junoblairb

mlai
Fact is if you're vocal and your work is popular, sooner or later you're going to get mired in politics or the usual bullshit. But if you're quiet and don't get involved, and just work on your comics, ppl can't find a handle on you.

This is incredibly true. Mlai here has a point. ^_^

Nahhh... Only if you are a cock and think your opinions are truly that amazing that they should be forced on people along with your comics... A lot of the popular comicers are like that... PVP, PA etc...

That's why I keep my own obnoxious opinions separated from my comic. It's ok to post them elsewhere, but I'd rather not have them make my work look bad by association.

Yeah, I tend to keep all of my opinions out of Dasien. ...at least explicitly. I'll sneak little things in every now and then, but I spare the lectures. Actually, Rouge has a pretty good Sagan monologue coming up, but... that's just her character. Hee!

Yeah, don't use your comic as a clubbing stick. Nobody will read it. Except people who agree with you, which makes for a very inbred audience.

ozoneocean

junoblairb

mlai
Fact is if you're vocal and your work is popular, sooner or later you're going to get mired in politics or the usual bullshit. But if you're quiet and don't get involved, and just work on your comics, ppl can't find a handle on you.

This is incredibly true. Mlai here has a point. ^_^

Nahhh... Only if you are a cock and think your opinions are truly that amazing that they should be forced on people along with your comics... A lot of the popular comicers are like that... PVP, PA etc...

Yes yes, that's what I meant. People come to mind and I won't dare say them and you know what's so sad? I won't say them on the off chance they'll read this and sacrifice me to the deed. :( But PVP is a great example. Geez, like that one time with the baby and Fred and the stealing. That was a nice holy shit.

(This post was brought to you by quotastic!)

Stupid question..what's a PVP?

PVP is a comic by one Scott Kurtz. The comic itself is of clean design and fairly consistent humor (whether or not one finds that particular brand of humor actually funn varies, however). Anyway, it's one of the better comics online, and more imporantly, one of the oldest.

The problem is that Kurtz has a tendency to make long, accusatory rants about events he's only aware of by second or third-hand accounts, and to be fairly vindictive about whatever it is he's angry about. He has very strong opinions about the world of comics, and seems to get strangely jealous from time to time (which is particularly odd, since he's one of the most successful comickers on the web, and is even making headway in print).

He's a nice enough guy in person, though. Met him at a con once; he's one of the few guys out there who draws himself how he actually looks.

Just to avoid confusion, the name of the comic comes from the term 'PVP' which stands from 'Player Versus Player', generally used in online gaming.

You know, A lot of people have said that Tim Buckley from Ctrl-Alt-Del is a big jerk. But I'm still a big fan of his comic strip. For the most part, I don't really think too much about the creator him(her)self and just enjoy the nice comic they've made.

Though for the generally nice people out there that tend to have comics that are... less than good enough to keep my interest... I dunno. I feel bad. They're nice people, but I just can't get interested in their story.

Though Ideally I think it'd be nice to have both a quality comic and NOT be full of yourself.

When I first came to this site, I had a definite view on a certain type of creature(take a wild guess what), but then I read Charby the Vampirate, and my ideas changed. At first, I didn't leave comments or anything, but after reading the author's comments on her board, and realizing how nice she was, I started leaving comments with every new comic(and a couple of old ones). So, yeah, I guess the author does help my view on the comic.

Even so, you shouldn't let that be the only reason to read the comic. And you don't always have to read the comments left by the author to tell what they're like. Sometimes you can tell by how they treat their characters. If the comic is a simple, comidic, problem-of-the-week comic, you can usually tell what the author is like by paying attention. If the comic is a fantasy/sci-fi, adventure, solid-storyling comic, it might be a bit harder.

If the person's views on life in general agree with my own, then I tend to like their comic more. Take, for example, "The Karnak Hates Everything Show" on Bob and George. Sure, it's a sprite comic, and sure, it can be insanely random at times, but the author has this ability to make the most tragic thing seem....well, slightly less tragic.

OK, bad example, but you get my point.

I once helped a guy with his webcomic he was doing. Eventually he mishandled the webcomic and ended our partnership in a way that felt inconsiderate. It kind of affects my views on his current work, as I have less respect for the guy. I don't read his comics anymore.

rainingbells

ozoneocean
Hard from Sexy Losers could be an arsehole, but strangely that was rather endearing... Much like Marine from Penis.

