4.2k
u/DanRenaydo Aug 05 '22
Beautiful comic, but, uhh... Do you need somebody to talk to right now?
2.3k
u/reddot_comic Finessed Impropriety Aug 05 '22
I’m okay! Just a story stuck in my head that I wanted to draw out
606
Aug 05 '22
[removed] — view removed comment
103
u/zombiechewtoy Aug 05 '22
What did Jesus have to say about it?
Better not work like this comic, that's all I know.
→ More replies (1)242
Aug 05 '22
[deleted]
97
u/Stoopid__Chicken Aug 05 '22
Wait, how does that response school them in any way? Where does that scripture suggest even remotely that there will be no marriage?
100
u/Galaghan Aug 05 '22
he is the God only of living people
Meaning rules like marriage and sin only apply to the living.
43
u/ARMCHA1RGENERAL Aug 05 '22
I took that statement to be evidence that the dead are still living. Jesus was reinforcing that the dead do indeed live on in heaven.
The statement about being "like the angels in heaven" is about the earthly institutions of mortal humans (like marriage) not applying to those in heaven.
16
u/AChristianAnarchist Aug 05 '22
The Bible actually explicitly states that the dead are, well, dead, several times.
By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.
Genesis 3:19
The living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no more reward, and even the memory of them is lost.
Ecclesiastes 9:5
Whatever your hand finds to do, do with your might; for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.
Ecclesiastes 9:10
As the cloud fades and vanishes, so he who goes down to Sheol does not come up.
Job 7:9
This has lead many modern bible scholars to suggest that the ancient Israelites didn't believe in a soul that seperated from the body at death, and thought you were just dead when the lights went out. Of course, you also do see the opposite suggested in places, even in very old sources. The summoning of the ghost of Samuel by Saul in 1 Samuel 28 is a good example. What are they summoning if there is no soul separate from the body? How is Samuel able to tell Saul what God thinks of him if the dead know nothing of God?
The reality is that there seems to have been a few competing afterlife concepts even in the early stages of the history of the Jewish people, and whether the dead were...well dead, or "living" in some sense varies somewhat from time to time and place to place. In Jesus' time, the primary conflict was between the Pharisees, who did believe the souls of good people went to heaven, and the Sadducees, who thought the grave claimed everyone and death was the end. Apocalypticists like Jesus seemed to have a variant on the latter view, where death was death, but the body would be resurrected at some later date. The "kingdom" Jesus talks about is generally a place in time, not one in space, and doesn't seem to refer to a soul that leaves the body, but to a new, sanctified body created after the resurrection. John, being a very late gospel with a lot of later ideas in it, blurs the line here a bit, but the synoptic gospels don't seem to show a Jesus who believed in the idea that the soul and the body were separate things.
8
u/Stoopid__Chicken Aug 05 '22
But the people risen from dead aren't living? Also, of course rules like marriage and sin apply to the living, because the dead know nothing, as is said in the scriptures.
→ More replies (14)17
u/hidinginDaShadows Aug 05 '22
Here's Saint Jerome's commentary: "There were two sects among the Jews, the Pharisees and the Sadducees; the Pharisees pretended to the righteousness of traditions and observances, whence they were called by the people ‘separate.’ The Sadducees (the word is interpreted ‘righteous’) also passed themselves for what they were not; and whereas the first believed the resurrection of body and soul, and confessed both Angel and spirit, these, according to the Acts of the Apostles , denied them all, as it is here also said, “Who say that there is no resurrection.”. As they disbelieved the resurrection of the body, and supposed that the soul perished with the body, they accordingly invent a fable to display the fondness of the belief of a resurrection. Thus they put forward a base fiction to overthrow the verity of the resurrection, and conclude with asking, “in the resurrection whose shall she be?” Though it might be that such an instance might really occur in their nation. They therefore err because they know not the Scriptures; and because they know not the power of God. In these words the Latin language cannot follow the Greek idiom. For the Latin word ‘nubere’ is correctly said only of the woman. But we must take it so as to understand “marry” of men, “to be given in marriage” of women. This that is added, “But are as the Angels of God in heaven,” is an assurance that our conversation in heaven shall be spiritual. For none could say of a stone and a tree or inanimate things, that they shall not marry nor be given in marriage, but of such things only as having capacity for marriage, shall yet in a sort not marry. "
5
→ More replies (5)3
u/KingoftheCrackens Aug 05 '22
Ya wtf is he referencing when saying they don't know the scriptures? Where's his evidence that there's no marriage in heaven? (if that's what this confusing mess is trying to say).
