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10:58 pm
![[User Picture]](http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/90509884/7420342) [Link] | Shortpacked!: Paging Brad Mick...
As I'm sure all of you are aware, because I just can't keep my damn fool mouth shut, BotCon is this weekend in Providence, Rhode Island. But I'm bringing it up again just to remind you folks that, dude, I'm going to be in Rhode Island! You know, if you want to find me and stalk me. I will invariably be wearing my shock-orange luau shirt.
Whether Ethan will get there or not, on the other hand, who knows.
In awesome site news, I got a super pageview push from http://badwebcomics.blogspot.com/ today! Like, over a thousand new folks. (Hi, new folks!) It's pretty awesome. I got a surge in book sales, too!
The guy who's in charge of that page, despite his awesomeness in skyrocketing my cash inflow, really has some crazy assumptions about webcartoonists. I don't really want to speak about his opinions about the strip itself, because a lot of that is, of course, subjective, but I think I should at least speak for myself regarding this one quote from the site's first post:
"None of these webcomics are ever really subjected to much in the way of open criticism. Most of their creators are surrounded, whether they know it or not, by sycophants. Circlejerking little plebians who feel it is their solemn duty to fellate the creator for every single thing, regardless of quality or anything."
See, that's so totally untrue. I laughed. If anything, I'm mostly surrounded by friends who rip into the strip at any chance they get. That's what friends do. You know, when they're male. The voices of criticism are the loudest voices I hear. If I cut-and-paste some panels, I'll hear about it. If I haven't done a Batman strip in a while, I'll hear about it. If I used that annoying twit Robin or not enough Mike, I'll hear about it. This isn't to say that I'm some horrible martyr, suffering through persecution. They can be cruel, yes, but I wouldn't want it any differently. I do hear praise, if I deserve it. But I'm far from their shared sacred cow. Dude, I'm the little kid they make fun of.
It's funny, sometimes, when these friends will occasionally post to my blog or whatever and blast me. And then my readers will valiantly come to my defense against this horrible troll. No, man, he's not a troll. I know this guy. I talk to him every day. His brand of snarkery are the caliber of people I surround myself with. We're just vicious to each other, like mean brothers who punch each other in the face all the time and won't admit they like each other. (I'm sure you can see some of that attitude come out in the strip.)
I imagine that is probably true for a few other webcartoonists, as well. We're not all up in our ivory towers. I mean, ivory is expensive! We're poor.
I'm sure he'll link to this and call me a fag or whatever, but that sounds great to me. Yes, I'm feeding some guy's ego, who obviously pulled a lot of this stuff out of his ass, by responding, but I want that pageview surge again. It wasn't quite the surge I got with the Drama Strip or the Iron Man Strip, but I'll take it. I'm a shrewd businessman.
Tags: botcon, shortpacked!, webcomics
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| Date: | June 27th, 2007 03:08 am (UTC) |
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WANNA BET? SSTTTAAAAAAAAAArrrrrsssssccccrrrrrreeaaaaa.... | From: | (Anonymous) |
| Date: | June 27th, 2007 03:12 am (UTC) |
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I knew it! People trying to start shit really is profitable for a webcomic!
Thank you, sir. You have validated a long-held belief of mine. I know, man! There's this period of time before you get big enough for people to attack you where you have to set up false accounts and attack yourself, just to get some buzz going. ![[User Picture]](http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/78791848/2242167) | | From: | dvandom |
| Date: | June 27th, 2007 03:12 am (UTC) |
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No, he'll call you an ANONYMOUS whiny fag. :) | From: | (Anonymous) |
| Date: | June 27th, 2007 03:20 am (UTC) |
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| | MORE DRAMA PLZ | (Link) |
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I love how serious-ness is like an on/off switch for this guy, like you have to be all fart jokes all the time or constantly cutting yourself and writing bad poetry with no in between.
What is this guy gonna do next, blast the shit out of Shakespeare for putting sex jokes in his plays about romance and political intrigue?
