Oh, this is depressing. Ye gods, this is depressing. This is horribly, horribly depressing. You know what? In regards to various people saying 'it's a comedy; it's not meant to be taken seriously', I DON'T CARE. It's still bad. I can appreciate a bit of black humor as much as the next guy, but humor, any kind of humor, needs a punchline to be funny. Sometimes the gag IS the punchline, like a 'Far Side' cartoon, but eighty pages of black-humored gags? No punchline equals no POINT, and no point equals 'the writer woke up one morning feeling vicious, and decided to take out his bad mood on the readers'. I own a comic that has a very similar effect on me. It's an issue of 'Tom Strong's Terrific Tales' - I don't remember which one. Now, I am a big fan of Tom Strong, and of Alan Moore in general, but this particular issue made me horribly depressed. The first story ('TSTT' is an anthology comic) is an alternate universe kind of thing where Tom Strong is really just an actor who used to portray the character on TV. What's the story? The story is that his life sucks, his wife hates him, his daughter is smoking crack, and he spends most of his time contemplating the decrepit ruin that is his life, and pondering how he was never that happy in the first place. Also, he's friends/casual acquaintances with a lot of other fictional characters who have the same sorts of problems. This includes Kool-Aid Man. KOOL-AID MAN. You know what? Up until I read that story, I could have given a rat's ass about Kool-Aid Man, but the whole thing was so depressing that I swear-to-the-Gods almost cried when Kool-Aid Man was revealed as a homeless, ranting bum who loses his balance and shatters to pieces on the sidewalk. Yeah, I know, it sounds funny in concept, but in execution? It's NOT. This story is so depressing in every single way that I have not read the issue since. I haven't even LOOKED at the issue since, and that's a shame, because there are two other stories in it which are quite good. But this story just pollutes my soul whenever I so much as get a glimpse at the artwork, and 'Ruins' affects me in much the same way. Now, maybe it's just me, but I simply don't see the reason for this sort of thing. I mean, I understand that not all humor has to be happy-friendly. I get it; I do. I understand sarcasm and irony and gallows humor and tasteless jokes. I do, really I do. But what I do NOT get is why some people seem to view ripping the heart out of everything that people take innocent enjoyment in to be the height of humor. I mean, it's so EASY to do something like that. These are not masterful jokes, these are cheap shots. Cheap, easy, and with no intelligence. These are not the work of a mature person; they are juvenile in the worst sense of the word. MATURITY DOES NOT MEAN 'GOOD THINGS ARE STUPID, EVERYONE DIES'. Maturity means taking the good with the bad, seeing the whole spectrum of things, not just the bad side. I could go on, but it'd take too long. I just don't get it. I'm depressed, and I don't get it. This comic has brought me no joy, no laughter, not even an eye-roll. I'm sitting here in front of my computer and I feel cold and empty. That's all it's brought me. Sadness and depression. Ha frickin' ha.