Included below is the original strip as it was first published May 18, 1999. As you might note I didn’t do a lot of coloring back then. When I rescanned and recolored the strip for the Sexy Losers website, I did a more complete job. In the last panel there was a shout out to Naska who was a friend at the time. A lot of the first year strips contained a lot of shout outs, most of them left in except for this one. Our friendship turned very sour and I felt she would not want her name kept in so I erased it when it was recolored for the Sexy Losers site.
It was actually suicide prevention week. I heard it on the radio the one morning. I didn’t give it much thought, until I was walking home from work trying to work out an idea for the next strip. It just sort of popped into my head from nowhere, already worked out. I dashed it off, and I had a classic in my hands.
When I see people posting my strips (the bandwidth sucking bastards) or quoting them, this is the strip they use. It’s kind of sad, because it’s not a representative strip, it’s actually pretty damn funny.
Somebody says
How’s it feel to know people are still sharing this very strip around the internet?
clay says
If only they could share the version with the credit still attached.
King Kool says
I’m personally more bothered by the fact that lots of them cut the last panel off. It’s not remotely as funny without the punchline. I think people laugh because they’re like, ‘ha ha, necrophilia is one of the paraphilias least explored even in a comedic sense, even in the current climate of constant offensive humor, and is one of the taboos that nobody defends, thus you’d think more people WOULD joke about it with aplomb, but it doesn’t ever seem to work out that way.”
Whereas Sexy Losers was making jokes about it in 1999.
Still one of the best comics out there.
clay says
The cutting of the last panel bothers me too, because then you know she lost her nerve for doing it that way. But naturally, taking off my name and URL annoys me more.
Rembo says
I read this in 1999 and have been reffering people here ever since. Great to see you’re active!
RJ says
Returned to this recently. Fear of handling death as a subject matter is really boring, which it seems like
clay says
Wtf
Jay says
Hi there’s been allot of talk in the app I’m currently using about another chapter of this call tears in heaven 1 and 2 that are super messed up gore hentai type things after looking into your work I believe this to be false but I wanted to ask
clay says
I’m not sure what you mean but all the strips are online.
J says
actually it’s way funnier and makes for much more interesting social commentary without the last panel. and it makes the title make sense.
clay says
There is no reason this comic should ever invite social commentary. A guy first sexually harasses a woman about to commit suicide, then threatens her with necrophilia. There is nothing OK about this. In the end she just finds another way to kill herself. The guy only dissuades her from killing herself *using this method only*. The root causes of her depression still exist. No reasonable person would ever think this is actually a method to prevent suicide, hence the title is actually irony rather than literal.
For finding it more funny, well, there are people who think “Friends” and “Full House” are funny, so humor is subjective.
G says
Even still
Paul says
I saw it on Facebook and googled. I love the strip, btw. ?
Carll says
I remember seeing this with a Follow up strip and on a whim of looking for that strip had led me to this website. Now that I know its a full on webcomic, I intend to read it all and stay current.
also, would anyone know where I could find the sequel to this one in the meantime?
SpiegelGeist says
Has it seriously been almost 20 years since this strip was made? Holy shit. Best thing of all is it’s still as funny and fresh as it was nearly 20 years ago.
Smash Head says
Just read through the whole storyline and it’s fucking hysterical!
John John says
It’s 2020. This is the strip about death that won’t die!
clay says
I wish it would.
Jammy Jam James says
This thing gonna out live you at this point bro 💀
Opus the Poet says
It will outlive everybody but me… I’m immortal, but it’s a curse. I’ll live forever but I continue to age and accumulate injuries and wear and tear. Unless I download myself into a computer in a couple of centuries I’ll be too weak to feed myself and just suffer unending starvation. Yay!
Storm says
2020 let it live!
Anonymous says
You probably don’t want to hear this, but the fucking weirdest part is that this series started before I was born. I read the whole thing though, it’s great.
Pavols says
Lmao same 😀
I’m an adult and this is alive longer than me. And the creator is still active. Fascinating.
Pavols says
Lmao same 😀
I’m an adult and this is alive longer than I am. And the creator is still active. Fascinating.
Never Famous says
You’ve made a timeless thing. Teach me your ways?
clay says
Fuck, I don’t know why it happened, but I can tell you it didn’t make me rich.
