was a serious omission, I couldn't figure out how to work it in a comic like depression comix. None of my comics have ever had cute sappy moments and they would definitely be poison to the comic if I ever tried to put one in. Depression is a world of mental hell terrible enough to make people want to die, I don't want to sugar coat that.
When I drew 122, I realized I had done it again… yet another example of what not to say to a depressed person. I felt I was going too toxic, that I needed to put in a positive message before I have another one like this. I puzzled and puzzled until my puzzler was sore, and then I realized something I hadn’t before: I could do it in a compare and contrast strip, which would still maintain the negative depression comix atmosphere.
After I did it, I was pretty impressed with myself. Had I finally cracked this problem?
Sadly, after reading the responses to this comic, only a tiny few noted the positive example. The great majority of people focused on the negative example, making me conclude that more people identify with that than the positive example.
Maybe depressed people recognize the negative messages in our lives more than the positive. Maybe that's what helps us maintain our state. I'm hoping it's that, because the thought that there are truly few examples of positive responses to our illness saddens me greatly.
saw this on my dashboard
“depression is when you don't really care about anything”
that’s not depression, that’s anti-social personality disorder
I never met a depressed person who didn’t care about *something*.
just a friendly reminder that depressed people are not necessarily sociopaths
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