The initial reaction was good, but through later interaction with the artist it became clear that it was a one off thing, unrelated to the canon of the series, and unrelated to anything happening in his life. His overall hostility to questions about it turned people to the idea that he did it to steal undeserved pathos from his audience. Thus, he became a clown.
Imagine going through that in real life, eventually sitting down to make a heartfelt comic about it, and then the entire internet takes the piss.
If anything that just makes it even funnier.
The initial reaction was good, but through later interaction with the artist it became clear that it was a one off thing, unrelated to the canon of the series, and unrelated to anything happening in his life. His overall hostility to questions about it turned people to the idea that he did it to steal undeserved pathos from his audience. Thus, he became a clown.