I was going
to do a thought experiment, but got stuck.
The thing I
had in mind was this: Since so many people (or at least, so many posts) claim
that Shredded Moose is somehow good if you just read it the right way, I was
going to reread the entire comic from scratch and try really hard to see it – to
look actively for signs that SM may be an elaborate parody on sexist pricks,
and a funny one at that.
My problem
is that the archives are incomplete, so it’s actually difficult to give
Shredded Moose a fair review.
This is
mainly a problem for the two last years of the series’ run, during the creator
breakdown. The
unanswerable question is: does the plot make no sense mainly because the author
is crazy, or mainly because key parts of the story are missing?
This annoys
me more than it should.
For all we
know, the lost strips may redeem the entire comic. Perhaps reading them will
reveal that the first year of mind-boggling misogyny was just a set-up,
something that was meant to be skillfully deconstructed afterwards? Perhaps the
lost strips turn everything on its head and reveal Shredded Moose to be a piece
of complex art!
I’m leaning
towards “no”.
