It’s true that you’ve been writing reviews for a decade and a half but your post seems to almost imply that I have not been writing comics for also a decade and a half. I am not a part of this new OEL crowd. ShutterBox was the first American book published by Tokyopop and for better or worse it stands on its own (and Tokyopop does not own ShutterBox, we signed our contract with TP before they went 50/50 on everone else) . You were one of our early supporters when Tavisha and I published Reality Check! in 1996 and I still appreciate the kind things you wrote back then.

If I have a misunderstanding here at all it’s that I don’t really know what the other Tokyopop creators are saying when they react to negative reviews. So, you got me there. If they’re being horrible and gathering minions to soothe their egos in locked journals, it’s not a party I’ve ever been invited to.

Your model of the critic who is trying to help creators sounds great, but I don’t think it’s very realistic for the majority of reviews I read on other blogs. I understand that you take the time to try and be helpful, but the emphasis with many, many other blog-crittics is just to be snarky, with no finesse, no charm. The motive behind these blogs is often to drive the creator out of comics and their idea of being helpful is to demand a different career path. And yet, these are usually the fist guys to complain when their board gets clogged with a new creator’s irate friends. It just seems really, I mean reeeeaaallly silly to me that a reviewer can write a vicious comment — an obviously not helpful comment — and not expect a reply. Why is it not onsidered unprofessional for the critic to be horrible but totally unprofessional for the creator to respond in kind? I’m sorry, I just can’t reconcile those those points. It just makes no sense to me.

For the person who asked if it was easier to publish with a “global manga” publisher than somewhere else, from my experience, no it’s not easier — for me. For someone else, I guess if the publisher has quota to fill. It’s easier than to self-publish, which I’ve also done, but that’s the case for every regular publishing venture.

[...] At Crocodile Caucus, Lyle has some good advice for creators on dealing with negative reviews. Rikki Simons gives his take, and Johanna responds. There’s an interesting exchange in the comments, where someone asks whether it’s easier to break into comics through global manga than traditional comics. Johanna replies: I think it’s certainly easier to become a paid professional. If you meet Tokyopop’s criteria and are selected by them, then that route seems easier than risking your own money and self-publishing. [...]

But let’s say that I offer my OEL to another company, say… Well, Marvel has it’s own brand to pimp, Image requires it’s own money, DC never seems to make up it’s mind if it is creator friendly or a closed studio… OK, maybe not the best parallel, but let’s say I offer my BESMMDF (Big Eye Small Mouth Modern Dark Fantasy – “It’s XXXHolic meets Madame Xanadu meets Hellboy”) to TP, Dark Horse, and Vertigo, all at the same 49% ownership (and no licensing?) of TP OEL.

So, who jumps first? And who will refuse to touch it? Is the “quality” threshold for OEL set too low? Or is it too restrictive at the established publishers? Who’s being shortsighted, and who’s being realistic? (“Visionary” is reserved for the publisher that actually discovers The Next Naruto, and claims they knew it all along.)

And will I ever finish a proposal for “Teen Vampires play GO!” to find out…

This brings up an interesting question: Is it easier to break into comics by way of OEL manga than more traditional comics?

Okay, now, I’ve been a launch editor for both Future Publishing and the BMG group in Germany, and every time a writer or the actual editor of the magazine I was launching for them came up with that kind of argument, I did a musical rendition of “Nobody Cares” to them.

The end product counts, not somebody’s feelings, not the fact that they worked to the bones or missed their honey’s birthday or worked through the weekend.

NOBODY cares.

Lyle, my fault, I was conflating that with other pieces of the discussion held elsewhere. Thanks for clarifying that.

So saying that statement conflicts with Kevin’s statement about your public online persona being a part of the marketing for your book, misses the point.

BTW, I believe stuff on an LJ Friends’ list can be public or private (or a mix), so I could see where there may be some confusion… except it doesn’t really play a role in the statement.