Sick

October 29, 2011 3:23 PM

Sick. Parts 11, 12, 13, and 14. [NSFW] An incredibly dark, raw, self-aware, and often insightful look into the depressed mind of a cartoonist evaluating his life.
posted by spiderskull (28 comments total)

By the way, for parts 11-14, you can click on the image to see it full-sized.
posted by spiderskull at 3:24 PM on October 29, 2011

I don't feel so alone after reading that. Thanks.
posted by Ice Cream Socialist at 3:36 PM on October 29, 2011

The author seems not only depressed, but extremely angry. There's something about this which doesn't quite sit right, but I can't put my finger on it...
posted by overeducated_alligator at 3:42 PM on October 29, 2011 [1 favorite]

I'd say that he's Robert Crumb, reincarnated, but Crumb isn't dead yet.
posted by crunchland at 3:48 PM on October 29, 2011

Maybe just me and I'm only one link in but - doesn't really seem all that funny.
posted by hal9k at 3:52 PM on October 29, 2011

Who said it was supposed to be funny?
posted by piratebowling at 3:57 PM on October 29, 2011 [2 favorites]

Maybe just me and I'm only one link in but - doesn't really seem all that funny.

Nothing gets by you.
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 3:58 PM on October 29, 2011 [4 favorites]

Intense. Painful, but worth the time.

Art isn't always there to entertain.
posted by sonascope at 3:59 PM on October 29, 2011

Unless that's a joke about "comics". If so, well played.
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 4:00 PM on October 29, 2011

I'm not depressed, and so I've no idea what a depressed person goes through. That said, reading that made me think to myself (a little drunkenly, what with the 5th glass of Beringer White Zinfandel (yes, my taste is all in my mouth, thanks)): Depression is drowning in two feet of water.

Thanks for the links.
posted by Mooski at 4:03 PM on October 29, 2011

Wow. Thanks for this.
posted by motty at 4:09 PM on October 29, 2011

Depression is drowning in six inches of water because all your limbs just stopped working and everyone around you is telling you to just stand up.
posted by buriednexttoyou at 4:34 PM on October 29, 2011 [17 favorites]

is it bad if i feel like i have already read everything this guy has to say by about the fourth strip and find it kind of tiresome
posted by This, of course, alludes to you at 4:39 PM on October 29, 2011

That first one, where he's very ill but can't afford to call an ambulance?

Doesn't have to be that way. Isn't, in fact, over here. Got very sick earlier this year (Cellulitis. Don't recommend it). Went quite mad. A friend came over, saw my condition, phoned an ambulance, and I spent a week in one of the best UK centres of excellence for infectious diseases. Then got better. Money - or paperwork of any sort - didn't figure in the equation, at least from my viewpoint.

It doesn't make for a good cartoon, but it is the sort of thing you hope a civilised society makes happen.
posted by Devonian at 4:39 PM on October 29, 2011

Devonian this kind of has me hoping that thats what he did too, and everything after that is made up for the comic/comi"x"
posted by This, of course, alludes to you at 4:42 PM on October 29, 2011

Links appear to be broken..
posted by obscurator at 4:58 PM on October 29, 2011 [2 favorites]

i feel like i have already read everything this guy has to say by about the fourth strip and find it kind of tiresome

Link's broke so I haven't had the chance to read it yet, but if this is a comic about depression that's a very meta comment
posted by Hoopo at 5:08 PM on October 29, 2011 [1 favorite]

It's good and also reminds me of R. Crumb, but maybe it is getting a bit off the rails towards the later installments. Not that art has to make a neat little point to be worthwhile ... I'm interested to see if everything included in his existential dread will tie together somehow, or how long the springboard of his illness can sustain this tangent.
posted by krinklyfig at 6:58 PM on October 29, 2011

I like how the artist uses the descending motion of your scrolling down to accelerate the narrative.
posted by stinkycheese at 9:37 PM on October 29, 2011

The links are broken at the moment, so here is Allie Brosh on depression, and Brian Patrick on depression
posted by Phssthpok at 12:30 AM on October 30, 2011 [1 favorite]

Here is a partial(?) mirror.
posted by alexei at 2:04 AM on October 30, 2011

Link is broken?
posted by Flusty at 5:36 AM on October 30, 2011

Yeah, I have parts 11-14 cached... but my browser purged 1-10 before I could recover them from my cache... to anyone who successfully viewed the first link, try typing "about:cache" in your browser, then search for "gabby." If you have parts 1-10, do you think you could contact me?
posted by spiderskull at 8:56 AM on October 30, 2011

Oh god, not ANOTHER dark and self-aware journal of a depressed comic writer's life.

What the hell is it with comics as a medium that it attracts the severely clinically depressed to tell their life stories?
posted by happyroach at 11:07 AM on October 30, 2011

They can do it by themselves at their own pace without leaving home?
posted by stinkycheese at 1:08 PM on October 30, 2011 [3 favorites]

What the hell is it with comics as a medium that it attracts the severely clinically depressed to tell their life stories?

Sorry for inconveniencing you.
posted by Evilspork at 4:48 PM on October 30, 2011 [3 favorites]

The site is just down, according to the author's twitter feed.
posted by weinbot at 8:41 PM on October 30, 2011

If you scroll down to "Sick" part 13, the text below the image placeholder indicates that they may be shopping for a more cost-effective solution to their web hosting since this influx of new readers has apparently jacked up their rates.
posted by hgswell at 1:30 AM on November 1, 2011