Existentialism in Comic Form
A Softer World was a webcomic that Emily Horn and Joey Comeau created in 2003. It began humorously – sometimes dark, sometimes silly, and sometimes both – and went on to explore all the intricacies of existentialism. The format of placing blocks of type over photographs was beautifully simple. But the photos were artistically shot and edited by Emily and the type was intellectually cheeky. Many of the strips deal with humanity’s big dilemmas like death and love, provoking the reader to grapple with uneasy concepts but always softening the blow with a good punchline. Animals were frequently used to project intensely human thought, or juxtaposed them against beautiful landscapes. Emily and Joey created over 1,248 strips over twelves years, all of which are archived on their website.
If you grew up a huge fan of Calvin and Hobbes like I did then you would definitely appreciate A Softer World. Emily and Joey take big ideas and wrap them up in humorous little packages with a nack I haven’t seen since Bill Watterson. Both comics are attempting to teach the same lesson, that life is filled with mundanity and melancholy and if you can’t find the humor in it all then what’s the point? So next time you’re having an existential meltdown, scroll through A Softer World to ease your mind.
Here are some of my favorite strips:
