History AudienceAlienatingEra / Webcomics

* Many readers feel this way about ''Webcomic/{{Sinfest}}'' artist/writer Tatsuya Ishida's sudden "conversion" to feminism eleven years into the comic's run, coinciding with the return of future CreatorsPet Xanthe/"Tricycle Girl". From there, the comic steadily lost much of its good-natured humor and steadily gained StrawmanPolitical rants about the suffering women face under the oppression of the "patriarchy".

* ''Webomic/CtrlAltDel'' was divisive to begin with, but ran into an arguably ongoing Dork Age ''hard'' starting with the infamous "Loss" strip and Lilah's miscarriage. Ever since, writer Tim Buckley has continually tried to juggle the wacky video game related antics from the series' infancy with dark, depressing drama, to little success. Much fun has been made of the inclusion of such themes as robots modded from Xboxes (which had only ever been PlayedForLaughs prior) initiating a BadFuture - an arc which, let it be mentioned, ended with TheHeroDies and a ContinuityReboot - in a comic that has always advertised itself as goofy gaming comedy.

* ''Webcomic/SonicTheComicOnline'' seemed to go through one for ages after the syndicate arc. The series' main villain, Dr. Robotnik, had disappeared, his second-in-command Grimer had gone quiet, and Sonic was constantly dealing with the actions of an insect mafia called "The Family" and a media slur campaign. This went on for a good ten issues (at a time when the comic was releasing three to four issues a year), and suffered from a lot of ScheduleSlip and {{filler}}. This all built up to issue 249 when [[spoiler:Grimer was said to be behind everything]], only for three successive specials to come out to try and finish off all the pre-250 stuff planned so that 250 would make sense (see the aforementioned ScheduleSlip). 250 then revealed the return of Robotnik as a supercomputer controlling a lot of Mobius.\\
\\
This went exactly nowhere as, despite this sudden and massive change in Status Quo, with the whole planet at war against Robotnik's machines, it took another four issues for Robotnik to actually reappear, during which time pretty much every character's story refused to acknowledge the main status quo, with one character dealing with magical beings from another dimension, another dealing with an adventure in a magical dimension, a third story about two characters who were stuck on another planet, and the fourth story slot taken up by a four part ''VideoGame/HouseOfTheDead'' story that many people grew sick of due to bad PurpleProse-filled dialogue.

This went exactly nowhere as, despite this sudden and massive change in StatusQuo, with the whole planet at war against Robotnik's machines, it took another four issues for Robotnik to actually reappear, during which time pretty much every character's story refused to acknowledge the main status quo, with one character dealing with magical beings from another dimension, another dealing with an adventure in a magical dimension, a third story about two characters who were stuck on another planet, and the fourth story slot taken up by a four part ''VideoGame/HouseOfTheDead'' story that many people grew sick of due to bad PurpleProse-filled dialogue.

* ''Webcomic/{{Megatokyo}}'' has been in one for years now; even WordOfGod acknowledges it. The comic shifted around the late 2000s and early 2010s from a charming exploration of American weeaboo culture to a pretentious love story pairing humans and robots.

* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' had a bit of this during the early parts of act 6, with the entire central cast replaced with new characters, and the showy fate-of-the-universe plot being sidelined in favor of act 1-style messing around and a RomanticPlotTumor. however, as it was implied from the get go that this would be temporary, it's not a perfectly straight example.

This went exactly nowhere as, despite this sudden and massive change in StatusQuo, with the whole planet at war against Robotnik's machines, it took another four issues for Robotnik to actually reappear, during which time pretty much every character's story refused to acknowledge the main status quo, with one character dealing with magical beings from another dimension, another dealing with an adventure in a magical dimension, a third story about two characters who were stuck on another planet, and the fourth story slot taken up by a four part ''HouseOfTheDead'' story that many people grew sick of due to bad PurpleProse-filled dialogue.

