<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Michael:
<B>Personally, I find Ilya to be an incredibly refreshing perspective on what is pretty much an ingrown community. Since we all know each other, I think everybody thinks it would be impolite to say anything too negative. There are plenty of toons I don't like. Instead of saying anything, of course, I just stop reading.<P>But when Ilya does one of these incredible pent-up raging rants about something I didn't particularly care for (or even something I do), it stirs something in my redneck genetic makeup, something that wants to spit some chaw through that gap where its front teeth used to be, kick a dog or two, and piss on the neighbor.<P>Call me recidivist, but that's entertainment. Ilya makes this place a lot more colorful -- and if you don't like him, well, <I>stop reading</I>.</B><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>What I find interesting is that entertainment and "criticism" don't go hand-in-hand in this instance. Ilya's work is specifically entertainment. I laughed like I haven't laughed in a long while when I first read his take on Avalon, and he's left me wanting for more. But someone who genuinely hated Avalon with the intensity of a thousand white-hot suns would not spend the effort of finding his thesaurus to say so.<P>If you really want to hurt an artist with your "critique," then don't bother thinking before you write. The more "real," the better. Michael, if you were to actually spit that dog and piss chaw through your neighbor, then the "ingrown community" would be shaken up, at the least. And not just because of your crazy pastimes.

<P>So why is everyone who hates a comic so afraid of saying so? *Without* dressing it up as the latest audio play on CBC Radio 2? Give some *constructive* criticism, no matter how negative. Just make sure to say *why* you hate it, for pete's sake.<P>You too, Ilya.

<P>JOSH.
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Josh Phillips - <A HREF="mailto:josh@avalonhigh.com">josh@avalonhigh.com</A>
Avalon - <A HREF="http://www.avalonhigh.com" TARGET=_blank>http://www.avalonhigh.com</A>