Andrew Hussie

Andrew Hussie first began posting webcomics under the alias "S_O" on the website Team Special Olympics, which would go on to run from August 25th, 2003 until 2008. The site would host comics, art tutorials, and articles maintained by Hussie. A variety of short comic strips; casually sustained blurbs and Scribblettes created by Andrew (S_O), his brother Byron Hussie (Byrobot) and Cindy Marie (Betelgeuse){{Cite web |last=Hussie |first=Andrew |date=2005-01-25 |title=Team Special Olympics |url=http://teamspecialolympics.com:80/ |access-date=2025-02-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050125145032/http://teamspecialolympics.com:80/ |archive-date=January 25, 2005 }} were exhibited on Team Special Olympics alongside Hussie's better known, longer comics Whistles: The Starlight Calliope, And It Don't Stop and Neon Ice Cream Headache.{{Cite web |title=An archive of the Works of Andrew Hussie |url=https://homestuck.net/official/hussie-works/index.html |access-date=2025-02-04 |website=HOMESTUCK.NET}} Hussie formally announced the discontinuation of Team Special Olympics on August 10th, 2007 in a news post where he would state that he would no longer post comics on the website and that it would serve as a "static archive for all the comics [he's] done over the years."{{Cite web |last=Hussie |first=Andrew |date=2007-08-14 |title=Team Special Olympics |url=http://www.teamspecialolympics.com:80/ |access-date=2025-02-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070814005634/http://www.teamspecialolympics.com:80/ |archive-date=August 14, 2007 }}, as Hussie's focus had begun to shift towards maintaining MS Paint Adventures and its associated works. Moreover, Hussie would begin to maintain a personal blog for his activities on a separate website. Team Special Olympics was shut down in 2008.

Hussie began posting Jailbreak in 2006. This was posted on a discussion forum and took the appearance of a text-based graphical adventure game. Hussie would post simple drawings with text, and other forum users suggesting commands for the game that Hussie would quickly respond to with a rapidly drawn image.{{cite web |last=Baio |first=Andy |date=September 11, 2011 |title=Arcade Improv: Humans Pretending to Be Videogames |url=https://kotaku.com/arcade-improv-humans-pretending-to-be-videogames-5858062 |access-date=June 24, 2021 |website=Kotaku |language=en-us}} In 2007, Hussie created the website MS Paint Adventures to host his comics;{{Cite web|date=2019-10-27|title=A Homestuck Sequel Webcomic Officially Launches|url=https://www.cbr.com/homestuck-sequel-beyond-canon-launch/|access-date=2022-01-29|website=CBR|language=en-US}} its first three works were Jailbreak, Bard Quest, and Problem Sleuth.{{cite web |last=Min |first=Lilian |date=February 24, 2015 |title=A Story That Could Only Be Told Online |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/02/a-story-that-could-only-be-told-online/385895/ |access-date=June 25, 2021 |website=The Atlantic |language=en}} Problem Sleuth would run for over 1,600 pages produced over one year, and during this time Hussie was creating up to 10 pages a day.

{{main|Homestuck}}

Hussie produced the multimedia webcomic Homestuck, which started in April 2009 and ended in April 2016.{{cite magazine |last=Rigney |first=Ryan |date=September 6, 2012 |title=What the Heck Is Homestuck, And How'd It Get $750K on Kickstarter? |language=en-US |magazine=Wired |url=https://www.wired.com/2012/09/homestuck-kickstarter/ |access-date=June 24, 2021 |issn=1059-1028}} It tells the story of a group of four kids who play a computer game called Sburb and inadvertently cause the end of the world. Homestuck included images, text, Flash animations, and interactive elements. Homestuck, like Hussie's previous works, started with reader-submitted commands for the characters to follow, but Hussie moved away from this style because, he said, the fan input method had grown "too unwieldy and made it difficult... to tell a coherent story." While Hussie now controlled the main plot of the story and the characters' actions, he said that he still "visit[ed] fan blogs and forums" to figure out small things to add into Homestuck.{{cite news |last1=Faircloth |first1=Kelly |date=October 3, 2012 |title=Stuck on Homestuck: How Andrew Hussie Turned a Tumblr Craze Into a Teenage Empire |language=en |newspaper=The New York Observer |url=http://betabeat.com/2012/10/tumblr-andrew-hussie-homestuck-kickstarter-game-adventure-text-teens-young-adult/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121005192003/http://betabeat.com/2012/10/tumblr-andrew-hussie-homestuck-kickstarter-game-adventure-text-teens-young-adult |archive-date=October 5, 2012 |series=Betabeat}}{{cite news |last1=Katz |first1=Mara |date=October 19, 2019 |title=When MS Paint ruled the fandom world: An innovative webcomic, 10 years later |language=en-US |work=Ars Technica |publisher=Condé Nast |url=https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019/10/fans-as-co-consiprators-how-community-built-reshaped-a-10-year-old-webcomic/ |access-date=February 18, 2021}}

