Damn You Milholland!

I'm a huge fan of the webcomic Something Positive. It's been linked there on the sidebar of this site since the day this blog started. Today's strip is a classic example of just why I love this comic so much. S*P pulls no punches. It is sarcastic and cynical, most of that is seen through the eyes of the main character Davan MacIntire. Davan is a struggling artist and actor who lives in Boston.

The strip is funny, and it makes you think. But every once in a while it'll smack you senseless with a story or event that you never saw coming. Today's strip is one of those.

Davan's father has Alzheimers, he told his son this at Thanksgiving, but he has yet to tell his beloved wife Faye. And Davan when told angrily insisted that his father do so, and not put it off until his symptoms became obvious, like he was more than likely going to try doing. Ohh he would never do that to his wife on purpose, but he'd justify it by "it never being the right moment to tell her."

So in keeping with his promise to his son, he asked Faye to call in sick to work and take a day off to be with him, because he had something to tell her. She was angry at first, as he'd never asked her to do any such thing before. But as the day went on, she grew to enjoy spending it with him. And all the while the reason for taking the day off got pushed back and back, because they were enjoying each others company.

So they went to bed, without her being told. And Fred woke up late the next morning to find that his wife had died in her sleep... Not much brings me to tears, but this did. The poignancy of it, the sense of loss in those panels is both beautiful and terrible. Great storytelling at its very best.

Now you might click on the link and read the comic in question and go "Huh?", because on its own it is sad yes, but not really tragic. As with any webcomic you have to start at the beginning to "get it". I'd advise ayone who likes a good story about life, with all of its grit to read the archive. It'll take you a while, Randy Milholland has been cranking out this strip almost daily (and sometimes more than one strip a day), since 2001. But trust me on this... it'll be worth it!

As for why I'm posting this at 6am, well that's cos I woke up and can't seem to get back to sleep. A sucker punch to the gut is what this strip is. Damn you Milholland for being so bloody good at what you do! Don't ever stop!