View source for Gunshow (webcomic)

{{Short description|2008 American webcomic}}
{{Infobox Webcomic <!-- Part of [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Webcomics]] -->
| title = Gunshow
| image = Gunshow_logo.png
| caption = 
| author = KC Green
| url = http://gunshowcomic.com/
| began = 2008
| ended = 2014
| genre = 
| ratings =
}}
'''''Gunshow''''' is a 2008 [[webcomic]] created by KC Green. The webcomic is [[gag-a-day]], having little overarching story and covering a large variation of topics with strong tonal shifts. ''Gunshow'' is well known for spawning the "This is fine" [[internet meme]] in 2013. The webcomic concluded in 2014, as Green moved on to other creative work.

==Overview==
''Gunshow'' is written by KC Green, known for other webcomics such as ''Back'', ''He Is A Good Boy'', and ''Pinocchio''. Green has also worked on the ''[[Adventure Time]]'' episode "The Thin Yellow Line" and published a [[graphic novel]] through [[Oni Press]] titled ''Graveyard Quest''.<ref name=Back>{{cite web|url=http://comicsalliance.com/back-readers-guide/ |publisher=[[ComicsAlliance]] |title=Two Tickets for the Apocalypse Please: Should You Be Reading 'Back'? |last=Bezner |first=KM |date=2015-11-23 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160729163247/http://comicsalliance.com/back-readers-guide/ |archivedate=2016-07-29 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.avclub.com/tvclub/princess-bubblegum-humbles-herself-art-centric-adv-234037|newspaper=[[The A.V. Club]]|title=Princess Bubblegum humbles herself on an art-centric ''Adventure Time''|last=Sava|first=Oliver|date=2016-03-19}}</ref> ''Gunshow'' features recurring characters, but very little ongoing plot.<ref name=Back /> Alex Borkowski of ''Heave Media'' stated that ''Gunshow'' defies categorization, as Green covers topics ranging from the nature of [[compromise]] to pushing one's limits to an endearing story about a [[crab]] falling in love with a lady. The webcomic has run for hundreds of pages and tends to use [[self-referential]] humor from time to time. ''Gunshow'' frequently features some longer storylines, its most ambitious piece being "Anime Club", a story about four [[anime]] fans who get kicked out of their meeting spot for watching a [[hentai]] film.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.heavemedia.com/2013/09/27/the-third-panel-gunshow/|publisher=Heave Media|title=The Third Panel: 'Gunshow' – A Heartbreaking Work Of Staggering Green-ness|last=Borkowski|first=Alex|date=2013-09-27}}</ref>

KC Green ended ''Gunshow'' in late 2014, as his other webcomics and his [[Patreon]] income allowed him to move on from it.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://observer.com/2015/07/kc-green-gunshow-kickstarter-back-pinocchio/|work=[[Observer.com]]|title=Webcomic Star KC Green on Why He Killed GUNSHOW, The Comic That Launched Him|last=Dale|first=Brady|date=2015-07-07}}</ref>

=="This is fine"==
{{redirect|This is fine|the album|This Is Fine}}
[[File:This_is_fine_from_On_Fire_strip_by_KC_Green.jpg|thumb|right|The first two panels of the strip]]

A 2013 ''Gunshow'' strip titled "On Fire" features an [[anthropomorphic]] dog (dubbed "Question Hound")<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bowman |first1=Emma |title=A decade on, the 'This is fine' creator wants to put the famous dog to rest |url=https://www.npr.org/2023/01/16/1149232763/this-is-fine-meme-anniversary-gunshow-web-comic |website=npr.org |access-date=16 June 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.geek.com/culture/this-is-fine-meme-dog-being-turned-into-a-plushie-1664644/|work=[[Geek.com]]|title=This is Fine meme dog being turned into a plushie|last=Riviello|first=Alex|date=2016-08-03|access-date=2017-11-01|archive-date=2017-11-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107022436/https://www.geek.com/culture/this-is-fine-meme-dog-being-turned-into-a-plushie-1664644/|url-status=dead}}</ref> drinking tea in a room that is burning down. Despite its own body catching fire and beginning to melt, the dog remains perfectly calm throughout the six-panel strip, saying lines such as "That's okay, things are going to be okay." The first two panels of the strip, featuring the dog simply sitting in the blazing room saying "this is fine", became a popular [[internet meme]]. The dog's demeanor, described as "somewhere between bemused acceptance and outright denial" by ''[[Slate Magazine]]''{{'}}s Jacob Brogan, proved popular with its full context removed. The sentence "this is fine" was described by ''[[The Verge]]''{{'}}s Chris Plante as a "shorthand for when a situation becomes so terrible our brains refuse to grapple with its severity".<ref name=Slate>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2016/07/how_the_gop_ruined_this_is_fine_dog.html|magazine=[[Slate Magazine]]|title=How the GOP Ruined a Great Meme|last=Brogan|first=Jacob|date=July 2016}}</ref><ref name=Verge>{{cite web|url=https://www.theverge.com/2016/5/5/11592622/this-is-fine-meme-comic|website=[[The Verge]]|title=This Is Fine creator explains the timelessness of his meme|last=Plante|first=Chris|date=2016-05-05}}</ref>

