It’s been a wild fucking four years, and this ending was nothing short of cathartic and perfect
I honestly lost it at pasqualo’s last line, that brought everything full circle, I guess you could say” I wasnt ready” lmao.
Anyway, Gob, you beautiful fucking madman, thank you so much! This comic was awesome and both it and you are a great inspiration!
Best of luck in all your future projects, and I can’t to see what’s next!
I am so happy that the silly photo manipulations you and I rapped about on stream were actually used for the luminous egg visuals! I feel privileged to have helped even a teensy bit! Shame you couldn’t squeeze in any of those trippy spectral hoagies.
This has been quite the ride but I would definitely always again buy the tickets for it forever. Twice.
Me proud of u gobbo. Super turbo proud long time.
Thanks so much for your hard work, Gob. I found the comic by glancing into a /co/ thread, just after the apocalypse, and have been hooked ever since. I’m really going to miss all these dumb losers, and the ending leaves a hole in my heart. The last arc of Pas losing his mind while going through space is some of the most poignant comics I’ve ever read.
Does this mean that Aurora wins that Pasqualo bowl? I don’t think you can get closer than ‘sharing a body’ or ‘merged into a composite being’.
Looking forward to your next work, whatever it’ll be. I’ll still hope for a sequel, one day. I’m sure Pas would have filled his universe with magical girls and talking ponies and shit.
Could’ve made one last jojoke, but I really did love this comic! Don’t know when I started reading up on it, but I do know that this comic has a gig that I like. Sad to see it end, but it was great reading it!
the question is though, when do we get a spin-off? 😉
Gob, I’ve only been keeping up with It Hurts! for the last year, but thank you so much for making this project the over-the-top emotional and ridiculous shitfest it was. Congrats on finishing such a huge project. Looking forward to keeping up with your work in the future.
Btw, would love to pick up a hardcover of It Hurts! one day, if that can ever happen. Would be a great way to introduce other people to the series.
So I got some last questions since this is the end. What was Pasqualo’s Mom talking about before she got zapped out of existence? Did Aurora take Pasqualo’s place in the new universe? If not, then what happened to Pasqualo?
Jen lived her life like she was the “one” and the main protagonist of her own story. She thought she was the “one” but it turned out it was our Pasqualo all along.
Pasqualo gave up his existence to Aurora could take his place. Our Pasqualo is no more.
I fell off of this comic when I stopped browsing /co/ a few years back, but saw Time when I was checking the site early this month and was inspired to read the whole thing from first issue to last after that. This comic is weird and wonderful and absurdly amazing, I have never been so satisfied with a comic in my life. I hope that I can write something as wonderful one day.
I had a feeling Pasqualo was about to do what he did, but seeing it really happened still left a lump in my throat. That little fucker owned his dorky weirdness and it inspired me. Rest in nonexistence, you silly cyborg boy, you were too good for this universe.
Thanks for everything Gob, Joseph and Grail! You have added a piece of art I will try to treasure and share for the rest of my life. I have one question: Those ghostly blonde people that pasqualo sees at The End, are they previous iterations of Pasqualo that made the universe? Are they ancestors of Pasq? That panel seemed a bit unclear to me.
So he’s the first one to give up his life in the new universe, huh. I wonder if any of the previous Pasqualos had their Auroras that they chose to leave behind, of if they’ve never had a predicament like that.
Also, is that why he’s “special”? Because he’s the reincarnation of all those previous creators of the universe?
Anyways, congrats on finishing the comic, guys!! It does hurt, but in the best way <3 Thank y'all for the ride, can't wait to see what you're up to next!
I was introduced to this comic very recently and I read it all in one sitting. This was great, your comic really lived up to its name, never expected I would feel for this characters, but I did. You managed to write a very endearing friendship in this comic and I am glad I got to read it. More importantly you did something I and a lot of others never really end up doing, you finished the damn thing, and that takes dedication. Good job, Gob, Josef and Grail, you did it.
DUDE, THAT ENDING WAS SO AWESOME, GOD BLESS.
I only recently got into this webcomic, thanks to a friend, and I am SO glad I did, because it really was AMAZING.
I do have one question, though, but of course if you’d rather not say, that’s fine: did Pasqualo give up his ability to have a mortal consciousness so Aurora could be the new Pasqualo, or rather, did he kind of fuse consciousnesses with her, so they BOTH could be?
Thank you for answering my question, Gob! I really appreciate it, and again, thank you SO much for this awesome webcomic. I do have two other questions, though: how is Katie doing in this new universe, and are Katie and Aurora!Pasqualo a couple? If you can’t say, again, that’s perfectly okay.
Thank you! Katie is alive and well in the new universe. At the moment in time we see, I don’t believe they’re a couple. Whether or not they’ll become a couple … I’m not sure! Good question 🙂
Gob, It Hurts is easily my favorite webcomic of all time. You’ve come a long way since Erik the Juiceman (which I discovered some approximately en years ago on 4chan’s flash board.) This comic has made me laugh on countless occasions, and a couple of times it’s moved me to tears. You and your team are powerful storytellers.
I want you to know that you’ve become somewhat of a role model in my eyes. You’re depiction of depression is so apt, I can only infer that it must come from a personal place. Pasqualo understands what it means to be depressed, and by extension, so does the person who writes him. And it helps knowing that I’m not alone. But you never stopped doing what you love. You never threw in the towel and went back to bed and just stayed there for two weeks. You kept on chugging, you kept writing and drawing, and you saw this beautiful creation through to the end. You have my utmost respect.
I hope to see more wonderful stories from you in the future.
Your kind words mean the world to me. Thank you for sticking around for so long and reading my stuff. I’m very glad that it’s given you the kind of hope I was trying to convey. Take care <3 <3 <3
This was great Gob. I started reading this nearly 3 years ago, and this is perhaps the only webcomic I’ve read that I’ve kept up with regularly after the first night. It made me feel, and I thank you for that.
What was it like for Ally, Katie, and the rest when they realized Pasqualo was gone? Did they ever go to Satan to find out what was up? How did they spend the rest of their existence?
Was that God laughing in the background of the previous comic? Was it all to get back at Pasqualo for punching him in the face in GD?
And if there are multiple Pasqualos from multiple existences like GD, does that mean each existence’s Pasqualo is a reincarnation of the previous existence’s Aurora, and our Pasqualo would appear like a ghost along with the other Pasqualos if this Pasquaulora ended up in a similar situation to ours?
Ally and Katie realized Pasqualo was gone. See, this is sad for me to say, but they were probably really sad for a while and probably spent a good amount of time trying to find Pasqualo. They lived on the rest of their hell-lives one way or another though. Honestly I’d rather not think about that too much. Too sad 🙁
That face in the background of the previous comment is something drawn by my friend that I decided to slap in the background. I found it fitting because it looked crazy and I figured it accented how bonkers Pasq was becoming.
This is the first time that a “Pasqualo” has given up his own existence for someone else. 🙂
You know what? I can’t think of any more satisfying an ending than this. Great damn work gob, soon as I get past that whole “wait shit what do I actually do here” phase of trying to write that damned spinoff quest I’m gonna try and work some similar ideas into it about exploring emotional comeuppance/generosity.
Hey Gob, long time reader, first time commenter. I’ve been tuning in weekly for years now, and I’ve been dreading the day it ended. It’s incredible to see how much you’ve improved both as an artist and as a writer. Thank you for the wild ride, as well as all of the hilarious dialogue and reaction images. I can’t wait to see what you come up with next, it’ll make me jack off so hard i’ll rip my dick off <3
I don’t really know quite how to word how I feel. I can’t help but sob, not from sorrow, but from Pasqualo getting what he wanted. He got to make everyone happy, even he got to be happy in his end. The final time we see him, it’s with a smile on his face. And I think that’s all we needed, for him to have found a way to be happy. For everyone to get their happiness, or their shot at it. What started as the story of a sad, stupid little boy falling in love, filled with swearing, word bubbles packed with nigh-nonsense, and general silliness has actually managed to make my heart move. And I’m now quite sure what direction it’s moving just yet, but I know that I have you to thank for it. So thank you Gob, thank you Josef, thank you Grail, thank you cheeseburgers, thank you Kat’s Vietnam House. Thanks for being a fact of life for almost every week of the last nearly half a decade.
And here’s hoping you’ve got more left in you, even if we never see these characters again. Because whatever else you make will be sure to move more hearts in ways they didn’t know they could be moved.
Honestly Gob, this whole comic was a fucking trip. I found out about it in a LOL thread. I only saw the first couple pages and I thought it was some stupid piece of garbage. But I grew to love it, the art, the characters, and the story. All in all this ending fucking HURTS but I love it so much.
IT HURTS!! has inspired me to get fucking cracking on my own webcomic, thank you for being such an inspiration Gob.
Man this was a wild ride from start to finish. Thank you Gob for creating one of my favorite webcomics in recent memory. I’m a lil sad that I started reading in december of 2016 though I wish I was there since the beginning.
I’ve never commented before, and I usually never do, but I just wanted to say this ending was amazing. Back when I first started reading this comic, I never expected it to evolve the way it did, and especially never get to the point that it legitimately moved me. Good job, you brilliant jackass.
Thanks for all of this, Gob. It Hurts has been such a great webcomic, I have incredibly mixed feelings now that it’s over. I’m looking forward to supporting you in whatever you plan on doing next (it had better have more JoJo references).
What can I say about this comic that hasn’t already been said before: it was a fantastic, bitchin, awesome, badass, mesmerizing, amazing, out of this world, off the wall, off the chain, off the roof, absolute most positively good comic I have ever read.
I don’t say that lightly either. I’ve read many funny webcomics, from WHOMP, to Awkward Zombie, and even Brawl in the Family. But this was something I’m glad I stuck through to the very end, and I was happy to have gotten the privilege and the honor to read such a good comic, and the ending was pretty much exactly what I hoped for. You even put Samurai Jack’s ending to shame, and I was a big fan of that too.
So thank you Gob. It hurts to see the end of the comic (pun intended) but it’s a happy ending fo rme.
Thank you for the fun ride, it truly was a blast. Do you intend to keep the books up for sale a while longer, I’d love to get them but my current living situation doesn’t leave a lot of physical space for books.
That was beautiful, man, it really was. Pasqualo gave everything in the end for the happiness Aurora rightfully deserved, and Pasqualo was no more. This and the last arc with Pasqualo slowly waiting for the heat end of the universe were the best in my opinion.
Holy balls, Gob. That was beautiful.
I honestly wasn’t sure how this was going to end, but titty-flipping christ you managed to make it very satisfying. Honestly, I’m pretty relieved!
This has been the single best webcomic I have ever read, and one of the best things I have ever read/watched in any catagory. It’s earned a spot alongside a handful of other things that have had a real effect on me and I’ll never forget this so long as I live.
You’re one rad dude and thanks for the ride. It was pretty wild.
I feel like even if over, I’ll be coming here time to time just to give it one more last read.
Any positive feedback you get from this, you’ve earned Gob.
Thanks for your service! It’s been a great ride, looking forward to your guyses next project. I like that you put George Washington Carver in there, the invention of peanut butter really is one of the most important moments in the history of the universe.
I’ve always believed something impossible–when I was younger, I dreamt of the same girl repeatedly, even though I didn’t know her and couldn’t remember her face, just her hair and her smile. I was happy when I had those dreams, and that was pretty much the only time.
I’ve always believed she’s a real person. I stopped having those dreams in high school, but I never stopped believing. A few times, I thought girls around me could be her, and was wrong, and I gradually learned that it wouldn’t be that easy.
That was 20 years ago.
This year, I think I’ve found her, except it should be impossible, and in the end I may just be wrong again. But I’ve lived my life looking for her, hoping that she was living a happy life, even as I failed at various aspects of my own as I despaired of finding her.
I can say for sure I’d have made the same choice as Pasqualo. Yet, it’s still hard for me to accept this ending.
But it was a beautiful (and hilarious) story, gob. It really was. For selfish reasons, I wish it would go on. Greatly looking forward to your future projects, even if they don’t have bizarre parallels to my own peculiar existence.
Hello Gob, haven’t posted a comment in a long time but definitely need to now.
I started reading this after seeing it on /co/ when the first few pages of the first chapter were up.
I very much feel blessed I got to be a part of the entire ride and see all the hilarity unfold. Seeing your crowd grow and the writing and art transform beyond what was perceived as a simple, juvenile comic into something amazing.
I very much appreciate the work you did and signing my copy of volume 1 and everything. It takes a lot of work to see something to the end and commit to ending something. It does sadden me and is bittersweet that now I can no longer look forward to the next update of “It Hurts!” as I have been accustomed. I am now institutionalized to your output, can’t live outside this world.
stupid theory time:
Theory time: It’s an endless cycle.
Pasqualo praid for Happiness, go hard and passed the good word to Harmony who created Aurora.
It ends up in apocalypse and the world being recreated with Aurora being giben the place of Pasqualo.
but qtpiepasquarora want to find true love too and pray for it and thus Harmony recreate Pasqualo. It result in the end of the world and the universe too.
They have been exchanging position for eternity, now.
In the last few comics when Pasqualo is talking to God, God says it may have had something to do with “Pasqualo being an anomaly”… whatever that means. Maybe with him being so weird and unpredictable his subconscious triggered the apocalypse factor in Aurora.
Heyo! Not sure if you remember me, but I’ve been keep track on you way before the apocolapyse! It’s been one hell of a ride my friend. You’re literally the last webcomic I read because you’ve got characters I actually care for, which is amazing. Seeing Pasq’s evolution from beginning to end was one huge trip.
The ending is beautiful. Took me a reread to process it but once I did it hit me hard. While I’m sadden to see this beautiful series end, I’m so glad to see it end in a highnote! I’m so getting your hardcovers man. I actually woke up to something pleasant, and I thank you for it.
IT HURTS!! was a blast! I can’t wait to see what you do next!!
-Stitchlips
http://i.imgur.com/BNe44k3.png
That’s pretty crazy, at what point were you sure on the ending? I remember you saying that you originally had it planned up to chapter 100, and then you started deciding the rest of the story from there.
that has to be one of the best endings, maybe the best, i’ve read for any literary work. just wow. i’m floored… in a world where so many people write trite, same-y, and predictable stories of self sacrifice, you outdid them all and yourself, making this a fantastic send off. hot damn. bravo. all that stuff i wrote about this being a work of art is still true.
that being said i’m real sad to see this webcomic go. i remember earlier in college the first thing i’d do waking up on monday/wednesday/friday (or staying up into them…) is check out this page and see what the fuck was happening next. always kept me guessing. it’ll be weird not looking forward to new updates, its been part of my life for quite some time now.
gob, i hope you continue to make things, because i’m sure id always love to see them. hopefully next time i can arse myself to contribute more than just a single fan art. good luck and thank you!!
