That's Kevin

Aw, no Monday update yet?

Mark

My brain parses it this way: Despite the doctor saying that it's fine, she associates the label of "autistic" with the anger she saw when she told her father about someone using it. Her father said it was an insult, so when the doctor says it's fine, that means the doctor thinks insulting her is fine. QED.

awgiedawgie

As an autistic person, I find this strip a bit weird. I know that everyone's different and all, but my experience with other autistic people and myself has been that we embrace labels more than reject them. Why would one be mad at a doctor for stating an empirical fact? We (generally speaking) LOVE categorization, almost to the point of it being an actual problem.

Quacky

The term was "weird kid" when I was growing up in the 60's and 70's which covered a lot of variations.

Chris Heg

There is a fair amount of inconsistency in the shapes of AIs' speech bubbles, even when looking at just one person's bubbles over the course of the comics.

awgiedawgie

In AnthroPC nursery school, "Got Your Nose" is played for keeps!

Captain Button

QC has been a part of my life for a lot of it and sometimes its butt jokes and sometimes it's pretty damn real.

Is Kevin an AI? The colour of his skin/covering and the lines on his fingers indicate so, but his speech bubble looks like the speech bubble of humans?

Henrik Christian Grove

he deals with cash all day - cash is filthy by it's nature, so I'm sure he opted for some type of easy-to-clean, possibly inherently antibacterial/antifungal dermal covering for his hands. bra sweat from one awkward but adorable young lady shouldn't even make it above the noise floor.

Joe

"male presenting AI characters" - careful - Tumblr started banning "female presenting" stuff - wouldn't want Patreon to catch the virus.

Joe

Wonder how Kevin deals with bra sweat?

Sleepy John

Fortunately for me, I got eased into the word before people started using it as an insult. Or at least before I'd heard of it being used as such. As it is, I present as neurotypical if you don't know what to look for. Also, it's a self-diagnosis based on my daughter's shared traits. I'd wondered about Brun myself, having recognized the markers from the start. I'm more highly functional than she, but I definitely know how she feels.

Jeffrey Nonken

I think the other one says something like "Thanks for giving us all your money!"

MiaKitty

Hi Kevin

FunkyTuba

I'm lucky in a way that no one knew what autism was while growing up. Not like now, where there's so much awareness and yet so much incorrect information about it.

TMN

Got a link to that particular strip? I can't remember him specifically asking if she's been diagnosed with anything.

My son is autistic. I’m waiting for the day it is weaponized against him... edit: dreading and expecting would be more appropriate...

Daniel Luckett

I wonder if Kevin is related to the noseless robot from #3931. Do they have the same manufacturer?

Dean Reilly

*throws all the hearts at Brun* aaaaaaa

Morgan McCauley

Brun. Honey. We love you

Dylan T

Fuck anyone who uses "autistic" as an insult.

Diptych

The whole comic is great but man oh man am I excited about this Kevin since we don't have many examples of male presenting AI characters that look mostly human. And he is a Qtpie too.

Erin Moriarty

I love how close these two are getting. I also love the poster in the background that seem to say "graphs are cool".

Bagge

I feel targeted D:

Kevin J

Graphs! They’re cool

Abhimat Gautam

I can only give this ONE DAMNED LIKE? Well, hell. Jeph, you have a knack for creating interesting, different, and engaging characters. :)

I've actually never seen that word used. And I'm glad. At least I know that my part of the internet does one thing right. Or maybe I've just been good at ignoring it.

Chuck Dee

Its getting easier now, as it is more recognised, but It could sometime take years before people would even recognise that the behaviours someone has might be autism. I know that despite having councillors and therapists examine me for years, and the traits being there since early on, I didn’t get a proper diagnosis as Aspergers Syndrome (now known as high functioning autism), until I was around 17 or 18. That was over a decade ago though.

Thisguy

I imagine it's just an artefact of Brun's storytelling, but the implication that one can just "go to a doctor" and get an autism diagnosis on the day is pretty laughable. Actual assessment (especially from a starting point that presumes nothing but a list of behaviours) takes months, even up to a year.

Alexa

I’m not sure I’d bank at a place with “Thanks for giving us your money!” posters.

Summer Sudbrink

I think the issue is the implied/inferred subtext to the question. There has been a lot of visible xenophobia lately so the question is much more likely to be interpreted as being aggressive and implying that the person in question doesn't belong here. The intent of the question may be of curiosity and wanting to learn or connect, but when constantly exposed to the xenophobia it is easy to be defensive in response to the question. Not saying it is right to immediately assume the worst about the person asking the question, but it is an understandable response. That and in this case, it was skeezy because it sounded like he wanted to check her off of an ethnic bingo card. And as several people below me pointed out. He asked about ethnicity not where she was from.

Just quietly, I don't think that autism is the one and only factor you needed to define Brun. People are weird in lot of different ways.

Liz

The world surely has changed. Asking someone where they are from has only become offensive,to some people, recently.

pilgrim3

Wonderfully done Jeph

Rob

If I recall last time Clinton asked if she'd maybe been diagnosed with any kind of condition, she just talked about how she didn't trust doctors without getting into the particulars. Sounds like she trusts him enough to open up now. She knows he's not gonna be weird about it if he knows a doctor said this about her.

Mitchell Sealy

Yes. We need to talk about Kevin.

Rob McBobson

Sure is dusty in here all of a sudden....

Charlotte Grubbs

Beautiful strip, Jeph.

Ralph

"Graphs, they're cool"

Zach Elwyn

GIVE US YOUR MONEY; GRAPHS: THEY'RE COOL

ysth

Now I'm seriously having a moment. The level of representation in this place just gets more awesome all the time. And done SO DAMN WELL!!!! (so well that this is my first time commenting)

Rachel Maeroff

This is why I get upset every time I see the word sperg used on the internet (where it's almost exclusively used as an insult). It makes people have a negative opinion of Autism, and then you get people like Brun who then misplace their anger at people who are just trying to help them like doctors.

JD

Well that explains Brun. I could never figure out if she was just eccentric or something else. Now we know....

Joshua Thomas

Kevin's design feels like it is channeling Kris Straub's character designs. I like it!

Tim Eldred

On another note, this bank has some serious poster action going on.

William Cole

This. I absolutely love Brun and will cut anyone who would dare hurt her.

Will Weaver

Hooray! It’s confirmed! I’m so glad you did that, Jeph.

Brian

Berf

Brian

I need to know more about Kevin!

nowshowjj

And it's finally confirmed.

JD

Words dont mean much until someone puts an intention behind it :(

Kyle Major

as someone who is autistic, you have no idea how happy it makes me to a) have a confirmed autistic character (although lets be real, we all knew she was from when she was introduced), b) find out in a very casual way, almost like an afterthought, and c) have a good representation keep it up jeph!

Who is cutting onions in this forum?!

Miyaa

I SO want to give Brun a hug right now...if she wanted one, that is.

Will Weaver