* ''SonicTheComicOnline'' seemed to go through one for ages after the syndicate arc. The series' main villain, Dr. Robotnik, had disappeared, his second-in-command Grimer had gone quiet, and Sonic was constantly dealing with the actions of an insect mafia called "The Family" and a media slur campaign. This went on for a good ten issues (at a time when the comic was releasing three to four issues a year), and suffered from a lot of ScheduleSlip and {{filler}}. This all built up to issue 249 when [[spoiler:Grimer was said to be behind everything]], only for three successive specials to come out to try and finish off all the pre-250 stuff planned so that 250 would make sense (see the aforementioned ScheduleSlip). 250 then revealed the return of Robotnik as a supercomputer controlling a lot of Mobius.\\

* {{Megatokyo}} has been in one for years now; even WordOfGod acknowledges it. The comic shifted around the late 2000s and early 2010s from a charming exploration of American weeaboo culture to a pretentious love story pairing humans and robots.
* SaturdayMorningBreakfastCereal is often seen as having gotten more political and righteous about the power of science while the strips numbered in the 100s or 200s.

* {{Homestuck}} had a bit of this during the early parts of act 6, with the entire central cast replaced with new characters, and the showy fate-of-the-universe plot being sidelined in favor of act 1-style messing around and a RomanticPlotTumor. however, as it was implied from the get go that this would be temporary, it's not a perfectly straight example.

* Parodied in ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'': The non-canon Blank Check for Weirdness storyline was an AprilFools gag in which the main characters in the EGS:NP sub-comic were supposedly retooled in order to invoke TheyChangedItNowItSucks and usher in a Dork Age.

* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' has the "Susan's Birthday" arc, which stretched what couldn't be more than about two hours real-time into a ''year'' and didn't actually accomplish anything (aside from pissing off a lot of readers by confirming a major relationship [[NoBisexuals in the worst possible way]]).

* The creator of ''Webcomic/{{Collar 6}}'' himself has expressed this opinion about the comics second arc. Not only was it [[ArcFatigue long]], starting in March 2011 and ending in January ''2014'', it drifted away from the usual BDSM comedy in favor of a gritty action plot. And the move from 3 pages a week to 5 pages a week brought a dip in art quality as well. Fans and creator alike were relieved to see it finally over and done with.

* The "Haley speaks in cryptograms" story arc of ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' was largely regarded as a Dork Age while it was transpiring, given that it took the only female protagonist[[note]] well, maybe. [[AmbiguousGender We're still not sure about Varsuvious]][[/note]] and eliminated her ability to deliver the verbal humor for which the strip is known for over 100 strips. The climax of the plot may have made up for it in the minds of some fans, however, as it ushered in the Haley-Elan relationship and gave crucial {{character development}} to both characters. Still, the actual aphasia has [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0428.html only rarely]] been mentioned since it disappeared.

* The "Haley speaks in cryptograms" story arc of ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' was largely regarded as a Dork Age while it was transpiring, given that it took the only female protagonist and eliminated her ability to deliver the verbal humor for which the strip is known for over 100 strips. The climax of the plot may have made up for it in the minds of some fans, however, as it ushered in the Haley-Elan relationship and gave crucial {{character development}} to both characters. Still, the actual aphasia has [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0428.html only rarely]] been mentioned since it disappeared.

* ''Webomic/CtrlAltDel'' was divisive to begin with, but ran into an arguably ongoing Dork Age ''hard'' starting with the infamous "Loss" strip and Lilah's miscarriage. Ever since, writer Tim Buckley has continually tried to juggle the wacky video game related antics from the series' infancy with dark, depressing drama, to little success. Much fun has been made of the inclusion of such themes as robots modded from [=XBoxes=] (which had only ever been PlayedForLaughs prior) initiating a BadFuture - an arc which, let it be mentioned, ended with TheHeroDies and a ContinuityReboot - in a comic that has always advertised itself as goofy gaming comedy.