The spread of the two panels was traced back by the [[Know Your Meme]] community to September 2014, when the image appeared without attribution on [[Reddit]] and [[Imgur]] with the caption "Basically how I'm handling life right now". The meme has been used on [[social media]] as a general comment on bad events or disasters, such as the [[Deepwater Horizon oil spill|''Deepwater Horizon'' oil spill]]. Green described the meme's popularity in 2016 as "a barometer of current trends", indicating that it was an intense year. Brogan stated that the meme is unique because it is infrequently modified from its original version and because its popularity was still climbing {{as of|2016}}.<ref name=Slate /><ref name=Verge />

In an interview, KC Green stated that during the period in which he created "On Fire" he was struggling with himself and getting his [[anti-depressant]] dosage right. As the image's popularity surged, Green started selling prints and shirts of the strip on his [[TopatoCo]] storefront. Green noted that "It's easier to sell the first two [panels] than the entire [comic] where the dog melts into nothingness."<ref name=Verge /> Purchase of Question Hound as a plushie, and later in 2020 as a [[Funko Pop!]], was also made available on TopatoCo.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nerdist.com/article/this-is-fine-meme-funko-pop/|work=[[Nerdist.com]]|title="This is Fine" Meme Is the Perfect Funko Pop for 2020|last=Walsh|first=Michael|date=2020-09-15}}</ref> The plushie received newfound attention on social media when one was seen at the [[Mars 2020]] mission control for the landing of ''[[Perseverance (rover)|Perseverance]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sciencealert.com/live-updates-nasa-s-perseverance-rover-is-landing-on-mars-today|work=[[ScienceAlert.com]]|title=YES! NASA's Perseverance Just Successfully Landed on Mars|last1=Dean|first1=Signe|last2=Cassela|first2=Carly|date=2021-02-18}}</ref>

In 2016 Green followed up the "On Fire" comic with a "This is Not Fine" comic on ''[[The Nib]]'', in which the dog abruptly switches from denial of the fire to terror over it, putting it out in a panic while yelling at themselves for letting the fire go so far out of control, and makes mention of the recent killing of [[Harambe]], a gorilla in a Cincinnati zoo.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thenib.com/this-is-not-fine?id=kc-green&t=author|title=This is Not Fine - by KC Green|last=Green|first=KC|website=thenib.com|date=3 August 2016}}</ref>

In 2016, ''[[The New York Times]]'' called "This is fine" "the meme this year deserves".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Rogers |first1=Katie |title=Why 'This Is Fine' Is the Meme This Year Deserves |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/06/arts/this-is-fine-meme-dog-fire.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=16 June 2023 |date=5 August 2016}}</ref> In 2023, ''[[the Atlantic]]'' called it "The Meme That Defined a Decade", and called it "a work of near-endless ''interpretability''".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Garber |first1=Megan |title=The Meme That Defined a Decade |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2023/01/this-is-fine-dog-meme-cultural-relevancy/672838/ |website=The Atlantic |access-date=16 June 2023 |language=en |date=26 January 2023}}</ref>

In June 2023, the "This is Fine" emote cosmetic was added to [[Epic Games]]' ''[[Fortnite: Battle Royale]]'' as part of the Chapter 4: Season 3 [[Battle Pass]] in collaboration with KC Green.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The 'This is fine' meme joins Fortnite's star-studded roster|url=https://www.polygon.com/23755732/fortnite-this-is-fine-meme-kc-green-gunshow-comic-emote|access-date=2023-09-05|website=[[Polygon (website)|Polygon]]|date=9 June 2023 }}</ref>