(P.S. sorry about never getting back to you on twitter about that christmas ornament i won. so so sorry – i forgot twitter existed for a while! hope it found a good home.)
I’m simply at a loss for words to describe my experience reading your comic.
All I can say is: thank you for making your comic, thank you for sticking to it, improving on it together with everybody involved, and simply ending it with a formfitting ending.
It is truly; a work of art.
And I suppose I feel the compulsive need to share this with you because of it(I’m sorry).
I was listening to “for the kids” by M83 a few days ago, it moved me so much that I had to start a storyboard for it(Although a compilation of this comic set to it would work better perhaps); however I have never animated a storyboard of myself that, was not a project for school/work and, that I also saw through to the end, even though the storyboards are always finished to be used for one.
I’m too much of a perfectionist to get anything done that isn’t an assignment that I’m doing for somebody else; and thus I self-destruct or stop after getting entangled in the details of any project.
I’m also scared for showing myself on the internet more than I am already traceable for, I think people will chase me, or that I will become one of the many “THOSE” type of people of the internet.
Albeit it not being a rational fear, or a likely outcome per sé.
I think that I have “fear of expectation”, and that I am hindering myself into being able to artistically express myself to others.
However it is works like IT HURTS! that move me to actually try getting over this, and to finally belt out my art just like how people like you have been doing, all I do is improve myself off-line, which I am currently using as well as an excuse to avoid animating any storyboards that I have laying around.
I would like to ask you for maybe a tiny bit of advice, I understand of-course that, you don’t have to answer, and that you won’t have any answers for me by default, or even read anything of this little bellyache of mine, but I at least tried, and I was able to show gratitude to you for all your hard work.
Thank you very much, I’m happy that there are people like you who can make art that moves everybody this much.
I wish I could do the same.
Thank you so much. Your story touched me. It’s funny you mentioned M83 specifically because I listened to one of their songs on repeat while coming up with the scene where Pasqualo said goodbye to Allison.
As for advice, one thing to know about me is that I’m a technical doofus. I can barely write and I can barely draw, but over the years I’ve become decent at creating goofy stuff.
Your fear of being exposed reminds me of how I was at the start of IT HURTS. My anxiety was at an all-time high and I only really drew the comic to make my friends laugh. Josef, my best friend (also the editor/co-creator/co-writer) eventually convinced me to let him share my comic with strangers.
It’s not easy to put yourself out there especially when you’re afraid. But honestly the worst that could happen is that people say you suck. It’s how you handle criticism that can either help you grow or turn you into a butthead.
The best way to go about creating something is to stay true to your ideas and what’s in your heart (I know, that’s corny). Don’t simply do what you think an audience wants. If you get an audience, people will say you suck. That’s always gonna feel a million times louder than those that like your work. Separate those who just shit on you from those who have something constructive to say. Ignore the shit-talk and think on the constructive criticism. If you find that you’re lacking in a certain area you can ALWAYS improve through practice. Just keep going. Keep creating.
I’m very lucky. My best friend is a legit writer with a razor sharp sense of humor. My wife is a legit artist and designer who also has a razor sharp sense of humor. The two of them have helped me grow immensely. If you can, find someone you’re comfortable around who you trust knows their shit. 🙂
I wish you the best of luck, dude. I hope this helps.
Thank you very much for your awesome and very intuitive advice!
I’m so happy that you can relate to a beginner like me, I will take your advice to heart, and use it as a reminder for myself, every-time I struggle with my anxiety when I want to create and post my art.
I will do my very best to deal with criticism to my best ability, focussing on the constructive and the positive.
And even if it’s not worded nice in anyway, if there is something to learn from it, I will try to learn from it.
I will be on the lookout for people that I’m comfortable with to help me improve, and of-course for me to help them back too.
And I will start to create my animations and illustrations side-by-side with learning and improving my craft.
Especially your line: “The best way to go about creating something is to stay true to your ideas and what’s in your heart (I know, that’s corny). Don’t simply do what you think an audience wants.”
is sticking to me right now.
But all of your advice is helping me tremendously!
Gob, I wasn’t typing much in the comments, but I was a regular reader for years. Your story was as wild as beautiful. Thank you for these years, and congratulations.
Thanks for all the fun times Gob. I started this comic while dealing with depression and I honestly think it has helped a lot. It hurts to say goodbye but Im really excited to see what is coming next.
Wonderful ending. What a wild ride. Funny and sweet and philosophical, in a lovely, finite package. Thank you for all the great work y’all’ve done. It’ll be a tall order finding another comic this good.
man thanks for this crazy Journey Rosa it was a wild ride from A Slice of Life to a post-apocalyptic journey to a he’ll Slice of Life and now we’re here in the feels bittersweet before we part ways will there be another podcast
Been reading since a little before #100. This has been excellent through and through. I subbed to your Patreon (you even drew a silly picture of my niece with Pikachu and a great Ally/Poop piece) and never regretted it. This is astounding work and you guys should all be proud. Thanks for the ride.
Question: What is Pasqurora drawing in that last scene?
It was an amazing experience Gob. The only thing that popped into my mind during this ending was one word “beautiful”. You did a great job at tying everything up and I’m happy to have been following this webcomic for so long.
All the same, I’d imagine that if it was dubbed over, it’d start with our Pasqualo and then slowly fade into Aurora’s voice, just to make everyone cry even more.
I’ve been reading this comic for at least 2 years and only now have I seen fit to leave a comment on your actual website instead of the comics and cartoons board on the Cantonese Basket Weaving Forum.
Just want to congratulate you and your team for a job well done. The thing I’m most sad about is that I don’t get to read new updates anymore. But alas, all good things etcetera.
Anywho, for a pack of strangers whose faces I may have seen once or twice, I love you and wanna say thanks again.
Thanks for everything you’ve shared with us!! I loved reading it from start to finish. One of the most innovative comics I’ve ever read, not to mention often humorous and touching in spades. I’ll be following along with whatever you put out next too.
I’m not crying! You’re crying!
Best webcomic of all time. Best comic i’ve ever read. I hope an omnibus gets released, so this can sit on my bookshelf forever.
Hi. I’ve been reading It Hurts for a pretty long time, since a little while after the apocalypse happened.. I’ve never commented before but I figure now is a good time to start. Thanks for making this. It’s really something great and it’s given me a lot of laughs through bad times. Can’t wait to see what you make next!
I’ve been reading since around comic 210, after I discovered your site via an extensive web search attempting to find out what happened to the Erik the Juiceman guy. ETJM was one of my favorite webcomics at the time, and when I discovered you had started a new series, I was sure it wouldn’t live up to my expectations, or make up for the abandonment (or at least indefinite hiatus-ing) of ETJM. I was wrong- It Hurts!! was everything I could have hoped for and more. It’s so effortlessly charming- you created from a messy, crude, flawed, unhappy bunch of misfits one of the most likeable, relatable casts of characters I’ve ever had the pleasure of getting to know. The comedy was almost freakishly consistent in its brilliance, and while I won’t pretend that the art wasn’t the weakest aspect of it, I really can’t imagine it being drawn any other way. Thank you so damn much for telling this story- reading it has been an absolute blast.
Thank you for this comic and all your hard work that went into it. Fantastic ending and I’m glad I had the opportunity to follow along. It’s been a wild ride
Let me see if I’ve got this straight. All the other Pasqualos are from previous ‘loops’. They all ended up getting rebooted and punching God in the face at the last moment – this time, God played a prank in the hopes that it would prevent another humiliating face-punch. God got mad at the end of GD not because he got punched, but because he got punched AGAIN.
And now that Pasqualo has effectively taken himself out of the equation, the cycle is broken. Forever.
This has honestly been a thoroughly enjoyable read. It was crude and weird at times, but undeniably genuine and downright thoughtful at times too. I’ve never read a comic quite like this before. Thank you, to you and your team, for making it.
Awesome ending, got super deep and shit- I loved it.
The one thing I didn’t get is why Chaos is wrapping Harmony up in the curtain at one point… they just getting bored or is this some kind of pop-culture reference I’m not getting?
The multiple Pasqualos clapping was great, and Harmony’s face when he asks if she’s Aurora and she’s like “nuh-uh”, “ehh…”, “well…”, “sorta” …nicely done!
I thought it was a great choice on Pasqualo’s part to forget about recreating Aurora and just become a chick himself, but from reading some of the comments I started to wonder at other’s interpretations… is that chick “Pasqualo” or something new?
The curtain wrapping thing was something I improvised out of boredom. I was tired of them standing still while talking, so I just had them do whatever popped in my head.
He basically retconned his part in the life he lived and put Aurora in his place. Since the two of them could never exist in the same universe without the apocalypse happening, he created one without himself. Understandable since he probably had more than enough of ‘himself’ after all those years flying through space.
I’d imagine Pasq made his parents a lot nicer i this one too. The only thing he couldn’t make was a genuine Aurora that exists in the same universe as Pasqualo without an apocalypse.
What a wild ride, sad to see the end but it was better than I could have ever imagined. One question, Harmony’s face at the end… she realized what Pasq was about to do, right? Huge props to you, Grail, and Josef. Going to pick up volume 2 soon, can’t wait for volume 3 and whatever you have coming next Gob.
Dude I’m so confused. If Pasqualo gave up his existence for Aurora, then why does Aurora have blond hair and blue eyes like Pasqualo? I mean this is a good ending but its bothering me as to why the new Aurora looks like Pasqualo and her name is STILL Pasqualo if he doesn’t exist anymore…
For what i understand, Aurora was a “fragment” of a higher being, she was not “whole”, to put it in a way. Pasqualo, for once, did a selfless thing and became something that completes Aurora. Now she can spend the rest of her mortal days like a whole being.
She and pasq are, from now on, together as one.
So there’s something I’ve been wondering about and I don’t know as it’s ever been explained: why did Aurora cause the apocalypse? What about her makes falling in love with Pasqualo the thing that causes the world to end? Why?
Well, there’s the literal reason and the non-literal reason. The literal reason is that it’s simply her nature in this unfair, cruel universe that the IT HURTS Pasqualo lived in.
Metaphorically, Aurora to me was a lot of different things over the course of this comic. Simply put, in life when it comes to dealing with difficult stuff, I don’t think there are many shortcuts out there where you don’t end up paying a price of some sort. That’s part of what Aurora was: a quick and easy “happy pill” for Pasqualo. And sort of like what happens to addicts with drugs and alcohol and whatnot, Pasqualo fell more and more in love with Aurora and suddenly his whole life got all fucked up. From Pasqualo’s perspective, Aurora was just so sweet and kind and loving and just made him feel soooo happy. And his friends didn’t see anything wrong with her at the time until it was too late.
Now, obviously Aurora isn’t just “that good good thing in life that is so so bad for you” since, like Pasqualo said, she had her own personality and feelings. The metaphor only goes so far.
Aurora was originally going to be more cold. But her personality just sort of came out gradually as I was writing those beginning comics. She was so, so, sweet yet so dangerous. I believe that there is good and bad in all things. You can’t say “life is shit.” Life is shitty, sure, but it’s not all shit. There are terrible things and there are lovely beautiful things. And that sort of positive-negative thing really intrigues me in a character. I think of Don Corleone like that sometimes. He’s a complete sweetheart of a crime boss. Fuck, I am NOT comparing my little webcomic character to a fucking LEGEND, am I? Ugh, I suck.
UPDATE: Josef pointed out to me that I hadn’t really answered your question. I just kinda described Aurora and how I came up with her character. Oops.
Please let Josef answer your question:
“Aurora’s a “magical pill” that manifests as pasqualo’s desire to be happy, and the way she does that ultimately is by radically reshaping the world into one where he thrives. At first she just makes him happy by way of her presence but once they get TOO close that triggers her ultimate purpose. It’s like, he has to reaffirm his desire to be happy above all else by staying by her despite being warned that bad things will happen.” – Josef
Congrats Gob, you managed to make a sincerily good piece of art that was engaging all around. The ending was pretty good too, it closed the story well and it won’t be forgettable, or at least i won’t never forget it.
Pasqualo pulling out a P3 prtagonist decision and forfeiting his own life.
Does that mean Pasqualo is no more, not even a “part” of Harmony?
After much thought I have decided that although the cycle is broken and Pasqualo Prime (to the unknown iteration) gave up everything about his existence to make it happen, there is still a possibility of return. Assuming he created AuroraPasqualo as completely as possible, she exists as a perfect soul mate to a soul that no longer exists. For someone with so much love to give, no matter how happy they are with the people around them, that could lead to a heartfelt prayer for something that cannot be granted except by two forces in the universe. And maybe this time, instead of Harmony answering leading to the catastrophic end of life as entropy settles towards complete order, maybe Chaos answers. And AuroraPasqualo meets a purple haired anime boy wearing jeans and a greaser jacket, finally as cool and with it as he always wanted to be. And their love spreads life and it’s resulting chaos across the stars.
so gob now that there is no chance of spoiling anything you should go back and answer all the questions you said the answer might be spoilery.
things like
What was the deal with that homeless guy aurora was singing with?
What was the deal with that cat thing in the track suit?
what did poop say to aurora when she was cleaning up the auditorium?
I might be retarded but I still don’t know the answer to a bunch of these questions
1) He was homeless and loved smoking cocaine and singing.
2) No idea what you’re talking about. Sorry sir.
3) I think Poop probably initially smelled something “very very off” about her. I thought of how animals can usually sense something weird about the weather or something. And whatever “dog word” Poop used in his sentence probably translated to something like, “Are you a powerful force of nature?”
This was an absolutely amazing ending. I couldn’t even begin to guess what the ending to Pasqualos journey could bring. It’s sad. It’s like really damn sad. IT HURTS you could say. It hurts but damn did it fit. This was a hilarious and heartwarming series that I will never forget.
Now just publish the rest of this comic in book form so I can on it all and I’ll forgive you for making me cry.
Congrats on sticking through and finishing this up. It’s amazing to see something you love come to an end!
