March 2nd, 2009: "Well That's Not Funny"

[Citi]

I know that many of you who came to us after our violent beginning (see the first four Remedy comics) might have gotten used to us being "funny." So a spread of a dead soldier, killed in action is probably not what you were expecting to see. I tried to warn you.

Here and there, through the interviews I've done, blogs I've written and posts I've made on the forum I've tried to tell you that Remedy is not a gag a day comic.

You see to me, the richest tales are the ones that are close to true life because life is rich; especially if you can see the humor in it; even at the worst of time. And that tends to be the way I've lived my life. I have a real taste for the absurd, the cynical and the sarcastic. So it's easy for me to find humor, especially under dour circumstances.

But please don't think that this is the moment when "Remedy gets serious" because that isn't what's going to happen either. Jason tells me that a couple of the upcoming strips are some of the funniest I've written and I can't argue with him. But like life, with every high there comes a low and in this chapter there will be painful things. Because that's what we're doing here, we're exploring the life of Artur Siedleski. We aren't checking out what made Artur laugh or what made him sad; we aren't looking at Remedy the vigilante and we aren't watching Artur the office manager. We are exploring the life of Artur Siedleski; that includes his past, his present and his future; all things that make him who he is.

In chapter two, some of Artur's past catches up with him; and we will watch him come to terms with that.

There might also be some folks who might get upset about the way I portray the current and recent political climate in this country. Or perhaps some folks will feel anger over the way I portray our soldiers. Let me get out ahead of you on this one. First off; I'm an American and I love my country. I've served my country in combat and I've been shot at on three continents. My life has been permanently altered, in some ways for the better, in many ways for the worse due to my service; but the one thing I can say for sure is that I strongly believe that my service entitles me to say what I want.

Frankly I have always felt that my service ensured the right of all Americans to say what they want. I'm a big believer in the First Amendment; and a right to free speech is not about making everyone listen to you and shutting out those you disagree with. The right to free speech is about the free exchange of ideas and discourse so that everyone can be heard by those who wish to listen. It is not a guarantee that everyone will have to listen to you though, so if my political or military views offend you then you have my apologies and my regrets. You will be missed. But we are telling the story of the life of Artur Siedleski here; not the life the way you want it to be, but the life I saw him living when I created him; and your offense does not change my right to tell this story, to those who wish to listen.

You may notice a clickable link on the side of today's comic that says "wallpaper." That is because today's comic is available to you in wallpaper form for the low low price of zero dollars. Just right click, download it, resize it to your purposes and enjoy. We like to give you free stuff. We hope you appreciate all of Jason's hard work (thanks Jason the comic and wallpaper look great).

I'm thinking about heading down to Mexico tomorrow. I've got a line on a place I can stay pretty cheap for awhile. If anyone has any "Sea of Cortez" stories to help me figure what I'm getting into I'd love to hear them; either here in comments or in our community forums if you feel so inclined to join.

I would once again like to thank everyone who got us here to the beginning of Chapter two. Citi and Roman who maintain our forums; Jason for all the hard work on the art end; Curt for all the frustration I put him through during the design phase; Chadm1n for manifesting computerized miracles every time we needed one; and to you dear readers; for coming back day after day and making Artur's story worth telling. Thanks.

I'll see you on Wednesday. Have a great day.