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''MS Paint Adventures'', abbreviated ''MSPAdventures'' or ''MSPA'', was a website and collection of
webcomics Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on a website or mobile app. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or comic books. Webcomics can be ...
written and illustrated by
Andrew Hussie Andrew Hussie (born August 25, 1979) is an American author and artist. He is best known as the creator of ''Homestuck'', a multimedia webcomic presented in the style of a text-based graphical adventure game, as well as other works in a similar ...
. According to some estimates, ''MS Paint Adventures'' was the largest collection of comics on the Internet, containing over 10,000 pages among its five series thanks to its frequent updates. The comics were written in serial works or "adventures" in a manner that parodied
interactive fiction '' Interactive fiction, often abbreviated IF, is software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives, either in the ...
games. The characters' actions were originally driven by commands suggested by fans in the comics' official
forum Forum or The Forum (plural forums or fora) may refer to: Common uses * Forum (legal), designated space for public expression in the United States *Forum (Roman), open public space within a Roman city **Roman Forum, most famous example *Internet ...
, but fan suggestions were eventually abandoned due to the size of the fanbase and the author's desire to tell a more coherent story. The comics tended to draw inspiration from video games, imitating and parodying genres such as RPGs and simulation games. They frequently reference other aspects of current internet culture. Despite its name, the site's comics have been created primarily in
Adobe Photoshop Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe Inc. for Microsoft Windows, Windows and macOS. It was originally created in 1988 by Thomas Knoll, Thomas and John Knoll. Since then, the software has become the indu ...
, not
Microsoft Paint Microsoft Paint is a simple raster graphics editor that has been included with all versions of Microsoft Windows. The program opens and saves files in Windows bitmap (BMP), JPEG, GIF, PNG, and single-page TIFF formats. The program can be in ...
, other than the first page of ''Jailbreak''; Hussie decided after that page that telling a story using Paint was not feasible. Over time, the comics evolved from simple static images and captions to frequent animations set to original music, and occasionally to interactive games created in
Flash Flash, flashes, or FLASH may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional aliases * Flash (DC Comics character), several DC Comics superheroes with super speed: ** Flash (Barry Allen) ** Flash (Jay Garrick) ** Wally West, the first Kid ...
and
HTML5 HTML5 is a markup language used for structuring and presenting content on the World Wide Web. It is the fifth and final major HTML version that is a World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) recommendation. The current specification is known as the HTML ...
. One adventure, ''
Homestuck ''Homestuck'' is an Internet fiction series created by American author and artist Andrew Hussie in the first half of the 2010s. The fourth and best-known of Hussie's four ''MS Paint Adventures'', it originally ran from April 13, 2009 to April 1 ...
'', has given rise to a large
fan community A fandom is a subculture composed of fans characterized by a feeling of empathy and camaraderie with others who share a common interest. Fans typically are interested in even minor details of the objects of their fandom and spend a significant ...
as made evident by the increasing amount of
fan art Fan art or fanart is artwork created by fans of a work of fiction and derived from a series character or other aspect of that work. They are usually done by amateur artists, semi-professionals or professionals. As fan labor, fan art refers to ...
and
cosplay Cosplay, a portmanteau of "costume play", is an activity and performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and fashion accessories to represent a specific character. Cosplayers often interact to create a subculture, ...
at
comic book conventions A comic book convention or comic-con is an event with a primary focus on comic books and comic book culture, in which comic book fans gather to meet creators, experts, and each other. Commonly, comic conventions are multi-day events hosted at co ...
. The rapid rise in the popularity of ''Homestuck'' led to its recognition at the Toronto Comics Art Festival for two years running,"Update: New Exhibitors at TCAF, New Books, and some Cancellations!"
Toronto Comics Art Festival website. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
and it brought, on average, over 600,000 unique views to the site daily. An
adventure game An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and/or Puzzle video game, puzzle-solving. The Video game genres, genre's focus on story allows it to draw ...
spinoff of ''Homestuck'' titled ''
Hiveswap ''Hiveswap'' is an episodic adventure game developed by What Pumpkin Games and overseen by Andrew Hussie and Cohen Edenfield. Based in the universe of Hussie's MS Paint Adventures webcomic ''Homestuck'', it focuses on a girl who is accidentally ...
'' was released September 14, 2017 and was produced with funds contributed by fans of the comic via
Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...
. This project raised nearly $2.5 million, exceeding its goal of $700,000 in a little under two days, at that time being the 6th largest Kickstarter drive. A sequel titled ''Homestuck^2: Beyond Canon'' was launched October 25, 2019. ''MS Paint Adventures'' supported its author financially, formerly through the sale of merchandise on the online store
TopatoCo The Topato Corporation (styled as TopatoCo) is a widely recognized online retailer of webcomics and related merchandise. It was established around 2004 by artist Jeffrey Rowland. History The company was started in Oklahoma in "about 2004" by a ...
as well through advertising, and the site's own store and record label, What Pumpkin. Music used in the comics is sold through
Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...
. In 2014 a majority of merchandise began a slow migration to We Love Fine. In October 2017,
VIZ Media VIZ Media LLC is an American manga publisher, anime distributor and entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ M ...
announced acquisition of the publishing rights to ''Homestuck'', and their plans to republish the graphic novel adaptations of ''Homestuck'' starting in April 2018. Today, the MS Paint Adventures website redirects to ''homestuck.com''; all works prior to ''Homestuck'' are available at this URL, while later works such as ''Homestuck^2'' are on their own websites.


