Homestuck, a popular webcomic released in 2009, saw the debut of Homestuck 2: Beyond Canon on October 25, 2019. The sequel continues the 8,123-page long genre and format bending narrative commonly referred to as “The Ulysses of the Internet.” This release immediately saw relevancy on sites like Twitter where it remained trending for the entirety of the day.

The original comic ran from April 13, 2009-2016, with a controversial epilogue released on the tenth anniversary of the original. The story follows a wide cast of characters as they play through a video game which results in the destruction of their own universe as well as several others. Homestuck saw a constant stream of updates by creator Andrew Hussie during the initial run, save for the occasional hiatus taken to create games and animations featured in the comic.

Homestuck 2 continues the narrative after the cast managed to escape the dire situations they found themselves in and started their new lives on “Earth C”. While Homestuck frequently broke the fourth wall in order to express what it means to create a story, Homestuck 2 seeks to question the common belief of whether or not a creator can determine what their fans consider as “canon” (canon meaning what can be considered officially part of the story). 

Homestuck 2 follows the epilogue which provided two possible endings for the original story of Homestuck. The antagonist of Homestuck 2, Dirk Strider, uses this to further bring into question what actually happened and what will happen as the story continues.  The story of Homestuck 2 itself seems as if it will follow the former antagonist of the epilogue as he tries to keep himself and his friends relevant by extending the story and serving as a villain for which his former friends must face to add purpose to their lives (and the story).

The release sparked controversy amongst millions of fans with a handful believing the story should end with Act 7 of the original comic, a nine-minute long animation detailing the conclusion to the story, and others believing that Homestuck 2 serves as simply new content from one of their favorite creators, Andrew Hussie. However, Hussie no longer writes for the series, and instead left behind a general outline for a team of creators to follow liberally for future updates. 

“I really like Homestuck 2. It expands on the concept set up in Homestuck and the Epilogue quite well and I look forward to seeing where it goes,” sophomore Darren Godfrey said.

The creative team at What Pumpkin behind Homestuck 2 plans to release one update per month until they reach their Patreon goal of 2000 patrons a month, at which point they plan to release two updates to the comic a month. The first update brings back the illustrated panels of the original comic as well as the second person format; the new narrator and presumed protagonist, Dirk Strider, entertains readers with sarcastic and pleonastic descriptions of events within the story. This does an excellent job of reviving the fourth wall breaking and absurd humor from the original Homestuck.

Overall, Homestuck 2 looks promising. The creative team behind it repeatedly shows that they know how to handle such an odd piece of media, and fully intend on preserving Hussie’s writing style. The art and writing exceed the comic’s standards, and fans can look forward to a constant stream of updates for the foreseeable future.

The Chant’s Grade: A