FIVE FRIDAYS 002: The internet used to be fun…
Welcome to Five Fridays—my end-of-week junk drawer where I dump what’s on my mind, what’s lighting my brain on fire, and what I’m trying to support before the algorithm eats it alive. Some of this is helpful, some of this is angry, and some of this is me staring into the void and then drawing a mustache on the void because I can’t help myself.
This week: dogs that need saving, a newsletter that cuts through the sludge, a full-on rant about the internet’s spiritual collapse, a simple life rule (the 3 Fs), and a look back at my old webcomic VIGIL—including the messy reality of revisiting old work in the age of AI tools.
Alright. Let’s go.
1
27 dogs in Mexico need help right now—basically a pack of tiny weirdos who would 100% pay rent if they had thumbs. A few bucks covers real stuff fast: food, meds, vaccines, flea/tick treatment, and vet care so they can stop living like feral gremlins and start living like the spoiled couch wolves they were born to be. If you can donate, you’re literally buying them time and safety. If you can’t, sharing helps a ton—because the algorithm might be heartless, but your friends (probably) aren’t. Help the squad here: https://gofund.me/6a625e68e
2
Staying informed is its own kind of art—not just what you consume, but what you refuse to let rot your brain. If you want a newsletter that feels like a sharpened blade rather than an endless feed, subscribe to Restricted Frequencies and let it recalibrate your attention.
https://ganzeer.com/newsletter
3
I’m very, very, very FUCKING over it.
It is the internet. I’m tired of it; I don’t find it valuable. And, like anything in this world, if you give too much of yourself TO ANYTHING, it gets taken away or taken advantage of. As an artist, I want to make, I’m tired of trying to appeal to… everyone. You. The “Scene,” be it in comics or art or anything, it’s all… BULLSHIT. Utter fucking bullshit.
I built this site, Substack, because it’s also a place for me to look at the work I’ve done and the things I’ve tried. It’s, in a sense, a type of sketchbook for me, but what I’ve noticed is that any and all attempts to expand hit the ceiling of the algorithm CONSTANTLY. I know I have good shit because people who have bought my books or read my stuff have become fans, which is why I have a small following here and elsewhere online. But fuck me in the ass, have I felt the ceiling there is to all of this.
I feel in part that I just don’t sound well online. I think I may come off as an asshole. I’m fine with that. I’m not for everyone.
I feel like it could be my race. I’m making comics with Spanish phrases and a Latino background and all that shit, and yeah, I know that’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but because it’s not marketable for someone to get political points, I’m left without an audience. I don’t know what is worse, racist people who just don’t want to know my culture past fucking Tacos, Salsa dancing, and fucking our women, or my own people who can’t fucking see anything that reminds them of their own fucking culture because they are secretly ashamed.
It could be political. At the same time that I’m against the current fascist regime of an administration of Trump and ass kissing to Israel for the highest dollar while ripping off and destroying this country in the process, I’ve also been critical about Trans (I love them, but if you got a dick you got a dick, that’s all, live your life!) and say fucked up shit. SO even that commie crowd with Antifa isn’t with me either. I don’t respect suicide. I also think that we have enough on this gorgeous earth to feed everyone, and it’s fucking mortal sin we aren’t.
And again, this is not for money, it’s really not. I have been a 6-figure designer at times, and I was fucking miserable. My problem isn’t finding money but finding a community that speaks, talks, and gathers around a certain area toward something. That to me is way more BLING than money. That’s strength, that’s cool, that power.
But I’m not getting anything from that. So I may pull back from social media because, at its core, it’s fucking SOCIAL. I love the small circle I do have going on, but fuck my asshole, I’m made from the real world and what I have been building, not this shit.
I don’t even like talking on the phone!
I think I’m just old, and know what there is to have a true scene and not this bullshit weak fucking system of technarch assholes as an actual thing. I see “the kids” today in their world, and it’s just a circle jerk of weakness of the most high. I see that people don’t want to hear anyone but their own bullshit. Every expert is challenged by someone who saw a fucking YouTube video, and you have to like everyone. FUCK YOU.
