January 6, 2026
Text art, tall tales, spicy nostalgia
"Inspector Dangerfuck", ANSI art comic from 1994
Fans torch the “first webcomic” myth and salute a 90s troublemaker
TLDR: Eerie’s 1994 text-art comic gets reexamined while a 2006 claim that it was the Internet’s first comic gets debunked. Commenters mix myth-busting with goofy nostalgia, dropping deep-cut references and picking favorite files, a reminder that verifying tech history matters as much as celebrating its quirky pioneers.
The comments turned this retro deep-dive into a roast of internet lore. Users like Kirkman14 went full myth-buster on the 2006 book claim that Eerie’s 1994 “Inspector Dangerfuck” was the first online comic, calling out “no dates, no details, and no sources.” Cue eye-rolls and laughs as readers marvel that Eerie himself joked “nobody bothered to seek it out.” For newcomers, ANSI art is basically pictures made from colored text, born in dial-up hangouts called bulletin board systems. The piece retraces teen Eerie’s basement-to-underground journey, while the crowd debates where his work fits in webcomic history.
Nostalgia flooded the thread. Acheron swooned over old-school BBS vibes, while cyberpunk dropped a 90s mic: “It reminds me of the BitchX splash screen.” Veteran farcitizen flexed cred, name-dropping the big art crews—ACiD and iCE—and arguing this scene was “the predecessor to Adobe Flash.” Meanwhile uxp100 picked a fave, EE-LG01.IMP, like it’s a vinyl deep cut. The hot take war: myth-busting vs. reverence, with plenty of snark. The consensus flavor? Respect the craft, question the legends, enjoy the chaos—because text-art rebels and absurd beefs are the internet’s true origin story. And yes, the saga continues in this multi-part series, pulling receipts for the myths
Key Points
- •Eerie created the ANSI character “Inspector Dangerfuck” in 1994 and is profiled within the early BBS culture context.
- •A 2006 claim by T Campbell that “Inspector Dangerfuck” was the first Internet comic is incorrect and lacked sources.
- •Eerie engaged deeply in Quebec’s BBS scene, using the handle “Dynamix,” and built a BBS utility for news in 1992 with community help.
- •He attempted to launch the e-mag “Ctrl-Break,” but a local hacker group, NPC, began publishing first in November 1992.
- •Eerie released a 2,200-line parody of NPC’s magazine in February 1993, which NPC’s editor praised for creativity and skill.