Asperchu
- This article discusses the award-winning comic series Asperchu and its relationship with Chris. For information about the Asperchu series itself, please see Asperchu/Background.
Asperchu is a multiple award-winning comic series created by Alec Benson Leary. His deft artwork, gripping stories, and excellent characterization has resulted in the series gaining hundreds of fans in the few short months since its inception. Many of these fans were discontented followers of the Sonichu comics, who were turned off by the comics becoming exponentially more disturbing.
Similarities to Chris
While Alec has stated that Asperchu is not a parody of Chris,[1] there are many similarities between the two. Both of them are overweight, bespectacled, striped-shirt wearing naïve individuals who find themselves somewhat out of place in the world. They both address the masses through YouTube videos, and both are preoccupied with finding a boyfriend-free girl to make into a sweetheart.
These similarities between the two characters have resulted in no shortage of rage from Chris. He seems to feel that the only reason Asperchu exists is to poke fun at him. He also takes serious offense at the idea of a Sonichu who suffers from Asperger syndrome, for some reason.
Chris on Asperchu
| “ | Die, you son of a bitch! Alec... Die. | ” |
| Chris[2] | ||
It's no secret that Chris hates Asperger's syndrome (and presumably everybody that suffers from it), due to some illusory sense of competition between Asperger's and other disorders on the autism spectrum. The knowledge that someone had created a series about an Electric Hedgehog Pokémon who suffered from the affliction did not sit well with him. He became even angrier when the creator of the series himself started sending him e-mails.
The first recorded communication we have between Alec and Chris implies that Alec had been in contact with him multiple times outside of the public view and that Chris had responded to these communications negatively.[3] Chris didn't respond any better on his public mailbag, claiming that Alec was jealous of him and inexplicably alleging that the included fan art of Asperchu and Sonichu implied homosexuality.
Upset that Chris would jump to such conclusions, Alec sent him another letter, depicting Sonichu and Asperchu having good, masculine, straight fun.[4] This letter was even more poorly received.
Undaunted, Alec continued to send letters to Chris's mailbag, thinking that perhaps the man he respected so much really just misunderstood him. A few of these letters were ignored, some were coldly dismissed, but Chris's most notable responses were explosive outbursts of anger and hatred. Eventually, Chris began refusing to respond to Alec's correspondence, or deleting his messages outright.
In Asperchu Issue C, Chris made an appearance asking for help from the characters to save Asperchu. Later, he and CChanSonichuCWC met up with each other, leading to a standoff where Chris tried to shoot him. Chris responded to the comic, mentioning that he was set on fire in the comic. He didn't seem to notice that he was also called by the name Ian Brandon Anderson, nor did he notice the appearance of Liquid Chris.
When the Asperchu saga started taking off, Chris's schedule for his own comic dropped drastically.
Beyond this, Chris made clear that he also hates the comic because of its "uncensored pictures" and "low resolution and blocky art". Here, we see Chris's hypocrisy in action. The "uncensored pictures" he's all up in arms over are just minor posters hung up mostly in Asperchu's room and even so, they are mostly hidden away by the character's heads. Chris's "uncensored pictures" are done by the main characters in full view, despite the fact that Sonichu is supposed to be a "kids' comic". Chris probably took the terms "blocky" and "low-resolution" from the Family Guy episode Road to the Multiverse. Of course, compared to Chris's art, it's practically the fucking ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. It helps that Alec is humble and doesn't try to act like his artwork is amazing and worthy of being hung in a museum.
Asperpedia
After finishing the first three issues of his comic, Alec Benson Leary set up his own Mediawiki website where one could read all existing comics, as well as a number of articles about the world of Asperchu, and read fan mail answered by Mr. Leary. Soon afterward, portals were added to the site for other notable comics, such as Evan's Simonchu, and Sonichu is Dead creator Sean August Watley's latest project, Moon-Pals. In February 2010, more comics were added, including Alec's Sonichu Revolution, Sean's Sonichu is Dead and Sonichu is Gay, and Isabel Monday's Capering Berries.
