Happy Thanksgiving and other suchness

[EmergencyExit]

Today is Thanksgiving, happy Thanksgiving my American readers. The rest of you, I declare you have a happy Marshmallow Day. That's right, eat some damn Marshmallows.

So those who wander in here probably have noticed that today's comic is either not up or was late depending on when you read this. (Or if you read this right after I typed it, it's not actually Thanksgiving/Marshmallow Day at all and it's all been a horrible lie! Just since I'll be busyish tomorrow writing this now) That's because I had a stream of comments on my tag board yesterday that got me horribly depressed and unmotivated to work on EE the entire day. Which also resulted in the removal of the tagboard. Spent majority of my day reading the archives of Cortland, playing Diablo 2 with Orion and updating link buttons on my website (Yes I went to work and school and stuff). Didn't help I had been semi depressed earlier in the week already over my comic quality, it's something I tend to do frequently.

I really hope most of you have a better day than what I am most likely going to have for Thanksgiving/Marshmallow Day. There has been a ton of family drama these past few months, too much to actually explain and it'd make you scream.

I do have the next EE inked, so that should hopefully go up no problem I just hope to get motivated overnight.

You know, I have never taken a real vacation off EE since it started. The closest I've come it seems by looking at my archives was two weeks without updates during its very first month of updating, and that's just a common webcomic newb occurrence. The only other time I have gone a week without updating was a week in April 2004, again within its first year of existence. Coming onto our 5th year, that's some pretty strong dedication there.

[Eheheh]

Might I offer you a hug? You sound like you need one.

The rest of you, I declare you have a happy Marshmallow Day. That's right, eat some damn Marshmallows.

*whines* but I don't even like marshmallows. Not that that ever stops me from eating the damn things if they're available.

I didn't see the comments in the tagbox, but I've come across what I'm guessing would be similar comments/behaviour before. I don't understand why but it seems that some people just have this overwhelming urge to break other people down. It's the sort of thing that has made me actually leave certain online communities and contributed to my dropping at least one webcomic. Mind you things'd have to get pretty bad to make me stop reading EE - seriously, your story, art and characters are all pretty darn good, better than some things I've read that are Keenspotted, and a LOT better than heaps of things I've read elsewhere. And you are working on improving and it is noticeable. Negative comments get me down too, so I'm not gonna say 'ignore them, their opinion doesn't matter' because I know that that can be hard to do, but I hope you feel better soon.

If you need a break, take one - all your real fans will still be around when you get back and those that can't help but be jerks will have their spazzfit and then leave.


In other news: I like how the current page came out, you've done a brilliant job with the action sequence, but I can't help feeling sorry for that squirrel, s/he was just minding his/her business and suddenly there was this little purple thing, s/he tried making friends and ended up being beaten up - and that last panel looks like it's gotta hurt. I'm kinda rooting for the squirrel now. Don't tell Saya. She'll kill me.

[EmergencyExit]

Never one to turn down a hug : D.

Thanks for you comments, it's good to know my recent extra effort is showing. If you look at the majority of EE before the PD crossover, detailed environments and excessive scenes like this one never really existed. This is all new and with time all the rough edges should iron out. Some people just seem to expect you to be able to switch gears instantly : /. EE is one experiment after the other.

The squirrel scene has been lengthened from the original scripts, it was originally like, three pages long but I wanted to venture out more in my fight scenes, plus making a big deal out of a squirrel fight made it all the funnier to me. I'm getting sick of those damn leaves and bark though.

No vacation for me yet. I owe readers a 5day update week. Mookie of Dominic Deegan is the worst communicator in the world though so I am unsure of my ad time still. The only time in the future I really see myself taking significant time off is when I hit 1000 pages, I'm in the 800 region currently. I don't really expect to hit 1000 until around next year probably around EE's 5th birthday. I want to have my very first guest strip run then to celebrate 1000 pages, where the guest strips would stay in a section of the archives. More on that will come up as we approach that mark.

Also, Thanksgiving turned out much better than feared, someone was on fairly good behavior and no fights took place. And there was tasty food, god I do love Mashed Potatoes.

[Scientivore]

That's because I had a stream of comments on my tag board yesterday that got me horribly depressed and unmotivated to work on EE the entire day. Which also resulted in the removal of the tagboard.

