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It’s gonna be a party!
In case you missed my announcement last week, Helvetica updates will be pushed to every Saturday! My schedule recently underwent a pretty intense change, so this was necessary for me. Thanks for reading!!
If you’ve been enjoying Helvetica, please consider donating to my patreon to help keep it alive!
Also, I have an ask.fm if you’d ever like to ask me something!
Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!
I can’t contain all of this excitement !
Ahhhhh!!
I have the biggest, dumbest smile on my face and it’s all thanks to you, Jones!
<3
oh man things are about to get real up in here
Oh jeez, just discovered this webcomic today and I’m already a big fan. I’m amazed at how strong and varied your character designs are, and how well you express emotion, especially when you’re working with skeleton peeps! Adorable, adorable skeleton peeps.
(Sidenote: my headcannon is that their names come from the last thing they thought/said before their death. Helvetica, therefore, was clearly killed by an aneurysm brought on by someone’s uncreative typeface choices.)
Maybe he was reading Helvetica Standard. Or maybe he was just thinking about Switzerland.
Hmmm, we’ll autumn could have simply had a heart attack while on a stroll to look at the pretty colours before snowfall, good heavens was probably quite startled before death, and steak? Uh…. Well…. Maybe… POISON! Of course! Or maybe just bad meat. What about trilby and fedora? They obviously died at the same time if they remember that they’re brothers, but how? An exploding hat shop?
Lucy mite have been the name of Lucy’s girlfriend or something.
But wouldn’t most people’s names just end up as HOLLY CRAP IM GUNNA DIE? Or how about Ouch! What about “that tiger is around here somewhere…” Those are all common things to be thought before common deaths.
But if you pass away old and senile, there’s a good chance that a random thought or word will be the last thing your addled mind says/thinks, meaning that there could be some odd names out there.
And Buck was trampled in a stampede of dear. Did I miss anybody?
B-Buck? Ok, I feel that this is not going to end up well. But hey, we still have Lucy!
Right?
You tell him, Autumn! Girl has spunk AND guts. Also, Steak with those rage-induced pupils is marvelous. Probably one of my favorite panels expression-wise.
OmG, this is getting real!!!
is it just me, or is almost all the conflict in this whole comic sort of odd and kind of unnatural? like it wasn’t even thought out at all?
dont get me wrong, i really really *want* to like this comic. i love the art to bits.
but… steak and heavens; why did they at first avoid helvetica SO much? its not like hes a psycho or anything. they’re greeters. its not like they haven’t met any other new people who were confused as to how they got there. yet they started treating him like hes a crazy murdering stalker. for really no reason.
and helvetica. he was overly angry at heavens when he apparently didn’t have info about their lives. for no reason. thats like getting mad at someone over the fact that everyone dies. XD no one does that, its just a fact. not even kids do that. you tell them a lie, or you tell them no one knows. they don’t go hassling people. maybe he has psychological issues that are just looming over, but gosh. it just doesn’t make sense.
and he was being all angry at lucy because he didn’t go into detail about who niles was. so what if lucy doesnt want to tell some new guy his entire life’s story? who ever even does that? same with the girl. they care so much about who niles is, and yet they shouldn’t even have any reason to care who he is. as far as anyone knows, he/she is just some person that they both know, who apparently pissed them both off, and they don’t want to talk about it.
if the information that lucy, steak, and heavens are witholding had anything to do with lucy’s “case”, (which is what the girl and helvetica care about for no reason. well, the girl idolizes lucy and just *has* to know all his business. guess thats enough reason.), then lucy should have gone somewhere with this info, seeing as how hes apparently such a great detective.
perhaps all this can be explained with: helvetica is young. as a result, he acts like a kid, and is extremely nosy; as all children are when they ask “why why why” all the time, simply because they don’t know things yet.
i don’t know. i just feel like this comic is always focusing on the emotional side of “why aren’t you telling me everything you know” instead of actually thinking about why first, and then kind of sneakily investigating around; exploring, and finding ways around these obstacles to go find the answers.
like… instead of pestering heavens, lucy, steak, etc. over and over for answers and being annoying, they could look around their room, and try to guestimate things about their characters and pasts; things that say something about them. like… helvetica might see a book lying around in their apartment while hes there, and that book looks like it could contain something that could help. nothing too crazy though; something like… an old book about something that good heavens had to know/learn in the past. then he could sneak it and penny would be his partner in solving it!! i dont know. something cool. a hint of sorts; something they can use, instead of just wallowing around in pointless emotions, not being able to do anything about anything.
i say all this assuming that this comic is trying to be a part of the mystery genre though. i could be completely wrong about all of this; and all of this could have reasons behind them that are just not yet revealed. im just kind of annoyed at this whole thing in general.
