Jon22: The Website of Jonathan Dobres

Comic Sans MS is an infamous font. It was originally created to approximate the look of handwritten text on a computer screen, and was intended for use only in contexts where handwriting was appropriate. Its use has long since spiraled out of control, with its fun, friendly contours gracing everything from birthday invitations to AA fliers. To professional graphic designers, Comic Sans’s irregular contours are the typographic equivalent of a drunk, disorderly mob of letterforms–an insult to the history of typography and an affront to the very concept of literacy.

Amongst some graphic designers there’s been a strong backlash against the ubiquity of Comic Sans, and though I’m with them in principal, there’s only so much breath I can waste on a font, no matter how evil it is. Most people think Comic Sans is cute, and like a plush toy, it won’t be destroyed no matter how hard I stomp on it.

Today, though, I saw what is surely a sign of the End Times. I was at the hospital reviewing a medical record, and there it was: a patient’s blood pressure, present illness, and medical history all spelled out in Comic Sans (simulated above, entirely fake information). I refuse to believe that anyone made a conscious decision to print the report in this fashion. I cannot envision a scene in which a doctor tells the staff that he wants his medical histories to look whimsical. On the other hand, I cannot imagine a single word processing scenario that would lead to the accidental use of this font in a hospital document. The only logical conclusion is that Comic Sans has become a sentient entity. Like God, it is everywhere, and it now possesses an absolute will. I only hope that this One True Font is a merciful Font.