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Something Positive by Randy Milholland is among the funniest & darkest webcomics of the 2000s, featuring nerds, goths, & gamers. It just turned 20!
Randy Milholland’s groundbreaking webcomic Something Positive recently celebrated its twenty-year anniversary. The iconic series is one of the funniest, darkest, and most transgressive online comics to emerge in the early 2000s, growing and evolving as its characters aged in real time.
These days, Webtoons has introduced a new era of webcomics like Lore Olympus and Tower of God to wider audiences, while nerd culture has finally entered into the mainstream. But long before these developments, Something Positive was way ahead of its time with its well-rounded diverse characters, embrace of different subcultures and dialogue so sharp it could draw blood.
Hilariously Edgy Humor And Realistic Characters
Something Positive launched in December of 2001. Its protagonist, Davan McIntire, was a misanthropic nerd and actor who had moved to Boston with one of his best friends, Aubrey, to be closer to another friend, Peejee. The stories centered on their social group dealing with the drama and struggles of life in their late twenties.
The series was well ahead of its time, but also still a product of its time. In the early 2000s, most popular webcomics were just a bunch of (cis het white) guys talking about video games. Homophobic jokes were considered a reliable way to get cheap laughs (while a “progressive” story usually had one stereotypical token gay person). By contrast, Something Positive‘s cast included characters of different sexualities, religions, and races, highlighting their interests and humanity. It allowed them to just exist as people, only occasionally making the stories about their respective identities.
The subversive, often-cynical humor considered no topic off-limits. Some of the jokes feel very dated today, as all humor tends to age poorly and this is especially true of edgelord humor. Early story lines included one with characters putting on a play about the life of Jesus called Nailed: The Musical and another where friends hold a Viking funeral for their favorite bar after it closes down.
Nerds, Goths, D&D, & The Sandman – Before They Were Cool
One reason Something Positive quickly became popular was that its cast of characters were nerds, goths, and theater lovers. Nowadays, Dungeons & Dragons is incredibly popular and comic characters have become household names, while much of goth culture has been appropriated into the mainstream. But back in the early 2000s, tabletop RPGs and comics were considered to be hobbies enjoyed by dateless guys with poor hygiene. And while Something Positive leaned into some of those tropes for humor, it also defied them by showing cool, smart characters playing D&D and other games, often with groups of women being the game masters and majority of players in campaigns. In fact, whole story lines often featured friends just playing through D&D campaigns, predicting the popularity of live-play shows by more than a decade.
Protagonist Davan McIntire is a comics fan who references his favorite stories throughout the series, including Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman, giving it attention long before the Netflix series was ever dreamed of. The Massachusetts goth scene (both the best and worst of it) and the Boston theater and bar scenes were also prominently featured.
As time passed, the story evolved and characters aged in real time. Some moved away as new ones appeared. Others developed long-term relationships and became parents (though saying they “matured” might be a stretch). Something Positive recently celebrated its twentieth anniversary, and after all these years, it remains a nuanced, funny, and heartfelt series.
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