Works


Early adventures

''Jailbreak'', the first adventure written by Andrew Hussie, was originally a forum game following an unnamed man as he attempts to escape from a prison cell. The first page of ''Jailbreak'' is the only panel of any ''MS Paint Adventures'' work actually created using
MS Paint Microsoft Paint is a simple raster graphics editor that has been included with all versions of Microsoft Windows. The program opens and saves files in Windows bitmap (BMP), JPEG, GIF, PNG, and single-page TIFF formats. The program can be in co ...
; Hussie created the rest of ''Jailbreak'' and later webcomics using
Photoshop Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe Inc. for Windows and macOS. It was originally created in 1988 by Thomas and John Knoll. Since then, the software has become the industry standard not only in raster ...
. ''Jailbreak'' was written entirely as a forum adventure, and the first suggestion anyone posted was taken, however ridiculous, leading to a rambling and haphazard story line. ''Jailbreak'' was only drawn to a vague conclusion, and Hussie considers it unfinished, but wishes to leave it as is. This led to the creation of the ''MSPA'' site and the closed format of later adventures. In 2011, a short official ending was added to ''Jailbreak'' as a callback during a notably lengthy ''Homestuck'' hiatus. The second adventure, ''Bard Quest'', was an experiment in creating multiple, branching paths rather than a single linear storyline. In ''Bard Quest'', Hussie provided choices as
hyperlinks In computing, a hyperlink, or simply a link, is a digital reference to data that the user can follow or be guided by clicking or tapping. A hyperlink points to a whole document or to a specific element within a document. Hypertext is text wi ...
in a choose-your-own-adventure format. It was the first adventure to be hosted on its own website, but was ultimately left unfinished due to the difficulty Hussie faced in maintaining the complex web of branching storylines. ''Bard Quest'' was updated from June 12 to July 6, 2007, after which the site was left on hiatus.


''Problem Sleuth''

A parody of
interactive fiction '' Interactive fiction, often abbreviated IF, is software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives, either in the ...
games and the
film noir Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American ' ...
genre, ''Problem Sleuth'' began by presenting three detectives who are attempting to escape from their respective offices, though the story quickly turned into a pastiche of video games and science fiction. ''Problem Sleuth'' ran from March 10, 2008, to April 7, 2009. Unlike its predecessors, it received a proper ending, becoming the first complete adventure. It is the second-longest comic on the website so far, after ''Homestuck'', with 1,674 pages.


''Homestuck''