Gob! You madman, you managed to pull a happy ending from all this unholy mess.
Also, this webcomic was one hell of a ride, but i enjoyed being on it with all of you, guys. cheers!
Gob, never in my life have I ever thought I find something that resonated with me like this. It’s been a wild ride filed with good laughs and teary eyes. Thanks for the journey, dude. I’ll never forget this comic for the rest of my life :3
Fantastic job on the entire comic Gob. I’ve been reading for close to 3 and a half years and it has been a wild ride. Every time this roller coaster went off the rails, I am shocked to find another, larger set of rails waiting underneath for it to just jump right off again. Thanks so much for all the time you put into this, and I’m looking forward to the future.
I legit teared up at this ending. God dammit, Gob.
So, when will we have the opportunity to buy the entire thing in hardcover and put “Gob” next to Junji Ito on my bookshelf?
I was honestly floored when Pasq gave himself up to give Aurora a chance. Truth be told I was expecting something along the lines of “everything is the same except Aurora is her own person with us” at first, but he got told that wasn’t really a potentiality and she would always be a construct with nothing to call her own.
Granted if there’s ever some form of continuation to this thing I fully expect what some other commenters have thought and Pasq probably gets sent down as his own Harmony-construct; or, given Chaos and Harmony, probably sent down as a Chaos-construct as a mate to a creature originally from Harmony. Who knows what would happen as a result of Aurora having her subconscious desires fulfilled from getting too close then?
Either way those cunt-ass space rhinos probably aren’t around to nuke the world just because they feel like it this time if things go apocalyptic.
Come to think of it I do definitively wonder if things won’t play out roughly the same just by virtue of how different things would be with Pasqualo having Aurora’s personality. Earlier mention was that Aurora was intended as a soulmate to Pasqualo himself, so for instance she might feel all her life there is something just *missing* and beseech a higher power (and in response get a “Borealis” for lack of a masculine equivalent of Aurora), or maybe just wallow in it or squash it down and try to ignore it. Chances are Pasqualo’s dad still made her a cyborg just for kicks, providing Aurora’s home-situation is similar. Monsterfolk are still *somewhere* since they made their presence known post-apoc, Mark’s probably furiously masturbating somewhere still or may even have had his skull forcibly removed from his head already. Pasqualo’s ma’ is still an element as well, providing she hasn’t turned over a new leaf in this world, but with how much of her life was defined by being a self-serving bitch who thinks she’s the hero there’s Chaos’s words to consider as for whether or not she’d really be Jennifer at that point.
And 1) Hope this link works because I cannot find this image on the net for the life of me, nor get it out of my old picasa album 2) hope you understand the love and adoration I intend to sling with said parallel
You are a RAD DUDE 2D EXTREME and don’t you let nobody tell you what either.
I found out about this two days ago from a /co/ and I binged it in two days. The ending actually made me cry. This is a truly amazing comic. Nice work.
Well there’s gonna be a book 4 and 5 too so if you don’t make it to book 3 you’ll have more time for the others. But maybe a few weeks if you wanna try for book 3.
Ah cool. Figured there’d only be one more because the previous ones used most of the updates up, but I guess a lot of the later ones had a buttload of pages in them.
Nice to know I’ll be able to have a big ol’ collection.
I honestly thought the last comic was the finale, so I was stoked to see this one. Fantastic way to wrap up the series, my friend. Can’t wait to see your next story.
Aw man, won’t the space rhinos just blow everything up in a few years anyway?
This is one of my favorite things I’ve ever read, I also found out about it from a thread on /co/ and this whole thing has given me more feels than any other fiction in years. Thank you so much for sharing what you had in you, and I really look forward to getting all the books and what you do next.
Hi Gob.
I started reading It Hurts 4 days ago and now it’s over. And I just wanted to tell you (and Grail and Josef): you’re awesome.
This is the best webcomic I’ve read in a long time, not only because of the massive art and narration evolution, also because of the dialogue, the contrast between depressing shit and goofy stuff, the actual character development and the excellently-conveyed feelings of despair and self-hate. I’m not bullshitting when I say this comic is a masterpiece.
So thank you, for all the laughter, the tears and the stupid smiles. Thank you.
Thank you so very much. I’m so touched. I will pass your kind words on to Josef and Grail. I’m very happy to hear that this comic made you feel all those feelings. It is what I was hoping to do 🙂
I just cried SO. HARD.
Mahalo nui loa for the past several years of intense laughter, occasional tears, mild confusion, slight anger (and hatred of rhinos?) that your story produced.
Too good, man. Too good. Time to reread it all!
I’m a bit late to the party since a friend of mine just told me about this comic a few days ago but man… what a ride.
The humor was among the funniest things I’ve ever read and sometimes the serious topics really hit close to home. Thanks for creating this, it’s amazing.
That was good, Guys. Great work, good job. Here’s to you and your hard work! Thanks Gob, Grail and Joe for this comic. It helped me get through some bad times in my life. I’ve always been a huge fan of your work and as it happens, you never fail to give me a good laugh and a deep thought.. 11/10
Suicide by genesis is sorta a japanese vidya trope so I saw it coming but It Hurts‼‼
HERE LIES PASQUALO HE NEVER SCORED.
Man, great comic. My emotional state is fucked up.
I love your weirdo internet anti humor and even your hipster ironic manga trappings.
(But could a just universe really produce a Tubsy? What about Mark’s poor skull?)
Someone posted the first 25 issues of this in a LOL thread last week. I was so baffled by it that I had to investigate. A week later, here I am.
Originally I was dismayed that the comic started getting an actual plot and the characters began to develop, but I stuck with it and ended up extremely invested. And sometimes, your older humour shown through, and it made me smile. This was really really lovely and it’ll be the only webcomic I’ll buy real books of. I have to have it. I want to show it to people.
If you don’t mind, my interpretation is going to be that Pasq didn’t unexist himself entirely – he became the God (or Satan) of his universe and watched over his friends throughout their lives, always weaving those webs. I think he deserves that. He has the wisdom for it. Then they can all kick it in the afterlife later.
Anyway, totally brilliant in all ways, I don’t even care that some things weren’t explained. The quality of this finale makes me comfortable with everything. <3
Holy shit that was good. I discovered this from the same LOL thread as 6 AM, but stopped reading after a while. Last Friday, I got back into it. This was so good that I didn’t think to look up rule 34 until after I finished, though there was barely any (Though there was Jennifer /ss/ so I guess that makes up for it).Truly made me care for these guys.
I’ve got one question, if you still wander these comments. Did my boy Pasqualo ever score?
Oh man. Just did an archive binge and this ending is so much harder knowing that the previous universe’s Aurora explicitly didn’t want this. This outcome is the exact opposite of her utility function and her final thoughts were about how she couldn’t prevent it.
I’m comforting myself with the belief that if this universe’s “Aurora” is truly happy, and the previous one is gone and can’t be hurt by this anymore, then it is a mostly good outcome in the end. At least, it’s the best that Pasqualo could do to be true to the best part of himself and the kind of person he wanted to be.
I’m in some writing competition and got Ally as a character I had to write. When I first read this for research I liked it because it just STANK of early South Park debauchery, but you did a great job building a core cast of endearing characters and weaving their interactions throughout the story. I’ve got my little nitpicks here and there, but shit, this was great and I’d gladly read it again.
It sounds weird to say it, but the story got a lot better after the end of the world.
Props for building a story of this scale and going all out on it. What a ride. 🙂
it hurts, but it hurts good
Thank you Gob for making this awesome, funny, inspiring and weirdly sad comic. I adore this, and I wish you and your team of helpers the best of luck in life
you should all be proud of what you created
Hi Gob, this is a wonderful story you’ve created and congratulations on making it.
To me… Idk. This ending is somewhat tragic. Pasqualo is depressed and ultimately never comes to terms with it in my opinion. In the end he writes himself out of the story, and his friends are happier for it. It’s very sad. Sure self sacrifice is noble or whatever, but depressed people can use that as an excuse to hurt themselves and I think that’s what he did here. I’m not sure Alli or Aurora would have appreciated his sacrifice.
I can’t believe what this webcomic transformed to. Not in my wildest dreams I’d have thought anything after page 100.
Even then it manages to tell a story about depression, true love and friendship. I’m really out of words.
Looking forward to your newest comic Gob, keep it up (Josef and Grail too)
I’ve seen a few of these strips over the years, but I’ve never bothered to read though all of it until now.
All I’ve got to say is damn, dude. This is fuckin’ great.
I finished this comic probably a year ago, and now returning i realize that it was you who gave me Beach House and The Cure. The latter im still discovering, but the former i love consistently. Thank you so much for that! And the wonderful comic, duh.
Just binged the whole comic, what a ride. You managed to provoke a lot of emotions from me and created a very memorable experience. Thank you. (hope I didn’t accidentally doublepost with this comment system)
Wow what a trip… I was keeping up with this when you hit us with #100, good God man. Was following regularly until around the Hellbeast arc and then I guess I sort of faded from webcomics for a while. So glad I picked this up again last night to experience the whole thing. I think you’re a very talented creator, I love your vision… I love that you were able to parlay from the fun slice-of-life into all this.
I don’t want to tell anyone their business, but to me it really feels like this started as an expression of a certain mood, deep feelings of sadness and love, and as you went along it became such a deeper examination of those feelings; Why we feel a certain way, what is happiness, what is meaning, what’s next, and why does it matter. Like starting from a single impulsive feeling and holding on to that, following it until you lay bare some real deep shit. I’m honestly very impressed and def. a big fan. My favourite arc was probably the Hell arc. Interlude by Morrissey will stick with me forever, and I’ll always remember it along with Tubsy and Ally and all them.
Enormous respect, you made something no one can ever take from you. Keep doing whatever it is you’re doing. I’ll check out your new comic sometime.
Oh man, thank you so, so, much. I’m very happy that you had such an emotional response to this comic. I definitely did my best, as did Josef, to include pretty heavy emotions. Hell was my favorite too. It was fun to make and I got to confront some of my personal fears in a funny way.
Hey, Gob. I remember catching this way back in the day, during the Hellbeast arc, and following it to the arrival in Hell, around which time one thing piled up on top of the other and I told myself I’d let a buffer build up to catch up on. Naturally I lost track of it after a while, and I’m kicking myself for missing the ride as it was coming to an end.
This is some truly inspired stuff, creatively, emotionally, the whole package. The ending, especially these last few pages, really made me feel uncomfortable in the best possible way. Any project that can leave people walking away thinking is a great one, and it looks like you left a lot of people with a lot of thoughts.
A particular pair of songs sprang into mind as I was working my way through this last update.
The first one makes me think of both Pasqualo and Aurora during/briefly after #100.
And the second has me thinking of Pasqualo and everyone here in this finale. Especially after tucking into the first little bit of what’s on the menu now.
Anyway, thank you and your crew for doing what you do, cheers to a outstanding success, and on to PFM, something I’m greatly looking forward to keeping up with.
Thank you for this comic! I read it through in two fucking days holy shit. I’ve never read anything quite like this. This is up there, one of the best i’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. Thank you Gob, good luck in whatever comes/came next after this! I’m sure it’s/it’ll be just as good.
Wow, thank you! I’m so happy you enjoyed it so much! It was a lot of fun making it.
Right now, Josef (who helped me develop IT HURTS along the way) and I are working on a series called PLEASE FORGIVE ME!!! http://www.plz4give.me
Josef is the main writer now and I mainly draw and throw in goofy stupid jokes here and there. I would describe it as pre-apocalypse IH but stretched on. Much more grounded. We hope you get a chance to check it out! 🙂
Goddamn, mate. Just binged your comic after it got posted on /co/. It was awesome, man, though I don’t think I’ll ever be comfortable with that ending. Makes sense, but it’s just too depressing. You did good, bro, gg.
My god this is the best thing I have ever had the pleasure to experience I came here expecting laughs and I did get them but I did not expect all of the other feelings this fucked my shit up man.
Also does pasqualo straight up not exist anymore?
Is he somewhere else just living a different life?
God I hope he at least still exists.
Man, this series.
I remembered this comic randomly outta the blue, can’t really say I remember why.
Someone dumped it long ago in some dumb derailed threads, we somehow made it to the aurora-nuke twist and stopped around the breakup; I gotta respect the dedication to finally seeing things through, this felt like a weird relic of the past, even after I got caught back up; and wew lad, despite the tons of issues (the reeeaally dated /b/ tier humor, B^U-tier dialogue dumps, etc.) and the comic aging worse than milk, we’ve finally got closure, not sure it was worth it but hey we’re out here.
Props for a memorable twist, I guess. I definitely shouldn’t’ve binged this lmao
Uh-huh. Yep. It definitely hurts. Thank you for this Gob. There’s a tightness in my heart right now and i’m sure i’ll be feeling it over and over the next few weeks whenever I think back to what i’ve just read. Thanks to the /co/ anon for dumping the first few chapters. I’ll let this one simmer in my mind for a while then start on PFM!
By the way, I hope to see more animated IH!
got reminded of this one weird depressive apocalyptic webcomic I had only read halfway years ago recently, and decided to catch up while waiting for some friends to watch anime with. Well, I could hardly focus on the anime afterwards, and I lost sleep from wanting to read the rest and see how it ends! This morning I finally get to finish it, and I can’t believe it all turned out so well.
I think the strongest part of it hurts!! is how, all along, you feel this could devolve into some bad high school comic of some kind from the themes, the dialogues or the art, but it never does – no matter how many immature jokes or bullshit plot twists it stays on track and is genuinely emotionally engaging.
Kudos to you, that was a unique experience and I really felt it.
I would have one question, though it might not be very relevant, in what way is pasqualo any special? On a god of gods level?
I finished the comic and thought Pasqualo found a brilliant way of saving the Earth by merging himself with Aurora so they would have a happy life in some way without sacrifices.
And then I read comments and find out that author’s intention is Pas erasing himself.
* Sigh *
I hate this kind of sad endings with erasing people from existense. They are mostly the only correct decision. And that means there was no other way. All endings with self-sacrifices make me really sad, I don’t know why those specifically.
I’ve read this comic in 7 hours, found out about it on /v/. Had a really great time. Good luck with your other projects, authors.
I also got really sad when Tubsy got erased and everyone forgot him almost seconds later besides Pas. I really hoped to see Aurora in heaven. Glad that Pas showed his dad who is boss even if it was because of Sailor Moon. Also really glad Rhinos got punished they were too overpowered and it made me really salty.