i know this is long, and no one has to read it; its just my bitchy two cents.
love the art though. really love it. im going to keep reading because i love it, regardless of how garbage helvetica and penny’s deductive reasoning skills are.
i will be truly amazed if all these do have reasons behind them, though.
yoooo chill out, the comic is only just getting started again after a pretty long hiatus, and even before then it was all mostly introductory parts about Helvetica getting settled in with his new life after death. Thats part of the reason there’s so many “whys” getting thrown out, because we’re only just starting to learn, alongside the characters, how the afterlife here works. That’s exposition, and we’ll find out the answers in due time
Most people would be pretty happy with such a comfortable life after death where they are taken care of, so they don’t ask questions, but Helvetica does and does so insistently which is why Steak and Heavens might not be prepared or even reluctant to tell him everything, especially now that we’re clued in that there’s some funny business going on
I don’t think this is going the way of your average mystery comic though, and if you’re judging based on that then you’re really jumping the gun imo
yeah, i know. XD i am. im just an observant nitpicker.
i dont mind that the beginning may not be thought out though. homestuck wasn’t thought out. (andrew hussie said so himself)
but yeah, you’re right. it isn’t the average. :)
I’m not going to read this comment. Just came down here to tell you.
okay >=) hehe
Sadly I have to agree. The main reason most people read comics as apposed to novels is because of a short attention span. Your comment is waaay to long and doesn’t hold enough depth to support attention. I haven’t read it, so I hope I didn’t miss anything life changing. I’ll take my chances.
The character’s name is Autumn; she works at Penny’s. Since we’re nitpicking here.
While I’m commenting, though, I should add my bitchy two cents and state that your critique is beyond inappropriate. If there were a forum for Helvetica, I’d suggest you post there. Currently there is no forum, however, and a comment thread directly under a posted comic is certainly no place to air your grievances. Other commenters are here strictly because they enjoy the comic and want to share their excitement with other fans, or posit theories about what might happen in upcoming updates. You are spoiling that excitement. (At the very very least, your comment was a huge bummer to *me.*) Also, the creator is exceedingly liable to read your comment, and how do you think Jones is likely to feel? All warm and glowy inside? “If you can’t say something nice…”
I understand this is The Internet and no one can stop you from posting. I have already acknowledged there is no good place on this site for you to post your derisive thoughts. All I have the power to do is politely ask that you be more thoughtful about 1 what you say and 2 how you say it, in consideration for who else might read it.
One more thing: you may interpret this comic as being of the mystery genre, but most others seem to read it as a comedy with a dash of between-the-lines romance. Maybe if you attempted to read for the humor, you would enjoy it more. Just a thought.
Hey, it’s OK! I don’t really mind! The comment caught me off guard at first, but I’m not opposed to people critiquing the comic, here or elsewhere :)
I think the only reason I’m gonna refrain from responding is because I want my work to speak for itself, and perhaps over time my decisions with regards to the narrative will be made clear.
As for the genre of the comic… I’d officially say it’s a drama/comedy with mystery/thriller elements :)
Thanks guys! I hope we can keep the comments section civil!
see, i knew you would be awesome about it !!
something told me you wouldnt be ripped apart over a critique!!
but yes omg im going to wait for more!!!!! i love your comic!!!!!!!!! <3
Hey actually I fell like your critique here makes a lot of sense! I just thought I would comment on that since I also was confused about a lot of the reasoning behind these attitudes. I do have a feeling it will all come together later, though, so I was never too bothered. The dialogue is wonderful and the comedy is good too.
Kudos to you for being brave enough to post a valid critique. Too many people are afraid to do so nowadays
Uh-oh.
I think I may just be falling for you Steak. BEAT EM TO A PULP BIG GUY! SHOW NO MERCY!
Ok that’s it I’m calling it. Steak is the unofficial dad of the comic.
So I’ve been meaning to say this for about a million updates and kept forgetting. Does anyone think it’s possible that everyone’s name is the last thing they said before they died? So it was the first thing they said when they showed up because it was the last thing on their lips. Prettty cooool?
I think that too! But I have another theory where their names are things that marked their lifes! Like… Autumn! Maybe she has that name because her life had a twist on her last Autumn… ;-; Sorry if I just spoiled the whole thing, but I think thats not right XD
how many more people are you going to fit into this one room
is this an experiment at how many ways you can introduce a new character into the scene
one long running ‘who could that be??’
omg
what next
I just want to say your art/story is awesome! I find myself refreshing the page all the time waiting for the next comic. (Also, you’re great at making skeletons. I don’t know how you do it!) :D
shenanigans
Why is Trilby wearing a fedora, and Fedora wearing a trilby?
they’re a fashion catastrophe
I just love how he said “home” and not “house”.