Initially, Hussie updated Homestuck regularly, usually about three times a week. However, there were often long gaps between updates, including a pause of over a year starting in 2013, and another long pause starting in 2015. At one point, Hussie described working on Homestuck as less like a full-time job and more like an "all-encompassing lifestyle," saying that the time he spends on the work occupied something just short of all of his waking hours.{{cite web |last=Funk |first=John |date=October 15, 2012 |title=Land of memes and trolls: The epic and ridiculous self-aware world of Homestuck |url=https://www.polygon.com/2013/1/24/3780850/land-of-memes-and-trolls-the-epic-and-ridiculous-self-aware-world-of |access-date=June 25, 2021 |website=Polygon |language=en}}

Vice noted that Homestuck was "wildly popular during its seven-year run"; as of 2011 it was receiving an average of 600,000 unique visitors each day and as of 2015 it was receiving upwards of 1 million unique visitors a day. Hussie said, "The bigger the fandom got, the more controversial everything was... Practically everything that happened was a serious point of contention—a reason to argue, discuss, to generate pages and pages of heated dissertation on what everything means, and why certain things are good or bad. All of this was supposed to be part of the experience. It was part of the cat-and-mouse game between the author and reader."

By the end of its run, the entire work contained over 800,000 words across at least 8,000 pages.{{cite news |last1=Cavna |first1=Michael |author-link1=Michael Cavna |date=October 29, 2018 |title='Homestuck' creator explains how his webcomic became a phenomenon |language=en-US |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2018/10/29/homestuck-creator-explains-how-his-webcomic-became-phenomenon/ |url-access=limited |id={{ProQuest|2126760776|url-access=registration}}}}{{cite news |last1=Trolinger |first1=Madeleine |date=September 27, 2019 |title=What is 'Homestuck?' |language=en |work=University Wire |agency=The Bradley Scout |location=Peoria, IL |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/2297723591 |url-access=registration |access-date=February 13, 2021 |id={{ProQuest|2297723591}}}} Fans contributed to the final work in a number of ways, including producing all of the music. Over a hundred musicians and artists contributed to the final work, with Hussie commissioning artists for important updates. By 2011 there were eight albums of Homestuck music.

Vice magazine noted that Homestuck "became infamous for its sprawling, overly complicated, semi-improvised, deeply self-referential plot, driven partly by reader input and speculation, as well as the incredible and sometimes terrifying vigor of its fandom." PBS's Ideas Channel compared Homestuck to Ulysses because of the complex and densely worded storytelling the series often utilizes.{{cite web |last1=Orsini |first1=Lauren |title=The most popular, epic webcomic you've never heard of |date=October 1, 2012 |url=http://geekout.blogs.cnn.com/2012/10/01/the-most-popular-epic-webcomic-youve-never-heard-of/ |work=Geek Out blog |publisher=CNN |language=en |access-date=July 22, 2013 |archive-date=January 18, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180118075455/http://geekout.blogs.cnn.com/2012/10/01/the-most-popular-epic-webcomic-youve-never-heard-of/ |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |last1=Orsini |first1=Lauren |title=Is Homestuck the Ulysses of the Internet? |date=September 6, 2012 |url=http://www.dailydot.com/culture/homestuck-ulysses-james-joyce-internet/ |work=The Daily Dot |language=en}}

