Last week, Matthew Blackett quietly announced that his comic m@b would be taking an early retirement after four years of syndication in Eye Weekly. "I'm still happy with m@b", he writes, "[but] I've lost the energy to think about it. The spark of inspiration of when I saw someone do something insane, or say something off-kilter, has dulled and rarely goes off these days. I'd rather play Tetris on my cell phone that try to eaves-drop on the people in sitting in front of me on the streetcar." The comic's final appearance is slated for Thursday, March 29.
It's not like you won't see Matt around town. He's one of the founding members of the Toronto Public Space Committee and the Publisher/Creative Director of Spacing. Additionally, Matt just wrapped up a book tour to promote Wide Collar Crimes, a collection of the last eight m@b issues, and promises a graphic novel sometime in the near future.
But that doesn't make it any easier to say goodbye. M@b, you will be missed.
Photo courtesy of photojunkie.

Newsstand: November 23, 2009
The EYE is a magazine I only get to read m@b, and for their table format of concerts.
I wont be picking up the eye as much now.
Am I the only person who finds it difficult to take someone with a soul patch seriously?
Whatever replaces the strip can't be half as boring.
I gotta say, I think m@b lost any "spark of inspiration" a looooong time ago.
Thank Christ. m@b has been dreadful since the beginning, hardly deserving of the label "comic strip"
Ah, a chorus of anonymous haters strike again. Yay internet.
OK, well I LOVE eye and didn't really feel anything for the comic.