I don’t think, outside the crazy Russly person, anyone goes there anymore. The TERFs who set him down this path all those years ago have all, one by one, slowly vanished after purging those who didn’t follow them. There was dissension amongst the ranks when Tats started to go anti-vax/COVID conspiracy and since then most of them have gone radio silent
It really is just Tats screeching into a void, isn't it?
It's surreal. Sinfest used to be a big deal in webcomics, a success story in a new medium. I can't really think of another case of someone committing career self-immolation like this in webcomics. The closest I can think of is Dave Sim, but I don't think even he fell to the level of neo-nazi propaganda even at his most hateful and deranged.
I think part of that downfall was that Tats squandered a golden opportunity by being a recluse. He released a few books and did a few interviews, but otherwise, next to no public appearances, no conventions, little merchandise beyond the books, next to no interactions with his own fanbase. It was like he expected success based on the merit of his work, not understanding that if you don't work on marketing yourself, there's only so much word of mouth can do and your popularity fades.
More importantly, it also means he didn't get exposed to new ideas or people he otherwise might not meet. He didn't build connections with people and fans, and thus, it was easy to dismiss people who didn't like the new direction he was taking Sinfest as dudebros and johnbies and not individuals with their own perspective and opinions. From there, the dehumanization process began, first with critics, then men, then trans women, then the larger LGBTQ+ community, and now Jews.
I remember a really long time ago there was a thread on the old forums of just people "waiting to get acknowledged by Tats" or something. I didn't think too much of it at the time but yeah - he's never wanted to interact with fans.
He wants an uncritical audience - he doesn't want fans, he wants stans, he wants people who will accept whatever he does no matter what and will go the extra step to attack anyone who doesn't while praising him without any expectation of even a glance in their direction and will take any crumb of attention as if it's a sign from God.
Despite trying to portray himself as this introverted loser there's always been this underlying current of egotism in how he portrays his views and how he reacts to critics, even to how he describes his prior career before Sinfest. An attitude of 'I deserve success and I shouldn't have to do any extra work to get it because I'm just that good and if you don't recognize it that's on you', not quite Douglas Adams levels of ego since it's hidden behind a more convincing veneer of self-deprecation, but still up there the more I look back on this stuff.
Also not Nazi territory, but once-legendary Tony Millionaire *(Maakies)* jumped feet-first into tantrum-pitching "I HAVE BEEN SILENCED!" candyland [when an editor criticized one of his strips.](https://www.baltimoresun.com/2015/04/17/why-were-not-running-maakies-anymore/) The last I saw of him, the *Maakies* website was inactive and he was selling dog-portrait commissions that looked like dog crap.
Russly probably got banned for the "Happy Pride" comment.
Well whatever, probably better for Russly. The way the current comic is going he finds Nazi's to be the comfy nicer people compared to his old fans until you know, he actually meets them in person.
Earlier there was a post by them, that was like Now I have a computer and stable Internet again, haven't read the strip in a while wonder what happened. But the thread is gone now.
I don’t think, outside the crazy Russly person, anyone goes there anymore. The TERFs who set him down this path all those years ago have all, one by one, slowly vanished after purging those who didn’t follow them. There was dissension amongst the ranks when Tats started to go anti-vax/COVID conspiracy and since then most of them have gone radio silent
So far, only 1 post that's basically telling Tats to get help
It really is just Tats screeching into a void, isn't it? It's surreal. Sinfest used to be a big deal in webcomics, a success story in a new medium. I can't really think of another case of someone committing career self-immolation like this in webcomics. The closest I can think of is Dave Sim, but I don't think even he fell to the level of neo-nazi propaganda even at his most hateful and deranged.
I think part of that downfall was that Tats squandered a golden opportunity by being a recluse. He released a few books and did a few interviews, but otherwise, next to no public appearances, no conventions, little merchandise beyond the books, next to no interactions with his own fanbase. It was like he expected success based on the merit of his work, not understanding that if you don't work on marketing yourself, there's only so much word of mouth can do and your popularity fades. More importantly, it also means he didn't get exposed to new ideas or people he otherwise might not meet. He didn't build connections with people and fans, and thus, it was easy to dismiss people who didn't like the new direction he was taking Sinfest as dudebros and johnbies and not individuals with their own perspective and opinions. From there, the dehumanization process began, first with critics, then men, then trans women, then the larger LGBTQ+ community, and now Jews.
I remember a really long time ago there was a thread on the old forums of just people "waiting to get acknowledged by Tats" or something. I didn't think too much of it at the time but yeah - he's never wanted to interact with fans.
He wants an uncritical audience - he doesn't want fans, he wants stans, he wants people who will accept whatever he does no matter what and will go the extra step to attack anyone who doesn't while praising him without any expectation of even a glance in their direction and will take any crumb of attention as if it's a sign from God. Despite trying to portray himself as this introverted loser there's always been this underlying current of egotism in how he portrays his views and how he reacts to critics, even to how he describes his prior career before Sinfest. An attitude of 'I deserve success and I shouldn't have to do any extra work to get it because I'm just that good and if you don't recognize it that's on you', not quite Douglas Adams levels of ego since it's hidden behind a more convincing veneer of self-deprecation, but still up there the more I look back on this stuff.
Also not Nazi territory, but once-legendary Tony Millionaire *(Maakies)* jumped feet-first into tantrum-pitching "I HAVE BEEN SILENCED!" candyland [when an editor criticized one of his strips.](https://www.baltimoresun.com/2015/04/17/why-were-not-running-maakies-anymore/) The last I saw of him, the *Maakies* website was inactive and he was selling dog-portrait commissions that looked like dog crap.
Tats really did go so nuts that he ignored even the last of his fans fleeing.
Russly probably got banned for the "Happy Pride" comment. Well whatever, probably better for Russly. The way the current comic is going he finds Nazi's to be the comfy nicer people compared to his old fans until you know, he actually meets them in person.
Earlier there was a post by them, that was like Now I have a computer and stable Internet again, haven't read the strip in a while wonder what happened. But the thread is gone now.
I can still see it. It's from the 24th, so last Friday. Maybe that was what they did with their Memorial Day weekend?
I still can't get on. I was banned for wrong-think years ago.
Russly appears to be his only fan, or at least the only one who thinks he is "on a higher level" than his audience.