Can anybody tell me what has happened to "Jack"?
I keep getting an error when I try to look at that strip.
OT Jack
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Docabsinthe
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jack
That site is down. I was at VCL today and he posted there. RL name David Hopkins aka Pepe. --doc
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Baxtrr
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Re: OT Jack
I followed the link over to VCL and Pepe's page...Tom Mazanec wrote:Can anybody tell me what has happened to "Jack"?
I keep getting an error when I try to look at that strip.
Am I the only one who's really, really creeped out by this comic? I suppose that's an expression of the artist/writer's effectiveness, and I suppose that the whole idea of furry comics is as a lens for our own society, but...
UGH!
bax
baxtrr the figment
not a real person but
plays one on the web
not a real person but
plays one on the web
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Matt Trepal
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As the resident Holder-of-Contrary-Views in this forum (economic, political, and others), 
I'll respond. I don't like Jack one bit, but not because of the subject matter per se.
From the very beginning I thought the tone of the strip was obnoxiously moralizing and heavy-handed. I also thought the dialogue was trite and unrealistic (a minor quibble concerning the rest, perhaps, but one that bothered me a lot). I look at the world much more relativistically, I guess, than the author of the strip, and it bothered me to see things portrayed so starkly.
Not that I support a strict moral relativism, but few people -- no matter how heinous their actions -- will admit to being evil. Most people have "good" reasons for doing what they do; reasons that have convinced them that what they do is for the best. But the strip portrays everyone who commits such an act as being 100% evil and deserving only of unspeakable torture for all eternity. (I also think that Hell, if it exists, will have punishiments much worse than mere dismemberment and disembowlment; that's not nearly soul-wrenching enough for Hell.) The school shooting storyline is the one that really turned me off, since I identify too closely with those sorts of kids, being a little too close to that profile, myself. No, I didn't wear a trenchcoat to school and my parents were a little too involved in my life to allow me to build a bomb out of a propane tank, but I was isolated and ignored throughout large stretches of middle and high school, and an active target through some others.
And I can't say that I never thought of wasting certain of my classmates.
What I'm trying to say is that those two kids in Colorado didn't wake up one morning and decide to blow up their school for no reason. Their large evil sits atop a pyramid of many smaller evils. So who pays for those? This hardly excuses their act, but to assume that there were not stimuli for their response is grossly missing the point.
I suppose that I like my heroes flawed and my villains with a touch of virtue, and that's what I don't see in Jack; the villains have no redeeming qualities. This is, of course, my own opinion of a strip that seems quite popular among the furry-comics crowd. I just don't understand why.
Oh, yeah, I also don't think that Death should be quite so angry, but I'm not sure I read far enough to get a handle on Jack's character.
I'll respond. I don't like Jack one bit, but not because of the subject matter per se.From the very beginning I thought the tone of the strip was obnoxiously moralizing and heavy-handed. I also thought the dialogue was trite and unrealistic (a minor quibble concerning the rest, perhaps, but one that bothered me a lot). I look at the world much more relativistically, I guess, than the author of the strip, and it bothered me to see things portrayed so starkly.
Not that I support a strict moral relativism, but few people -- no matter how heinous their actions -- will admit to being evil. Most people have "good" reasons for doing what they do; reasons that have convinced them that what they do is for the best. But the strip portrays everyone who commits such an act as being 100% evil and deserving only of unspeakable torture for all eternity. (I also think that Hell, if it exists, will have punishiments much worse than mere dismemberment and disembowlment; that's not nearly soul-wrenching enough for Hell.) The school shooting storyline is the one that really turned me off, since I identify too closely with those sorts of kids, being a little too close to that profile, myself. No, I didn't wear a trenchcoat to school and my parents were a little too involved in my life to allow me to build a bomb out of a propane tank, but I was isolated and ignored throughout large stretches of middle and high school, and an active target through some others.
And I can't say that I never thought of wasting certain of my classmates.
What I'm trying to say is that those two kids in Colorado didn't wake up one morning and decide to blow up their school for no reason. Their large evil sits atop a pyramid of many smaller evils. So who pays for those? This hardly excuses their act, but to assume that there were not stimuli for their response is grossly missing the point.
I suppose that I like my heroes flawed and my villains with a touch of virtue, and that's what I don't see in Jack; the villains have no redeeming qualities. This is, of course, my own opinion of a strip that seems quite popular among the furry-comics crowd. I just don't understand why.
Oh, yeah, I also don't think that Death should be quite so angry, but I'm not sure I read far enough to get a handle on Jack's character.
<A HREF="http://www.fightcastorevade.net" TARGET=_blank>Fight Cast Or Evade</A>
Swords, sorcery, heroes, villains, and serious discourse on the socio-political issues facing our modern society.
Oh, and talking animals.
Swords, sorcery, heroes, villains, and serious discourse on the socio-political issues facing our modern society.
Oh, and talking animals.
I'm a sucker for happy endings, so
I liked the "Tet and Trixi" story a lot, and
would recommend that one highly.
(This is the one after the Columbine
massacre story.)
I think that David Hopkins strip has shown
that comic strips about cute happy animals
can have a serious side to them and people
will still enjoy them.
However, I must admit that happy endings
in his writings are very few and far between.
When he started doing a story about cancer
patients, I had to stop because stories about
cancer have affect me very strongly in a
personal way.