Aw, I hope my comment wasn't one of them. When I said that Saya and a squirrel kung fu fighting was one of the "silliest cool things" that I'd ever seen, I meant it as a compliment, just distinguishing it from very serious cool things (like Alexi's cigarette tracing the arc of her leap). I love how you mix the drama and comedy -- it's very Sluggy Freelance.

And giving Saya's jacket Audible Sharpness (SHING) was just wonderfully over the top.

[EmergencyExit]

Nono, those comments are great. Because that's exactly what I was going for with this, though have to say I never read Sluggy. EE was and will always be a comedy comic first, where Bean's is to be taken very seriously. It's funny, our character drawing styles have matured to be really similar, but we use really different methods of colouring that I think really reflect the atmospheres of our comics well.

It tends to mostly be comments on my art that gets me down, because nobody on the tagboard ever takes the time to be constructive with any of their complaints. You are a example of a constructive criticism with that e-mail about panel flow confusion. You were polite, expressed it as just your opinion and mention other things I did that work well as examples. it was a legitimate complaint because it wasn't a attack on the art, but on being able to understand what was happening. I don't mind hearing that stuff. It's the other stuff like "this would be better" or "I hate this, this sucks" etc that get to me. With the removal of the tagboard, I've weeded out the small amount of the fanbase who would say dumb things to me but only has the attention span to post it on the tagboard. Though I do hope this might make a few more readers more active in the forums over time.

I'll miss the occasionally good conversations the readers had, but too often have they been asses to me on it, I've taken it down before, and have issued complaints before. At this point I really don't need those attacks to my esteem anymore. If people really want to talk about the comic events together, they can join the forums. If people really want to say things to me personally, they can e-mail me and take the time to say what they want to express.

[Purple]

Can I offer a hug too?

I’m sorry that tagbox posters have got you down. That’s really depressing. And for what it’s worth, you are a far better artist than I could ever hope to be, (see avatar for evidence) and I think it’s cool that you’re trying to expand and improve your drawing style instead of sticking with your already awesome style.

Your comic is amazing already. It’s one of the few that I make sure to check every day. It’s actually what got me interested in webcomics in the first place. Keep up the work, and if you decide to take a well deserved break at some point in the future, your fans will understand.

[Eheheh]

And giving Saya's jacket Audible Sharpness (SHING) was just wonderfully over the top.

Oh yeah, that was cool. It also enhanced the whole page I feel, by adding atmosphere (like they do in movies, adding 'shing' sounds into the background of 'preparing to fight' scenes) and that panel by itself would've been kinda boring with no sound. Who would have guessed that adding an unrealistic sound effect would make tying one's jacket around one's waist cool?

and I think it’s cool that you’re trying to expand and improve your drawing style instead of sticking with your already awesome style.

Yeah, all my favourite webcartoonists are constantly updating and developing their art style. Even when they've reached a point where you're sitting there thinking 'oh yeah, this is really good, no way they top this, they've gotta have reached their peak' they continue to alter and usually improve. Makes it kinda funny to go random archive surfing, you end up looking at the really old art and going 'how did they get to where they are now from that?' or looking at strips from just last year and going 'huh, the art style's really changed since then, how did I not notice before?'. Heck, I've done that with EE a few times, looking back at old strips and seeing how much the art has improved and how different the characters look. I mean look: Halfway through last year and just recently

I think people's real problem is that it's too easy to miss changes and improvements in the comics we read because the changes happen gradually over time and we sort of get used to them. Kinda like growing up with the same people, you don't notice how different they look from year to year, unless you look at old photos, because the changes happen slowly and right in front of your eyes. You get used to changes as they happen, so it's easy to forget or not even notice that change is happening.

[RunAwayPenguin]

Also, Thanksgiving turned out much better than feared, someone was on fairly good behavior and no fights took place. And there was tasty food, god I do love Mashed Potatoes.

I can sooo sympathize with you there. First to Father's for southern jokes and yummy pies. Then to mum's to help clean, with all of the yelling and fighting accompanied. Then traditional Irish foods. All without getting into a fistfight with my brother!

And mashed potatoes are the awesomest ever. I aways go back for fifths.