To be honest, it ended back in 2011, when I finally drew the strip for a public audience. The script and layouts had been done years earlier still. I remember sitting down in 2005 and writing all the dialogue, the jokes and sketching the layouts. Earlier still, I was planting all the details throughout the series to ensure that the conclusion which I planned made sense. This was a long time coming.
I don’t really want to get into the details of why it took so long. Suffice to say I had planned it all so well that I couldn’t draw it to my expectations. I have in my archives many false starts, half-completed strips where I would get so frustrated I would just start again from scratch. I knew it had to be perfect, and I couldn’t match the images I had in my head with what I could draw.
But I knew that for as long as this particular series was incomplete, Sexy Losers was incomplete too. What made me not give it up completely and return occasionally for a few strips was this particular story. I couldn’t abandon it knowing it wasn’t finished. But I didn’t have the confidence to do justice to the strip. So I was caught between a desire to do the strip and my belief I couldn’t.
I considered that perhaps I was building it up too much and needed to strip down what I was doing to make it more manageable. In 2011, inspired by what Josh Lesnick was doing, I was going to do a Tumblr called the THIN H LINE that was going to bring it back to its roots: smaller and completely hand drawn, just like I started doing it in 1999. About 20 new strips came about, plus the completion of the Shuinji thread. Unfortunately very few people actually read it, and I shelved the THIN H LINE as depression comix was becoming more important to me.
However, it always felt uncomfortable that the completion of the story was at a different website than where the majority of the strip resided. I didn’t know what to do about this – when I first built the Sexy Losers site it wasn’t designed to handle a new series of strips and when I tried to reprogram it the site crashed, and it was too complicated for me to fix. I knew I had to restart the site from scratch, and I really didn’t have the time to do that.
In 2013, I bought a new phone – a Galaxy Note. It had a pressure sensitive pen with it. I decided it would be cool to recolor those THIN H LINE strips and rebrand them as Sexy Losers strips, to be added to the archive. I did a number of those strips, probably the best ones to be honest, and in 2015 I finally redid the Sexy Losers site from scratch. Most of the Shiunji strips were recolored and posted, except the last one.
I have to admit I was unhappy with the strip as it appeared in the THIN H LINE. The last panel wasn’t drawn that well, and it’s not clear that the reanimated corpse in the last panel was the dead wife of Mr. Watanabe. This strip needed to be redrawn. (You can see the original strip below the new one and make the comparison for yourself)
Now, the strip is part of the archive, and you can now read the entire story of Shiunji and the Suicide Girl on Sexy Losers.
It took a long time to finish this story, and it took longer to put it all in one place. If you’re reading this, I deeply admire your patience.
But it’s not the last Sexy Losers strip. It might not even be the last one with Shiunji and Tomoe.
Originally posted July 14, 2011 as THIN H LINE Bonus Strip #5Share if you dare:
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Woot! Another SexyLoosers!
And here I was, thinking I’d have to live with the loose ends…
I was going to rename the strip “Sexy Loose Ends” but decided against it.
Yeahhhhh! I missed you sexy losers.
It missed you too. There’s more on the way!
Well, isn’t this a nice surprise, as I’m surprised I’m using the word “nice”, but it fits.
Where? It’s 2018, come on man get it together!
“Where?” Six more strips followed this one. You can see them on the front page.
The fairy needs to give up XD
Oh, she’ll be back in about 5-6 strips.
I love the remakes and anything you add to these! Some that are easier to see because of the larger panels and how much better your art is these years later are just a big bonus! (like Invisible Clothes!).
If only you had a robot to help you re-ink or color! But you are in the best country for that to be possible!
I hope I can visit one day! Not you… but then, sure, why not you! When is a good year? 😉
Yup, I’ve gotten a lot better at drawing invisible clothes!
In fact, my next comic will be a super sexy strip called The Invisibles, about a orgy adventures of invisible people! It will be the apex of my drawing skills.
hello :`)
Hello yourself!
between this and samurai jack coming back, I can’t hold it all in!
I am ecstatic to see updates. love your work, love your humor, and have been a fan for half of my life. I read your commentaries sometimes when you think a joke wasn’t as funny as you would’ve liked… But really I find all of SL to be quite genius. Excited for more!
Thanks for your kind words. I hope to be less self-flagellating with these updates.
Bahahaha! Checked in at the right time! Been a fan of SL since 2003; I remember seeing the original version of this on your blog. I do hope you keep updating every now and then…
The next update is the 23rd. It’s already finished, it’s a Kenta’s Horny Mom strip.
All right!
Omg I actually yelped with happiness at seeing another update! I used to read it over a decade ago and randomly checked on here a couple months ago. Been checking a few times a week since to keep an eye out for more. Thank you!
There is an option to have the new strips E-mailed to you, check out the link in the left sidebar.
Thanks for the tip. If I wasn’t totally hopeless and actually checked my emails I probably would do that. For now I’ll keep visiting periodically to check. Thanks though
sexy losers has been in my favorites list for 15 years since i got my first proper computer, and its nice that there is no reason to remove it yet.
Haha, i love it 🙂
Great to see it’s back!
Wait! Is this the end of Shiunji and the Suicide Girl? I hope not because I want to now how the story will go on with Mrs. Watanabe as the main antagonist.
Probably very similarly.
So you will do a second story with it? Or not? Because like you said it would be very similar.
I think it ends best on this note.
I cnt believe it! You be back and as good as or better then ever!!! Lots of love!
Thank you! Lots of love to you too!
I’m so glad to see this strip back. I happened across it back in…2000, I think! I followed it religiously til it seemed to end. One of the great web comics the Internet has ever birthed. 😉
I hope that you’ll still use Shiunji, even though this story arc is wrapped up. He’s such a unique character and the jokes involving him are so dark and hilarious.
This was a great and funny story. I loved Shiuji’s jokes and personality besides the dark side he had he was a lovely character. Glad to see that he survived, at least by now.
A Great End To A Great Story! 🙂
Nice! I started reading Shiunji’s comics after you finished the series! Awesome!!