The Homestuck Epilogues was a text-only work released in April 2019. It consisted of 190,000 words in a nonlinear novel that was co-written by Hussie and four other creators; Cephied_Variable, ctset, Lalo Hunt, and Aysha U. Farah.{{cite web |last=Lutz |first=Michael |date=May 16, 2019 |title=How 'Homestuck' Defined What It Means to Be a Fan Online |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/how-homestuck-defined-what-it-means-to-be-a-fan-online/ |access-date=June 24, 2021 |website=Vice.com |language=en}}{{cite web |last=Lee |first=Julia |date=April 22, 2019 |title=Homestuck updated with two epilogues three years after series ends |url=https://www.polygon.com/comics/2019/4/22/18511121/homestuck-epilogue-upd8-update |access-date=June 24, 2021 |website=Polygon |language=en}}

A sequel to Homestuck, titled Homestuck^2: Beyond Canon, began in late 2019. While the story was outlined by Hussie, it was to be written by a team of writers.{{cite web |url=https://www.polygon.com/comics/2019/10/25/20932301/homestuck-sequel-continuation-2-beyond-canon-andrew-hussie-october-25 |title=Homestuck returns with Homestuck^2, a canon continuation of the infamous webcomic |last=Lee |first=Julia |date=October 25, 2019 |website=Polygon |language=en |access-date=February 18, 2020}}{{cite web |last=Lee |first=Julia |date=April 22, 2019 |title=Homestuck updated with two epilogues three years after series ends |url=https://www.polygon.com/comics/2019/4/22/18511121/homestuck-epilogue-upd8-update |access-date=June 25, 2021 |website=Polygon |language=en}} According to its website, it was updated regularly for about a year "until it was paused indefinitely", with the rest of the comic to be released when it was completed.{{cite web |title=> What is Homestuck^2? |url=https://homestuck2.com/about |access-date=June 24, 2021 |website=Homestuck^2: Beyond Canon |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210626035747/https://homestuck2.com/about |archive-date= Jun 26, 2021 }} In 2024 the comic was renamed to Homestuck: Beyond Canon, and resumed regular updates, being created by a new team.

A videogame based on Homestuck, called Hiveswap, was first announced in 2012 and raised over $US2.4 million through a Kickstarter.{{cite web |last=Curtis |first=Tom |date=October 4, 2012 |title=Homestuck becomes the third highest funded game on Kickstarter |url=https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/178865/Homestuck_becomes_the_third_highest_funded_game_on_Kickstarter.php#.UG4JX01fBwk |access-date=June 24, 2021 |website=Gamasutra |language=en |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624210841/https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/178865/Homestuck_becomes_the_third_highest_funded_game_on_Kickstarter.php#.UG4JX01fBwk |archive-date=June 24, 2021 }} Initially, its release date was given as 2014,{{cite web |last=Matulef |first=Jeffrey |date=August 29, 2017 |title=After five years the Homestuck game finally has a release date |url=https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2017-08-29-after-five-years-the-homestuck-game-hiveswap-finally-has-a-release-date |access-date=June 25, 2021 |website=Eurogamer |language=en |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210625034040/https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2017-08-29-after-five-years-the-homestuck-game-hiveswap-finally-has-a-release-date |archive-date= June 25, 2021 }} but had a troubled development, including switching from 3D to 2D years after development started.{{cite web |date=July 24, 2017 |title=The Rocky Journey of Hiveswap's Development |url=https://culturedvultures.com/rocky-journey-hiveswaps-development/ |first1=J |last1=Bergin |access-date=June 25, 2021 |website=Cultured Vultures |language=en-US}} It was later broken up into four episodes: the first episode of Hiveswap was released in 2017{{cite web |title=HIVESWAP: ACT 1 |url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/623940/HIVESWAP_ACT_1/ |access-date=June 25, 2021 |website=Steam |language=en}} and its second episode was released in 2020.{{cite web |title=HIVESWAP: ACT 2 debuts on Steam with a discount |url=https://linuxgamenews.com/post/635975605627863040/hiveswap-act-2-debuts-on-steam-with-a-discount |date=Nov 27, 2020 |access-date=June 24, 2021 |website=Linux Game News |publisher=Tumblr }} A second sister series, titled Hauntswitch, is also planned to have four parts. Two other videogames were based on Homestuck, Hiveswap Friendsim and Pesterquest.

