Whistles, AIDS, and other lesser known works.

Whistles was so good. Sugarshoe left such a distinctive impression at the ending, he was so fucking unhinged, it would have been so cool to see where it was headed. I love how many early Hussie motifs show up too--metanarrative demiurge stuff with Sugarshoe, and like, having there be a muscle guy who is obsessed with self-cultivation, high art, and rigorous self-repression.

Yes, Sugarshoe seems like a very early version of Caliborn, though I find him a little more interesting without all the Caliborn baggage.

That's interesting as in: "I wonder what he would have done with Sugarshoe", since he didn't actually do much in the comic.

I looooove Whistles and I've been hoping since forever that Hussie does another project in that more traditional cartoonist style bc it's so good

My impression was that Sugarshoe offering a mangled re-telling of the story was some sort of abstract iteration of the story's cannibalism? Like in the same way that Sugarshoe devours his plant-parent, he sinks his teeth into the story he that made him and makes it his own. Which is very Caliborn, like sabhait was saying -- we sort of get the same 1-2 punch from Caliborn killing Calliope and then writing Homosuck.

I am a huge whistles fan, I think it's the best example of Hussie's artwork at least in a traditional sense. I was a big fan of the worldbuilding and wish we knew more about the society that lived on tall spires and viewed clowns as a different race of people.

Did someone say Whistles? I drew Doodlebean not too long ago:

That Doodlebean is incredible!! I've always thought her outfit was so cool...

Speaking of old Hussie works, easily some of my favorites are the Riddler's Gammon comics, where a weird jester shows up in inopportune contexts to pose wacky riddles. It can be hit-or-miss but REALLY hit when they're good. I have a soft spot for Hussie's poetry, be it high-flown like this or the crazy layered raps from Homestuck. Like this is just unbeatable:

I'm glad to see someone acknowledge Hussie's uncanny way with words. It's like he was a natural poet, but by some cruel twist of fate he was born an irony-poisoned Gen X'er, and poured all that talent into shitposts.

Hussie's pre-mspa works are pretty fantastic, especially the beautiful artwork of Whistles, but Wizardy Herbert and the Mobius Slipknot takes the cake for me as my favorite. I've made a thread for it already so I'll try to keep this short despite said thread's relative inactivity. Hussie's writing prose is on full display in Wizardy Herbert, their trademark sense of humor and really powerful characterization shine through, and even though the script is supposedly just a rough draft it honestly could have been released without revision. The structure is just as breakneck and neurotic as homestuck at times, swapping between characters and perspectives just as quickly, which could be a turn off for some, but I enjoy it greatly as one who is similarly neurotic. Everything I love about it makes it all the more unfortunate that it is missing its seemingly final chapter(s), theres plenty of clues as to what could've happened but sadly nowhere near enough to really say much definitively. The amount of ideas that end up being used again in Homestuck is also fascinating, especially when Wizardy Herbert himself is closest in characterization to Caliborn out of all the Homestuck cast. Even concepts that appear super late in the comic like Caliborn's Ultimate Weapon juju has clear parallels to the titular Mobius Slipknot. I really wish more people cared about it in comparison to Hussie's more visual works, since I find their writing is just as good (nowadays I would say better) than their artistic skill. Not even half the cast have fanart posted anywhere online, which is real shame, so I've attached a sketch that I made a few months ago of the character(s) Allen Pycroft. Sorry for the long windedness, I just care a lot about this neglected puppy of Hussie's litter.

Yessss oh I need to freaking finish Wizardy Herbert, I really loved what I've read of it so far, the tone is just pure battery-acid Hussie acerbicness... yes acerbicness is now a word. You have to love how far ahead of the curve Hussie was in absolutely trashing that Harry Potter crap. (And although this has nothing to do with its considerable merits as a standalone tale, I love how it was repurposed as a Roxy story, and that like, interplay between the 'childish' portions and the jaded main narrative.)

AIDS is beautiful. All that TSO stuff was really nice. It cemented Andrew as one of my favorite artists, I already loved his MSPA style, but his stuff before that was just lovely looking and grotesque in all the right ways. Humanimals hurts to look at and I love it!!!