Clay is actually a really nice guy. At least, outside of maybe two skirmishes with him in IRC some nine years ago, I've never had a problem with him. What dickish behavior I have seen from him came from what he went through to keep Sexy Losers up and running, the people he had to fight with just because of the content, and some of the behavior of the fan base.

I knew Clay a long time ago, before Sexy Losers, when he was just a nice guy in an artist community we frequented. He really impressed me at the time, because he seemed mature and nice. But then, it did surprise me to find out he was the guy behind Sexy Losers. I think there's probably a lot about him I don't know, but I still kind of default to my positive perception of him.

How about a "medium" profile? :)

I notice when I post in the forums, commenting and thus visits go up.

Also, I do like to chat with people and I don't like to pick or get involved in fights. I have definitely gotten to know the forum crowd a lot better by posting, so I think it's an "everything in moderation" thing.

Now, if I felt the need to have my nick on every post all the time, then I'd say that little OCD problem with a side order of megalomania was just a bit too out of control...but until then, I'll just keep a medium profile.

Darth Mongoose
On the other side, maybe if your only experience of a comic's creator was a stupid forum argument, would that make you view that person's comic with more jaded eyes and notice the bad more than the good?

Guilty as charged! But I think YOU already know that story...

You do have a nice comic and it turns out, you're a pretty dynamic person too.

That said, the relationship between creator and comic is much like watching your favorite actor on TV or listening to your favorite music. I had a discussion with one of my students the other day about R.Kelly - For those who do not know, R.Kelly is an R & B singer in America who in the last couple of years was accused of having sexual relations with a minor and also, allegedly urinating and deficating on her - check the Internet for a video of this and decide for yourself if that is indeed R.Kelly.

That said, the argument was basically, "Yeah, sure, even IF he did those things...I STILL love his music! I don't like what he does, but he's a great artist".

Same goes for comic creators. It is possible to love their characters but HATE their character. If you know what I mean. John Byrne - One of my favorite artists, whom I met, was the nicest guy. Some of his peers and people in the comic world think he's usually an arrogant S.O.B.. It's basically akin to loving the sinner, and hating the sin.

Great topic!

I've been known to get into fights on message boards - I have my share of idiotic opinions, and I get mad when I think people are being mean - which is OK in real life, but it's stupid on a message board, where it is so easy to make mistakes about tone and sarcasm and meaning. Everyone just sounds meaner on a message board, I think.

So when I came to DD i resolved not to post much. I'm a cartoonist, not a salesman, and it shows. But I love a good message board, and this one is pretty good, so it's addictive.

The way I feel about your comic is not influenced by how I feel about you. But if you have a great comic, I'll be much faster to forgive you for being stupid. A good comic says very nice things about you!

I think it's possible to have strong opinions - and even to tell stupid people they can stop being stupid - and still be nice to your fans and generally polite to everyone.



PS - Ask me again in a few weeks and see if I still feel that way!


PPS - and remember - never assume people are being mean when you could assume they are being stupid!

(edited to make me seem less foolish)

No. The comic work stands on its own. If I found out that neil gaiman was a nazi, i'd have a hard time just stop rereading the sandman books(or his others) over and over again just because I found out something terrible about him. The books are the books.

I just want to make this clear.

I am not a real artist. I can't draw anything more complicated than Pac-Man.

When "my" online comic goes up, it'll have my name on it, but it's actually drawn by my 10-yr-old sister who is the sweetest little thing in the world. She puts spiders out of the house instead of killing them, and she recycles, and, um, donates teddy bears to charity. She's too shy to put her name on the comics even though she's really good for her age, so I put my name on it.

So... y'all come visit now, y'hear?

I think it all depends on what you learn/know about the creator...

If I learned that the creator of a comic I like hates tea it wouldn't have much impact. I wouldn't stop reading or think badly of him/her just because he/she dislikes something I like.

But if I discovered that he/she abducted people and tortured them in his/her basement or something like that I think I'd have a hard time enjoying something that person made.

Actually, this reminds me of the stories about people that felt dissapointed and got angry-ish when they discovered that the Narnia-stories contained very christian messages. They felt that their childhood memories of the stories had been spoiled. I don't see it that way. When I was little it was just fantasy, I didn't see all the christianity-stuff. Now that I know it I can see it, but I still enjoy the stories for what they are. I don't think they turned bad because I got to know that about the creator.