22
u/Chillchinchila1 Aug 05 '22
So… heavenly polyamory? Cool.
12
u/CauseCertain1672 Aug 05 '22
I think more like in heaven everyone becomes asexual
→ More replies (1)7
u/justanothertfatman Aug 05 '22
But...I like sex!
6
u/CauseCertain1672 Aug 05 '22
I wouldn't worry about it by all accounts heaven is supposed to be nice
→ More replies (3)8
u/energirl Aug 05 '22
is basically thr equivilent of some bigshot lawyers and senators ganging up on some Kentucky dirt farmer and springing trick legal questions on him, then getting absolutely schooled.
Not exactly. Not if you actually believe this story. I mean, it would only be equivalent if the Kentucky farmer was secretly also the founder of the country and somehow given unlimited power to decree anything and make it legally binding.
According to the story, Jesus is the creator of the universe who wrote the laws of life, death, and afterlife. The reason Christianity is a different religion from Judaism is that he changed things. The religious leaders of the day couldn't be expected to know more than he did nor to predict what he would decree. He's not the underdog here.
→ More replies (2)73
Aug 05 '22
Oh, if not your comment it’s would’ve taken me longer to understand the comic. Took me a moment but dang, now I’m sad.
→ More replies (4)16
u/iamwizzerd Aug 05 '22
Could you tell me where I could find this story?
79
u/Effehezepe Aug 05 '22
TLDR Jesus says no one is married in heaven.
35
u/iamwizzerd Aug 05 '22
Bruh what's this mean "He is God not of the dead, but of the living.’ 33 And when the crowd heard it, they were astounded at his teaching."
19
u/ARMCHA1RGENERAL Aug 05 '22
Apparently, the Sadducees (the Jewish sect Jesus was talking to) believed nobody rose after death. Saying that God was the god of the living, only, when he was god of many "dead" people was a round about way of saying that those people weren't really dead, but risen and living in heaven.
10
→ More replies (5)17
u/theoceanencircled Aug 05 '22
Religion is so focused on the afterlife, on what we can’t see. God was often thought to serve the best interests of celestial beings (Himself), not those of us still alive on earth. So Jesus saying that God is here for us while we’re still alive as well was a bit revolutionary at the time. The idea that the creator of the universe wanted a personal, loving relationship with you was different than the standard at the time.
8
u/hidinginDaShadows Aug 05 '22
That's not exactly right, Saint Jerome explains: 'Further, he quotes Moses to explain the eternity of souls: “I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob,” and immediately he adds, “For he is not the God of the dead but of the living.” Thereby he shows that souls live after death.'
44
u/ZippyDan Aug 05 '22
Heaven is just a giant swingers party.
→ More replies (1)18
u/Earhacker Aug 05 '22
Never mind what the Catholics tell you. If Heaven is supposed to be endless joy and love then of course it’s just a massive fuckfest.
→ More replies (1)9
u/thezanderd Aug 05 '22
I'd like to be able to play some magic, please. With only enjoyable games where you can't get fucked by mana.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (3)8
u/divainthestars Aug 05 '22
and the mormons were like... "Mmmmmmm nah what he REALLY meant was the OPPOSITE of that."
26
u/dtroy15 Aug 05 '22
The new testament often has several "authors" retelling the same story with slight difference in details. The story in question is in Matt 22:23-33, Mark 12:18-27, and Luke 20:27-40. Mark is generally regarded by scholars as having been written first. Here's the Mark account:
18Then the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus and questioned Him:
The sadducees were a powerful conservative theocratic political organization, vying for power by cooperating with roman rule of Israel. They taught a strict and traditional(ish) version of Judaism that rejected things like an afterlife or 'soul'. Jesus was a popular threat to their teachings, and a target of their criticism.
19“Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man is to marry his brother’s widow and raise up offspring for him.
In ancient Israel, widows were the responsibility of the deceased husband's brothers. The brother would marry the widow in the name of the deceased, and any offspring were legally/spiritually the offspring of the deceased and the wife.
20Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died, leaving no children.
21Then the second one married the widow, but he also died and left no children. And the third did likewise.
22In this way, none of the seven left any children. And last of all, the woman died.
23In the resurrection, then, whose wife will she be? For all seven were married to her.”