Jack Thaddeus, recognizing the incredible profit potential of Asperchu, immediately began advertising the new website on the CWCipedia. Chris responded to these new ads, and his newfound knowledge of Alec's website with a series of increasingly disturbing videos[5] where he made his opinions on the matter quite clear.
Alec, being a gentle soul, has not directly responded to any of Chris's offensive videos. When asked by a concerned fan, he outlined his planned course of action as one of peace, citing his personal hero, Mahatma Gandhi. His webmaster, Mao "Bamboo" Ling has opted for a more direct approach, speaking to Chris directly in two short YouTube videos.
The large banner ad for Asperpedia was replaced by a link to information on the U.S. Government's efforts to help the victims of the earthquake in Haiti, because Alec cares about the plight of his fellow men.
Due to the growing popularity of Asperchu over Sonichu, the site later set up a fan portal where aspiring writers can make their own Sonichu fanfictions. Various pre-existing titles, including Sonichu: The Animated Series, are also hosted in the fan section. There is even a parody version of CWCipedia set up by Mao, where totally fictitious articles on Sonichu-related things are made, including photoshopped images of the original comic.
Eventually, on May 27, 2010, Mao took complete control of CWCipedia, after which Alec and Vivian Gee started uploading Sonichu Season 2. The CWCipedia was then permanently deleted for Mao to gain the upper hand after noting to the Comic Fury staff that, without Sonichu and Chris to bargain for a lower price, they must be forced to sign with him. The rights to the Asperpedia was then sold for $150,000.
The Asperpedia was eventually shut down, however, according to Alec Benson Leary, "It was run by a spazlord who took it down randomly in a fidgety fit one day. I didn't care to fight for it."
The 19 January Demands
On 19 January 2010, Chris uploaded twelve new pages of Sonichu #10, which are centered mostly around Asperchu and the Asperpedia. Ever the heroic savior, Chris pictures himself, along with Ultra Sonichu, destroying the slanderous Asperpedia and saving Alec's characters from their terrible affliction, with Asperchu himself getting an "EXTREME ELECTRIC MAKEOVER" and becoming "Mitch Sonichu".
Not content with this, Chris then issued an ultimatum to Alec through a blog post:
| “ | Although within Alec's Hands, Asperchu IS a horrific joke, not only because of the uncensored nudity, wrongful character usage and all that, but also because the whole thing is drawn in a c***py Blocky and Low Resolution way.
I still have NO association with Alec Benson Leary OR HIS Asperchu character Whatsoever, but I will forgive Alec for his error if he FOLLOWS from my new plot and Extreme Electric Makeover as a template. He is no longer "Asperchu", just call him Mitch Sonichu. |
” |
| Chris's featured quote on January 19, 2010. | ||
Alec didn't listen to Chris's demands, instead keeping everyone there and just introducing Mitch Sonichu as simply "Mitch Chu", who appears to be a gay stylist, as well as Whisp Sonichu as the character Whispy Sonichu, Punchy's slow-in-the-mind cousin.
Apologies
In a 1 February 2010 video, Chris finally admitted that Asperchu was not a parody of himself or his original creation, Sonichu, and was instead a completely original character. He also apologized for spreading lies about Alec, such as suggesting that he only responded to fan mail that puts him in a positive light, and for the constant death threats against him. In addition, he apologized for trying to commandeer Evan's Simonchu character (though he tactfully avoided mentioning his blatant ripoff, Simonla).
However, Chris's real motivations quickly become obvious as he proceeded to beg Alec and Evan to help him take down the CWCipedia ads, which had become increasingly homoerotic and insulting to Chris.
A few days later, Chris made another video fully apologizing for his threats towards the four, deciding to give up Simonla and delivering a half-assed Forgiveness Blessing to Mao, in the hope of finally removing the ads (which also included a parody of ShecameforCWC.JPG involving him and his mom and an obituary for Chris).
