Just Stop Trying, People

Every once in a while, somebody tries to - I dunno - "hurt" me online, or at least my work. Which leads to the following conversation from a very nice reader of mine, Danny Sichel:

From Donny Sichel, email:

"So I'm reading the Terrible Webcomics megathread on Something Awful.

Someone posts a page of Stinz." (I dunno which page; Danny just said, "a page.") 

"Responses: "Somehow, I can't bring myself to hate this. It's not even pinging my 'fetish-sense'. Please post an example of this comic sucking, because so far I don't dislike it."

"What is this, Lil Abner with centaurs? I kind of like the oldschool feel of the art"

"I am really really happy this thread introduced me to Donna Barr

because she is a fucking genius"

"Can't stop my fascination with Barr's work. There's something so

incredible here I don't fully understand "

When I said I thought this was funny and gratifying, Danny, like the decent guy he is, tried to get it through my thick skull that somebody hated my work:

Danny: "It's still the 'shitty webcomics' thread. Your stuff is being a work of insane genius. A given page of the Afterdeath stuff may totally insane when seen out of context, but it's not *lousy* - the art is vivid and competent, and there's actually a reasonable storyline. And you're someone who genuinely enjoys what you're doing. Yes, there are people who produce webcomics but don't like making art. They see it as a tedious obligation that's necessary for the rewarding experience of receiving praise.)"

That made it even better. You see, I'm an original - I solved all the artistic problems myself, instead of being a fake and a copy-artist. I learned to write in colorful letters home to my family from the army and college. I still base everything I do on stuff I've seen, researched, or been told stories about - not something I cribbed and barely changed from somebody else's (too-often cribbed-and-changed) fake stories. I'm not one of those legion of comics people whose work you pick up and go, "I can't tell which writer or artist this is, because they all look the same." You see Donna Barr, you KNOW Donna Barr. Nobody else can actually copy me, although there have been some adorable attempts - and some ridiculous steals. I think of the well-intentioned as good puppies, and the bad ones as abused puppies.

However, the thought the, no matter how old I get, I'm STILL the class weirdo is something I've learned to live with and appreciate.

I just thought - since the last pages of Stinz are done by very practiced friends, perhaps they're being hated on - and getting the free publicity! Yay! Win-Win, Cin Cin.

Shortrun Maybe?

Shortrun needs a square thang.

REVISED. I AM going to Shortrun - and I'll be sharing a table with Roberta Gregory!

I MIGHT be at Shortrun in 2014. Everybody tells me I should be. In the meantime, the show needs a piece of art for the application, and this is the page they can retrieve it from (shut up, Grammar Nazis; if I can get over "transpire," you can learn to live with split infinitives. Welcome to English).

Heard many good things about Shortrun. I wouldn't expect loads of sales from it, but there would be a lot of My People there, so it would be another chance to visit.

So I don't have to hear Gary Groth ask me again, "Do we have to SNUFF somebody to get you to come to town??" 

Oh, and see if Fantagraphics has money for me, while I'm there.

If I did come, I'll be bringing fewer and fewer books. I'd be bringing the shortest runs ever - original sketches, done for you. No, don't ask me to break copyright, unless you can argue a very very very acceptable parody. And I only do Slash with my own characters, thank you. I'll even do Furry stuff, because they seem to have gotten their shit together, at last. And I still do the best boots and horses in the business.