Thanks once again, good luck, bye.
I’m sorry that it took so long for me to get around to approving your comments. I just read them. Thank you so much for reading the comic! I’m really happy that you got such a kick out of it 🙂
I am not going to lie, this webcomic takes a long ass time to get going but the ending makes it all worth it. Good job and I’m looking forward to seeing more of your work in the future.
So I read this whole comic in a day (about ten and a half hours of reading, jeez louise).
This is one of those stories where I feel like I’ve been gone for ten years, and I don’t know how I’m going to adjust back to regular life now that I’m out. I laughed harder than I have in a long time, had my hair stand on end, got misty-eyed, even felt nostalgic for earlier “eras” of the story. And to think I was going to waste the entire day on /v/ before someone started dumping the comics there.
Thank you for making something so unique and genuine. I look forward to reading Please Forgive Me and whatever else you do in the future!
Man, i remember being recommended this comic years ago bc i like monster girls and Trisssh was cute and i started it but kinda forgot about it. Now, while procrastinating finals, i binged the entire comic and wow, absolutely wow. This is a special kind of comic where the crassness of it allows it to tell a special kind of story.
I hope to read any future works you have!
I’m in the same exact boat as a LOT of these commenters here. Like, literally, down to the word, the exact same boat, right down to finding it like two days ago on /v/ and shotgunning the entire comic nearly in one go. Gob, you and your team’s wacky ass comic has it all. The humor, the art, every second of this was a wild ass trip that I kinda wish I spaced out a bit better so I could still be reading it. But this was one of those things where I couldn’t stop, and it was all done already anyway, so whatever, right?
I already started in on Please Forgive Me and it’s weirdly bittersweet without this “Pasqualo” around, but it’s really nice seeing the old crew in a time where the apocalypse didn’t (and presumably can’t, I haven’t read it all yet) happen yet, even if no one here knows remembers the original Pasqualo.
Also, I see you’ve made a game, and you appear to have interest in making games in the future? I’ll be giving it a go soon, and hope to see whatever other goofy fun stuff you’ve got for us down the line. I sincerely hope you inject as much of your weird ass humor into as much of your work as you can, since the past two days or so of reading It Hurts has had me smiling and laughing to myself nearly the entire time.
This comment got long and rambly, but seriously. This was a wild ride, and I’m looking forward to whatever comes next outta you, whether it’s related to the world/story you created, or something entirely new. Thanks for the smiles and tears, and keep up the good work you absolute weirdo. <3
What a wonderful end to a wonderful web comic. I just discovered your work today and binged the entirety of It Hurts! over the course of a few hours. I couldn’t help myself, truly. Pasqualo’s journey is one of the greatest things I’ve had the pleasure of reading. You did an excellent job. I almost wish I was starting this journey years ago with everyone else, so it could have lasted that much longer. Regardless, I’m glad I got to experience it. Thank you.
My boyfriend showed me this comic and during the first 25 pages or so I was wondering what the hell they got me to read. Now that I’ve finished it and am nearly caught up on PFM (98 pages left on that to be exact), I can safely say that this is probably one of my favorite comics I’ve ever read. There were a few odd pacing issues and I didn’t particularly care for how many big speech bubbles there were… but honestly I couldn’t care less because of how much damn fun I had reading it. I actually REALLY like the world and characters you made here, and it’s so bittersweet seeing Pasquaroa and everyone else carry on not even realizing the sacrifice IH-Pasqualo made so they could all live in a world where they don’t meet their brutal end at the hands of the space Rhinos. I even got a friend of mine to read it too! It’s been fun sharing screenshots of the comic with people I know, my particular favorite screenshot is of Aurora simply saying “I needa the pizza” LOL.
And hon, if you get to this point and find my comment, thank you for finally finishing the comic you got me to read, you bastard. Love you.
I love you too Gob, in a “I read your silly little comic and enjoyed it” kind of way. You created such a fun goddamn thing and I’ll buy myself and my partner a copy of all 6 volumes in the future. I wish you luck in finishing off PFM in the future as well, I see that it’s currently on hiatus.
I just marathoned through the whole comic in under a week. I sincerely and deeply loved it. I think maybe what I loved most of all was how there would always be dumb goofy stuff, even at some of its most serious moments. It didn’t feel like it detracted, just because something important is going on doesn’t mean it isn’t kind of dumb too, that’s life. Earnestly, I’m glad that you made this, thank you so much for such a stupidly beautiful story.
I could go on and on about how happy I am to have bumped into this comic, but instead I’ll just say that it had a distinct artistic vision unlike anything I have encountered within media. That kind of originality is extremely rare.
I guarantee your work here has not insignificantly impacted a very large amount of people. Bravo!
Just linked a friend to It Hurts! because I felt he would enjoy the tone, and he’s been posting screenshots of panels for a couple days now, so I went in for another run. I’m hoping he sees this comment when he’s done and joins me in saying this has been a great time, thank you!
I pulled an all-nighter last night binge-reading It Hurts!!, binge-read Please Forgive Me!!! after waking up in the afternoon, and then went back and reread the juiciest bits of each several times over. Absolutely incredible work. Beneath the crass humor and absurd, fantastical elements, there’s this deeply, deeply heartfelt emotional core. The last two chapters really shine, showing how these goofball jackasses have been changed by the journey. “B.F.F.F.” in particular was utterly harrowing, and “Pasqualo” brought tears to my eyes even on the third or fourth reread. It really fucking Hurts!! indeed.
This whole comic’s been a wild ride. Reminds me of one of my all-time favorite songs which, well, fits pretty well, thematically speaking.
Oohh, thank you for sharing this song! And thank you so much for reading these comics. I’m super happy that the ones that affected me while drawing them made such an impression on you. Your kind words mean so much to me.
A bittersweet ending; it couldn’t be any other way. What a wild ride from start to finish. Thank you for sharing your vision. I thoroughly enjoyed it. 🙂
I love this comic from the bottom of my heart. Every time I come back to it I feel like I get a little more out of it. I’m so happy it is a part of the rare few artistic projects to not only make it onto the page, but to see a satisfying completion.
I’m happy you exist. I’m happy Josef exists. I’m happy Grail exists. I’m happy our collective lives went in such a way that I got to experience this work of art.
Thank you.
this has shattered my mind thank you for making this
i honestly thought in the beginning that this was just gonna be some edgy garbage but i was sooooo fucking wrong lol
this is genuinely magnificent and the best comic ive ever read
thank you
Having followed this series as it was coming out, every now and then I still come back for a re-read. Thank you for sticking with it and putting it out for us to see despite all the time and work that I’m sure it required. It’s always great to re-experience the evolution of both the comic and your style, and now I see that there’s an ongoing followup series that I didn’t know about! maybe It’ll Hurt less!! haha I doubt it!!!
Excellent finale yo
Who’s got two thumbs and got here just in time to feel awful? This guy!
2 Late owns, this comic owns
I am incredibly satisfied with this ending. I’m not exaggerating at all in saying that I’ve never read a better webcomic, bar none.
I have like a million witty things to say but I can’t. Absolutely amazing, Gob.
Dude thanks a million for being such a great fan. And thank you for buying me Undertale. I’ll never forget that 🙂
It’s been a wild fucking four years, and this ending was nothing short of cathartic and perfect
I honestly lost it at pasqualo’s last line, that brought everything full circle, I guess you could say” I wasnt ready” lmao.
Anyway, Gob, you beautiful fucking madman, thank you so much! This comic was awesome and both it and you are a great inspiration!
Best of luck in all your future projects, and I can’t to see what’s next!
Congratulations!
Thank yooou <<<3333 !!!
Wait so Pas replaced himself with Aurora, right?
Yes that is correct 🙂
Arrrgh! IT HURTS!
Gob, this was an awesome comic. I’ll honestly miss all of the characters here.
BTW When will you begin your next one? I can’t wait for it!
You know, I’m not sure! Good question.
I am so happy that the silly photo manipulations you and I rapped about on stream were actually used for the luminous egg visuals! I feel privileged to have helped even a teensy bit! Shame you couldn’t squeeze in any of those trippy spectral hoagies.
This has been quite the ride but I would definitely always again buy the tickets for it forever. Twice.
Me proud of u gobbo. Super turbo proud long time.
I’m glad you got to be around for that. Thank you for reading and for Patroning. <333
Just like that, it’s gone.
Thank you, Gobby.
🙂
Thanks asshole!
Thanks so much for your hard work, Gob. I found the comic by glancing into a /co/ thread, just after the apocalypse, and have been hooked ever since. I’m really going to miss all these dumb losers, and the ending leaves a hole in my heart. The last arc of Pas losing his mind while going through space is some of the most poignant comics I’ve ever read.
Does this mean that Aurora wins that Pasqualo bowl? I don’t think you can get closer than ‘sharing a body’ or ‘merged into a composite being’.
Looking forward to your next work, whatever it’ll be. I’ll still hope for a sequel, one day. I’m sure Pas would have filled his universe with magical girls and talking ponies and shit.
Thank you so much for reading. I hope you enjoy what I have planned next! 🙂
Could’ve made one last jojoke, but I really did love this comic! Don’t know when I started reading up on it, but I do know that this comic has a gig that I like. Sad to see it end, but it was great reading it!
the question is though, when do we get a spin-off? 😉
Gob, I’ve only been keeping up with It Hurts! for the last year, but thank you so much for making this project the over-the-top emotional and ridiculous shitfest it was. Congrats on finishing such a huge project. Looking forward to keeping up with your work in the future.
Btw, would love to pick up a hardcover of It Hurts! one day, if that can ever happen. Would be a great way to introduce other people to the series.
Thank you so much 🙂
nice
So I got some last questions since this is the end. What was Pasqualo’s Mom talking about before she got zapped out of existence? Did Aurora take Pasqualo’s place in the new universe? If not, then what happened to Pasqualo?
Jen lived her life like she was the “one” and the main protagonist of her own story. She thought she was the “one” but it turned out it was our Pasqualo all along.
Pasqualo gave up his existence to Aurora could take his place. Our Pasqualo is no more.
so ally is now pasqualo and pasqualo doesnt technically exist anymore right?
Pasqualo gave up his life so Aurora could have one.
I fell off of this comic when I stopped browsing /co/ a few years back, but saw Time when I was checking the site early this month and was inspired to read the whole thing from first issue to last after that. This comic is weird and wonderful and absurdly amazing, I have never been so satisfied with a comic in my life. I hope that I can write something as wonderful one day.
I had a feeling Pasqualo was about to do what he did, but seeing it really happened still left a lump in my throat. That little fucker owned his dorky weirdness and it inspired me. Rest in nonexistence, you silly cyborg boy, you were too good for this universe.
Thanks for everything Gob, Joseph and Grail! You have added a piece of art I will try to treasure and share for the rest of my life. I have one question: Those ghostly blonde people that pasqualo sees at The End, are they previous iterations of Pasqualo that made the universe? Are they ancestors of Pasq? That panel seemed a bit unclear to me.
They are other, previous “Pasqualos” that have existed before our Pasqualo.
So he’s the first one to give up his life in the new universe, huh. I wonder if any of the previous Pasqualos had their Auroras that they chose to leave behind, of if they’ve never had a predicament like that.
Also, is that why he’s “special”? Because he’s the reincarnation of all those previous creators of the universe?
Anyways, congrats on finishing the comic, guys!! It does hurt, but in the best way <3 Thank y'all for the ride, can't wait to see what you're up to next!
Holy wowzers. Good job Gob. Good Gob job. Gob, good job.
gob, outstanding work, loved the ending, thank you for this wonderful ride.
please tell me you would make a book available for sale with the whole comic in it, I’d buy it on day one
If it’s possible and not too clunky, maybe! 😀
I assume that there will at least be a volume 3 and 4 so that the comic is entirely in physical? I need to throw my money at you Gob!
We’re working on book 3 now 🙂
I was introduced to this comic very recently and I read it all in one sitting. This was great, your comic really lived up to its name, never expected I would feel for this characters, but I did. You managed to write a very endearing friendship in this comic and I am glad I got to read it. More importantly you did something I and a lot of others never really end up doing, you finished the damn thing, and that takes dedication. Good job, Gob, Josef and Grail, you did it.
Thank you <3 <3 <3
DUDE, THAT ENDING WAS SO AWESOME, GOD BLESS.
I only recently got into this webcomic, thanks to a friend, and I am SO glad I did, because it really was AMAZING.
I do have one question, though, but of course if you’d rather not say, that’s fine: did Pasqualo give up his ability to have a mortal consciousness so Aurora could be the new Pasqualo, or rather, did he kind of fuse consciousnesses with her, so they BOTH could be?
He gave up his life so Aurora could take his place. The “Pasqualo” we see at the end is pretty much Aurora.
Thank you for answering my question, Gob! I really appreciate it, and again, thank you SO much for this awesome webcomic. I do have two other questions, though: how is Katie doing in this new universe, and are Katie and Aurora!Pasqualo a couple? If you can’t say, again, that’s perfectly okay.
Thank you! Katie is alive and well in the new universe. At the moment in time we see, I don’t believe they’re a couple. Whether or not they’ll become a couple … I’m not sure! Good question 🙂
Gob, It Hurts is easily my favorite webcomic of all time. You’ve come a long way since Erik the Juiceman (which I discovered some approximately en years ago on 4chan’s flash board.) This comic has made me laugh on countless occasions, and a couple of times it’s moved me to tears. You and your team are powerful storytellers.
I want you to know that you’ve become somewhat of a role model in my eyes. You’re depiction of depression is so apt, I can only infer that it must come from a personal place. Pasqualo understands what it means to be depressed, and by extension, so does the person who writes him. And it helps knowing that I’m not alone. But you never stopped doing what you love. You never threw in the towel and went back to bed and just stayed there for two weeks. You kept on chugging, you kept writing and drawing, and you saw this beautiful creation through to the end. You have my utmost respect.
I hope to see more wonderful stories from you in the future.
Your kind words mean the world to me. Thank you for sticking around for so long and reading my stuff. I’m very glad that it’s given you the kind of hope I was trying to convey. Take care <3 <3 <3
Absolutely amazing and worth all the wait. Thank you, Gob, it’s been a wild ride.
it all happened so fast :*(, was a great ride thanks for letting us hop along gob
His name was Pasqualo
F
wowie wow wow! looks like it really…
…
…HURTS!!
hahaha!!
heh…
hehe..?
