This weekend I bought two copies of We <3 Katamari. One for me, and one for the winner of the contest. I'm still going through the entries, so the winner will be announced tomorrow or Wednesday. Definitely no later than Wednesday. This game is quite possibly even more insane and better than the original. If anything, it's longer. The storyline is also cool. Heheh. Oh King, I never knew you went through so much.Remember that anthology I'm in? Disposable Parts? Well, it's discounted right now and also a percentage of it will be going to charities to help out with things happening in the world. So if you didn't get it yet. You should do so. However, if you didn't get the Punks and Nerds book, I'm also offering a bundled deal to buy both of them and you save hella cash. Especially if you're an overseas reader.
Edit: Jesus the F1 racing level in Katamari is AWESOME.
Time: 6:08AM
Shit shit shit. Insomnia! Curse you! Curse you for kicking in! Guys. I cannot sleep. Seriously. I have class in less than six hours. I'm screwed. So I decided to go on the computer for a bit to get my eyes tired and teary-eyed.. And I've been reading some forums lately. And a guy I know is really getting attacked lately. I'm not going to mention any names or any specifics, but if you have been reading and following it at all, you'll know who I'm referring to.
Okay, so this guy has a big name and has been successful with his brain-child. Like me, he parodies stuff and refers to pop-culture. However, like me, there's more to us than talking about Doug and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I made a shirt based off of Harry Potter. That shirt is borderline illegal and the minute I get a cease and desist letter, I gotta take it down. Basically, since I'm using an obscure character's name on it, and not doing anything really illegal, I might be in the clear. I mean, there's a lot of other bigger sites making shirts off of Harry Potter, and they're all in the clear so far.
The point is, we know we benefit off of others, and we hope it grabs your attention. However we also have our own originality. I actually like my characters much more than when I do pop-culture strips. I know I'm hit or miss, but if you have ever tried writing a gag strip, it gets very hard to make someone chuckle all the time. If we can make you laugh a bit. Mission accomplished.
This guy I know is very protective with his work. When I spoke to him in person, to talk shop, with no ill-intentions, even then he was hesitant to talk to me about things. I wanted to know something like how much income he made with his work for the fiscal year. Even that he was uncomfortable with. But he's a good guy. We talk offline and online (sometimes). He helped me figure out how I can afford the Punks and Nerds book collection. He offered helped with Disposable Parts. He invited me to his house for multiple occasions, and when I left my sleeping bag at home, he refused a guest to sleep on the ice cold floor and told me to share his bed so that I can sleep. I told him that I didn't want him to lose a night's rest because I was too stupid to take my sleeping bag, and ended up on the floor.. Which sadly did turn ice cold, which I didn't want to believe.
He's a good person, and not everyone has seen that. He can be very very extreme to some of his readers, but even for me, when my readers are just a tiny percentage of what he has, I can lose my cool. You can sometimes forget that they love your work because it feels like they rather complain or be really mean to you than supportive. I've had people IM me really horrible things. People are bitter. And we can usually handle it. But we're still human. All of us. And sometimes we can snap. In different ways. Some people might make fun of the readers with others. Some might block them from their forum. Some might yell back at them. Who knows.
And yes, that is unprofessional of us. It sucks! It's so hard to keep this positive attitude to keep everyone happy. One screw up and everyone is against you... Well, that's not true. It just feels that way.
There's also so much more to us than if you ever IM us, e-mail us, read what we say on forums. My grandma has leukemia right now. We don't know what's going on. I'm moving out of my apartment this Thursday. I have four paintings to work on this week for school, aside from reading two books, and I'm only four weeks into the school year. I give myself some "me" time and hang out with some friends. I meet up and have a few drinks. I talk about my feelings to others. I listen to other's feelings. So on and so forth. There's just so much more about me than what you see here. There's more than "Ha ha ha! Bukkake!" or "Check out the book!" And same goes to this guy.
I can't speak for him, but I think he'd agree. We're sorry if we ever give the wrong impression. We appreciate you guys so much. Sometimes it's just hard to not wear our emotions on our sleeves though. Sometimes we forget that people come to us for a quick laugh, and even a few who wish they were us. I know I'm always shocked that a stranger knows who I am through my work. Always. I'm never, "Yep. I'm awesome." I'm more, "What?! How the? Holy shit! Really? I mean.. I'm sorry you read all of that."
So. Yes. You're allowed your opinion. And why do I bring all of this stuff up? I don't know. I just didn't see much defense and if I ever wished deep down that my friends would support me when I needed it and never had it happen, I'd be hurt. But remember. All of us webcartoonists are a little fucked up in the first place. :)
Mirmanism: Josh Mirman's Online Portfolio