Hussie has been a managing member of What Pumpkin, LLC.Florida Department of State Division of Corporations, document #L09000051040, dated May 27, 2009 According to What Pumpkin's website, Hussie officially left What Pumpkin in early 2020 to work on projects unrelated to Homestuck. According to the notice, Hussie still retains ownership of the Homestuck intellectual property, but has discontinued all creative involvement in any future Homestuck projects.{{cite web |title=HIVESWAP by What Pumpkin Games |url=https://whatpumpkin.com/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210424143644/https://whatpumpkin.com/ |archive-date=April 24, 2021 |access-date=June 20, 2021 |website=HIVESWAP by What Pumpkin Games |language=en}}

Hussie produced a visual novel called Psycholonials. It was first announced in December 2020,{{cite web |last=Lee |first=Julia |date=December 21, 2020 |title=Andrew Hussie is working on a game that isn't Homestuck-related |url=https://www.polygon.com/2020/12/21/22193238/andrew-hussie-visual-novel-homestuck-trailer |access-date=June 25, 2021 |website=Polygon |language=en}} and its final episode was released in April 2021. Hussie has described it as a commentary on American politics and on his perception of uncomfortable cult-like atmosphere surrounding the Homestuck fandom.{{cite web |last=Diaz |first=Ana |date=November 11, 2021 |title=Andrew Hussie, the reluctant cult leader, on life after Homestuck |url=https://www.polygon.com/features/22674181/andrew-hussie-interview-homestuck-psycholonials |access-date=November 20, 2021 |website=Polygon |language=en }}

File:D-Clussie.jpg

Andrew Hussie was born on August 25, 1979.{{cite web |last=Hussie |first=Andrew |date=August 26, 2007 |title=Y-Day was my B-Day. |url=http://www.andrewhussie.com/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070902225834/http://www.andrewhussie.com/ |archive-date=September 2, 2007 |publisher=Andrew's Blog}}{{cite web |last=Hussie |first=Andrew |date=February 21, 2009 |title=Andrew's Blog: If you drew a comic called Super Frog at age 11 |url=http://andrewhussie.blogspot.com/2009/02/if-you-drew-comic-called-super-frog-at.html}} Hussie graduated from Temple University{{cite web |title=MSPA Formspring Archives |url=http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/40585720/Combined_Formspring_Web_Aug-28-2011.htm#andrewhussie234585235 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160805184424/https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/40585720/Combined_Formspring_Web_Aug-28-2011.htm#andrewhussie234585235 |archive-date=August 5, 2016 |access-date=June 13, 2016}} with a degree in computer science.{{cite web |title=MSPA Formspring Archives |url=http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/40585720/Combined_Formspring_Web_Aug-28-2011.htm#andrewhussie256952378 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160805184424/https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/40585720/Combined_Formspring_Web_Aug-28-2011.htm#andrewhussie256952378 |archive-date=August 5, 2016 |access-date=June 13, 2016}}{{cite web |last=Faircloth |first=Kelly |date=October 3, 2012 |title=Stuck on Homestuck: How Andrew Hussie Turned a Tumblr Craze Into a Teenage Empire |url=http://betabeat.com/2012/10/tumblr-andrew-hussie-homestuck-kickstarter-game-adventure-text-teens-young-adult/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121005192003/http://betabeat.com/2012/10/tumblr-andrew-hussie-homestuck-kickstarter-game-adventure-text-teens-young-adult |archive-date=October 5, 2012 |publisher=The New York Observer}} He has said that he has "moved well over fifty times".{{cite book |last=Hussie |first=Andrew |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1121658980 |title=Homestuck. Book 5. Part 2. Act 5. Act 2. Part 1 |date=2019 |isbn=978-1-4215-9943-4 |edition= |location=San Francisco, CA |pages=404 |oclc=1121658980}} As of 2010 he was living in western Massachusetts.{{cite tweet |author=Andrew Hussie |user=andrewhussie |number=26057436429 |date=September 30, 2010 |title=Moving announcement |access-date=October 25, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304195438/https://twitter.com/andrewhussie/status/26057436429 |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |url-status=dead}}