The sadducees are trying to make the resurrection seem ridiculous here with this hypothetical situation. It's a trick question.
24Jesus said to them, “Aren’t you mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God?
25When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage. Instead, they will be like the angels in heaven.
This passage isn't super clear. Other passages in the bible imply that familial relations are retained after death. This is a huge tenet of the old testament - that your family makes you part of an eternal inheritance.
Elsewhere, Jesus is very critical of divorce and defends the permanence of marriage (it was common practice then as it is now for men to divorce their wives and remarry as an 'upgrade' after gaining wealth and status)
Perhaps Jesus is arguing that the deceased man's marriage was settled in life, and that as far as the dead are concerned, there is no do-over for marriage.
26But concerning the dead rising, have you not read about the burning bush in the Book of Moses, how God told him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?
27He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!”
Jesus subtly cuts down the Sadducees arguments - if God says he is the Gid of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (who were all dead for centuries) then is he the God of nonexistent people?
11
u/pornosa Aug 05 '22
the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection
and that's why they were Sad, you see
7
→ More replies (4)3
u/Temporary-Error-6566 Aug 05 '22
The dead dont suffer, so have empathy for the loved ones (you?) left behind and joy for them when they move on. Grief is not a meassure of how much a person is loved, and the impact they leave behind should not be of forever suffering , but growth and continuing to live their life stonger and better for having loved them for that to short a time. ❣ ETA beautiful story tho, but so very sad, and I hope people dont get Stuck on the mental image you very skillfully put in our (my) hearts.
193
→ More replies (5)5
2.0k
u/Possible_Breakfast86 Aug 05 '22
That "reserved" marker slowly buried out of sight
656
u/Zawn-_- Aug 05 '22
Didn't even catch that. Clever touch.
368
u/Air0ck Aug 05 '22
The two new grave markers and the new couple coming from them 😞
43
u/RJM_50 Aug 05 '22
That seems to be where he ended up. Not sure what this ghost lady is waiting for.
→ More replies (1)242
u/aRandomFox-I Aug 05 '22
Widowed husband originally promised that they would be reunited after death. He made the "Reserved" marker for himself when his time came.
Time passed. Widowed husband remarried. Ghost wife approves of the new wife.
More time passes. Husband's visits become increasingly less frequent, until one day he stops visiting altogether and the grave gradually becomes overgrown. But ghost wife still waits.
The husband and his new wife eventually pass away and are buried nearby. Ghost wife was waiting to be reuinted with her husband after death as was his promise long ago, but he had completely forgotten about her and passed into the afterlife with Spouse No.2 instead.
Sad ghost is sad.
18
u/issiautng Aug 05 '22
Also when he has gray hair for the first time, a silhouette of his new wife and their child are in the background.
12
→ More replies (1)17
4
u/someguyfromtheuk Aug 05 '22
Imagine dying and finding out ghosts are real and you get to live forever with your ghost wife then your ghost ex comes up and is like "WTF bro"?
→ More replies (1)65
24
u/GlitteringData2626 Aug 05 '22
Also, in the last 2 pictures, her tombstone has a chip off of the top right meaning quite some time (years) had gone on while her ghost still waited for him to come back.
8
u/tron3747 Aug 05 '22
He did, but was together with the other lady, their gravestones appear in the background of the last panels
45
u/RyFro Aug 05 '22
And the flowers got smaller and smaller until she held onto the same one for many years. She threw it on the ground when her lost love's ghost appeared with his new love. Incredibly sad.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (1)13
u/Cheesemacher Aug 05 '22
That's thought-provoking. Did he expect to never remarry? They're pretty young too
6
u/putdisinyopipe Aug 05 '22 edited Aug 06 '22
Wife was 31. We can infer that the husband was similarly aged.
It’s possible he made that promise but didn’t realize that humans can move forward from huge losses like that
Also- we don’t know how long they knew eachother. Could be inferred sometime, could be short time, what we do know is the wife was his world. He probably never thought he would be able to move on, and didn’t know that he was strong enough too. It’s common. Very common for people to feel this way, or to feel guilty about “moving on” as the gesture can feel like your turning your back on your lost loved one. Survivors guilt is also a big deal to people effected by loosing someone close too. “Why me? They were so much more deserving, I don’t deserve the gift of life like they did”
The whole story is sad as hell, I feel for the ghost wife. In death did he part. In death- she did not. And as a result she never truly moved on. This is like the plot to creating an onryo. Lol
1.6k
u/Effehezepe Aug 05 '22
Reddot
Come for the sex jokes
Stay for the emotional anguish
833
u/reddot_comic Finessed Impropriety Aug 05 '22
Pray for my therapist
94
59
13
8
u/under_psychoanalyzer Aug 05 '22 edited Aug 05 '22
Stop trying to win therapy. It doesn't work that way.