This was great Gob. I started reading this nearly 3 years ago, and this is perhaps the only webcomic I’ve read that I’ve kept up with regularly after the first night. It made me feel, and I thank you for that.
What was it like for Ally, Katie, and the rest when they realized Pasqualo was gone? Did they ever go to Satan to find out what was up? How did they spend the rest of their existence?
Was that God laughing in the background of the previous comic? Was it all to get back at Pasqualo for punching him in the face in GD?
And if there are multiple Pasqualos from multiple existences like GD, does that mean each existence’s Pasqualo is a reincarnation of the previous existence’s Aurora, and our Pasqualo would appear like a ghost along with the other Pasqualos if this Pasquaulora ended up in a similar situation to ours?
Ally and Katie realized Pasqualo was gone. See, this is sad for me to say, but they were probably really sad for a while and probably spent a good amount of time trying to find Pasqualo. They lived on the rest of their hell-lives one way or another though. Honestly I’d rather not think about that too much. Too sad 🙁
That face in the background of the previous comment is something drawn by my friend that I decided to slap in the background. I found it fitting because it looked crazy and I figured it accented how bonkers Pasq was becoming.
This is the first time that a “Pasqualo” has given up his own existence for someone else. 🙂
Does this mean that Aurora now inherits the cycle of designing the new universe, or was the cycle broken when Pasqualo chose not to recreate himself?
In my heart I feel that the cycle has been broken. 🙂
You know what? I can’t think of any more satisfying an ending than this. Great damn work gob, soon as I get past that whole “wait shit what do I actually do here” phase of trying to write that damned spinoff quest I’m gonna try and work some similar ideas into it about exploring emotional comeuppance/generosity.
hehe thank you very much for reading and good luck with your work! 🙂
>Chaos on piano
>Harmony’s performance
I cant help but think that’s his personal velvet room. It all fits too perfectly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3zF3OrJC4U
I’M CRYING, I LOVE THIS SHIT
you made me feel things
i will never forget this beautiful, goofy webcomic. jesus
Hey Gob, long time reader, first time commenter. I’ve been tuning in weekly for years now, and I’ve been dreading the day it ended. It’s incredible to see how much you’ve improved both as an artist and as a writer. Thank you for the wild ride, as well as all of the hilarious dialogue and reaction images. I can’t wait to see what you come up with next, it’ll make me jack off so hard i’ll rip my dick off <3
hahahaha thank you so much for reading 😀
I don’t really know quite how to word how I feel. I can’t help but sob, not from sorrow, but from Pasqualo getting what he wanted. He got to make everyone happy, even he got to be happy in his end. The final time we see him, it’s with a smile on his face. And I think that’s all we needed, for him to have found a way to be happy. For everyone to get their happiness, or their shot at it. What started as the story of a sad, stupid little boy falling in love, filled with swearing, word bubbles packed with nigh-nonsense, and general silliness has actually managed to make my heart move. And I’m now quite sure what direction it’s moving just yet, but I know that I have you to thank for it. So thank you Gob, thank you Josef, thank you Grail, thank you cheeseburgers, thank you Kat’s Vietnam House. Thanks for being a fact of life for almost every week of the last nearly half a decade.
And here’s hoping you’ve got more left in you, even if we never see these characters again. Because whatever else you make will be sure to move more hearts in ways they didn’t know they could be moved.
I’m very happy that this has moved you. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy the next stuff I make 🙂
Honestly Gob, this whole comic was a fucking trip. I found out about it in a LOL thread. I only saw the first couple pages and I thought it was some stupid piece of garbage. But I grew to love it, the art, the characters, and the story. All in all this ending fucking HURTS but I love it so much.
IT HURTS!! has inspired me to get fucking cracking on my own webcomic, thank you for being such an inspiration Gob.
Aww thank you very much for the kind words. I’m glad that you enjoyed this 🙂
Man this was a wild ride from start to finish. Thank you Gob for creating one of my favorite webcomics in recent memory. I’m a lil sad that I started reading in december of 2016 though I wish I was there since the beginning.
Thank you for reading 🙂
I’ve never commented before, and I usually never do, but I just wanted to say this ending was amazing. Back when I first started reading this comic, I never expected it to evolve the way it did, and especially never get to the point that it legitimately moved me. Good job, you brilliant jackass.
Thank you very much for reading this silly thing. I’m gload you enjoyed it 🙂
Thanks for all of this, Gob. It Hurts has been such a great webcomic, I have incredibly mixed feelings now that it’s over. I’m looking forward to supporting you in whatever you plan on doing next (it had better have more JoJo references).
Thank you thank you thank you 🙂
It’s been a hell of a ride, Mr. Bones. What a ride.
Through death, and into eternity.
Wait…those uniforms…
Did Pasqualo make anime real?
Pasqualo won. This is truly the best possible ending.
What can I say about this comic that hasn’t already been said before: it was a fantastic, bitchin, awesome, badass, mesmerizing, amazing, out of this world, off the wall, off the chain, off the roof, absolute most positively good comic I have ever read.
I don’t say that lightly either. I’ve read many funny webcomics, from WHOMP, to Awkward Zombie, and even Brawl in the Family. But this was something I’m glad I stuck through to the very end, and I was happy to have gotten the privilege and the honor to read such a good comic, and the ending was pretty much exactly what I hoped for. You even put Samurai Jack’s ending to shame, and I was a big fan of that too.
So thank you Gob. It hurts to see the end of the comic (pun intended) but it’s a happy ending fo rme.
Thank you so much 😀
Thank you for the fun ride, it truly was a blast. Do you intend to keep the books up for sale a while longer, I’d love to get them but my current living situation doesn’t leave a lot of physical space for books.
I think the books will be available for quite a while, yes. I don’t have any plans to take them down. If anything there’ll be more!
Shit… well, you did it. Way to go m8. Way to go.
That was beautiful, man, it really was. Pasqualo gave everything in the end for the happiness Aurora rightfully deserved, and Pasqualo was no more. This and the last arc with Pasqualo slowly waiting for the heat end of the universe were the best in my opinion.
Holy balls, Gob. That was beautiful.
I honestly wasn’t sure how this was going to end, but titty-flipping christ you managed to make it very satisfying. Honestly, I’m pretty relieved!
This has been the single best webcomic I have ever read, and one of the best things I have ever read/watched in any catagory. It’s earned a spot alongside a handful of other things that have had a real effect on me and I’ll never forget this so long as I live.
You’re one rad dude and thanks for the ride. It was pretty wild.
Thank you very much for the kind words and support. You’re awesome 🙂
This was a good comic, thanks Gob. Best wishes for the future.
Thank you 😀
A) I love that even 10 billion years later, Pasqualo couldn’t turn off the Weeb filter even when remaking the universe.
B) That is some hardcore gangsta shit, Pasq. Tubsy would have been proud of you, if he could ever have known you existed.
thanks for a great comic gob!
I feel like even if over, I’ll be coming here time to time just to give it one more last read.
Any positive feedback you get from this, you’ve earned Gob.
Thank you very much 🙂
…to this?
well done you guyz, thank you for making this comic, and of course thank you george washington carver for inventing peanut butter
Pretty good. Looking forward to the next series, and seeing the end of this one in print.
Thanks for your service! It’s been a great ride, looking forward to your guyses next project. I like that you put George Washington Carver in there, the invention of peanut butter really is one of the most important moments in the history of the universe.
I don’t think there’s much more to be said other than that this is an absolutely perfect ending.
Thanks for the spectacular ride, dude.
I’ve always believed something impossible–when I was younger, I dreamt of the same girl repeatedly, even though I didn’t know her and couldn’t remember her face, just her hair and her smile. I was happy when I had those dreams, and that was pretty much the only time.
I’ve always believed she’s a real person. I stopped having those dreams in high school, but I never stopped believing. A few times, I thought girls around me could be her, and was wrong, and I gradually learned that it wouldn’t be that easy.
That was 20 years ago.
This year, I think I’ve found her, except it should be impossible, and in the end I may just be wrong again. But I’ve lived my life looking for her, hoping that she was living a happy life, even as I failed at various aspects of my own as I despaired of finding her.
I can say for sure I’d have made the same choice as Pasqualo. Yet, it’s still hard for me to accept this ending.
But it was a beautiful (and hilarious) story, gob. It really was. For selfish reasons, I wish it would go on. Greatly looking forward to your future projects, even if they don’t have bizarre parallels to my own peculiar existence.
Thank you for sharing that story with me. I’m really glad that IT HURTS resonated with you in this way. Thank you for reading 🙂
Hello Gob, haven’t posted a comment in a long time but definitely need to now.
I started reading this after seeing it on /co/ when the first few pages of the first chapter were up.
I very much feel blessed I got to be a part of the entire ride and see all the hilarity unfold. Seeing your crowd grow and the writing and art transform beyond what was perceived as a simple, juvenile comic into something amazing.
I very much appreciate the work you did and signing my copy of volume 1 and everything. It takes a lot of work to see something to the end and commit to ending something. It does sadden me and is bittersweet that now I can no longer look forward to the next update of “It Hurts!” as I have been accustomed. I am now institutionalized to your output, can’t live outside this world.
I can’t wait for the next project, cheers.
Thank you so much for reading, Mr. Weiners. I’m glad you stuck around and I’m glad you enjoyeed this 🙂
Thank you, Gob. Just thank you. For everything.
<333
stupid theory time:
Theory time: It’s an endless cycle.
Pasqualo praid for Happiness, go hard and passed the good word to Harmony who created Aurora.
It ends up in apocalypse and the world being recreated with Aurora being giben the place of Pasqualo.
but qtpiepasquarora want to find true love too and pray for it and thus Harmony recreate Pasqualo. It result in the end of the world and the universe too.
They have been exchanging position for eternity, now.
Great ending. I’ve been reading for so long and may have forgotten the answer: but why did Aurora destroy the world?
In the last few comics when Pasqualo is talking to God, God says it may have had something to do with “Pasqualo being an anomaly”… whatever that means. Maybe with him being so weird and unpredictable his subconscious triggered the apocalypse factor in Aurora.
WTF MAN HOW DO THESE SILLY COMICS MAKE ME FEEL SO MANY FEELINGS.
It was a great ride and I’m glad to have seen it all. Can’t wait to see what you have in store for us next.
Heyo! Not sure if you remember me, but I’ve been keep track on you way before the apocolapyse! It’s been one hell of a ride my friend. You’re literally the last webcomic I read because you’ve got characters I actually care for, which is amazing. Seeing Pasq’s evolution from beginning to end was one huge trip.
The ending is beautiful. Took me a reread to process it but once I did it hit me hard. While I’m sadden to see this beautiful series end, I’m so glad to see it end in a highnote! I’m so getting your hardcovers man. I actually woke up to something pleasant, and I thank you for it.
IT HURTS!! was a blast! I can’t wait to see what you do next!!
-Stitchlips
Thank you very much Stitchlips. I’m happy you enjoyed this!
psst gob, it’s “attendance” not “attendence”
Crap. I’ll fix it later. Thank you!
Wait! But what about the turtleneck sweaters?
http://gobolatula.com/ithurts/?comic=402-the-best-i-could-do
http://www.gobolatula.com/ithurts/unblur2.png
Goooobbbb
What the fuck is this
One of the foreshadowy clues I plopped in 😉
http://i.imgur.com/BNe44k3.png
That’s pretty crazy, at what point were you sure on the ending? I remember you saying that you originally had it planned up to chapter 100, and then you started deciding the rest of the story from there.
The ending was being kicked around pretty early on too. It became fully formed maybe around 200 or so.
Goat farm ending confirmed canon?
Good question!
that has to be one of the best endings, maybe the best, i’ve read for any literary work. just wow. i’m floored… in a world where so many people write trite, same-y, and predictable stories of self sacrifice, you outdid them all and yourself, making this a fantastic send off. hot damn. bravo. all that stuff i wrote about this being a work of art is still true.
that being said i’m real sad to see this webcomic go. i remember earlier in college the first thing i’d do waking up on monday/wednesday/friday (or staying up into them…) is check out this page and see what the fuck was happening next. always kept me guessing. it’ll be weird not looking forward to new updates, its been part of my life for quite some time now.
gob, i hope you continue to make things, because i’m sure id always love to see them. hopefully next time i can arse myself to contribute more than just a single fan art. good luck and thank you!!
(P.S. sorry about never getting back to you on twitter about that christmas ornament i won. so so sorry – i forgot twitter existed for a while! hope it found a good home.)
Oh there you are! It did find a good home. I have it away the next year.
Thank you very much for the compliments. I’m happy with this ending too and I thank Josef for that. His script encapsulated our idea perfectly. 🙂
“…”
I’m simply at a loss for words to describe my experience reading your comic.
All I can say is: thank you for making your comic, thank you for sticking to it, improving on it together with everybody involved, and simply ending it with a formfitting ending.
It is truly; a work of art.
And I suppose I feel the compulsive need to share this with you because of it(I’m sorry).
I was listening to “for the kids” by M83 a few days ago, it moved me so much that I had to start a storyboard for it(Although a compilation of this comic set to it would work better perhaps); however I have never animated a storyboard of myself that, was not a project for school/work and, that I also saw through to the end, even though the storyboards are always finished to be used for one.
I’m too much of a perfectionist to get anything done that isn’t an assignment that I’m doing for somebody else; and thus I self-destruct or stop after getting entangled in the details of any project.
I’m also scared for showing myself on the internet more than I am already traceable for, I think people will chase me, or that I will become one of the many “THOSE” type of people of the internet.
Albeit it not being a rational fear, or a likely outcome per sé.
I think that I have “fear of expectation”, and that I am hindering myself into being able to artistically express myself to others.
However it is works like IT HURTS! that move me to actually try getting over this, and to finally belt out my art just like how people like you have been doing, all I do is improve myself off-line, which I am currently using as well as an excuse to avoid animating any storyboards that I have laying around.
I would like to ask you for maybe a tiny bit of advice, I understand of-course that, you don’t have to answer, and that you won’t have any answers for me by default, or even read anything of this little bellyache of mine, but I at least tried, and I was able to show gratitude to you for all your hard work.
Thank you very much, I’m happy that there are people like you who can make art that moves everybody this much.
I wish I could do the same.