On 25 February 2010, Chris released the last pages of Sonichu #10, in which he did kill off Simonla... but turned around and brutally executed the "Asperpedia Four."
A revised version, inspired by Chris's sweetheart Jackie, replaced the death sentences with a lifetime placement among the Amish. Jackie insisted on a parade in honor of Alec and Asperchu[6][7][8] but Chris did not honor his promise.
By 2017, Chris had become more amenable towards Sonichu fan-fiction and parodies. He apologized to Alec in a Facebook post that October and offered that if Alec would print Asperchu through a self-publishing site, he would trade printed Sonichu in exchange.[9]
Phone calls
- Main article: Alec Benson Leary calls
| “ | Encourage the fans that were originally my fans to come back to me. | ” |
| Chris | ||
On 9 February 2010, Mao sent Evan and Sean a series of seven phone conversations between Alec Benson Leary and Chris. While these conversations were meant to stay between the Asperpedia staff, they were eventually leaked by Mao for the world to hear. An eighth and ninth phone call between Chris and Alec followed on 18 February and 25 February, respectively.
Alec also portrayed Lars in a phone call with Chris.[10]
Trial and execution of Asperpedia staff
| “ | We can't be consumed by our petty differences anymore. | ” |
| Chris, Sonichu #10 | ||
Despite Alec attempting to help Chris out several times during the phone calls, Chris involved Alec (along with Mao, Sean, and Evan) in the penultimate pages of Sonichu #10. They are portrayed as stupid, murderous characters, who are tried by CWCville's court for the murder of Simonla Rosechu, as well as the theft and mockery of several citizens of CWCville. After a kangaroo court trial (in CWCville's favor, of course), Alec and co. are sentenced to death, Alec specifically in a "ten-button Electric chair". He is electrocuted to death by various characters that were "misrepresented" in Asperchu, including Sonichu, who states that he is "not gay" as he jointly ends Alec's life. Chris himself joins in on the fun, and ironically, and also hypocritically, states that Alec is a "d*** lunatic," after which he helps fry him to a crisp, before proceeding to violently contort Mao's limbs backward until they snap using telekinesis, followed shortly after by crushing his heart. Evan is horribly mutilated by Sandy Rosechu whilst chained to a wall, and Sean is executed by a firing squad from Bill the Scientist, Kel, and Allison.
Amidst this brutality, Chris sees fit to apologize for some of his own wrongdoings towards the Asperchu Four, as well as his fans.
In recent updates to Sonichu #11, Chris made good on his promise to "revive" Simonla. However, the pages reveal that she never died in the first place. This means that Chris set up the trial on a whim just so he would have a convenient excuse to kill Alec, Mao, Sean, and Evan.
Sonichu Revolution
When the CWCipedia was taken down during the Simonchu dispute, it appeared Chris was not going to budge and would possibly set up shop elsewhere. Considering Chris's laziness, how long that might take was anyone's guess. The possibility that no new comics would appear for days, weeks, or even months was likely, and this didn't take into account how often Chris's new digs would get hacked. Fortunately, Alec, being the nice guy that he is, decided Sonichu fans should not be deprived of the promised reboot. He took it upon himself to not only deliver fans new pages through Chris's site but to also take care of the looming copyright issues that Chris had been unwilling to tackle. All while still uploading new Asperchu comics.
Chris, of course, took this in entirely the wrong way. In the eighth phone call, he accused Alec of stealing his work and attempting to impersonate him. While he expressed offense at the violence of some of the Sonichu Revolution strips, he showed no signs of grasping the way Alec's comic mocks the unoriginality, moral hypocrisy, sexual degeneracy, and generally warped outlook of Chris's original Sonichu stories.