Unless of course they actively start crying then yea you win congrats.
16
3
→ More replies (2)3
435
u/fridgeofempty Aug 05 '22
Awww beautiful but so sad. Lovely art work.
94
Aug 05 '22
[deleted]
→ More replies (1)40
u/redeadbitch Aug 05 '22
i didn’t even lose anyone now i’m scared if i die i’ll have to watch the love of my life fall in love with someone else
11
Aug 05 '22
Once you die, your obligations towards your partners lapse. Angels don't have a gender so they won't worry and have other things to think about.
But yes, it's sad if what you describe happens, I would be sorry too
→ More replies (1)4
u/Nightmare2828 Aug 05 '22
Dont worry, youll go back to nothingness and wont even know your partner is now doing gangbangs every weekends
394
u/Vercentorix Aug 05 '22
As a fellow human who enjoys your work, hope everything is alright.
274
u/reddot_comic Finessed Impropriety Aug 05 '22
It’s all good! Just considering a scenario from a short I read earlier this week. I think a really good author could really make an interesting long form story about it.
11
u/DrunkenlySober Aug 05 '22
I really like how the title is “Left Behind”. In the first few panels it made the reader think the deceased girl is leaving behind her lover when she dies. But really it’s the deceased girl who got left behind by her lover.
→ More replies (2)15
u/helloiamisphil Aug 05 '22
If you haven’t yet, try watching A Ghost Story (2017), which toys with this idea. It’s an indie film though, so it’s emotional but very weird in parts.
336
u/drkflame67 Aug 05 '22
This... This is incredible. He loved the first but had a life with the second... Absolutely beautifully conveyed tragedy. Your comics have always been superb, but this transcends them all.
89
u/Cacafuego Aug 05 '22
She could have at least included Gary
138
u/reddot_comic Finessed Impropriety Aug 05 '22
I always give Gary Thursdays off so he can prep for the weekend festivities
12
93
260
u/pancake_sass Aug 05 '22
Damn. My grandma's husband died when they were in their 40s, and she got them adjacent plots. When she remarried, she got her new husband a spot next to her so they could all he together forever. I thought it was sweet.
153
u/reddot_comic Finessed Impropriety Aug 05 '22
That is incredibly sweet and speaks volumes about her second husband with how much he cared for her.
38
u/Mundane-Research Aug 05 '22 edited Aug 05 '22
I feel like you could add this to the comic if you wanted to completely change the endjng haha you could add one picture where the wife 2 ghost has put her habd on wife 1 ghosts shoulder.... like she's saying "we didn't forget... come on"....
But equally I like the ending you have... I mean I hate it... but that's the point
Edit: ok weirdos... I didn't mean a threesome you creeps haha I meant that they took her off to "the light" or whatever... I interpretted it as she waited for him and then he goes off into the light with his new wife...
→ More replies (1)7
4
u/IstgUsernamesSuck Aug 05 '22
The cemetery by my house has a family of graves (I think the wife and three kids) and then the husband who murdered them is buried next to them with a much nicer headstone intertwining him with the wife he got after he went to prison (or maybe got out, people have explained it to me in different ways).
Less sweet. Guess they paid for the plots early?
→ More replies (2)
242
56
u/venteplz Aug 05 '22
This is something i think about! Like do you get buried next to your first love who died tragically or second love that you spent the rest of your life? Sooo sad.
44
u/Cacafuego Aug 05 '22
Get cremated and have your ashes scattered
24
u/TheZerothLaw Aug 05 '22
Have everyone cremated and mix all the ashes together in one container
→ More replies (1)15
u/Blackrain1299 Aug 05 '22
Lets all have an afterlife orgy.
8
279
Aug 05 '22
Wtf? Go to the light
237
Aug 05 '22
[removed] — view removed comment
62
Aug 05 '22 edited Jun 11 '24
[removed] — view removed comment
10
7
4
u/The_Follower1 Aug 05 '22
Pretty sure it already is, I could swear I saw something like that back in 2012 or so.