''Homestuck'' is the longest adventure hosted on ''MS Paint Adventures'' with over 8,000 pages and over 800,000 words. It ran from April 13, 2009, to October 25, 2016, and followed four teenagers as they play a reality-altering video game that brings about the end of the world. They must work with an alien species from another universe to create their own universe and essentially become its "owners". ''Homestuck's'' basic premise is inspired by games like ''
The Sims ''The Sims'' is a series of life simulation video games developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. The franchise has sold nearly 200 million copies worldwide, and it is one of the best-selling video game series of all time. The games ...
'', ''
Spore In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many plants, algae, f ...
'' and ''
EarthBound ''EarthBound'', released in Japan as is a role-playing video game developed by Creatures (company), Ape Inc. and HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The second entry in the Mother (video game s ...
''. As in ''Problem Sleuth'', the adventure is characterised by
time travel Time travel is the concept of movement between certain points in time, analogous to movement between different points in space by an object or a person, typically with the use of a hypothetical device known as a time machine. Time travel is a w ...
, mystery, a complex fictional universe, and frequent references to pop culture and previous adventures. Changes from previous stories include an emphasis on contemporary society, such as online gaming and
Internet culture Internet culture is a culture based on the many way people have used computer networks and their use for communication, entertainment, business, and recreation. Some features of Internet culture include online communities, gaming, and social media ...
, which contrasts with the historical settings of ''Bard Quest'' and ''Problem Sleuth''. Additionally, this adventure introduced complex
Flash Flash, flashes, or FLASH may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional aliases * Flash (DC Comics character), several DC Comics superheroes with super speed: ** Flash (Barry Allen) ** Flash (Jay Garrick) ** Wally West, the first Kid ...
animations and games, many making use of music and assets contributed by other artists. This represented a step-up from previous adventures which exclusively used
GIF The Graphics Interchange Format (GIF; or , see pronunciation) is a bitmap image format that was developed by a team at the online services provider CompuServe led by American computer scientist Steve Wilhite and released on 15 June 1987. ...
images for animation. Ten major soundtrack albums have been released under the comic's own record label, What Pumpkin, in addition to fourteen side albums. ''Homestuck'' has a large following and fandom. ''Homestuck'' has been compared to
James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...
's ''
Ulysses Ulysses is one form of the Roman name for Odysseus, a hero in ancient Greek literature. Ulysses may also refer to: People * Ulysses (given name), including a list of people with this name Places in the United States * Ulysses, Kansas * Ulysse ...
'' in relation to the webcomic's complexity and how the task of finishing it is an example of
effort justification Effort justification is an idea and paradigm in social psychology stemming from Leon Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance. Effort justification is a person's tendency to attribute the value of an outcome they put effort into achieving as gre ...
. ''Homestuck''s Adventure Game Kickstarter reached approximately $2,485,506 of a pledged $700,000 by the ending of the fund, and had 24,346 backers. The video game was expected to be released some time in early to mid 2015, but was delayed to January 2016 and then again to January 2017 until September 14, 2017, when Hiveswap was released. Hussie also stated that he will make an epilogue for Homestuck with Viz Media's help.


''Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff''

''Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff'' is a spin-off of Homestuck. Within ''Homestuck'', the comic ''Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff'' is written by the character Dave Strider from ''Homestuck'', and several actual comics were produced by Hussie. It is presented in a different format than the other adventures, formatted more similarly to that of a traditional comic, having multiple panels per page.


Associated works

Other works have been sequels of MS Paint Adventure stories, but never hosted on that website. ''The Homestuck Epilogues'' is a partially canon continuation of ''Homestuck'' that ran from April 13 to April 20, 2019. This also is formatted differently from the other adventures, as there are no pictures. There are two different plotlines, a "more canon" one represented by meat, and a "less canonical" one, represented by candy. ''Homestuck^2: Beyond Canon'' is Hussie's second most recent work. It was launched on October 25, 2019, and continues the plot of ''Homestuck'' and its epilogues. The new webcomic is a collaboration between What Pumpkin and Snake Solution Studios LLP. It started with a new writing team led by Kate Mitchell and
Andrew Hussie Andrew Hussie (born August 25, 1979) is an American author and artist. He is best known as the creator of ''Homestuck'', a multimedia webcomic presented in the style of a text-based graphical adventure game, as well as other works in a similar ...
, who both later resigned from the writing team and the comic was put on hold indefinitely on December 25, 2020. The comic is now being written privately and will be published all at once at an as of yet undetermined date.


Conversion from Flash and closure of website

On April 2, 2018, the site was updated to automatically redirect to Homestuck.com, although the majority of content on the MS Paint Adventures site is still available on Homestuck.com. Pages operating through the
Flash Flash, flashes, or FLASH may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional aliases * Flash (DC Comics character), several DC Comics superheroes with super speed: ** Flash (Barry Allen) ** Flash (Jay Garrick) ** Wally West, the first Kid ...
software were converted by workers at VIZ Media into HTML formats or video files. Andrew Hussie said that he had been thinking about the obsolescence of Flash and that it was never his intent for MSPA to last forever "or to concern myself with maintaining a labyrinthine, crudely-coded website for the rest of my life."


References


External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ms Paint Adventures 2000s webcomics 2010s webcomics 2007 webcomic debuts Video game webcomics