[...] movies? Especially jokes about them? Then Multiplex: Enjoy Your Show (Chase Sequence, JUN11 0987, Aug 24, $19.95) is for you. This webcomic collection, based around [...]

Sometimes, as a new reader approaching a long-running project, I want a little hand-holding so I don’t feel so new to the party. I’m not sure everyone’s like me, but I figure intro content can’t hurt.

I hope you do get a chance for more books.

I may change my introduction if/when I get to a second printing (along with a few errors to correct) — or at the very least, it’s something I’ll keep in the front of my mind when cooking up the front matter for future volumes (if they ever get made).

Saying the fundraising project was “pretty intense” irks me, because if he had simply not scrolled down to read the blog post, he would have been blissfully unaware of its existence, save for a 23 pixel high progress bar above the strip. And even THAT was avoidable, because it wasn’t in the RSS feed.

That’s hardly in your face or obtrusive.

There was NO expectation for people to give. Since you read the posts about it enough for it to annoy you, you know that I said so many, many times. I actively discouraged some people from pledging, because I had people saying “once I get my next paycheck,” and for God’s sake, if it comes down to that, you should be spending the money on something else.

PLENTY of people waited ’til it was available for pre-order online, and plenty of others will wait until they can flip through it in their hands in the coming months.

Nick’s comments show that he didn’t value the strip beyond the act of generating ad impressions for me (assuming he doesn’t use AdBlock). If he had, he would realize that altruism means you’re giving something for nothing in return — and that people who support the strip have ALREADY gotten something in return.

The comics are free, sure. But every hour I have to spend doing technical illustrations or book production is an hour I’m not drawing comics. The people who chose to support did so because they wanted MORE comics than I can generate in my spare time. In no way can you describe that as purely altruistic unless you don’t value the comics at all.

Please, make no mistake, I think it’s great if people can make a living off their art. I mean, GREAT.

However, I don’t personally want to deal with Kickstarter. This is a major recession that is ruining a lot of lives. If I’m going to be altruistic, then there are people who need money a lot more than web cartoonists at the moment. (And Kickstarter is altruism: there is no guarantee that the project will reach fruition or that the product will be something that I’d want had I reviewed it before giving).

Go for all the funding you can get, and more power to you if people want to give. But that’s not what I want to do. As a result, the more pleas I hear, the more I’m inclined to visit other sites.

Don’t jump all over him. You’re saying the same thing he is — “if you don’t like it, quit reading” — only you’re being ruder about it.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gmcalpin/join-the-multiplex-book-1-club-of-awesome/posts/3533

All those donations were rewarded. If you paid $30 for the book, it was sent to you once it was printed. Supporting the Kickstarter project was more of a preorder than a donation.

And he did lose some ad revenue.

How dare you criticize an artist for wishing to make a living off of his art? How about you ask an actor to be in a movie for no money, or a singer to release an album without seeing a cent. Gordon is passionate about what he does and he works hard to give people comics to enjoy for FREE. If you don’t want to buy the book or send him KickStarter money, so be it! Don’t do it. From what it sounds like, he didn’t lose much when you stopped reading.

I gave up reading Multiplex because McAlpin had become (to my mind) pretty intense about raising start up money for this book project. It may have turned me off, but I guess it worked, so good for him…