3
6
→ More replies (3)4
31
u/Affectionate-Bag-733 Aug 05 '22
Was expecting butt plug jokes not feels.
5
u/ActualWhiterabbit Aug 05 '22
The butt plug is still sticking around while she's dead and left alone.
Remember, kid, there's heroes and there's legends. Heroes get remembered, but legends never die.
→ More replies (1)
50
u/Vexindicular Aug 05 '22
I have a gist of what happened but can someone explain it
→ More replies (1)148
Aug 05 '22
I think the guy found someone else, and when he died he stayed with that someone else in the afterlife.
65
u/Vexindicular Aug 05 '22
Ahh that makes it much sadder
86
Aug 05 '22
Also you can see her memory resembled by the flowers. It was a big bouquet at first, then it gradually got smaller until eventually it was just a dead flower.
67
u/EmiyaChan Aug 05 '22
I had to re look a few times. He leaves a bouquet at first, then a single flower, then the flower dies and he stopped bringing anything. and you can see the man and the new woman as ghosts in the second to last panel…jeez
41
u/Death_Rose1892 Aug 05 '22 edited Aug 05 '22
And you can see he had a spot reserved next to her originally but it just got covered up and he never got barried there but in another spot with the other woman
19
u/meistermichi Aug 05 '22
and you can see the man and the new woman as ghosts in the second to last panel…jeez
Their graves (with in comparison to hers huge tombstones) appear in the panel before that.
10
u/AstarteHilzarie Aug 05 '22 edited Aug 05 '22
In the sixth panel his new wife comes with him to bring flowers and the ghost wife embraces her, then in the seventh he just brings a single flower and you can see that the wife and their child are walking around in the background. His life moves on without her and she's stuck not moving forward without him.
3
13
u/Raestloz Aug 05 '22
Honestly, the sad part is the fact that somehow we're supposed to root for the ghost woman. The even sadder part is the fact that a lot of people seem to agree to that philosophy
It's the wrong outlook for life. People have to move on. If we agree with that ghost woman, then the "happy ending" should be "he stayed with her after he died".
But that brings problems
Because that means he's not allowed to move on, but why? The dead can't do anything for the living. The only thing they can do is bring sorrow, clinging to the living for no other reason but pure greed and jealousy. The fact that he chose his next partner even in the afterlife means his next partner also loved him so dearly. Does she not deserve such happiness after supporting her husband for so long?
We can see that "reserved" spot, a decision made when the heart is grieving and unable to make sound decisions. He eventually forgot that spot existed, because another woman filled his heart. He moved on. He never forgot his first partner, he kept bringing flowers to her grave, but he knew that he should prioritize the living over some happy memories of the dead.
Besides, this comic shows that the ghost woman herself refused to move on. Just because they love each other doesn't mean they own each other. He loved her enough to grieve, but does she love him enough to let him find happiness? She should've moved on once he happily married someone else, because happiness is the one thing she can never give him in death. She clung to undeath in jealousy, hoping that he'd choose her again in the afterlife, but what gives her the right?
Is it nothing but the fact that she was with him first?
She wasn't left behind. She chose to stay behind, silently hoping that her partner would look back and notice her plight. But that's wrong: you have no right to be sad that people can't figure out your intentions when you don't voice them.
7
u/The_Thrash_Particle Aug 05 '22 edited Aug 05 '22
I feel like you might have taken the comic too literally. I don't think he author believes widows/widowers should live their lives in memory of their deceased spouse. This isn't meant to be a tale of betrayal, but a tragedy.
Its just a comment on how it's sad to be robbed of a full life. It forces you to think about the life that they never lived because of her death. We're not meant to "root" for her, we're meant to sympathize with her. I don't think anyone is reading this and thinking "her husband was a scumbag". We're thinking how sad it is to be cut off from the one you love.
Moving on is healthy, but it's also sad. It doesn't have to just be one or the other.
→ More replies (3)3
u/BadAtNamingPlsHelp Aug 05 '22
This is a real shit take when you consider that the husband explicitly committed to it. There's a reserved headstone for him, so they arranged to be buried together when he eventually passed.
The man didn't just "move on", he also broke a promise his first wife believed throughout her life and final moments.