* 'Webomic/CtrlAltDel'' was divisive to begin with, but ran into an arguably ongoing Dork Age ''hard'' starting with the infamous "Loss" strip and Lilah's miscarriage. Ever since, writer Tim Buckley has continually tried to juggle the wacky video game related antics from the series' infancy with dark, depressing drama, to little success. Much fun has been made of the inclusion of such themes as robots modded from [=XBoxes=] (which had only ever been PlayedForLaughs prior) initiating a BadFuture - an arc which, let it be mentioned, ended with TheHeroDies and a ContinuityReboot - in a comic that has always advertised itself as goofy gaming comedy.

* 'Webomic/CtrlAltDel'' was divisive to begin with, but ran into an arguably ongoing Dork Age ''hard'' starting with the infamous "Loss" strip and Lilah's miscarriage. Ever since, writer Tim Buckley has continually tried to juggle the wacky video game related antics from the series' infancy with dark, depressing drama, to little success. Much fun has been made of the inclusion of such themes as robots modded from [=XBoxes=] (which had only ever been PlayedForLaughs prior) initiating a BadFuture - an arc which, let it be mentioned, ended with TheHeroDies and a ContinuityReboot - in a comic that has only ever advertised itself as goofy gaming comedy.

* {{Megatokyo}} has been in one for years now; even WordOfGod acknowledges it. The comic shifted around the late 2000s and early 2010s from a charming exploration of American weeaboo culture to a pretentious love story pairing humans and robots.
* SaturdayMorningBreakfastCereal is often seen as having gotten more political and righteous about the power of science while the strips numbered in the 100s or 200s.

* ''SonicTheComicOnline'' seemed to go through one for ages after the syndicate arc. The series' main villain, Dr. Robotnik, had disappeared, his second-in-command Grimer had gone quiet, and Sonic was constantly dealing with the actions of an insect mafia called "The Family" and a media slur campaign. This went on for a good ten issues (at a time when the comic was releasing three to four issues a year), and suffered from a lot of ScheduleSlip and {{filler}}. This all built up to issue 249 when Grimer was said to be behind everything, only for three successive specials to come out to try and finish off all the pre-250 stuff planned so that 250 would make sense (see the aforementioned ScheduleSlip). 250 then revealed the return of Robotnik as a supercomputer controlling a lot of Mobius.\\

* The "Haley speaks in cryptograms" story arc of ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' was largely regarded as a Dork Age while it was transpiring, given that it took the only female protagonist and eliminated her ability to deliver the verbal humor for which the strip is known for over 100 strips. The climax of the plot may have made up for it in the minds of some fans, however, as it ushered in the Haley-Elan relationship and gave crucial {{character development}} to both characters. Still, the actual aphasia has [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0428.htmlz only rarely]] been mentioned since it disappeared.

* The "Haley speaks in cryptograms" story arc of ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' was largely regarded as a Dork Age while it was transpiring, given that it took the only female protagonist and eliminated her ability to deliver the verbal humor for which the strip is known for over 100 strips. The climax of the plot may have made up for it in the minds of some fans, however, as it ushered in the Haley-Elan relationship and gave crucial character development to both characters. Still, the actual aphasia hasn't been mentioned since it disappeared.
** [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0428.html It was mentioned. This is the only one I remember though, there may be more.]]

This went exactly nowhere as, despite this sudden and massive change in StatusQuo, with the whole planet at war against Robotnik's machines, it took another four issues for Robotnik to actually reappear, during which time pretty much every character's story refused to acknowledge the main status quo, with one character dealing with magical beings from another dimension, another dealing with an adventure in a magical dimension, a third story about two characters who were stuck on another planet, and the forth story slot taken up by a four part ''HouseOfTheDead'' story that many people grew sick of due to bad PurpleProse-filled dialogue.

* The "Haley speaks in cryptograms" story arc of ''Webcomic/OrderOfTheStick'' was largely regarded as a Dork Age while it was transpiring, given that it took the only female protagonist and eliminated her ability to deliver the verbal humor for which the strip is known for over 100 strips. The climax of the plot may have made up for it in the minds of some fans, however, as it ushered in the Haley-Elan relationship and gave crucial character development to both characters. Still, the actual aphasia hasn't been mentioned since it disappeared.