I searched high and low and could not figure out where to post this . . . I too have had problems (fairly severe, actually) loading the comic images of late. I have to clear my cache three or four times to get the images to load right . . . and on Sunday, I had to content myself with reading a few panels each time and piecing it together in my head.

I have MSN DSL through Qwest. The DSL modem is connected to a D-Link Wireless router (not that this likely has any impact whatsoever) . . . and I'm in Salem, OR. I hope this helps.

I am also using QWest DSL (although I use QWest as the ISP instead of MSN). I tried loading the images with wget, and I found that the connection gets reset while trying to load the file (see below). I also notice that I get about 10% packet loss when I ping www.sluggy.com.

dark-tower:~$ wget http://www.sluggy.com/images/comics/050716f.jpg
--17:06:33-- http://www.sluggy.com/images/comics/050716f.jpg
=> `050716f.jpg.2'
Resolving www.sluggy.com... 72.36.173.106
Connecting to www.sluggy.com[72.36.173.106]:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 274,776 [image/jpeg]

1% [> ] 5,460 31.82K/s

17:06:34 (31.75 KB/s) - Read error at byte 5460/274776 (Connection reset by peer). Retrying.

--17:06:35-- http://www.sluggy.com/images/comics/050716f.jpg
(try: 2) => `050716f.jpg.2'
Connecting to www.sluggy.com[72.36.173.106]:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 206 Partial Content
Length: 274,776 (269,316 to go) [image/jpeg]

63% [+=============================================================> ] 174,490 42.30K/s ETA 00:04

17:06:40 (42.18 KB/s) - Read error at byte 174490/274776 (Connection reset by peer). Retrying.

--17:06:42-- http://www.sluggy.com/images/comics/050716f.jpg
(try: 3) => `050716f.jpg.2'
Connecting to www.sluggy.com[72.36.173.106]:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 206 Partial Content
Length: 274,776 (100,286 to go) [image/jpeg]

65% [+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++=> ] 181,342 38.02K/s

17:06:43 (38.00 KB/s) - Read error at byte 181342/274776 (Connection reset by peer). Retrying.

--17:06:46-- http://www.sluggy.com/images/comics/050716f.jpg
(try: 4) => `050716f.jpg.2'
Connecting to www.sluggy.com[72.36.173.106]:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 206 Partial Content
Length: 274,776 (93,434 to go) [image/jpeg]

94% [+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++============================> ] 260,595 30.82K/s

17:06:51 (30.75 KB/s) - Read error at byte 260595/274776 (Connection reset by peer). Retrying.

--17:06:55-- http://www.sluggy.com/images/comics/050716f.jpg
(try: 5) => `050716f.jpg.2'
Connecting to www.sluggy.com[72.36.173.106]:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 206 Partial Content
Length: 274,776 (14,181 to go) [image/jpeg]

100%[++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++=====>] 274,776 24.19K/s

17:06:56 (24.18 KB/s) - `050716f.jpg.2' saved [274776/274776]

Sounds to me like its your DSL provider (you both have the same one & you both have the same errors)
have you tried other web sites?
If you still get packet loss & connection errors contact your DSL provider as its probaby their fault.

Wizz.