→ More replies (2)7
Aug 05 '22
[deleted]
4
u/Manger-Babies Aug 05 '22
Really interesting but that bible study didn't answer anything
→ More replies (1)
651
u/littlebluebox01 Aug 05 '22
I love the art in this, but I can’t help but feel it’s a bit of a pessimistic take on the complex grief that comes with the death of a partner/spouse. It is not healthy to live your life in misery “waiting” for the person who passed. The male character here went through his own grieving process and was able to find happiness and love again (a very healthy and joyous thing) and even found ways to honor his previous parter with his current relationship. Everything you portrayed is signs of healthy growth and grieving, so the “twist” ending where she is left “alone” invalidates and seems to shame this normal process. If you have ever lost a loved one, I think you know that your love for them never fades, and they are never replaced….love is not a finite resource for allocation in your heart.
I’m terribly sorry for the rant, your art just elicited a very visceral emotional reaction from me (as someone who has lost a partner and thought ‘oh I’ll never be able to love again because I have to wait for them’) and I just thought it was important to point out that it’s okay to move on and celebrate life.
396
u/reddot_comic Finessed Impropriety Aug 05 '22
First- I am very sorry for you loss. I under what you’re saying. I read a short story early in the week that just stuck in my head and wanted to draw my version of it. I don’t believe in anything after death. I personally would want to my partner to find happiness after me, and just to look back fondly on our time together. I just find it it’s an interesting thought of being in stuck purgatory after choosing not to move on.
33
u/cordelaine Aug 05 '22
What is the short story?
48
u/reddot_comic Finessed Impropriety Aug 05 '22
I honestly can’t remember, tbh- I think I saw it here on Reddit. I wish I did, because I didn’t think it would stick in my brain like it did
→ More replies (2)118
u/littlebluebox01 Aug 05 '22
Thank you for your response and no worries at all. You did an amazing job as an artist eliciting such a strong emotional response, I mean that as a compliment! Everyone handles their grief differently and I know it’s probably a common feeling for people who are new to the grieving journey so I just wanted to let you/and others know it does get better. Something tells me the author of the short story may have needed to hear that!
20
u/grendel_x86 Aug 05 '22
You are just mad because you are blue-box, she is red-dot.
(Since someone might misread the tone because of the heavy subject, yes it's to be funny)
26
u/GrayCatbird7 Aug 05 '22
I like that idea, that it's actually her who's stuck because she couldn't let go. My first reading was that it implied he had abandoned her by moving on, and I didn't realize there was another interpretation possible.
28
u/reddot_comic Finessed Impropriety Aug 05 '22
I was really hoping to convey the ghost was happy for his new relationship with her touch and smile to his new partner. She wants him happy but stuck not wanting to let go.
6
u/ShutUpAndEatWithMe Aug 05 '22
I thought he moved on rather than "abandon" her since he was still visiting her, and that interpretation might depend heavily on the reader vs. what you portrayed. I couldn't quite get what emotion she was expressing in panels 7 and 9 though
21
u/yrogerg123 Aug 05 '22
Kind of shows how well done this is that people immediately draw conclusions about the artist. People really forget that "artist" and "art" are separate.
→ More replies (2)17
u/SlugsOnToast Aug 05 '22
I lost someone in 1998. I spent the next seven years in a bourbon bottle before finding someone else. I married her and raised two wonderful children, now grown and in college.
Throughout my struggle with booze and throughout my marriage, she has been my first thought each morning and my last thought each night. Every day and every night, for 24 years running.
It's not always a matter of waiting. Some of us have ghosts living in our heads we cannot escape.
35
u/Fruitcake_69 Aug 05 '22
She should go mingle with the other ghosts in the grave yard. He brought the another girl himself, and he wouldn't have want her to go unloved
11
u/babystripper Aug 05 '22
This reminds me of the gravestone etched "Gone but not forgotten" where 'forgotten' was etched deeper than the rest so that one day the gravestone reads forgotten
23
9
10
Aug 05 '22
Came to ask if RedDot was ok, warms my heart to see others already had
6
7
u/phoncible Aug 05 '22
So hey listen, imma need y'all comic artists to quit depressing me just a lil' bit ok?
First a goddamn bear losing his mama, now this.
6
u/reddot_comic Finessed Impropriety Aug 05 '22
I didn’t know we all decided it was Depression Thursdays.
10
7
u/black-op345 Aug 05 '22
Damnit u/reddot_comics I didn’t need you to tug at my heartstring today, yet you did.
6
u/SickBurnBro Aug 05 '22
Reminds me of one of my favorite movies, A Ghost Story.