Sweet, I compared Willis to Shakespeare! Being a sycophant is AWESOME. The whole diatribe seems so odd to me. You're writing a character based comic (well, most of the time) and he seems to hold that against you. I kind of picture him reading Batman and bitching, "What's all this shit with Bruce Wayne? I don't give a rat's ass that his parents were killed in front of him, I wanna see a guy dressed like a bat beating up some crooks." Which, hey, I'm not knocking Batman beating up crooks, but after a while, you're going to be kind of curious as to what makes a guy dress up like a bat and beat guys up. I have mixed feelings about the dramatic storylines sometimes too, but I still generally enjoy them, and I think the balance works out well. If you ask me, this Solomon guy is a bit of a pedantic. I felt the same way recently when I read about the Brothers Chaps turned down Adult Swim because "it wanted to hook them up to it's corporate machine" and that AS is too gag-based for their totally awesome character driven H*R goodness....
It's a nice mini-comm wank though. Some guy going around like he's the police of web comics. It's like how Joe Rogan is acting as sheriff of Funnytown, or that goofy Wikipedia-webcomic thing. Some people will get all high and mighty about it, while others will have a good laugh.
Although I really don't get all the Bruce Wayne shit... I did infact by "Batman" and not "Bruce Wayne broods for a long time"
I kid. | From: | (Anonymous) |
| Date: | June 27th, 2007 03:26 am (UTC) |
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You're surrounded by "Circlejerking little plebians who feel it is their solemn duty to *fellate the creator for every single thing*"!?! THAT'S AWESOME! If that's the case, why doesn't EVERYBODY become a web cartoonist?!? Man, I'm going to become a web cartoonist YESTERDAY!! Man, that last line is hilarious :) Nice Nod! In regards to "Hostile Comics"... Been there, done that, had a truckload of fun. However this guy is going out of his way beyond what I consider is a joke (go on, take a shot every time he mentions vitriol!).
But it is curious, when do people stop being yes men and start being friends? I've got several people who started out being readers and became friends! One of them's even gettin' hitched this weekend! But, you know, I love Transformers more. I'm an asshole like that.
(Congratulations, Brassy!) ![[User Picture]](http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/52874516/7147697) | | From: | bobulus |
| Date: | June 27th, 2007 03:33 am (UTC) |
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Hate to say it, but I kinda agree with the guy. I read It's Walky, and enjoyed it. I read the early Shortpacked stuff and enjoyed it.
The recent stuff...has me opening the page, and, if it's a joke strip, I'll read it. If it's a drama strip, I'll close it. I just don't have the energy for what seems like an artificially constructed drama-filled thing. Dude, no special sauce on your Wheaties. It reminds me of something that John Allison once said (approximately): "I just like to write funny comics". There's really no need for such vehement criticism like that, it's rather silly. John Allison is a-- dammit, I wanted to say a true American hero. But I was thwarted by his true nationality.
*shakes fist*
But seriously, if I were half as funny as he, I'd be, like, better. | From: | (Anonymous) |
| Date: | June 27th, 2007 03:56 am (UTC) |
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Well because I'm an obnoxious pedant, (I'm an honours student, it comes with the territory. ^_^), I just responded to the guy....in my opinion a very lovely refutation. Mind you I'm half asleep so it may be mostly rambling. But I thought I'd show you anyway. 'Cause I'm a "plebian," apparently. And a "sycophant," so you know you want me around. lmao. (You're right, that guy is absolutely hilarious in his obnoxious...wrong-ness. lol The more I read that part you quoted from that other blog, the more I laugh.)
Anyway, I digress. Here goes:
"Meet your first 'asshole'. You may be surprised to know that not all of us who appreciate drama in a strip are 'morons.'
I don't mean to start any "drama" myself, only to respectfully refute you. Or at least attempt. The wonderful nature of opinions is you can have all my version of the facts and still disagree with me.
Put it this way. I outgrew Batman at about 5. I'm a huge girly girl who never really caught on to Transformers and so on and so on. Basically, most of the Shortpacked! jokes so dear to you....are completely lost on me because I'm not in that niche.
However!!!!!!! And this is a big however. However, I check Shortpacked every day, even the days when I'm 99% sure there will be no strip, just in case...Why? Because I consider David Willis an absolute genius. His strips are intelligent, thought-provoking, and, yes, dramatic. Just enough to keep you on edge and interested. It challenges me, making me think...but still allowing me to let my brain travel in a less serious way than my daily reality does.
