History CreatorBreakdown / Webcomics

* ''Poorly Planned Comics'' was an [[MindScrew extremely dense]] and {{metafiction}}al MS Paint comic from the early 2010's that saw an abrupt and tragic end in 2015, with the final issue being the author's suicide note, with it being confirmed that said author, Jack Masters, being reported dead the same day. The final comic, in addition to stating his plans for what he already would have done by the time the comic went live, includes a link "if you want to know why [he] killed [himself]", which was a massive document compiling various personal messages and emails that suggests he was dealing with a menagerie of personal problems, including schizophrenia.

* ''Poorly Planned Comics'' was an [[MindScrew extremely dense]] and {{metafiction}}al MS Paint comic from the late early 2010's that saw an abrupt and tragic end in 2015, with the final issue being the author's suicide note, with it being confirmed that said author, Jack Masters, being reported dead the same day. The final comic, in addition to stating his plans for what he already would have done by the time the comic went live, includes a link "if you want to know why [he] killed [himself]", which was a massive document compiling various personal messages and emails that suggests he was dealing with a menagerie of personal problems, including schizophrenia.

* ''Webcomic/NotAVillain'''s author's sister was rushed to the hospital. Four words on the result were all the fans needed to know the comic was cancelled.

* The webcomic ''Webcomic/{{Avalon}}'' suffered from this during its final volume depicting the characters' last year of high school, as the author, Josh Phillips, struggled with his mental health and other obligations in his personal life. Thus, the series that was originally planned to run for four years dragged on for much longer due to several hiatuses and Phillips retired the story by writing out a summary of how the ending was going to play out.

* The webcomic ''Webcomic/{{Avalon}}'' unfortunately suffered from this more and more as the author went through progressively worse states of depression not long after being launched. The planned four-year series lasted much longer due to month-long hiatuses. After a year of not-updating, the author gave up and the ending was written out instead of drawn.

* The author of ''Webcomic/GameDestroyers'' reached a point in the story where he grew to hate what he was writing, which led to two of the four [[SeriesHiatus hiatuses]] and a lot of ScheduleSlip. This was eventually solved by getting past the horrible storyline and moving on to things which made more sense and allowed for more freedom.

* ''Webcomic/SweetLullaby'', a ''WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends'' adenture/fantasy fan-webcomic, suffered a years long hiatus due to a series of ''really'' bad luck which involved a broken computer and one of the creators' [[FromBadToWorse getting their backpack stolen containing the original script]] forcing a re-write of the entire story from memory alone. While things did get better with a 2017 relaunch of the comic, its readers, which consisted of HTF diehard fans from the late 2000s to the early 2010s, had all but moved on or grew up as the reception to each page being uploaded has been lukewarm at best. On the bright side, the creators are determined to finish the story this time around.

* ''Webcomic/SweetLullaby'', a ''WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends'' adenture/fantasy fan-webcomic, suffered a years long hiatus due to a series of ''really'' bad luck which involved a broken computer and one of the creators' [[FromBadToWorse getting their backpack stolen containing the original script]] forcing a re-write of the entire story from memory alone. While things did get better with a 2017 relaunch of the comic, its readers which consisted of HTF diehard fans from the late 2000s to the early 2010s, had all but moved on or grew up as the reception to each page being uploaded has been lukewarm at best. On the bright side, the creators are determined to finish the story this time around.

* ''Webcomic/SweetLullaby'', a ''WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends'' adenture/fantasy fan-webcomic, suffered a years long hiatus due to a series of ''really'' bad luck which involved a broken computer and one of the creators' [[FromBadToWorse getting their backpack stolen containing the original script]] forcing a re-write of the entire story from memory alone. While things did get better with a 2017 relaunch of the comic, its readers which consisted of HTF diehard fans from the late 2000s to the early 2010s, as the reception to each page being uploaded has been lukewarm at best. On the bright side, the creators are determined to finish the story this time around.

* Ellipsis Stephens (at the time still going by her old name), creator of ''{{Webcomic/Goblins}}'', had a nervous breakdown in early 2014. Instead of affecting the contents of the comic proper (other than it being on hiatus for a few months), she managed to draw [[http://i.imgur.com/BJHEEQr.jpg this]]. She explained everything in [[http://www.goblinscomic.org/i-quit/ this blog post]] (warning, WallOfText).

* ''Webcomic/UnDivine'': The creator, already suffering from mental depression, slowly lost interest in the comic over time, especially when it didn't produce the desired finance on Patreon. She ultimately called it quits in 2021 and put it into indefinite hiatus. Sending mixed messages on the idea on if she'll continue it or not.

* ''Webcomic/UnDivine'': The creator, already suffering from mental depression, slowly lost interest in the comic over time, especially when it didn't produce the desired finance on Pateron. She ultimately called it quits in 2021 and put it into indefinite hiatus. Sending mixed messages on the idea on if she'll continue it or not.

** She does this in issue 10, [[KillEmAll eradicating everything that has bothered Chris up to that point]]. After that, she unofficially [[OrphanedSeries abandoned the comic]], claiming that the trolls "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAqAIkE1ZIs drained her creativity]]". A lot of Chris' breakdown was due to the fact that her Internet {{Troll}}s wanted ([[MetaphoricallyTrue from their point of view]]) to show her the reality of her wanting to officially produce her comic. Major cases of ScheduleSlip, Chris fighting with a fan who didn't like that she used a female version of a character she created, having [[Webcomic/{{Asperchu}} a rival webcomic]] being more popular than hers, all culminating when it interfered with her real life and angrily deriding her fans as those who'd just want more of her comics than her having a life. Which isn't much, but that's a different story altogether. A few years later, armchair psychiatrists surmised that the leading factor was actually Chris being forced to kill off the character of Simonla Rosechu. The comic, however, has since been updated, with a retcon of the Issue 10 ending and the conclusion of the Christmas Special.

