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Dilbert is now only available behind a paywall on a conservative crowdfunding site, but that's a good thing, Adams argues
News by Graeme McMillan, Editor
Published on
Weeks after Scott Adams’ mainstream career imploded, Adams is once again producing daily Dilbert comic strips… even if his audience has shrunk significantly in the interim.
Following Adams’ claim that Black Americans were a “hate group” during a YouTube stream, the cartoonist and author lost his syndication and publishing deals with Andrews McMeel Universal, as well as an additional publishing deal with Penguin Random House’s Portfolio imprint. The website Dilbert.com now redirects to a page pointing people towards where they can find Adams online now: his Twitter account, his YouTube channel, and his crowdfunding page on Locals.com. That latter link isn’t labeled as such, however — instead, it’s labeled “Dilbert Reborn,” the title of his newly created Dilbert strip.
Judging by samples of the strip shared online outside of the paywall, Dilbert Reborn is essentially a continuation of the previous strip with the occasional topical reference thrown in for good measure: recent strips have seen Dogbert take over as CEO of Twitter (It’s mostly so I can read private messages and blackmail my enemies,” he explains) and a robot announce that Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg has become Donald Trump’s new campaign manager, furthering a line of thinking Adams has pursued on his Twitter account for some time.
Ultimately, it looks as if the controversy that ended Adams’ career as a creator published by mainstream outlets hasn’t derailed the cartoonist and pundit in terms of output. Indeed, to hear Adams talk about the shift, it’s been a good thing.
“I exited a dying industry, got all of my rights back, and went from hating my job — it was creatively limiting — to loving it. And Dilbert Reborn is a huge hit on http://Scottadams.locals.com for subscribers,” Adams tweeted in response to a comment suggesting that he’d suffered as a result of losing lucrative syndication and publishing contracts. He continued, “I've never been happier. Sorry to disappoint you.”
For those wondering what Locals.com is, it’s a crowdfunding site co-founded by Assaf Lev and conservative pundit Dave Rubin. In addition to Adams, its most notable creators includes a number of minor right-wing celebrities including Fox News’ Greg Gutfeld, talk radio host Charlie Kirk, and libertarian comedian Kat Timpf. Notably, Adams’ page doesn’t list any metrics or subscriber numbers, making his claims that his new Dilbert strips are “a huge hit” impossible to verify.
For those who want to continue to read Dilbert, the Locals.com subscription option is the only official way to keep up to date. Apparently, it’s very popular, if you believe Adams.
Revisit Adams’ original comments and the fallout they caused.
Graeme McMillan: Popverse Editor Graeme McMillan (he/him) has been writing about comics, culture, and comics culture on the internet for close to two decades at this point, which is terrifying to admit. He completely understands if you have problems understanding his accent.
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