There are tons of strips out there which never touch anything related to drama. And if that's your cup of tea, then so be it. Enjoy!
But just be aware that not everyone agrees with you.
That's all."
So yeah. Consider yourself "fellated." And know that I'm making a rather large exception in doing so. =P
Love and light,
Jenna ![[User Picture]](http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/26377231/2403238) | | From: | shlabam |
| Date: | June 27th, 2007 04:16 am (UTC) |
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But dude, you gotta admit, you do have more than a few fans who pretty much permanently have your penis in their mouths. One time, I posted a comment questioning Ethan's sexuality of the minute, and this guy busted on with a full three paragraphs about how Ethan's sexuality is whatever Walky wants it to be, and it's not up to me to decide or whatever. I think he might have got a little spittle on me. Yeah, man, it was scary. So, y'know, as close-minded and doofus-esque as that guy is, he is right on a few fronts. Hey, read the posts on Scott Kurtz' blog. I've never seen ANYTHING even a LITTLE critical.
Conclusion: Where's Ninja Rick during all this? ![[User Picture]](http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/78791848/2242167) | | From: | dvandom |
| Date: | June 27th, 2007 04:18 am (UTC) |
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He's in the room. But as a proper ninja, he's invisible. | From: | (Anonymous) |
| Date: | June 27th, 2007 04:17 am (UTC) |
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| | Who cares? | (Link) |
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Seriously, who cares what other people think about the strip? Ultimately it's your art. Besides you still managed to throw in a Transformers joke. So good job. So let me get this straight.
This guy basically does a blog depends on content generated by more or less creative people for money or muse or whatever motivates them... and that's it? Doesn't that basically make him a parasite?
I'm vaguely perplexed that I've not run across anything memorable like that in the decade I've been playing in (web) traffic...
Good to see that you're looking at it positively, though.
It's really hard to post this kind of thing without taking a shot or two at this guy. Even saying how easy he makes it seems kind of like a cheap shot... | From: | (Anonymous) |
| Date: | July 8th, 2007 08:34 pm (UTC) |
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| | Even more, his criticisms aren't new | (Link) |
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Every criticism he's put up has been around for at least a year. He's like Maddox except he's trying to be both offensive and rigorous(as opposed to Maddox who knows he's trying to be offensive and doesn't even *attempt* rigor) which just doesn't work. This guy's obviously a douchenozzle, but I can see where he's getting his ideas from. You're interpreting him as talking about your real life, flesh and blood friends, who undoubtedly bust your balls on every little thing, but I think the douchenozzle was referring more towards, y'know, us here - your adoringly faithful LiveJournal sycophants. He just scans this LJ and naturally assumes that it represents all your reader feedback. Which is stupid, but I could see why he'd think that. ![[User Picture]](http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/73673358/4799250) | | From: | syrg |
| Date: | June 27th, 2007 06:19 am (UTC) |
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Well, a good bit of logic is this: the only criticism most of us see is that which is posted and open. A lot of us don't know Willis' friends, so we just have the LJ/forums to go by, which tend to be more positive than critical. Thus, a harsh, yet contrary, viewpoint seems new to a lot of us. | From: | (Anonymous) |
| Date: | June 27th, 2007 06:37 am (UTC) |
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It's funny, sometimes, when these friends will occasionally post to my blog or whatever and blast me. And then my readers will valiantly come to my defense against this horrible troll. No, man, he's not a troll. I know this guy. I talk to him every day."
the guy's direct criticisms of the strip are, as you noted, his subjective opinion, and I happen to disagree with most of them (the "wah wah i can't handle drama because i have the emotional capabilities of a toaster" crap, especially). but how can you write something like the above and NOT realize that you just reinforced his point about your being "surrounded, whether they know it or not, by sycophants"? he wasn't referring to your friends in real life when he wrote that particular line. I doubt he has any idea who you know in real life, and undoubtedly doesn't care. what he is referring to is your fans- the ones who "valiantly come to your defense" against a guy who posts a negative remark as a JOKE. if that's not sycophancy, I don't know what is.
imho, anyway. I think that guy's opinion on it is that Walky actually listens to most readers. I mean, I'm sure he gives this a good looking-over, but it seems like anyone would do that if they, you know, had a place to get feed-back. Maybe have a little fun diatribe.
