# Show HN: I rebuilt Microsoft Comic Chat's layout engine in one HTML file > Source: > Published: 2026-07-24 23:28:27+00:00 I used Comic Chat in 1996 and never got over it. So when Microsoft put the source up last week, I wanted it back the way I remembered it: same engine, browser tab, no install, works on a phone. I do not write or read code. I'm the proverbial "product manager." So, I have to thank both GPT 5.6 and Fable 5 / Opus 4.8 (just before they released Opus 5 today). I aimed to stay faithful to the original as much as I could and extend it intelligibly. It's not IRC, but you *can* connect with up to 10 people in a secure (E2E encrypted), ephemeral group chat. Sorry, but I'm not sure who uses IRC anymore. I don't. ;) One link, up to ten friends, everyone typing into the same strip live. Names, lines and uploaded backdrops are encrypted in your browser with AES-GCM through WebCrypto before any of it leaves. The relay is a Cloudflare Durable Object that orders events and passes them along, and it cannot read a line of your comic. A room carries separate keys for the script and for uploaded images, plus a third derived with HKDF that proves you belong without the real key going on the wire. Keys are non-extractable and ride in the URL fragment, which a browser never sends to a server. Security was not an afterthought with this. It *is* one HTML file. Nothing is emulated, there is no WASM, and the constants are reproduced from the source by hand rather than compiled. There is a "For nerds" tab in the app with the routines, the geometry and the crypto behind the shared rooms, etc., so I will let the page answer that rather than paste it here. Comic Sans is kinda optional. Barely. I'm down for constructive feedback and viable suggestions / bug reports. Enjoy! Comments URL: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49042872](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49042872) Points: 1 # Comments: 0