[...] grown-up and – much as I enjoyed the thoroughly plated serving Scott Kurtz deservedly received from comixxx critix – I am not. I can’t speak for bobsy Mindless or amy Mindless or any other of my cohorts in [...]

But I did find it funny that his point about staying on message and not being dissuaded by mean spirited critics wasn’t derailed by all the mean spirited critics :)

I’m glad to hear you’re not getting stressed by this – that your actually having fun with it.

Good for you!

Dave

And really old-school print folks look down on self-publishing, too, as “vanity press”.

Dave, he’s not getting to me. I’m just talking about it because That’s What I Do. Whether high prices (ha!) or stupid statements, I comment on things that interest me about comics.

If he was truly ignoring the critics, then we wouldn’t have so much mill grist to discuss. Another funny Kurtz comment: that I only say “oh, I enjoyed this”… he hasn’t read very many of my reviews, has he? :)

I’m not sure why you (and other critics) are letting Scott Kurtz get to you. He’s only one man.

You know you’re qualified for your jobs. You have many people who read your work. Why does it matter what Scott thinks? If he chooses to ignore his critics, fine. But this shouldn’t matter to anyone but him.

Scott strikes me as someone who likes to throw a statement out to see who bites and, after someone does, he likes to fan the flames. He gets a kick out of upsetting people. Don’t give him any satisfaction.

I’ve done several jobs over the years – by choice. I’ve enjoyed building my skills through each career I’ve had. I’ve never been fired – I’ve always chosen when to move on. I know the skills I have and so do my employers. So long as they are pleased with my work, I’m comfortable. I enjoy my work and no one’s opinion will change (or hinder) that fact.

If someone like Scott were to come along, I’d acknowledge his opinion to myself (in the appropriate file), but not feed his attempts to upset me.

Please don’t let Scott get to you. He’s just one guy.

“Cultivate a Cult of Niceness”

Yes, there’s more noise to signal online, but the sites worth reading tend to stand out from the fly-by-night, amateurish sites/blogs.

The problem with print is that there can be so many obstacles impeding efforts to reach an audience. Financial and logistical concerns can get in the way easily, whereas communication is much easier online. That’s both an advantage and a disadvantage.

Maybe it’s because I’m old and from the last pre-Internet generation, but I hold print in higher esteem than online writing (since anyone can seemingly do the latter). Print takes a commitment, even if we are only talking about monetarily, and the web always seems so ephemeral (except for archive.org).

And, if I can pimp while making my point, we’ll have our first issue in a couple years debuting at Baltimore next month.

Blogging is just *software* for building a simple website. Some using blogging templates for their online diaries. Some use them for links alone. Some use them as a means to present criticism. Some use them to create an online portfolio or gallery.

What I do with Eye on Comics (built with Wordpress software) is no different than what I did on The Fourth Rail (which was not set up as a blog). Blogging is just a means to present content. It can be more effective than others or less effective, depending on what you’re trying to do or say and how you say or do it.

Bloggers aren’t automatically journalists, but some journalists do present valid articles on blogs.

The reason it’s so easy to dismiss “bloggers” is that the user-friendliness of the software enables ANYONE to set up a blog. Dismissing ALL blogs is foolish. Comics Reporter is a blog. Newsarama’s new site design and structure are essentially that of a more elaborate blog.

What’s most puzzling about this whole “controversy” is that your original point, Johanna, as I understand it was about *promotion* of webcomics by bringing them to the attention of reviewers, not about whether or not the comic creator should use reviews as a means to develop his or her art/product.