uts ▁paper back ▁as ▁a ▁child , ▁saying ▁that ▁" something ▁about ▁the ▁simplicity ▁and ▁solit ary ▁nature ▁of ▁the ▁medium ▁appe aled ▁to ▁me ." ▁I sh ida ▁became ▁a ▁p enc iller ▁for ▁Dark ▁Hor se ▁Comics ' ▁G . I . ▁Joe ▁Ext reme ▁series ▁for ▁a ▁short ▁time ▁in ▁the ▁early ▁ 1 9 9 0 s , ▁but ▁I sh ida ▁said ▁that ▁he ▁bot ched ▁this ▁job , ▁not ing ▁that ▁" se ver al ▁[ of ▁his ] ▁pages ▁were ▁so ▁poor ly ▁drawn ▁they ▁had ▁to ▁get ▁another ▁gu y ▁to ▁re do ▁them ▁entirely ." ▁Later ▁on ▁this ▁de cade , ▁I sh ida ▁attempted ▁to ▁work ▁in ▁animation , ▁but ▁this ▁path ▁did ▁not ▁pan ▁out ▁either . ▁In ▁ 2 0 0 0 , ▁I sh ida ▁taught ▁himself ▁HTML , ▁put ▁together ▁a ▁Ge oc ities ▁web ▁page , ▁and ▁started ▁upload ing ▁S inf est ▁stri ps ▁seven ▁days ▁per ▁week . ▁I sh ida ▁stated ▁that ▁he ▁managed ▁to ▁sust ain ▁this ▁strict ▁schedule ▁during ▁the ▁first ▁seven ▁years ▁purely ▁through ▁" co ff ee ▁and ▁reven ge ." ▁ ▁I sh ida ▁views ▁his ▁older ▁works ▁as ▁an ▁indicator ▁of ▁his ▁emot ional ▁state ▁during ▁this ▁period , ▁describing ▁his ▁early ▁S inf est ▁stri ps ▁as ▁" un hing ed , ▁totally ▁off ▁the ▁chain ." ▁ ▁In ▁ 2 0 0 9 , ▁I sh ida ▁claimed ▁his ▁strip ▁was ▁" st ill ▁pretty ▁wild ,