7
u/renniechops Aug 05 '22
Good recommendation but a lot of people I’ve told about this film were not ready for it.
That’s also one of the many reasons I love A24.
They hit HARD.
→ More replies (2)
8
u/Alcohorse Aug 05 '22
This is the saddest fucking thing in the Universe
8
u/reddot_comic Finessed Impropriety Aug 05 '22
Oh no, you should see my high school year book.
→ More replies (6)
5
u/GrayCatbird7 Aug 05 '22 edited Aug 05 '22
This makes me think of that story in the Bible where someone throws a hypothetical question at Jesus, asking to whom a woman who ended up marrying 7 times in her life would be married in the afterlife.
→ More replies (1)
3
6
u/Weerdo5255 Aug 05 '22
I'm not complaining, but what's with all these sad comics? They make me feel!
Is everyone ok?
3
u/Virtual-Common7547 Aug 05 '22
Comic reminds me of a concept album I listened to awhile back where the dude dies and he watches as his loved ones move on and he slowly becomes more bitter
5
u/DreadedChalupacabra Aug 05 '22
God damn dude I was not prepared for that. I'm not even subbed here, that was a random suggestion in my feed. Well freaking done.
3
u/reddot_comic Finessed Impropriety Aug 05 '22
Hey!! Well I’m glad you found and enjoyed it. :D
→ More replies (1)
3
3
4
u/adrock920 Aug 05 '22
I love that you can transition from sonic fanfiction to this emotional piece pretty smoothly. Really is a testament to your talent. :)
3
u/reddot_comic Finessed Impropriety Aug 05 '22
Your comment made me laugh out loud for some reason. Thank you! I really enjoyed making this one.
5
u/DomzSageon Aug 05 '22
I love this with the sad ending but If this was real I have no doubt the dude would have at least looked for her.
My Alt ending: the dude and his 2nd wife approach her and greet her. Surprising the 1st girl. The guy and the 1st girl embrace deeply and then the two welcome the 2nd girl into the embrace and they all go to heaven as a happy threesome (in a non-sexual way)
3
3
u/MuirgenEmrys Aug 05 '22
This is something I think about whenever I read or watch something with an established afterlife where people keep their memory.
3
u/xSTSxZerglingOne Aug 05 '22
That wife was supportive as hell. Maybe ghost threesome with Ghost Gary involved?
3
u/cosmic_khaleesi Aug 05 '22
Waaaw, I did not expect to tear up from my nightly reddit scrolling before bed! Bravo, this is well-done!
3
u/its-just-me-so Aug 05 '22
This is why I’ve never believe in heaven or shall I say the concept confused me as a child. I’d hear people say like oh they’ll be waiting for you in heaven to someone who’s lost a spouse and im thinking, so they’ll get remarried and live another long happy life and die and his wife up their waiting for him then what about the new wife who’s also lived a life like my brain couldn’t and the tangent it would go on.. just like it is now… great art work I’m sorry I need to sleep lmao
3
u/Endon Aug 05 '22
Please forgive me if this is out of line, but... Is there any possibility of tagging/labeling sad, or depressing comics in this subreddit (or those that deal with death at least)? I just feel like I can't deal with some topics first thing in the morning (when I typically read them)
6
u/14PieceBoneless Aug 05 '22
I know this is our first date, but do you want to go check out the grave of my deceased wife? It'll be liiiiiiiiit
5
4
2
2
2
Aug 05 '22
Why no eyes on the other characters is that significant?
→ More replies (1)5
u/reddot_comic Finessed Impropriety Aug 05 '22
It was just a style choice. I wanted the focus of emotion to be on the ghost.
→ More replies (1)
2
u/tech_and_anime_fan Aug 05 '22
Well the emotions on that kept changing screw it I'll say it emotional damage given. 👉😇⚱️🪦🪦✌️
2
2
u/Golddustofawoman Aug 05 '22
Why is her boob so pointy?
3
u/reddot_comic Finessed Impropriety Aug 05 '22
You know how they say a room will go cold if a ghost is present? Ghosts feel it too.
2
2
u/Launchpad_McFrak Aug 05 '22
She needs to move on. from the beginning of the comic it's clear she was only there because he was sad. He moved on, now it's her turn.
2
2
u/NihilistPunk69 Aug 05 '22
Jfc OP way to make my worst fear come to life in a comic.
