I wish my response was as restrained as your apology (which I accept) was classy.

When I wrote Hazed I expected a polarized reaction and I perfectly happy to accept the consequences, even if it means turning off reviewers I respect. In its previous incarnations (the play, the screenplay and various versions of the OGN) I’ve had some readers express opinions similar to yours. At the same time I’ve had a lot of audience members/readers (particularly women who’d been in sororities) say that the way I captured what they’d gone through was uncanny.

If it’s not too personal a question, were you in a sorority? I ask not because it makes your review any more or less valid, but it’s just interesting to see demograhpically where both the positive and negative reactions come from.

I apologize by going too far in the language I used to point out your story and Mean Girls use very similar plot points. As a reader, the movie came before your comic to me. I believe you when you say you came up with it independently, but maybe your publisher needs to lighten up on those comparisons to avoid others being misled. Most readers aren’t going to know about your play, and they’re going to assume that your comic was written (or at least revised and edited) more recently, so if too many similarities are there, they’re on purpose.

Thanks for stopping by and setting the record straight.

Pax,

MLO