The only other comic I read that that guy talked about is CAD, and it's sort of different than Shortpacked. Mostly in that A: He has a forum to interact with readers. B: He seems pretty well-off with his comic so whatever he's doing he's doing it right.
Although for the most part the comics he listed are just ones he hates. I personally love the artwork of a lot of comics that I read, the jokes (and rather nice stories) are really just an extra treat.
But I'm an art-loving, fellating sycophant, so what do I know?
Then again, apparently Shorpacked! is worse than Hitler? Walky, have you been kill an unfathomable amount of people that we, your average readers, are not aware of? | From: | (Anonymous) |
| Date: | June 27th, 2007 10:40 am (UTC) |
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That guy reminded me why I read your comic.
Mainly so I can give you shit about it. What would you do without guys like us harassing the shit out of you about how your comic is stupid and you're stupid and your fans are stupid and the whole fucking lot of you need to get real lives and real jobs?
Oh, right. You'd probably be pretty happy about that.
Oh well! | From: | (Anonymous) |
| Date: | June 27th, 2007 10:42 am (UTC) |
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Also, if all the commentary on your comic he saw was just what was posted here and presumably on whatever messageboard you run about it, it would totally look like a giant handjob party, because how often do graham or gabe or me or anyone else come by here and dog you out?
well, besides me, anyway.
-hx Really, so long as Mike keeps being an asshole, I'll keep reading. Everything else is just gravy.
Now if Mike ever gets a spin-off series called "I Fucked Your Mom (Right In The Ass)", I will probably give you all of my money. LOL.
I agree with you, milk this (no gutter thoughts please) for what you can. In the area of marketting I've heard it said that "there is no bad publicity."
Go forth and work that buck out of every pocket you can while the picking is good! I have to agree about the interweaving humor/drama point. I read shortpacked when you first linked it from IW, and it was just a gag a day strip about toys starring you and your friends. I laughed more often than not. Then IW ended and suddenly you've got a new cast of main characters, half of which are directly from IW, and suddenly it's dramarama. I mean, how do you write a joke strip where the punchline is horse rape where we're supposed to laugh at the victim, and then a serious one where another character is raped and we're supposed to feel bad? So, I read the guys first blog on the comic, and I read his second blog on Mistah Willis...and to me, it's like he's trying to be a Maddox of a different color...a more nerd-esque niche Maddox, if you will...and not nearly as witty.
I'd go out and say that, he reads Maddox, and wants to be as cool as him, but not be so obvious about it. How come every time somebody posts something critical and it's not like it's written for the New York Times they get compared to Maddox? Even other douchebags think Maddox is a douchebag. The guy didn't invent internet humor, or scathing editorials.
And the thing is, all these little Maddoxesque people that pop up from time to time, we're to blame for them, everyone who is into net culture. Because frankly, if it was polite and the actual meat of the review wasn't buried beneath mounds of cussing and insults, you wouldn't read it. It has to packaged in a shitstorm or it would totally fly under the radar. It has to piss you off so you'll read it, become offended, and start slamming the guy who wrote it. Then of course he slams you back. And back again. Finally someone plays the "whatever I don't care" card and then it's game over until next time.
The internet: tomb of intellectualism. | From: | (Anonymous) |
| Date: | June 28th, 2007 07:21 am (UTC) |
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Wow, it is hilarious to read all the comments in this thread by the circlejerking plebians that supposedly don't exist.
Sorry, I love Shortpacked, and it's one of the few comics I check daily, but dude was right on. I'm-a have to check his site regularly. | From: | (Anonymous) |
| Date: | June 28th, 2007 09:35 pm (UTC) |
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I can't believe that guy has managed to attract a following, given how awful his writing is. It's like reading something from a grade 2 kid with attention deficit disorder, only with more vulgarities sprinkled in. For some reason I usually get around to reading your blog during the endgame of 48 hour work-sprees, and I will then feel compelled to post like some kind of rampant jackass. Most of the time I'll re-read it after sleep, and then, well, shake my head. I figure your reaction is probably the same to most of my posts, so I apologize if this is so. |
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