Drake says
I want to be immortalized in these comments. Such a timeless strip and a wonderful piece of artwork.
clay says
O.o
Anon says
I saw this posted on Reddit and I’m literally reading all the comics on this site. How is this not more popular. I’m actually obsessed with it now especially the Shuinji and the Suicide Girl Storyline.
clay says
It was popular a long time ago but now it languishes in the obscurity it deserves
Proxidize says
A good portion of the internal community know and respect your line of work my dude, Your humor will live eternal in the minds of those who seek to stop the censorship of comedy
clay says
Internal community? Is that like the Illuminati or something?
Hokagayz says
Who’s here because of mxr plays?
Slowasspainter says
Yup, honestly was more surprised i have never seen this strip before so had to search it out
inazumasensei says
I always wondered… In a meta sense I guess it’s because it was supposed to be a one-shot strip or something like this, but in context, Shiunji asking Yuuko to have sex BEFORE jumping has some explanation or, again, you simply hadn’t still decided his characterization?
clay says
SL, being a gag strip, i was always more concerned with what would have the greatest comedic impact at the moment. So it’s definitely Flanderization for Shiunji, him being solely a necrophiliac and being offended with living people sex had more comedic impact later. I just did whatever i thought was funny at the time, characterization be damned.
Janktown says
Damn found this on fb with no credits but luckily someone in the comment’s section put a link in and this is how I got here. Gotta say happy I clicked it
clay says
Pretty much how everyone finds this comic nowadays
Norman says
I have a friend who just dove into the funeral home profession – I promised to send her down this road, and just gave her the first dose tonight. Thank you so much for your work, I love it, found it circa 2000, though damn if I can remember how.
Norman says
Oh, and I must confess back when it appeared you were going offline I spent one night late at the office and printed all my favorites, making a trip to the copier after each one to pull it before any chance of it being found, it’s probably several dozen. Let me know where to send the check to you at –
clay says
The strips that are up now are at a better resolution than those, so you might want to reprint those!
Atlessa says
I FINALLY came across a repost of this strip with the credit still attached. Hurried over here immediately and will now read EVERYTHING ;D
hadukey says
damn i didn’t knew this sexy loser thing is from 1990s, i came here from a video uploaded on yt on October 24 2022, https://youtu.be/Epnxfo0YbEg,
they didn’t showed the last panel
GGhi says
Hope you’re doing well Clay.
clay says
Why???
sirconanad says
You’re unique in this web of webcomics.
clay says
Are you talking about the update schedule? Because yeah, that is pretty unique
Hulk says
I have to politely disagree with the “cutting the last panel loses the puchline” part. The third panel, with her “erk”, is the actual puchline. At that exact point everyone knows she is most definitely NOT jumping because she is freaked as fuck.The fourth panel shows a different joke – “ah, well, I’ll overdose onsleeping pills instead”, which is not even as remotely funny as the main joke. From a comedy point of view, the last panel might be actually superfluous… which does NOT mean that it’s OK to cut it and the credits as some people do. Just that, as Clay has mentioned himself, it’s one of the first strips and he has learned a lot since then. Practically no other strip of this comic improves by cutting a panel – which can’t be said of the work of some other humorists, even a few big name ones.
clay says
no, it’s great with the fourth panel as it is. Without the fourth panel, it’s just a creepy response. We need to know her response to it — her response reaffirms the creepiness, and in such a way that she actually abandoned that method of suicide because it was so creepy. Now a person who is determined to kill themselves really shouldn’t care about the manner of their death once they’ve committed to it, but Shiunji’s response makes her reevaluate everything. Then jump to the final panel when we know her response, and she’s even dousing it with some cognitive dissonance by telling herself that the sleeping pills are yummy (they are not, obviously), trying to help justify the change of method while trying to forget Shiunji’s creepy comment.
To me, reading the first three panels is like hearing a creepy response — what makes it work is knowing that she thinks it’s a creepy response as well and changes her mind. The fourth panel allows the reader to laugh at the joke because the creepiness of it has been averted. Removing the fourth panel removes the strip’s heart – it is basically reduced to Shiunji’s threat of sexually assaulting her dead body, a note I did NOT want to end the strip on.
Astonfemboy says
There is more right? I read all the comments and it seems there is more but I don’t know where to fined them can some one like maybe link me it I want to know and see what happens ( discord is Astonfemboy just dm me it
Drizzy says
been coming here on and off for years, the nostalgia these comics bring now is intoxicating. thank you for the years of laughs.