;Videos

• Andrew Hussie, with Jan Van dem Hemel, created parody edits of Star Trek: The Next Generation in the late 2000s.{{cite web |last=D'Orazio |first=Dante |date=May 23, 2015 |title=Star Trek fan gives William Riker the hilarious, strange TV show he deserves |url=https://www.theverge.com/2015/5/23/8648681/william-riker-gets-the-strange-tv-show-he-deserved |access-date=June 25, 2021 |website=The Verge |language=en}}
• Andrew worked with his brother to make a video series about an eccentric Bigfoot researcher, called Barty's Brew-Ha-Ha (2006 to 2011){{citation|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wb7efl5b20k&t=7s |title=Barty's Brew-ha-ha |website=YouTube|date=March 6, 2007 }}

;Webcomics by Andrew Hussie

• Team Special Olympics
• Jailbreak
• Bard Quest (June 12, 2007, to July 6, 2007){{citation|url=http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?viewlog=2|title=Bard Quest Adventure Log|author=Andrew Hussie|access-date=July 31, 2013}}
• Problem Sleuth (March 10, 2008, to April 7, 2009){{citation|url=http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?viewlog=4|title=Problem Sleuth Adventure Log|author=Andrew Hussie|access-date=July 31, 2013}}
• Homestuck (April 13, 2009, to April 13, 2016){{citation|url=http://www.mspaintadventures.com/|title=MS Paint Adventures|author=Andrew Hussie|access-date=April 13, 2016}}
• Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff
• The Homestuck Epilogues (April 13, 2019, to April 20, 2019)
• Homestuck: Beyond Canon (September 25, 2019, to present)

;Published books

• Whistles, Book One (The Starlight Calliope) (out of print, available online) {{ISBN|978-1-59362-073-8}}
• Problem Sleuth (Five volumes, which cover all 22 chapters)
• Volume One: Compensation, Adequate {{ISBN|978-0-9824862-3-8}}
• Volume Two: This is Complete BS {{ISBN|978-1-936561-00-1}}
• Volume Three: Suitor to the Sodajerk's Confidante {{ISBN|978-1-936561-80-3}}
• Volume Four: Black Liquid Sorrow {{ISBN|978-1-936561-85-8}}
• Volume Five: Sepulchritude {{ISBN|978-1-936561-11-7}}
• Homestuck
• By TopatoCo (three volumes, which cover Acts 1, 2, and 3, respectively)
• Volume One {{ISBN|978-1-936561-82-7}}
• Volume Two {{ISBN|978-1-936561-83-4}}
• Volume Three {{ISBN|978-1-936561-10-0}}
• By Viz Media
• Book 1: Act 1 & Act 2 {{ISBN|978-1-4215-9940-3}}
• Book 2: Act 3 & Intermission {{ISBN|978-1-4215-9939-7}}
• Book 3: Act 4 {{ISBN|978-1-4215-9941-0}}
• Book 4: Act 5 Act 1 {{ISBN|978-1-4215-9942-7}}
• Book 5: Act 5 Act 2 Part 1 {{ISBN|978-1-4215-9943-4}}
• Book 6: Act 5 Act 2 Part 2 {{ISBN|978-1-9747-0650-1}}
• The Homestuck Epilogues: Volume Meat / Volume Candy (2020) {{ISBN|978-1-9747-0108-7}}
• Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff {{ISBN|978-1936561-03-2}}

;Video game projects

• Hiveswap{{cite web |url=http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/14293468/homestuck-adventure-game |title=Homestuck Adventure Game |author=Kickstarter |access-date=August 30, 2013}}{{citation|url=http://mspaintadventures.com/KSupdate.html|title=Homestuck Adventure Game Update|author=Andrew Hussie|access-date=November 1, 2014}}
• Namco High (2013){{cite web |url=http://www.shiftylook.com/news/post/introducing-namco-high |title=Introducing Namco High |work=ShiftyLook |access-date=August 30, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130828111311/http://www.shiftylook.com/news/post/introducing-namco-high |archive-date=August 28, 2013}}
• Hiveswap Friendsim (2018)
• Pesterquest (2019)
• Psycholonials (2021)

{{reflist|30em}}

{{MSPA}}

{{Authority control}}

• {{twitter|andrewhussie}}
• {{Vndb|11476|producer}}

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Category:American webcomic creators

Category:Living people

Category:1979 births

Category:Place of birth missing (living people)

Category:Temple University alumni

Category:MS Paint Adventures

Category:American electronic literature writers