TOLERATE. TOLERATE people. That’s the minimum. Don’t fuck them over, don’t get in their way, let them prosper and maybe see the light, but in the end, you don’t need to like them.
So yeah, just feeling the absolute nihilism of the internet, but not in my life. My life is fucking great, my art is awesome, all my shit is happening there, but this sandwich-board existence of trying to get people’s attention is for the fucking birds. I say this because this post isn’t gonna get shit in the comments, but plenty of people gloss over it.
See what I did there.
4
Remember the 3 Fs.
If they aren’t
FEEDING you
FUNDING you, or
FUCKING you,
You don’t need to give a shit.
5
VIGIL is a webcomic I did like 10 years ago on the long-gone Graphicsmash.com. When the internet was just in its infancy, and we were all kind of finding our place, some of us said “HEY, COMICS ONLINE SHOULD BE AWESOME” and decided to post it. Thanks to the amazing JOEY MANLEY (RIP), we now had a place to post it that wasn’t a horrible Geocities nightmare of code and crap. From there, I made my first real attempt at telling the story of the world you are reading FUGLY in. It was awesome to do, but the work did not age well. Some parts I was surprised by here were good ideas and storytelling here and there that impressed me to some extent, but, technique-wise, I didn’t have poop. I always look back and wish I had followed through and made the comics I saw in my head, but time and bullshit got in the way. That’s a lesson to you kids: FOLLOW THROUGH, get it done, work on it, give it time. When you keep shooting from the hip like an asshole, you’ll become a fart of a comic book creator like me, putting around, just happy to be here. It’s not a bad life at all, but it could be better, so take my advice: love the journey of making something, and nurture it.
That being said, I went back and started poking them around, mostly prompted by finding most of the original 2003 files! The PSDs were there with the bad lettering and all that crap, but the art? Hmmm. SO I went back and started messing with it, using a combination of brushing and effects, and suddenly got it to look pretty good.
Now, to be 100% truthful with you all, it did use some AI, mostly for effects and lighting, but overall, it’s still done by hand on top of the original inks. I redrew certain parts because the original sucked, and then added the effect I developed here and there using bits of Photoshop, Firefly, and ChatGPT to get it there. I want to say maybe 10-25% is AI. Is that bad?
I’m not a fan of the use of AI in art. I fucking get it, believe me. I’m not here to start a debate, but if you have been around the digital art world as I have, you’ll remember hearing the same rumblings about the ETHICS of using digital tools to make art and work, like Photoshop, back in 1992. Hell, I remember the debate about video artists in the 80s, with people calling it computerized schlock. I think curation is the key; it hasn’t happened yet, but maybe soon.
Now I know it’s all about the companies this and the data centers and all that shit, yes fuck that shit in the ass, the politics of it as ways are made to poison the world. That being said, what about the work? Now I’m not talking full-fledged work; nothing has come of that at all. But even with Photoshop, even using a twirl filter, are we not using a computer to do shit? What about the AI built into the programs? I mean, how much are we talking about here?
I’m not trying to make an excuse, but there have been bits of AI usage here and there that I dig. I think actual work, it blows dog, but if it is actually curated and used by an artist, it could be something. Well, look at this way, here are some examples:
This is the original page, as it was done in 2004
Here is the same page, redone, using AI (ChatGPT and FIREFLY) with some halftone brushes I use.
so it his an Art Crime? You tell me!
Outro
If you made it this far, congratulations—you survived Five Fridays with your brain still attached.
The throughline this week is simple: focus on what’s real. Real people. Real work. Real community. Real help (those dogs). Real information (curated, not force-fed). And real making—whether you’re using a pencil, a brush, Photoshop, or any tool that still requires taste and intent.
If you’ve got thoughts—especially on the AI/ethics bit—hit reply or drop a comment. If you’ve got a link you think belongs in next week’s Five Fridays, send it my way.
Now go make something. Or at least don’t let the internet make you stupid today.
BE GOOD.