Kind regards,
Bart.
Bart,
Thank you so much. Your story touched me. It’s funny you mentioned M83 specifically because I listened to one of their songs on repeat while coming up with the scene where Pasqualo said goodbye to Allison.
As for advice, one thing to know about me is that I’m a technical doofus. I can barely write and I can barely draw, but over the years I’ve become decent at creating goofy stuff.
Your fear of being exposed reminds me of how I was at the start of IT HURTS. My anxiety was at an all-time high and I only really drew the comic to make my friends laugh. Josef, my best friend (also the editor/co-creator/co-writer) eventually convinced me to let him share my comic with strangers.
It’s not easy to put yourself out there especially when you’re afraid. But honestly the worst that could happen is that people say you suck. It’s how you handle criticism that can either help you grow or turn you into a butthead.
The best way to go about creating something is to stay true to your ideas and what’s in your heart (I know, that’s corny). Don’t simply do what you think an audience wants. If you get an audience, people will say you suck. That’s always gonna feel a million times louder than those that like your work. Separate those who just shit on you from those who have something constructive to say. Ignore the shit-talk and think on the constructive criticism. If you find that you’re lacking in a certain area you can ALWAYS improve through practice. Just keep going. Keep creating.
I’m very lucky. My best friend is a legit writer with a razor sharp sense of humor. My wife is a legit artist and designer who also has a razor sharp sense of humor. The two of them have helped me grow immensely. If you can, find someone you’re comfortable around who you trust knows their shit. 🙂
I wish you the best of luck, dude. I hope this helps.
Dear Gobolatula,
Thank you very much for your awesome and very intuitive advice!
I’m so happy that you can relate to a beginner like me, I will take your advice to heart, and use it as a reminder for myself, every-time I struggle with my anxiety when I want to create and post my art.
I will do my very best to deal with criticism to my best ability, focussing on the constructive and the positive.
And even if it’s not worded nice in anyway, if there is something to learn from it, I will try to learn from it.
I will be on the lookout for people that I’m comfortable with to help me improve, and of-course for me to help them back too.
And I will start to create my animations and illustrations side-by-side with learning and improving my craft.
Especially your line: “The best way to go about creating something is to stay true to your ideas and what’s in your heart (I know, that’s corny). Don’t simply do what you think an audience wants.”
is sticking to me right now.
But all of your advice is helping me tremendously!
Again, thank you so very much!
Kind regards,
Bart.
😀
I can’t believe It Hurts! is fucking dead.
For reals though, good work. It’s sad to see this go, but good to know it actually ended instead of being dragged out forever like a lot of webcomics.
Gob, I wasn’t typing much in the comments, but I was a regular reader for years. Your story was as wild as beautiful. Thank you for these years, and congratulations.
Thank you so so much for reading and thank you for the compliment.
Thanks for all the fun times Gob. I started this comic while dealing with depression and I honestly think it has helped a lot. It hurts to say goodbye but Im really excited to see what is coming next.
Thank you very much dude. I’m so glad that it helped you when you were down. Take care and keep being awesome and mighty. <3
I’m really going to miss this story. It was goofy and wonderful from start to finish.
Wonderful ending. What a wild ride. Funny and sweet and philosophical, in a lovely, finite package. Thank you for all the great work y’all’ve done. It’ll be a tall order finding another comic this good.
Awwww shucks 🙂
Were the imaginary furries just a joke we’re not supposed to acknowledge? Also, GOOD SHOW
Not sure I know what you mean and THANK YOU!
In the new universe is Kate still looking conspiracy theorist
I feel like she must be SOME kind of bonkers.
I meant kookie instead of looking
And so it is done.
Bang up job, Gobby.
CONGRATULATIONS
Graciaaaaas!! 😀
man thanks for this crazy Journey Rosa it was a wild ride from A Slice of Life to a post-apocalyptic journey to a he’ll Slice of Life and now we’re here in the feels bittersweet before we part ways will there be another podcast
Didnt mean to put rosa there stupid spellcheck
Also i meant hell and not he’ll
Thank you! Yes, there’ll be another podcast. Not sure when but it’ll probably hopefully happen soon 🙂
Been reading since a little before #100. This has been excellent through and through. I subbed to your Patreon (you even drew a silly picture of my niece with Pikachu and a great Ally/Poop piece) and never regretted it. This is astounding work and you guys should all be proud. Thanks for the ride.
Question: What is Pasqurora drawing in that last scene?
Hahaha! I loved drawing those drawings for you. And thank you very much for your support. You’re incredibly awesome.
To answer your question, she’s drawing the tree she’s leaning against. 🙂
That …. was satisfying. Like french-press coffee made by hand satisfying. I look forward to your next work.
I can’t believe it’s really over.
I’m buying all the books when they finally come out.
i’m gonna miss this so much gobbo, but we’ll always have paris…
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3
It was an amazing experience Gob. The only thing that popped into my mind during this ending was one word “beautiful”. You did a great job at tying everything up and I’m happy to have been following this webcomic for so long.
I’m pleased as punch at this ending. Phenomenal job, Gob! However! I have one important question…what happened to Trisssh?!
Good question. In his new universe I’m sure there’s a place for Trisssh somewhere. 🙂
So, was the monologue about Charlotte’s Web at the end coming from our Pasqualo or from Aurora!Pasqualo?
Our Pasqualo before the new universe was born.
All the same, I’d imagine that if it was dubbed over, it’d start with our Pasqualo and then slowly fade into Aurora’s voice, just to make everyone cry even more.
I’ve been reading this comic for at least 2 years and only now have I seen fit to leave a comment on your actual website instead of the comics and cartoons board on the Cantonese Basket Weaving Forum.
Just want to congratulate you and your team for a job well done. The thing I’m most sad about is that I don’t get to read new updates anymore. But alas, all good things etcetera.
Anywho, for a pack of strangers whose faces I may have seen once or twice, I love you and wanna say thanks again.
Thank you very much for reading!! <3 <3 <3
Thanks for everything you’ve shared with us!! I loved reading it from start to finish. One of the most innovative comics I’ve ever read, not to mention often humorous and touching in spades. I’ll be following along with whatever you put out next too.
I’m not crying! You’re crying!
Best webcomic of all time. Best comic i’ve ever read. I hope an omnibus gets released, so this can sit on my bookshelf forever.
I feel like someone just took my heart out of my chest and threw it on the floor. Beautiful comic and beautiful ending.
I made this to commemorate the ending of It Hurts, hope you like it.
https://imgoat.com/v/20497
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA thank you so much
Hi. I’ve been reading It Hurts for a pretty long time, since a little while after the apocalypse happened.. I’ve never commented before but I figure now is a good time to start. Thanks for making this. It’s really something great and it’s given me a lot of laughs through bad times. Can’t wait to see what you make next!
Thank you for reading and for taking the time to comment such niceness! 😀
TY Gob. This comic was awesome.
I’ve been reading since around comic 210, after I discovered your site via an extensive web search attempting to find out what happened to the Erik the Juiceman guy. ETJM was one of my favorite webcomics at the time, and when I discovered you had started a new series, I was sure it wouldn’t live up to my expectations, or make up for the abandonment (or at least indefinite hiatus-ing) of ETJM. I was wrong- It Hurts!! was everything I could have hoped for and more. It’s so effortlessly charming- you created from a messy, crude, flawed, unhappy bunch of misfits one of the most likeable, relatable casts of characters I’ve ever had the pleasure of getting to know. The comedy was almost freakishly consistent in its brilliance, and while I won’t pretend that the art wasn’t the weakest aspect of it, I really can’t imagine it being drawn any other way. Thank you so damn much for telling this story- reading it has been an absolute blast.
On a slightly less sentimental note, Aurorasqualo is qt as fuck and I’m glad /co/ agrees with me on this.
Thank you very much. I’m happy that you enjoyed this. And thank you for reading ETJM back in the day 🙂
what happened to all the people that wouldn’t exist because the apocalypse didn’t happen
Thank you for this comic and all your hard work that went into it. Fantastic ending and I’m glad I had the opportunity to follow along. It’s been a wild ride
Let me see if I’ve got this straight. All the other Pasqualos are from previous ‘loops’. They all ended up getting rebooted and punching God in the face at the last moment – this time, God played a prank in the hopes that it would prevent another humiliating face-punch. God got mad at the end of GD not because he got punched, but because he got punched AGAIN.
And now that Pasqualo has effectively taken himself out of the equation, the cycle is broken. Forever.
OH SHIT! All the Pasqualos we saw were all the previous ones doing what they did during their loops! THE LAST PASQUALO’S THE ONLY ONE WHO DIDN’T CLAP
Well, assuming IH Pasqualo isn’t the only one who made it to The End(TM).
This has honestly been a thoroughly enjoyable read. It was crude and weird at times, but undeniably genuine and downright thoughtful at times too. I’ve never read a comic quite like this before. Thank you, to you and your team, for making it.
Congratulations.
But what about Poop?
Awesome ending, got super deep and shit- I loved it.
The one thing I didn’t get is why Chaos is wrapping Harmony up in the curtain at one point… they just getting bored or is this some kind of pop-culture reference I’m not getting?
The multiple Pasqualos clapping was great, and Harmony’s face when he asks if she’s Aurora and she’s like “nuh-uh”, “ehh…”, “well…”, “sorta” …nicely done!
I thought it was a great choice on Pasqualo’s part to forget about recreating Aurora and just become a chick himself, but from reading some of the comments I started to wonder at other’s interpretations… is that chick “Pasqualo” or something new?
The curtain wrapping thing was something I improvised out of boredom. I was tired of them standing still while talking, so I just had them do whatever popped in my head.
Thank you
Ok so if Pasqualo is no more, and is now Aurora…why is Aurora named Pasqualo still?
Also, will the new Pasq have the same parents? I haz so many questions.
Oh and it would be cool to see like a one or two page epilogue 😉
He basically retconned his part in the life he lived and put Aurora in his place. Since the two of them could never exist in the same universe without the apocalypse happening, he created one without himself. Understandable since he probably had more than enough of ‘himself’ after all those years flying through space.
I’d imagine Pasq made his parents a lot nicer i this one too. The only thing he couldn’t make was a genuine Aurora that exists in the same universe as Pasqualo without an apocalypse.
ohhhh, duh! I get it now… >.<
This was truly magnificent from start to finish. Thank you for your work Gob, you lovely bastard.
Thank you very much!!! <3 <3 <3
What a wild ride, sad to see the end but it was better than I could have ever imagined. One question, Harmony’s face at the end… she realized what Pasq was about to do, right? Huge props to you, Grail, and Josef. Going to pick up volume 2 soon, can’t wait for volume 3 and whatever you have coming next Gob.
Thank you very much 🙂
And yes, Harmony figured out what Pasqualo was about to do. So did Chaos.
Wait so is Pasquaurora still gonna hook up with Katie?
GOB IS THAT GONNA HAPPEN??
GOB
who knows? :3
If I commission it from YuriPr1ncess does it make it canon?
Deep philosophical question there.
If I lie and say yes will you really give that kid some money? She’s good people and giving her cash would be nice :3
This has been a hell of a ride, thank you so much for making It Hurts (even if you gave me Feelings at the end, damn it)
I’m glad you enjoyed it! <3
Dude I’m so confused. If Pasqualo gave up his existence for Aurora, then why does Aurora have blond hair and blue eyes like Pasqualo? I mean this is a good ending but its bothering me as to why the new Aurora looks like Pasqualo and her name is STILL Pasqualo if he doesn’t exist anymore…
For what i understand, Aurora was a “fragment” of a higher being, she was not “whole”, to put it in a way. Pasqualo, for once, did a selfless thing and became something that completes Aurora. Now she can spend the rest of her mortal days like a whole being.
She and pasq are, from now on, together as one.
This is some penguindrum shit right here. Loved the shit out of this comic man, what a ride.
Thank yooouu!
So who was Pasq saying Cheese forgive me to? Aurora? Katie?
He was apolocheesing to Aurora.
Thank you so much, Gob and Grail and Josef. I’ll remember It Hurts!! till the day I die.
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3
PS: ALSO THANKS FOR ALL THE MUSIC
I’m glad you liked it!
So there’s something I’ve been wondering about and I don’t know as it’s ever been explained: why did Aurora cause the apocalypse? What about her makes falling in love with Pasqualo the thing that causes the world to end? Why?
Well, there’s the literal reason and the non-literal reason. The literal reason is that it’s simply her nature in this unfair, cruel universe that the IT HURTS Pasqualo lived in.
Metaphorically, Aurora to me was a lot of different things over the course of this comic. Simply put, in life when it comes to dealing with difficult stuff, I don’t think there are many shortcuts out there where you don’t end up paying a price of some sort. That’s part of what Aurora was: a quick and easy “happy pill” for Pasqualo. And sort of like what happens to addicts with drugs and alcohol and whatnot, Pasqualo fell more and more in love with Aurora and suddenly his whole life got all fucked up. From Pasqualo’s perspective, Aurora was just so sweet and kind and loving and just made him feel soooo happy. And his friends didn’t see anything wrong with her at the time until it was too late.
Now, obviously Aurora isn’t just “that good good thing in life that is so so bad for you” since, like Pasqualo said, she had her own personality and feelings. The metaphor only goes so far.
Aurora was originally going to be more cold. But her personality just sort of came out gradually as I was writing those beginning comics. She was so, so, sweet yet so dangerous. I believe that there is good and bad in all things. You can’t say “life is shit.” Life is shitty, sure, but it’s not all shit. There are terrible things and there are lovely beautiful things. And that sort of positive-negative thing really intrigues me in a character. I think of Don Corleone like that sometimes. He’s a complete sweetheart of a crime boss. Fuck, I am NOT comparing my little webcomic character to a fucking LEGEND, am I? Ugh, I suck.
I really hope my rambling answered your question.
UPDATE: Josef pointed out to me that I hadn’t really answered your question. I just kinda described Aurora and how I came up with her character. Oops.
Please let Josef answer your question:
“Aurora’s a “magical pill” that manifests as pasqualo’s desire to be happy, and the way she does that ultimately is by radically reshaping the world into one where he thrives. At first she just makes him happy by way of her presence but once they get TOO close that triggers her ultimate purpose. It’s like, he has to reaffirm his desire to be happy above all else by staying by her despite being warned that bad things will happen.” – Josef
Looking at it that way, it bookends really nicely. She reshaped the world for him, and ultimately he reshaped it for her.