Sonichu Revolution Gallery
CWCipedia advertisements
Shortly after 110mb returned from what may have been its billionth outage, a large Asperchu ad appeared at the top of every article, depicting Sonichu shooting Chris in the calves (sound familiar?) while calling him a "fat little son of a bitch". Chris claimed that the ad didn't get to him, but given his history with trollsome ads, a non-reaction was nigh-impossible.
Jackie came across this ad and, thinking it was one of the Sonichu comics, thought it was, as advertised, fucking awesome. Chris explained to her it was really a troll advertisement, which eventually lead to him showing her CWCki and her finding out what a lazy monster he is, ending the online correspondence. So even if it failed to provoke a response from Chris, it managed to perform some small service in the larger scheme of things.
Eventually, the ad was taken down, although it was quickly replaced with another, smaller one featuring a callback to the scene of Evan's cold-blooded torture from Sonichu #10. Chris never responded to this, most likely because he was too busy bitching about not being unbanned from The GAMe PLACe.
Yet another ad was put up a few days later, depicting Chris's final death. It was taken down relatively quickly and replaced with an Autism Awareness Month ad (featuring a mention of the hated Asperger's syndrome, no less), so it isn't unreasonable to believe Chris may have missed this one entirely.
Legacy
One of the last surviving relics of the Asperchu saga met its demise during the fire which ravaged 14 Branchland Court on 10 January 2014. The Asperchu medallion, gifted to Chris by Alec, was destroyed in the fire, as Chris revealed in a Facebook post on 2 August 2014.[11] Notably, the somber tone Chris takes on in this post when recalling the destruction of this and other fan items seems to suggest that his feelings toward Alec and Asperchu as a whole may have softened over the years, though he could have just been feigning this for sympathy to e-beg.
Strangely, Chris stated that he did not know who made the medallion (or any of the other lost fan creations), suggesting that he might not remember Alec at all.
Asperchu was mentioned in the CatKnight Interview, in which Arthur Spatchcock brought up the series as a potential threat to Sonichu's distribution in Europe, likely due to Alec's claim on the copyright of the character Mitch Sonichu. Chris reasoned that Asperchu "is definitely not a canon character" in his comics, except for when he is, rendering the issue moot as far as Chris is concerned.[12] Once again, Alec is not mentioned directly.
Idea Guy influences
- Main article: Idea Guys
During the Idea Guy saga, Chris's belief in multiple dimensions was exploited and his sense of reality was hijacked to make changes to many of Chris's characters, concepts, and perspective of the real world, with him considering them to be valid. Ideas involving Alec and Asperchu include:
- Chris wanted clarification over what really happened in Sonichu #10 and asked Idea Guy if Alec and the other Asperpedia Four trolls were saved by becoming Amish or executed. Since Idea Guy was playing Payday 2 at the time, he used the character Bodhi's bio for a revised version of Alec, telling Chris that Alec had escaped and giving Chris the picture of Bodhi, saying it was Alec.[13]
- Asperchu is one of the 69 Destined Sonichus and Rosechus.[14]
References
- ↑ Mailbag 32
- ↑ Down With Asperchu
- ↑ Mailbag 10#Meet Asperchu
- ↑ Mailbag 17#Sonichu loves Asperchu no homo
- ↑ Down with Asperchu, 12 January 2010, 14 January 2010, 15 January 2010, U8C43P2A37A8 y U8C1N023V0L
- ↑ Jackie E-mails 19
- ↑ Jackie E-mails 20
- ↑ Lars Call
- ↑ https://sonichu.com/cwcki/October_2017_Facebook_posts#Print_editions_for_fancomics
- ↑ https://kiwifarms.net/threads/abl-q-a.805/#post-54378
- ↑ August 2014 Facebook Posts
- ↑ CatKnight Interview, part 1, 8:40.
- ↑ Idea Guy Q&A
- ↑ File:69_Sonichus.jpg
See also
- Asperchu/Background: More about the comic itself.
External links
 Asperchu Saga
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| Coinciding Sagas: CWCipedia | ||