I’m not sure if anyone had heard but the comic strip Problem Sleuth at MS Paint Adventures had concluded last week. The author, Andrew Hussie, wrapped it up rather nicely by saying

It’s hard to believe it’s done, I’m sure mostly for me personally. If you do the math, you’ll note I produced an average of more than 5 images per day, every single day for that year-long stretch. In retrospect, it was a matter of routine inseparable from day to day existence. I didn’t notice the effort, and I didn’t notice the year. It wasn’t a labor. It was just what I did.

But I guess it’s more than just a shift in habitual momentum. There’s a note of melancholy. These detectives won’t be up to their antics anymore (unless I make deliberate exceptions to their retirement, of course). It seems strange to me that these characters have become so well defined in my mind, even though they’ve never uttered a single word. It was never supposed to be that way. It was just supposed to be about a cruddy-looking dude in his office.

If you haven’t heard of it you may find this engrossing once you start reading through it.

I’ve always had that fascination with the end of comics, though. You always wonder why the good ones have to end or if they’re just going out while they’re on top. Bloom County, For Better Or For Worse, Calvin and Hobbes, The Far Side top the list of conventional comics that I feel like I could read forever. Online, I still lament the passing of the Perry Bible Fellowship.

However, I pray for the day Cathy and the Family Circus meet their demise.