Posted in: Comics, Indie Comics | Tagged: andrew hussie, Aysha U. Farah, Friendsim, Hiveswap, homestuck, Homestuck 2 Beyond Canon, Kate Mitchell, Lalo Hunt, optimisticDuelist, Pip Dillistone, SCP Foundation, webcomics, Xamag

Homestuck^2: Beyond Canon is a Surprise Sequel to Homestuck

Homestuck ended three years ago. The seemingly endless webcomic embodied the vast weird, insularity of nerd culture on the internet. It referenced Choose Your Own Adventure text-based computer games, Science Fiction, l33t speak, spoofed yet invented its own memes, time travel, evil doppelgangers, cosmic wars, alternate universes and everything that geeks love. The series was the internet in a more innocent, less toxic era embodied by a single webcomic. It ran from 2009 to 2016, and ended just when you thought it would never end.

The series, drawn on MS Paint by creator Andrew Hussie, ended its run with over 8,000 pages and around 800,000 words. Viz Media collected it into a multiple-volume run of graphic novels as a kind of permanent print archive.

Suddenly, on October 25^th, the anniversary of the series' end, Hussie dropped the first pages of a sequel. Not a dream, not a hoax, Homestuck^2: Beyond Canon is a true-blue follow-up of the original series.

Yes, It's An Official Sequel

According to the FAQ on the new website:

"It is actual Homestuck. That is, an extension to the "canonical" Homestuck storyline, beginning immediately after the Homestuck Epilogues, conceived and produced by Andrew Hussie and What Pumpkin. But it is also a fan work! It was designed to include the writing and art contributions from fans of the series. Many writers will be involved, and collectively they will be allowed significant latitude in shaping the direction of the story and the way it's told.

"Beyond Canon" is what it sounds like – it's a legitimate continuation of the series, and simultaneously a departure from conventional ideas when it comes to what we think of as canon, or any authoritative expansion on a work of fiction. It will continue with themes established in the epilogues involving the blurring of lines between what is considered authoritative about media, and the elaboration on said media by groups of empowered fans. An "official fanonization" of the ongoing epic, if you will."

"This story was originally created by Andrew Hussie and will be told by him and a new team. The writing team, initially led by Kate Mitchell (formerly at popular sci-fi horror archive The SCP Foundation), consists of Homestuck Epilogues contributors and Hiveswap Friendsim writers Aysha U. Farah and Lalo Hunt and noted fandom talents Pip Dillistone and optimisticDuelist., contributor of visuals to some of Homestuck's most iconic moments, will lead the art team."

The sequel is funded by a Patreon page, and promises monthly updates.

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