Scott
I liked the "Tet and Trixi" story a lot, and
would recommend that one highly.
(This is the one after the Columbine
massacre story.)
I think that David Hopkins strip has shown
that comic strips about cute happy animals
can have a serious side to them and people
will still enjoy them.
However, I must admit that happy endings
in his writings are very few and far between.
When he started doing a story about cancer
patients, I had to stop because stories about
cancer have affect me very strongly in a
personal way.
Scott
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The Overseer
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That's obvious indeed. Personally, I love Jack. A little bit... a lot of drama and that's refreshing. Almost every on-line comic I know is funny, if not all. As for the villains... Well, you are right about most of them. However, just look at the main character, there's a villain for you with a background! What that background is is at this time still a mystery.. .Well, I have my lil' theory, but anyway, he is this guy in Hell but he clearly has a conscience. As for the fact that Hell is being shown too nice... Of course! If there would be hell the horrors there would be so terrible that human minds simply can't imagine them. So how is one to draw such horrors? Although I feel that one arc is gettin' a little bit in the right direction at least as far as the punishments there go.Matt Trepal wrote:(I also think that Hell, if it exists, will have punishiments much worse than mere dismemberment and disembowlment; that's not nearly soul-wrenching enough for Hell.) I suppose that I like my heroes flawed and my villains with a touch of virtue, and that's what I don't see in Jack; the villains have no redeeming qualities.
No, baxtrr, you're not alone. I tried Jack once and it disturbed me so much that I quit it very quickly. I make no judgments as to its content or message (I didn't read enough of it anyway) but it gave me the utter creeps.
Mind you, I liked Jack's appearances in Gene Catlow, but not enough to go back.
Mind you, I liked Jack's appearances in Gene Catlow, but not enough to go back.
Dex Lives No, I'm not the author. I just think you should read it.
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Docabsinthe
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I don't like to read Jack (most of the time anyway) as much as I'm compelled to read it. It is a disturbing strip but it raises a lot of questions and does make you think. The Tet and Trixi arc was so painful to read that Hopkins almost had to write a happy ending for it. The forum there is, ahh interesting. Have'nt posted there in a while because the pop-ups are really obnoxious. --doc
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Hortmage
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Um...hi everyone. My name is Hortmage...
<Hi, Hortmage!>
...and I'm a reader of Jack.
<GASP!>
The first time I stumbled across it, I was really put off by it, too. Too dark, too graphic, and since I wasn't smart enough to start from the beginning of the archives, it didn't make much sense.
Then, a couple of months later, I came across the strip again. This time, I read the entire archive, from the beginning, over the course of several days. It's still too dark and graphic, and it still doesn't make a whole lot of sense. But, I have to admit, I'm hooked, too.
As to the forum -- definitely a different breed. Not quite as NICE as some of the forums I hang out in (out, in?), but they take "Topic Drift" to a whole new level.
Doc -- I feel for you and the popups. May I suggest that you drop about $20 and buy Panicware's "Pop-up Stopper Pro"? Someone on one of the forums (SOL?) suggested it to me, and it really works! I love hearing the multiple zaps as it blocks each popup -- kind of like listening to a bug zapper in the summertime.
<Hi, Hortmage!>
...and I'm a reader of Jack.
<GASP!>
The first time I stumbled across it, I was really put off by it, too. Too dark, too graphic, and since I wasn't smart enough to start from the beginning of the archives, it didn't make much sense.
Then, a couple of months later, I came across the strip again. This time, I read the entire archive, from the beginning, over the course of several days. It's still too dark and graphic, and it still doesn't make a whole lot of sense. But, I have to admit, I'm hooked, too.
As to the forum -- definitely a different breed. Not quite as NICE as some of the forums I hang out in (out, in?), but they take "Topic Drift" to a whole new level.
Doc -- I feel for you and the popups. May I suggest that you drop about $20 and buy Panicware's "Pop-up Stopper Pro"? Someone on one of the forums (SOL?) suggested it to me, and it really works! I love hearing the multiple zaps as it blocks each popup -- kind of like listening to a bug zapper in the summertime.
Hortmage, The Magic Gardener
Making Environmental Education Fun AND Magical!
Making Environmental Education Fun AND Magical!
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Docabsinthe
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Doc -- I feel for you and the popups. May I suggest that you drop about $20 and buy Panicware's "Pop-up Stopper Pro"? Someone on one of the forums (SOL?) suggested it to me, and it really works! I love hearing the multiple zaps as it blocks each popup -- kind of like listening to a bug zapper in the summertime.
I might have to do it. In addition to being broke most of the time, I am a cheap wolfie. Ever run into BusterCharlie there? I check in from time to time just to see if he posted anything. --doc
I might have to do it. In addition to being broke most of the time, I am a cheap wolfie.
Ever run into BusterCharlie there? I check in from time to time just to see if he posted anything. --doc-
Docabsinthe
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Last post about 'Jack". The character Jack is actually the sin, as in the 7 deadly sins, wrath. He also doubles as death. Oddly, he is the only denizen of hell that cares about the damned souls. He actually trys to help and, in some measure, is healing himself. He isn't the first wrath either, there have been others in his 'position'. This raises a few questions that I won't go into just now. Just a few notes: there is a way out of hell, there is a purgatory, the punishments do to some extent fit the crimes. It is a terribly frightening strip but I just HAVE to read it. --doc