>>79176883I think it had something to do with his mindset back then. Consider: at the time, he was going through his "oh wait, Christianity can be sorta retarded" phase. Among other things, it allowed him to bleed his own conflict into the work, making the characters' conflicts (like Joyce's own struggles with breaking through her fundie upbringing) more realistic and relatable.
With that through, he's not got much to write about. With that personal conflict over with, the only thing left is a blinding hatred of anything related to what his parents taught him, including his parents themselves. If he ever got it in him to accept that they weren't perfect while acknowledging they just wanted to do the best they could with him, maybe it could lead to more interesting stories based off that, but...
It also doesn't help that his early comics centered around sci-fi conflicts like aliens and such. As a more down-to-earth college drama/comedy, this comic must rely on ramped-up everyday issues, like bigotry. Combined with him now making a living off of rabid SJWs... well, welcome to Dumbing of Age.