* Arryn Diaz of ''Webcomic/DresdenCodak'' was quite upfront about struggles with severe depression, which often led to very long gaps between strips (the current storyline, "Dark Science", started in 2010 but as of September 2022 has only 122 strips, an average of just over 10 per year. However, Diaz seems to be in a better place after coming out in 2019 as genderqueer and non-binary, and the comic itself has become somewhat less dark in recent years.[[note]]In the Tumblr post in which Diaz came out, they sardonically noted "Of course if I had ever read my own comic, I think I would have noticed a little sooner."[[/note]]

* Arryn Diaz of ''Webcomic/DresdenCodak'' was quite upfront about struggles with severe depression, which often led to very long gaps between strips (the current storyline, "Dark Science", started in 2010 but as of September 2022 has only 122 strips, an average of just over 10 per year. However, Diaz seems to be in a better place after coming out in 2019 as genderqueer and non-binary, and the comic itself has become somewhat less dark in recent years.

* Jeph Jacques of ''Webcomic/QuestionableContent'' has had issues with depression and anxiety in the past, which have on occasion caused him to take a day or two off from drawing the normal strip. However, in 2012, he stabbed his hand in a drunken stupor and took two weeks off from his comic after a tumblr user sent him an angry and belligerent post over one of his latest comics. What did he do? He didn't draw HollywoodHomely nerd Marigold [[RantInducingSlight "fat enough" in a swimsuit]].

** [[DiscussedTrope Andrew has stated very clearly on his Formspring]] that [[AvertedTrope none of the random self-insert gags or darker twists in the story arise from any sort of stress or ego on his behalf]], and [[TakeThat criticized his fanbase]] for assuming that the story becoming darker could only be because of a creator breakdown, and not just because it's how he wanted the story to progress. It was averted again later, where Andrew announced he would take longer between updates, allowing him to relax and prevent any future chances of Creator Breakdown. The fanbase hasn't stopped from insisting that FanDumb is going to cause this soon.

* ''Webcomic/UnDivine'': The creator, already suffering from mental depression, slowly lost interest in the comic over time, especially when it didn't produce the desired finance on Pateron. She ultimately called it quits in 2021 and put it into indefinite hiatus. Flip-flopping on the idea on if she'll continue it or not.

* ''Webcomic/RealLifeComics'' suffered from a form of Creator Breakdown twice, both times when Greg Dean broke up with his then-current girlfriends. Rather than affect the quality of the series, though, he simply took a brief hiatus from the comic (as he didn't feel like working on it at the time) and returned a week or so later and picked up where he left off, with the ex-girlfriend's character [[PutOnABus vanishing without a trace and never mentioned again]]. Of course, Greg has since gotten married, so these mini-breakdowns may be a thing of the past.
** One strip does playfully lampshade it, however; Greg and Tony are visiting multiple dimensions and they stumble across the OffstageWaitingRoom where Crystal (the first ex-girlfriend) is playing cards with Danny ([[OutOfFocus a friend who gradually faded out of the strip]]). Crystal looks up and says, "What, did the Artist get bored with you, too?"

* As discussed in an episode of ''WebVideo/DownTheRabbitHole'', RealLife hasn't been kind to ''WebComic/{{Sonichu}}'' creator Christian Weston Chandler. As a result of a combination of internet trolls and Chris's own incompetence, he has been reluctant to write the comic series for years now, and when he does it's more or less just a mouthpiece for whatever views the 'weens' (unfunny trolls searching for attention, according to Chris's fandom) have jammed down his throat.
** He does this in issue 10, [[KillEmAll eradicating everything that has bothered Chris up to that point]]. After that, he unofficially [[OrphanedSeries abandoned the comic]], claiming that the trolls "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAqAIkE1ZIs drained his creativity]]". A lot of Chris' breakdown was due to the fact that his Internet {{Troll}}s wanted ([[MetaphoricallyTrue from their point of view]]) to show him the reality of him wanting to officially produce his comic. Major cases of ScheduleSlip, Chris fighting with a fan who didn't like that he used a female version of a character he created, having [[Webcomic/{{Asperchu}} a rival webcomic]] being more popular than his, all culminating when it interfered with his real life and angrily deriding his fans as those who'd just want more of his comics than him having a life. Which isn't much, but that's a different story altogether. A few years later, armchair psychiatrists surmised that the leading factor was actually Chris being forced to kill off the character of Simonla Rosechu. The comic, however, has since been updated, with a retcon of the Issue 10 ending and the conclusion of the Christmas Special.

* This was one of the most popular theories about Tess Stone and her jarringly abrupt [[OrphanedSeries abandonment]] of her series ''Webcomic/HannaIsNotABoysName''.

* Tarol Hunt, creator of ''{{Webcomic/Goblins}}'', had a nervous breakdown in early 2014. Instead of affecting the contents of the comic proper (other than it being on hiatus for a few months), he managed to draw [[http://i.imgur.com/BJHEEQr.jpg this]]. He explains everything in [[http://www.goblinscomic.org/i-quit/ this blog post]] (warning, WallOfText).

* While the official explanation for why ''Webcomic/RPGWorld'' was canceled is due to ArtistDisillusionment, the fact that the main arc just suddenly ended without any noticeable decline in quality during the ostensible final storyline, along with a couple post-script side stories that basically curb-stomped the characters, seems less like actual burnout and more like some event really turned the author against his work. The creator would eventually join the animation industry and [[WesternAnimation/OKKOLetsBeHeroes have his own television series]], where members of the writing team would urge him to let them give it some sort of proper end through a crossover with the show, which he did.