Andrew Hussie

Andrew F. Hussie (born August 25, 1979) is an American author and artist. They are best known for creating the webcomic Homestuck, hosted on their website MS Paint Adventures alongside other works styled after text-based graphic adventure games.

In 2009, Hussie began creating Homestuck and updated it until its conclusion in 2016. During its run, Homestuck 's website would sometimes see up to a million unique visitors a day. In 2017, Hussie helped produce Hiveswap, a Homestuck adventure game that crowdfunded over US$2.4 million on Kickstarter. In 2019, an epilogue for Homestuck would be released for free digitally in addition to a later physical print by Viz Media. In 2021, Hussie would create and self-publish Psycholonials, a visual novel inspired by their personal experiences as a fandom "leader".

Life and career

1979–2009: Early life and work Andrew F. Hussie Hussie graduated in computer science at Temple University while living with their parents in Abington, Pennsylvania. In 2005, they would develop Photoshop plugins under the company Master Colors, implementing a digital color space based on the Munsell color system. Hussie has moved "well over 50 times", including to Guam. As of 2010, Hussie lives in Massachussets.

Hussie began posting webcomics in 2003 on their website Team Special Olympics up until its discontinuation in 2007. The site would host various comic strips by Hussie, their brother, and Cindy Marie. Notable works that were showcased on the site include And It Don't Stop, Whistles: The Starlight Calliope, and Neon Ice Cream Headache. The Starlight Calliope would later be published by Slave Labor Graphics.

Hussie's first interactive work, Jailbreak, began on an internet forum in 2006, taking user input on character actions in the form of commands, mimicking a text-based graphical adventure game. Hussie would then quickly respond with a drawn image depicting the results of the command, often with an added caption. In 2007, Hussie would create the website MS Paint Adventures to host Jailbreak and future works in this interactive format. These later works include Bard Quest and Problem Sleuth. Problem Sleuth launched in 2008 and ran for over a year, ending in 2009 with more than 1,600 pages. During its run, Hussie would sometimes be creating up to 10 pages a day. As with Hussie's previous works, Homestuck took input from its readers in the form of commands that could guide character actions. As the audience grew to almost a million daily readers through word of mouth, taking reader input became "too unwieldy and made it difficult [...] to tell a coherent story". While Hussie now controlled the plot through their discontinuation of the suggestion box, they claimed to still visit fan blogs and forums when interested in audience feedback. Over a hundred musicians and artists contributed to the final work, with Hussie sometimes recruiting community artists for new pages.

During Homestuck 's run, Hussie would update the comic regularly, sometimes posting upwards of 10 to 20 pages in a day.

2017–present: After Homestuck In 2017, Hiveswap was released, an episodic adventure game that raised US$2.4 million in 2012 through crowdfunding on Kickstarter. The first act of the game released in 2017 with its second act releasing in 2020. Hussie is credited as a writer and executive producer on the game.

In April 2019, Hussie would help co-write and release The Homestuck Epilogues, a novel set after the conclusion of the Homestuck webcomic.

An official webcomic continuation of Homestuck titled Homestuck^2: Beyond Canon would be outlined by Hussie and handed off to a new team in late 2019 before going on indefinite pause in 2020. In late 2023, the comic would rebrand to Homestuck: Beyond Canon and resume updates under the direction of Furthest Ring Studios.

In 2020, Hussie announced Psycholonials, a self-published visual novel that released its final episode in April 2021. The game follows the story of Zhen and Abby, two girls that try to wrestle with a messy clown-themed revolution during the COVID-19 pandemic. The plot of Psycholonials was inspired by Hussie's experience as the "leader" of the Homestuck fandom, which they found comparable to a cult at times. In Psycholonials, Hussie explores what a modern path to revolution could look like with the involvement of internet culture.

In 2025, Hussie helped write the Homestuck animated pilot with independent animation studio SpindleHorse. Hussie had contacted Vivienne Medrano – the founder of the studio – about the possibility of a collaboration, which then became the animated pilot. Hussie will continue to be involved in the adaptation of the comic if the series is continued beyond the pilot.

Works

Webcomics Team Special Olympics Problem Sleuth (March 10, 2008, to April 7, 2009)

Published books Whistles, Book One (The Starlight Calliope) Hiveswap Friendsim (2018) Pesterquest (2019) Psycholonials (2021) Troubled Cosmos (2026)