It doesn't really help you while reading that capital letter i looks different. You have to (1) know which font you're currently reading and (2) know that a straight bar isn't a capital i.
This is kind aggregated by the fact that I'd naturally assume if only one letter looked like that it would be capital letter i. An assumption that is backed by this very website: I, l
Unlike Comic Mono it is a paid font, but I find it a lot nicer to use/read.
EDIT: the font the website uses, not comic-code
Most attempts at making a font try to make all that stuff as regular as possible, even the one in the article we're discussing does this.