It is not so much the money involved that is staggering but the fact it was raised so quickly without the need for a media full court press. The possibilities are staggeringly far reaching. Sure, Obama raised >$29 million last month, but it took a lot of speaking tours, luncheons and gland handing, plus a lot of directly targeted solicitations. While OotS is both popular and prominent online, it is far less so than the POTUS, and all Burlew had to do was state his goal, the requisite funds and what reasonable expectations donors could expect in return. Then he just watched the money roll in while posting fairly brief status updates; reading through them all, he was clearly unprepared for the response and felt obligated to provide ever greater compensation for it. If it gets much higher he will have nothing left but "and for $100,000 you can name my firstborn child."

What are the implications, not only for publishing, online and otherwise, but for marketing and investment of all kinds? Obama pioneered the political aspect in many ways, but perhaps it is a valid question whether laws on corporate and other campaign finance are even necessary when a webcomic author can raise a million dollars with a month of modest effort in between his regular work.