“A person ain’t the particular meat they’re made of, a person is the pattern that shapes and motivates that meat.”
Holy fuck.
Dag, man, this was an amazing webcomic.
Oh man, what a ride.
Congrats Gob, you managed to make a sincerily good piece of art that was engaging all around. The ending was pretty good too, it closed the story well and it won’t be forgettable, or at least i won’t never forget it.
Pasqualo pulling out a P3 prtagonist decision and forfeiting his own life.
Does that mean Pasqualo is no more, not even a “part” of Harmony?
Anyways, expecting your new work soon
After much thought I have decided that although the cycle is broken and Pasqualo Prime (to the unknown iteration) gave up everything about his existence to make it happen, there is still a possibility of return. Assuming he created AuroraPasqualo as completely as possible, she exists as a perfect soul mate to a soul that no longer exists. For someone with so much love to give, no matter how happy they are with the people around them, that could lead to a heartfelt prayer for something that cannot be granted except by two forces in the universe. And maybe this time, instead of Harmony answering leading to the catastrophic end of life as entropy settles towards complete order, maybe Chaos answers. And AuroraPasqualo meets a purple haired anime boy wearing jeans and a greaser jacket, finally as cool and with it as he always wanted to be. And their love spreads life and it’s resulting chaos across the stars.
https://youtu.be/Bqnk2XgepCU
so gob now that there is no chance of spoiling anything you should go back and answer all the questions you said the answer might be spoilery.
things like
What was the deal with that homeless guy aurora was singing with?
What was the deal with that cat thing in the track suit?
what did poop say to aurora when she was cleaning up the auditorium?
I might be retarded but I still don’t know the answer to a bunch of these questions
1) He was homeless and loved smoking cocaine and singing.
2) No idea what you’re talking about. Sorry sir.
3) I think Poop probably initially smelled something “very very off” about her. I thought of how animals can usually sense something weird about the weather or something. And whatever “dog word” Poop used in his sentence probably translated to something like, “Are you a powerful force of nature?”
This was an absolutely amazing ending. I couldn’t even begin to guess what the ending to Pasqualos journey could bring. It’s sad. It’s like really damn sad. IT HURTS you could say. It hurts but damn did it fit. This was a hilarious and heartwarming series that I will never forget.
Now just publish the rest of this comic in book form so I can on it all and I’ll forgive you for making me cry.
Congrats on sticking through and finishing this up. It’s amazing to see something you love come to an end!
Gob! You madman, you managed to pull a happy ending from all this unholy mess.
Also, this webcomic was one hell of a ride, but i enjoyed being on it with all of you, guys. cheers!
Gob, never in my life have I ever thought I find something that resonated with me like this. It’s been a wild ride filed with good laughs and teary eyes. Thanks for the journey, dude. I’ll never forget this comic for the rest of my life :3
Thank youuu!!
Fantastic job on the entire comic Gob. I’ve been reading for close to 3 and a half years and it has been a wild ride. Every time this roller coaster went off the rails, I am shocked to find another, larger set of rails waiting underneath for it to just jump right off again. Thanks so much for all the time you put into this, and I’m looking forward to the future.
I legit teared up at this ending. God dammit, Gob.
So, when will we have the opportunity to buy the entire thing in hardcover and put “Gob” next to Junji Ito on my bookshelf?
I was honestly floored when Pasq gave himself up to give Aurora a chance. Truth be told I was expecting something along the lines of “everything is the same except Aurora is her own person with us” at first, but he got told that wasn’t really a potentiality and she would always be a construct with nothing to call her own.
Granted if there’s ever some form of continuation to this thing I fully expect what some other commenters have thought and Pasq probably gets sent down as his own Harmony-construct; or, given Chaos and Harmony, probably sent down as a Chaos-construct as a mate to a creature originally from Harmony. Who knows what would happen as a result of Aurora having her subconscious desires fulfilled from getting too close then?
Either way those cunt-ass space rhinos probably aren’t around to nuke the world just because they feel like it this time if things go apocalyptic.
goddamn it
Come to think of it I do definitively wonder if things won’t play out roughly the same just by virtue of how different things would be with Pasqualo having Aurora’s personality. Earlier mention was that Aurora was intended as a soulmate to Pasqualo himself, so for instance she might feel all her life there is something just *missing* and beseech a higher power (and in response get a “Borealis” for lack of a masculine equivalent of Aurora), or maybe just wallow in it or squash it down and try to ignore it. Chances are Pasqualo’s dad still made her a cyborg just for kicks, providing Aurora’s home-situation is similar. Monsterfolk are still *somewhere* since they made their presence known post-apoc, Mark’s probably furiously masturbating somewhere still or may even have had his skull forcibly removed from his head already. Pasqualo’s ma’ is still an element as well, providing she hasn’t turned over a new leaf in this world, but with how much of her life was defined by being a self-serving bitch who thinks she’s the hero there’s Chaos’s words to consider as for whether or not she’d really be Jennifer at that point.
Shit, I’m so late to the party! Gobbo it seems like it’s all been said already up there so I’m just going to roughly equate IH! to the following: https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/FYARGJlx7vdxJEzFo3yrpySzYAgCycJWd9WAIYBiKO36jJYTYhfaFMG99Myl5vMLcrfCK5RQe_eQ1epDTKg4I5VbOiP9QIJQyxcuAg=w2400-h1350-rw-no
And 1) Hope this link works because I cannot find this image on the net for the life of me, nor get it out of my old picasa album 2) hope you understand the love and adoration I intend to sling with said parallel
You are a RAD DUDE 2D EXTREME and don’t you let nobody tell you what either.
Storytime happening now.
http://boards.4chan.org/co/thread/93222061
Since you have to approve all comments, I know you’ll see this, Gob.
I am so sorry that I missed the first two threads. I had a ridiculous day at work today 🙁
Please let me know when the next thread goes up <3
now. sorry.
http://boards.4chan.org/co/thread/93239197
I found out about this two days ago from a /co/ and I binged it in two days. The ending actually made me cry. This is a truly amazing comic. Nice work.
Thank you very much!! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
So we gonna see some wacky one off full circle comics of aruorasqualo and co goofin in highschool to get it up to 500?
Yo Gob, what’s the cutoff point for fanart to get into book 3?
Had exams to finish but now I got time to do some.
Well there’s gonna be a book 4 and 5 too so if you don’t make it to book 3 you’ll have more time for the others. But maybe a few weeks if you wanna try for book 3.
Ah cool. Figured there’d only be one more because the previous ones used most of the updates up, but I guess a lot of the later ones had a buttload of pages in them.
Nice to know I’ll be able to have a big ol’ collection.
I honestly thought the last comic was the finale, so I was stoked to see this one. Fantastic way to wrap up the series, my friend. Can’t wait to see your next story.
Haha that would’ve been a dark ending! Thank you <3
So, he became a little in the end. What a great wish.
Aw man, won’t the space rhinos just blow everything up in a few years anyway?
This is one of my favorite things I’ve ever read, I also found out about it from a thread on /co/ and this whole thing has given me more feels than any other fiction in years. Thank you so much for sharing what you had in you, and I really look forward to getting all the books and what you do next.
Thank yo so much!! Your kind words are much appreciated 🙂
Hi Gob.
I started reading It Hurts 4 days ago and now it’s over. And I just wanted to tell you (and Grail and Josef): you’re awesome.
This is the best webcomic I’ve read in a long time, not only because of the massive art and narration evolution, also because of the dialogue, the contrast between depressing shit and goofy stuff, the actual character development and the excellently-conveyed feelings of despair and self-hate. I’m not bullshitting when I say this comic is a masterpiece.
So thank you, for all the laughter, the tears and the stupid smiles. Thank you.
Thank you so very much. I’m so touched. I will pass your kind words on to Josef and Grail. I’m very happy to hear that this comic made you feel all those feelings. It is what I was hoping to do 🙂
I like dicks.
I just cried SO. HARD.
Mahalo nui loa for the past several years of intense laughter, occasional tears, mild confusion, slight anger (and hatred of rhinos?) that your story produced.
Too good, man. Too good. Time to reread it all!
I hope your next webcomic is as great as this one.
Will you work on a new webcomic? I’d love to be there from day 1.
Mark was right all along.
I’m a bit late to the party since a friend of mine just told me about this comic a few days ago but man… what a ride.
The humor was among the funniest things I’ve ever read and sometimes the serious topics really hit close to home. Thanks for creating this, it’s amazing.
You are very welcome! I’m glad that you enjoyed this comic. It makes me happy knowing it meant something to you :3
That was good, Guys. Great work, good job. Here’s to you and your hard work! Thanks Gob, Grail and Joe for this comic. It helped me get through some bad times in my life. I’ve always been a huge fan of your work and as it happens, you never fail to give me a good laugh and a deep thought.. 11/10
Thank you very much!
It Hurts is now my favorite manga.
Hope you come back with a new comic series 🙂
Suicide by genesis is sorta a japanese vidya trope so I saw it coming but It Hurts‼‼
HERE LIES PASQUALO HE NEVER SCORED.
Man, great comic. My emotional state is fucked up.
I love your weirdo internet anti humor and even your hipster ironic manga trappings.
(But could a just universe really produce a Tubsy? What about Mark’s poor skull?)
Someone posted the first 25 issues of this in a LOL thread last week. I was so baffled by it that I had to investigate. A week later, here I am.
Originally I was dismayed that the comic started getting an actual plot and the characters began to develop, but I stuck with it and ended up extremely invested. And sometimes, your older humour shown through, and it made me smile. This was really really lovely and it’ll be the only webcomic I’ll buy real books of. I have to have it. I want to show it to people.
If you don’t mind, my interpretation is going to be that Pasq didn’t unexist himself entirely – he became the God (or Satan) of his universe and watched over his friends throughout their lives, always weaving those webs. I think he deserves that. He has the wisdom for it. Then they can all kick it in the afterlife later.
Anyway, totally brilliant in all ways, I don’t even care that some things weren’t explained. The quality of this finale makes me comfortable with everything. <3
I’m really glad you enjoyed this. 🙂
I enjoy your interpretation of the ending. It makes me smile.
Holy shit that was good. I discovered this from the same LOL thread as 6 AM, but stopped reading after a while. Last Friday, I got back into it. This was so good that I didn’t think to look up rule 34 until after I finished, though there was barely any (Though there was Jennifer /ss/ so I guess that makes up for it).Truly made me care for these guys.
I’ve got one question, if you still wander these comments. Did my boy Pasqualo ever score?
‘Fraid not, my friend. He died a virgin, came back to life, and then rebooted the universe where he doesn’t exist anymore. As a virgin.
Well, at least the ending was good, unlike the boring fuckfest that was the middle of everything.
Oh man. Just did an archive binge and this ending is so much harder knowing that the previous universe’s Aurora explicitly didn’t want this. This outcome is the exact opposite of her utility function and her final thoughts were about how she couldn’t prevent it.
I’m comforting myself with the belief that if this universe’s “Aurora” is truly happy, and the previous one is gone and can’t be hurt by this anymore, then it is a mostly good outcome in the end. At least, it’s the best that Pasqualo could do to be true to the best part of himself and the kind of person he wanted to be.
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3
Holy shit, what a ride, man.
I’m in some writing competition and got Ally as a character I had to write. When I first read this for research I liked it because it just STANK of early South Park debauchery, but you did a great job building a core cast of endearing characters and weaving their interactions throughout the story. I’ve got my little nitpicks here and there, but shit, this was great and I’d gladly read it again.
It sounds weird to say it, but the story got a lot better after the end of the world.
Props for building a story of this scale and going all out on it. What a ride. 🙂
Thank you very much!!!
That was the best comic I’ve read in a long time.
it hurts, but it hurts good
Thank you Gob for making this awesome, funny, inspiring and weirdly sad comic. I adore this, and I wish you and your team of helpers the best of luck in life
you should all be proud of what you created
Thank you
Thank you so very much for the kind words!!
Just read the entire thing in one breath. Thanks for an awesome comic. Absolutely brilliant!
Thank you!!
lmao did you actually remove the christmas special just so you could make it book-exclusive
i trusted you, gob
Hi Gob, this is a wonderful story you’ve created and congratulations on making it.
To me… Idk. This ending is somewhat tragic. Pasqualo is depressed and ultimately never comes to terms with it in my opinion. In the end he writes himself out of the story, and his friends are happier for it. It’s very sad. Sure self sacrifice is noble or whatever, but depressed people can use that as an excuse to hurt themselves and I think that’s what he did here. I’m not sure Alli or Aurora would have appreciated his sacrifice.
I feel the same way. It is sad to me, the more I think about it.
Thanks so much for reading <3 <3 <3 <3 <3
Just read this whole thing in 24 hrs…. wow.
Good comic Gob, 10/10. And I really enjoyed playing the music you provided while reading the later strips.
Thank you so, so much. You’re awesome <3
Reading this in the span of two days probably wasn’t the best idea.
That shit hurted.
Thank you so much.
I can’t believe what this webcomic transformed to. Not in my wildest dreams I’d have thought anything after page 100.
Even then it manages to tell a story about depression, true love and friendship. I’m really out of words.
Looking forward to your newest comic Gob, keep it up (Josef and Grail too)
I’ve seen a few of these strips over the years, but I’ve never bothered to read though all of it until now.
All I’ve got to say is damn, dude. This is fuckin’ great.
Thank you so much!!
God I’m really late. This was good. Bingeread this in like 8 hours and I am now satisfied. Thanks for making this.
No problem at all! It was great making it. Thank you for reading!
I finished this comic probably a year ago, and now returning i realize that it was you who gave me Beach House and The Cure. The latter im still discovering, but the former i love consistently. Thank you so much for that! And the wonderful comic, duh.
Oh my GOD! I’m so happy about this! I’m glad that you’re enjoying this music that’s so dear to me.
Just binged the whole comic, what a ride. You managed to provoke a lot of emotions from me and created a very memorable experience. Thank you. (hope I didn’t accidentally doublepost with this comment system)
Heh, I took care of the old one. Sorry, I’ve been crappy at approving IH comments lately :/
Thank you so very much for reading, and thank you for the compliment!
Wow what a trip… I was keeping up with this when you hit us with #100, good God man. Was following regularly until around the Hellbeast arc and then I guess I sort of faded from webcomics for a while. So glad I picked this up again last night to experience the whole thing. I think you’re a very talented creator, I love your vision… I love that you were able to parlay from the fun slice-of-life into all this.
