Hell Has Found Me

Yes, it’s certainly a small milestone, but it’s an important one, to be sure. We’ve officially made it through 100 comics and not a single missed update (ok, one little glitch, but we’re not counting that… it was a technical error).

Today’s comic is a tribute to one of HHFM’s big fans, Johnny Frandsen. Cartoonists can tend to live in a vacuum, not hearing too often from fans, or only hearing from people obligated to read your comic… you know… family and friends. He was the first person to send me a fan-mail, and I was shocked when I got it. Up until then, I didn’t have any true evidence that people actually read Hell Has Found Me. Chaos Kitty was his idea, and I’ve been kicking around ideas on how to bring him in. Johnny is also the creator of the HHFM Fan Club over on Facebook, and has been a constant reminder of how great fans can be. Every time I start to feel down about the comic, or really most things, I remind myself that there are fans out there, like Johnny, who do more than tolerate my sense of humor.

Thank you Johnny, and all the rest of you fans out there. Go sign up for the facebook group, say ‘hi!’ to Johnny, and then share it (and Hell Has Found Me) with your friends!

In other news, the 44th U.S. President has been selected. I’ve tried pretty hard to keep politics out of the comic and the news posts, because I know how alienating it can be when your favorite webcomic suddenly dives into political commentary. That said, if you’re not interested, go on and skip down, because I’m going to chat for a bit.

Barack Obama is an inspiring figure, and I’ve followed the race closely over the last 2 years, not long after Clinton, Obama and Edwards (among others) announced their candidacy. This year is the first time I’ve ever seriously considered volunteering for a campaign, however: I ultimately decided against it.

I come from Republican roots. My grandparents and parents come from the so-called “bible-belt”, the Mid-western United States. I believe I have a strong moral upbringing, initially based (I feel) in some of the best ideas of the Christian faith. I’ve also come to recognize that what I value in people no longer fully matches any established Religion. In the years that I grew up and began thinking for myself, I became more and more moderate. I recognize the madness and insanity of both the far right and the far left. My beliefs and values match with some of both sides of the aisle. What scares me the most about these election cycles are the crazy, insane things that are said, the bent truths and outright lies that each party seems to be willing to perpetrate against each other.

Ultimately, I voted for Obama, not because he was Democrat, or because his campaign seemed more honest, or because he seemed more stable, cool and collected than McCain. I didn’t vote for him because he seemed to have fewer insane political zealots rooting and working for him. These were contributing factors, I assure you, but not the only reasons. I voted for Obama because he spoke to what I value. He spoke of hope, with the firm conviction that with hard work, with calm dignity, with thoughtful planning and reasoned action, we can rise above where we have been. He seems to believe that if we help our neighbors out, if we’re willing to sacrifice a little time, a little effort for each other, we will ultimately help ourselves. That if we demonstrate that something can be done, we will inspire others to do it themselves. I share that conviction, and I feel that if more people share that vision, we will make the United States the place our parents and grandparents spoke about. We will make it the land of opportunity, of prosperity and of fairness that it should be.

I’m glad that Obama has won the presidency, and I look forward to working towards a better United States of America.

That said, I’ll go ahead and remind you all to VOTE! There’s a new PDQ which went up Monday.

Thanks to all,

Aleric