The Incredible Pariah!

Years and years ago, I drew a weekly comic that started out as goofy little gag strips—kind of silly, sometimes dark, a bit of potty humor mixed in. I was really influenced by Tony Millionaire and his Drinky Crow stuff, which was a bit offbeat. People seemed to enjoy it and I had a lot of fun making it. But eventually I started to experiment with the formula a bit.

Sometimes when I re-read these I can remember the moment exactly. Maybe I was waiting for someone I'd gone on a date with to text me.

I started drawing a comic called “Adventures of the Incredible Pariah.” Basically, it was just me. I drew myself sitting around at my desk, on the couch, doing nothing flashy. The whole point was that there was no punchline. It was intentionally deadpan. Sometimes the only “joke” was something only I really got. I just wanted to explore how it felt to put something personal out there, even if nobody else really got it.

When I was writing these comics binge watching Lost (rented from Netflix on DISK no less!) was the most popular past time of older millennials.

So the Incredible Pariah was just me, in a comic, often alone. Maybe I’d get a text message, maybe the power would go out and I’d sit in the dark. The “action” was all super mundane. It was kind of meditative, just me dealing with being lonely or isolated, but in a way that felt safe because no one else quite understood it. It looked nice, but it was definitely for me more than anyone else.

Often I'd get bouts of inspiration and creativity only to look at what I've drawn and think it looks too insane and incoherent to post anywhere.

It was one of my favorite things to draw because it was just honest and kind of weirdly comforting, even if it was just me sitting at a desk in comic form.

This was drawn during a really bad night when I couldn't sleep and I just didn't know why.

Return of Pariah!

Every once in a while I'll do a Pariah comic, usually when I'm struggling with something and need to visualize it. Today my pain is your pleasure, enjoy the latest Pariah comic!