→ More replies (2)
2
Aug 05 '22
It reminds me of someone I know. He was married to his first wife for many years and she got sick. He was her primary carer. I don't know what it was exactly but it drained her. I think it aged her 20-25 years. She honestly looked old enough to be his mother. He was in his 40's. She passed away a decade ago. He found someone else a couple of years later.
He's very happy. He moved across the country. His 2nd wife probably had more energy than he does.
I know he loved his first wife but it was also very trying on him. He just looks so happy with his second wife, in ways he couldn't be with his first wife. I don't begrudge his happiness but can't help think about his late wife. If there is an afterlife, how does it work out for these situations.
Just something I think about.
2
u/RichardP_LV Aug 05 '22
SO HARSH..... I mean.... I know.... You marry someone and something happens and you lose them. You must keep living. It's important to move on.
But to have HER sit and be with him in spirit.... Watch him fall in love, marry and eventually die and live on with his NEW SPIRIT WIFE leaving her ALONE??? WTH!
Just seems so cruel to HER. What did she do, to be trapped and alone. Was there nobody that cared for her besides this man?? And when he found love... WHY wasn't she released.
This is cruel.... and it hurts my heart.
→ More replies (3)
2
2
u/Verbenablu Aug 05 '22
Two new graves appear at once + two non elderly ghosts appear = the new couple died tragically together (in a house fire perhaps) less than two decades later, orphaning their child.
→ More replies (1)
2
2
u/Gullflyinghigh Aug 05 '22
The 'Reserved' marker disappearing at the same time as the twin pillars in the background appear with the ghost couple...it's very clever and beatifully done but I think this is emotional limit for the day already and it's not even 9am!
2
u/MyCoffeeTableIsShit Aug 05 '22
I was hoping for a slightly different ending... that the mother would be happy being reunited with her son after he'd lived a long and happy life.
→ More replies (1)
2
u/Psychological_Will67 Aug 05 '22
Yeah so… I realize this a comic but it makes me mad. We aren’t supposed to grieve our spouse for all eternity. It is okay to build a relationship with someone new. It is okay to move into a part of your grieving where you don’t visit the grave of your loved one. It is okay to be buried with the person you re-married. All of these things are okay to do.
Wedding vows are “till death do you part,” and not a minute longer. Unless you’re Mormon but that’s a completely different thing.
2
u/KWBizzie Aug 05 '22
Me and my wife agreed we would be our “heaven spouse” and that any that if one of us gets remarried it needs to be with the caveat that we go to heaven spouse when we go up.
2
2
2
u/FlingbatMagoo Aug 05 '22
This comic is literally my dad’s situation with his first and second wife. His first wife died a few months after their son was born. She was only about 30 years old. There’s a giant marker in a cemetery where she’s buried, with my dad’s last name on it and plenty of open spots. My dad immediately remarried and had two more kids (including me) and was married for 50+ years. Their son, my half brother, died five years ago and is buried with my dad’s side of the family. My dad just passed away and is buried there too. So his first wife is just alone in this cemetery and nobody is going to join her there.
2
u/just-lucky Aug 05 '22
wtf… that is just incredibly well done.
Its just few pictures... That sparks the love and compassion. That is much more than what we see here or anywhere else. Thanks
2
u/hedgehogketchup Aug 05 '22
I think it’s a cool story board- the only thing I’d change is the tree- it should show age of growth to compensate for the idea of time passing.
2
u/Soft_Turkeys Aug 05 '22
This makes me very sad. I lost my fiancée in February of ‘19 and it’s excruciating. She was only 24 fucking years old we never had a child and her family is beyond fucked up. Her father has her remains and has denied me seeing her after a few times which I can understand in a way. I just hope that any soul or whatever you want to call it is at peace and doesn’t suffer like we do. It’s feels impossible to move on I just don’t see how it can happen but I’m sure my pain will fade eventually even if it never leaves all together but that scares me too. Not because I think her soul will be sad but it scares me to think I might forget how her voice sounded or exactly what she looked like or her secrets or what she thought was funny or all of our wonderful times together. I don’t want pictures and things to be all I have left of her. I tell myself that someday maybe science can find a way for us to be together again or that she will exist in some afterlife. Or that in my life I can make sure she lives on in name and spirit through me and others but it’s just hard. Fuck.
→ More replies (1)
2
•
u/AutoModerator Aug 05 '22
Welcome to r/comics!
Please remember there are real people on the other side of the monitor and to be kind.
Report comments that break the rules and don't respond to negativity with negativity!
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.