I don’t want to tell anyone their business, but to me it really feels like this started as an expression of a certain mood, deep feelings of sadness and love, and as you went along it became such a deeper examination of those feelings; Why we feel a certain way, what is happiness, what is meaning, what’s next, and why does it matter. Like starting from a single impulsive feeling and holding on to that, following it until you lay bare some real deep shit. I’m honestly very impressed and def. a big fan. My favourite arc was probably the Hell arc. Interlude by Morrissey will stick with me forever, and I’ll always remember it along with Tubsy and Ally and all them.
Enormous respect, you made something no one can ever take from you. Keep doing whatever it is you’re doing. I’ll check out your new comic sometime.
Oh man, thank you so, so, much. I’m very happy that you had such an emotional response to this comic. I definitely did my best, as did Josef, to include pretty heavy emotions. Hell was my favorite too. It was fun to make and I got to confront some of my personal fears in a funny way.
Thank you very much for reading!
Hey, Gob. I remember catching this way back in the day, during the Hellbeast arc, and following it to the arrival in Hell, around which time one thing piled up on top of the other and I told myself I’d let a buffer build up to catch up on. Naturally I lost track of it after a while, and I’m kicking myself for missing the ride as it was coming to an end.
This is some truly inspired stuff, creatively, emotionally, the whole package. The ending, especially these last few pages, really made me feel uncomfortable in the best possible way. Any project that can leave people walking away thinking is a great one, and it looks like you left a lot of people with a lot of thoughts.
A particular pair of songs sprang into mind as I was working my way through this last update.
The first one makes me think of both Pasqualo and Aurora during/briefly after #100.
And the second has me thinking of Pasqualo and everyone here in this finale. Especially after tucking into the first little bit of what’s on the menu now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pmmDNFAGj4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bwviv89OJPc
Anyway, thank you and your crew for doing what you do, cheers to a outstanding success, and on to PFM, something I’m greatly looking forward to keeping up with.
Thank you very, very much! And thank you for sharing the music! Me like!
Thank you for reading. You’re awesome!
Wait, was this all just about transitioning???
In all serious, great series, although my favourite part was everything leading up to the 100th comic.
Thank you for reading!
woah, that was quick
I got memed into reading this, best comic I’ve ever read.
I seriously think the manga FirePunch plagiarize you.
I’m so glad you were guided here by the power of memery. Thank you very much for your kind words 😀
Thank you for this comic! I read it through in two fucking days holy shit. I’ve never read anything quite like this. This is up there, one of the best i’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. Thank you Gob, good luck in whatever comes/came next after this! I’m sure it’s/it’ll be just as good.
Wow, thank you! I’m so happy you enjoyed it so much! It was a lot of fun making it.
Right now, Josef (who helped me develop IT HURTS along the way) and I are working on a series called PLEASE FORGIVE ME!!! http://www.plz4give.me
Josef is the main writer now and I mainly draw and throw in goofy stupid jokes here and there. I would describe it as pre-apocalypse IH but stretched on. Much more grounded. We hope you get a chance to check it out! 🙂
Goddamn, mate. Just binged your comic after it got posted on /co/. It was awesome, man, though I don’t think I’ll ever be comfortable with that ending. Makes sense, but it’s just too depressing. You did good, bro, gg.
Thank you so much!
I just read this over a period of around 6-7 hours. It’s one of the best things I’ve ever read. Thank you so much.
Thank you for reading! I really appreciate it!
My god this is the best thing I have ever had the pleasure to experience I came here expecting laughs and I did get them but I did not expect all of the other feelings this fucked my shit up man.
Also does pasqualo straight up not exist anymore?
Is he somewhere else just living a different life?
God I hope he at least still exists.
this was to good fucking emotional rollercoster man
does pasqualo still exist tho?
Pasqualo ceased to exist after the events of IT HURTS. He did this so Aurora could have a chance at a regular human life in a new universe.
Man, this series.
I remembered this comic randomly outta the blue, can’t really say I remember why.
Someone dumped it long ago in some dumb derailed threads, we somehow made it to the aurora-nuke twist and stopped around the breakup; I gotta respect the dedication to finally seeing things through, this felt like a weird relic of the past, even after I got caught back up; and wew lad, despite the tons of issues (the reeeaally dated /b/ tier humor, B^U-tier dialogue dumps, etc.) and the comic aging worse than milk, we’ve finally got closure, not sure it was worth it but hey we’re out here.
Props for a memorable twist, I guess. I definitely shouldn’t’ve binged this lmao
just binged all of this plus pfm. good shit.
Uh-huh. Yep. It definitely hurts. Thank you for this Gob. There’s a tightness in my heart right now and i’m sure i’ll be feeling it over and over the next few weeks whenever I think back to what i’ve just read. Thanks to the /co/ anon for dumping the first few chapters. I’ll let this one simmer in my mind for a while then start on PFM!
By the way, I hope to see more animated IH!
got reminded of this one weird depressive apocalyptic webcomic I had only read halfway years ago recently, and decided to catch up while waiting for some friends to watch anime with. Well, I could hardly focus on the anime afterwards, and I lost sleep from wanting to read the rest and see how it ends! This morning I finally get to finish it, and I can’t believe it all turned out so well.
I think the strongest part of it hurts!! is how, all along, you feel this could devolve into some bad high school comic of some kind from the themes, the dialogues or the art, but it never does – no matter how many immature jokes or bullshit plot twists it stays on track and is genuinely emotionally engaging.
Kudos to you, that was a unique experience and I really felt it.
I would have one question, though it might not be very relevant, in what way is pasqualo any special? On a god of gods level?
I finished the comic and thought Pasqualo found a brilliant way of saving the Earth by merging himself with Aurora so they would have a happy life in some way without sacrifices.
And then I read comments and find out that author’s intention is Pas erasing himself.
* Sigh *
I hate this kind of sad endings with erasing people from existense. They are mostly the only correct decision. And that means there was no other way. All endings with self-sacrifices make me really sad, I don’t know why those specifically.
I’ve read this comic in 7 hours, found out about it on /v/. Had a really great time. Good luck with your other projects, authors.
I also got really sad when Tubsy got erased and everyone forgot him almost seconds later besides Pas. I really hoped to see Aurora in heaven. Glad that Pas showed his dad who is boss even if it was because of Sailor Moon. Also really glad Rhinos got punished they were too overpowered and it made me really salty.
Thanks once again, good luck, bye.
(huh, did my comment get deleted?)
Anyways, binged I loved it. Thanks for this chaotic and introspective experience.
I’m sorry that it took so long for me to get around to approving your comments. I just read them. Thank you so much for reading the comic! I’m really happy that you got such a kick out of it 🙂
I am not going to lie, this webcomic takes a long ass time to get going but the ending makes it all worth it. Good job and I’m looking forward to seeing more of your work in the future.
oh, i live in san mateo. that’s nowhere near new jersey
So I read this whole comic in a day (about ten and a half hours of reading, jeez louise).
This is one of those stories where I feel like I’ve been gone for ten years, and I don’t know how I’m going to adjust back to regular life now that I’m out. I laughed harder than I have in a long time, had my hair stand on end, got misty-eyed, even felt nostalgic for earlier “eras” of the story. And to think I was going to waste the entire day on /v/ before someone started dumping the comics there.
Thank you for making something so unique and genuine. I look forward to reading Please Forgive Me and whatever else you do in the future!
Thank you so so much for reading!
Man, i remember being recommended this comic years ago bc i like monster girls and Trisssh was cute and i started it but kinda forgot about it. Now, while procrastinating finals, i binged the entire comic and wow, absolutely wow. This is a special kind of comic where the crassness of it allows it to tell a special kind of story.
I hope to read any future works you have!
I’m in the same exact boat as a LOT of these commenters here. Like, literally, down to the word, the exact same boat, right down to finding it like two days ago on /v/ and shotgunning the entire comic nearly in one go. Gob, you and your team’s wacky ass comic has it all. The humor, the art, every second of this was a wild ass trip that I kinda wish I spaced out a bit better so I could still be reading it. But this was one of those things where I couldn’t stop, and it was all done already anyway, so whatever, right?
I already started in on Please Forgive Me and it’s weirdly bittersweet without this “Pasqualo” around, but it’s really nice seeing the old crew in a time where the apocalypse didn’t (and presumably can’t, I haven’t read it all yet) happen yet, even if no one here knows remembers the original Pasqualo.
Also, I see you’ve made a game, and you appear to have interest in making games in the future? I’ll be giving it a go soon, and hope to see whatever other goofy fun stuff you’ve got for us down the line. I sincerely hope you inject as much of your weird ass humor into as much of your work as you can, since the past two days or so of reading It Hurts has had me smiling and laughing to myself nearly the entire time.
This comment got long and rambly, but seriously. This was a wild ride, and I’m looking forward to whatever comes next outta you, whether it’s related to the world/story you created, or something entirely new. Thanks for the smiles and tears, and keep up the good work you absolute weirdo. <3
What a wonderful end to a wonderful web comic. I just discovered your work today and binged the entirety of It Hurts! over the course of a few hours. I couldn’t help myself, truly. Pasqualo’s journey is one of the greatest things I’ve had the pleasure of reading. You did an excellent job. I almost wish I was starting this journey years ago with everyone else, so it could have lasted that much longer. Regardless, I’m glad I got to experience it. Thank you.
My boyfriend showed me this comic and during the first 25 pages or so I was wondering what the hell they got me to read. Now that I’ve finished it and am nearly caught up on PFM (98 pages left on that to be exact), I can safely say that this is probably one of my favorite comics I’ve ever read. There were a few odd pacing issues and I didn’t particularly care for how many big speech bubbles there were… but honestly I couldn’t care less because of how much damn fun I had reading it. I actually REALLY like the world and characters you made here, and it’s so bittersweet seeing Pasquaroa and everyone else carry on not even realizing the sacrifice IH-Pasqualo made so they could all live in a world where they don’t meet their brutal end at the hands of the space Rhinos. I even got a friend of mine to read it too! It’s been fun sharing screenshots of the comic with people I know, my particular favorite screenshot is of Aurora simply saying “I needa the pizza” LOL.
And hon, if you get to this point and find my comment, thank you for finally finishing the comic you got me to read, you bastard. Love you.
I love you too Gob, in a “I read your silly little comic and enjoyed it” kind of way. You created such a fun goddamn thing and I’ll buy myself and my partner a copy of all 6 volumes in the future. I wish you luck in finishing off PFM in the future as well, I see that it’s currently on hiatus.
Thanks so so so so much for reading! I really am grateful. Comments like this really make me smile! You kick ass!
I truly can’t believe it’s already been five years since the ending. Such a wonderful comic.
I just marathoned through the whole comic in under a week. I sincerely and deeply loved it. I think maybe what I loved most of all was how there would always be dumb goofy stuff, even at some of its most serious moments. It didn’t feel like it detracted, just because something important is going on doesn’t mean it isn’t kind of dumb too, that’s life. Earnestly, I’m glad that you made this, thank you so much for such a stupidly beautiful story.
I could go on and on about how happy I am to have bumped into this comic, but instead I’ll just say that it had a distinct artistic vision unlike anything I have encountered within media. That kind of originality is extremely rare.
I guarantee your work here has not insignificantly impacted a very large amount of people. Bravo!
<3 <3 <3 Thank you!
I comeback to read this comic from time to time, and my god is this still a strong ending, thank you so much for this!
wow. this kid is fucking tramsgender
so true
i read it all in one day. what an amazing comic. i hope i can make something like this too 🙂 thank you to the team for this!
I’m happy this inspired you and I encourage you to give making stuff a try. 🙂
I was reading week to week back during the hell demon in the basement arch, but I feel off somewhere before the fight with his mom.
I always condenser this a great web comic, but i figured it wouldn’t hold up.
I was wrong. It Hurts is a master piece, and is by far the best comic i have ever read.
That seriously means a lot. I was worried about all the outdated memes and whatnot. Thank you so much 🙂
Just linked a friend to It Hurts! because I felt he would enjoy the tone, and he’s been posting screenshots of panels for a couple days now, so I went in for another run. I’m hoping he sees this comment when he’s done and joins me in saying this has been a great time, thank you!
no, thank you! and thank you for showing your friend!
I pulled an all-nighter last night binge-reading It Hurts!!, binge-read Please Forgive Me!!! after waking up in the afternoon, and then went back and reread the juiciest bits of each several times over. Absolutely incredible work. Beneath the crass humor and absurd, fantastical elements, there’s this deeply, deeply heartfelt emotional core. The last two chapters really shine, showing how these goofball jackasses have been changed by the journey. “B.F.F.F.” in particular was utterly harrowing, and “Pasqualo” brought tears to my eyes even on the third or fourth reread. It really fucking Hurts!! indeed.
This whole comic’s been a wild ride. Reminds me of one of my all-time favorite songs which, well, fits pretty well, thematically speaking.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmvKewDOnnU
Anyways, thanks for all the incredible work!
Oohh, thank you for sharing this song! And thank you so much for reading these comics. I’m super happy that the ones that affected me while drawing them made such an impression on you. Your kind words mean so much to me.
A bittersweet ending; it couldn’t be any other way. What a wild ride from start to finish. Thank you for sharing your vision. I thoroughly enjoyed it. 🙂
I love this comic from the bottom of my heart. Every time I come back to it I feel like I get a little more out of it. I’m so happy it is a part of the rare few artistic projects to not only make it onto the page, but to see a satisfying completion.
I’m happy you exist. I’m happy Josef exists. I’m happy Grail exists. I’m happy our collective lives went in such a way that I got to experience this work of art.
Thank you.
Thank you for your kind words and Thank you so much for reading
absolute fucking cinema.
this has shattered my mind thank you for making this
i honestly thought in the beginning that this was just gonna be some edgy garbage but i was sooooo fucking wrong lol
this is genuinely magnificent and the best comic ive ever read
thank you
Thank you so so much
Having followed this series as it was coming out, every now and then I still come back for a re-read. Thank you for sticking with it and putting it out for us to see despite all the time and work that I’m sure it required. It’s always great to re-experience the evolution of both the comic and your style, and now I see that there’s an ongoing followup series that I didn’t know about! maybe It’ll Hurt less!! haha I doubt it!!!