Technolandy

Day 83 (of 2025/26) the complicated life of some authors/cartoonists – Scott Adams…

I enjoyed a lot of Dilbert over the years.

The cartoon strip was a huge success and very popular (popular enough to even inspire a tv series). And unlike some (Bill Watterson) was heavily into merchandising the brand – Dilbert was even a spokesanimation for Office Depot!

But sometimes the voice of the author gets louder than the words on the page (a reason why I am not going to the Harry Potter inspired Forbidden Forest in Vancouver – I was a huge fan of Harry Potter, but it’s hard to re-read knowing some of the biased hateful things that JK Rowling has said beyond the words in print)… and Scott Adams went very negative…

News story going into more of the controversies: https://www.themirror.com/entertainment/celebrity-news/dilbert-scott-adams-controversies-death-1615977

He advanced provocative and absolutist views on race, politics, and “wokeness” (in my opinion much better to be awake and aware than sleepwalking through life). Racial generalizations and polarized thoughts seemed to attempt to normalize disengagement and distrust and reinforce polarization rather than encourage dialogue and shared solutions.

And overnight, his web presence (gocomics.com) disappeared. Without an apology. Without any desire to let him return to the same audience he once held. Likewise, his distributor, the huge Andrews McMeel Universal group also severed ties with him.

I stopped reading his work. Even the earlier works that were clever and quirky.

I stopped sharing his creations. Even the ones that still make me chuckle.

His absence wasn’t complete…. He did setup a paywall service (kinda like a Patreon where audiences can get ‘more content’) and there was an audience looking for his negative vents. Once in awhile his voice would make the more mainstream presences I was on, but his influence was lost. I wasn’t in any mood for a rehabilitation attempt without a broad commentary on Scott’s behalf… it never came, and now it is too late. To be fair, I thought it was longer ago than 2023… https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/dilbert-cartoon-creator-scott-adams-racist-rant-1.6760979

And it makes me sad that an author and cartoonist I once enjoyed and appreciated was able to lose an audience so quickly—and so permanently. Many writers carry controversy that can be addressed, examined, and reckoned with. In Adams’ case, I don’t even feel comfortable offering a nostalgic “remember the good times” share.

I’ll remember the inexplicably upturned tie with some fondness. I still wear ties most of the school year (bowties on Tuesdays), and once upon a time, a custom Dilbert tie would’ve felt like a clever nod. But after a certain point, the strips stopped being shared, photocopied, or posted—and they won’t be again.

Maybe the uncomfortable lesson here—especially for those of us who write, teach, draw, or share publicly—is this: influence is cumulative. The jokes matter. The stories matter. Commentary matters. And intention is always secondary to interpretation.

The audience is listening.