In September 2024, KC Green and Numskull Games announced that they are working on a video game based on "On Fire" titled "''This is Fine: Maximum Cope''" which is planned as a "classic, old-school, platformer game" where Question Hound battles monsters from inside his subconscious.<ref>https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/18/24248121/this-is-fine</ref><ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z--9jczw0OQ</ref> KC Green and Numskull Games also announced that a [[Kickstarter]] campaign to help fund the game's development will start of September 26.<ref>https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/18/24248121/this-is-fine</ref><ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z--9jczw0OQ</ref>

===Usage in politics===
{{quote box|width=27%|"i still feel like i dont need to get paid when businesses or the like use memes of my art on social media. thats just how it goes now.

but I still feel I have the right to show my distaste for when it's used by unsavory people in my eyes.

so, thus, in conclusion, the gop account can eat me."|&mdash;KC Green<ref name=Vox/>}}

In July 2016, the [[United States Republican Party]] (or GOP, short for "Grand Old Party") used the "This is fine" meme in a [[Twitter]] message, in reference to the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] selecting [[Hillary Clinton]] as [[Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, 2016|their presidential candidate]] during the [[2016 Democratic National Convention]]. The usage of the meme suggested that Democratic voters were in denial about damage being done by selecting Clinton as candidate, though it may also be that the GOP was simply celebrating what they saw as a "Democratic meltdown".<ref name=Vox>{{cite web |last=Romano |first=Aja |url=https://www.vox.com/2016/7/28/12299724/this-is-fine-meme-gop-fail|title=Why the GOP Twitter couldn't pull off the 'This is fine' meme |date=2016-07-28|work=Vox}}</ref> Usage of the meme by the GOP drew backlash from some Democratic voters, webcomic creators, and also from KC Green himself, who said "everyone is in their right to use this is fine [sic] on social media posts, but man o man I personally would like @GOP to delete their stupid post." ''[[Vox Media]]'' compared Green's experience with that of various musicians that had their works appropriated for political purposes, and ''[[The New York Observer]]'' used the event as an example of how the works of webcomic artists are frequently reposted without proper attribution.<ref name=Vox /><ref name=Observer />

Green had already anticipated the usage of his webcomic strip for political purposes. [[First Look Media]]'s webcomic ''[[The Nib]]'' commissioned Green before the Democratic National Convention to draw a version of the "This is fine" meme featuring the [[Republican elephant|GOP elephant mascot]] similarly sitting in a flaming room. The artwork was commissioned to be placed in the Philadelphia Art Gallery in [[Old City, Philadelphia|Old City]]. Once the GOP posted the Twitter message, ''The Nib'' responded with "We actually paid the artist who made this. Here's what he came up with" and a [[hyperlink]] to the cartoon.<ref name=Vox /><ref name=Observer>{{cite news|url=http://observer.com/2016/07/kc-green-vs-the-gop/|newspaper=[[The New York Observer]]|title=Here's Why Webcomics Fans Have Been Piling on the GOP Twitter Account|last=Dale|first=Brady|date=2016-07-27}}</ref>

The Ukrainian authorities behind the @Ukraine [[Twitter]] account used an animated version of the "This is fine" meme to illustrate in a self-deprecating sardonic tone the fight against the [[2017 Ukraine ransomware attacks]].<ref name=Fortune>{{Cite news |title=Meet the Millennials Who Started Ukraine's Twitter War With Russia |url=https://fortune.com/2017/07/28/ukraine-russia-twitter-war/ |first=Linda |last=Kinstler |date=2017-07-28 |work=[[Fortune (magazine)|Fortune]] |accessdate=2022-07-22 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20211207163401/https://fortune.com/2017/07/28/ukraine-russia-twitter-war/ |archive-date=2021-12-07 |url-status=live}}</ref> This invited comments that they used the meme wrongly, since it came to signify disastrous government inaction; but it attracted attention to the tweet and contributed to an increase in the number of [[friending and following|follower]]s.<ref name=Fortune />

==Media==
In January 2016, Jason DeMarco, vice president and creative director of [[Cartoon Network]]'s [[Adult Swim]] block, announced that there would be an animated series based on Green's webcomic. The series, animated by Shmorky, was teased by an animated version of the "On Fire" strip voiced by [[Dana Snyder]].<ref name=Verge /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nerdspan.com/kc-greens-gunshow-comics-gets-animated-on-adult-swim/|publisher=NerdSpan|title=KC Green's Gunshow Comic Gets Animated on Adult Swim|last=Reyna|first=Leo|date=2016-01-08}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:2000s webcomics]]
[[Category:2010s webcomics]]
[[Category:2008 webcomic debuts]]
[[Category:2014 webcomic endings]]
[[Category:American webcomics]]
[[Category:Internet memes introduced in 2013]]