Yes! Today's guest star is my great friend Jeffrey Rowland. Jeff and I have been friends for a decade. We've been giving each other terrible, non-applicable advice for most of that time. There were about two years where we just argued about the use of fonts.
21 comments:
Nooooo!
A world where the stick-man wins over the intricate poem is a very sad world indeed.
Can you imagine if Bad Machinery got invaded by an army of stick men?
I could only imagine them to not consist of thin black lines but men made from collections of sticks, tree men if you will. If they exploded the main cast would get splinters *everywhere*.
Long / short: Down with stick men, long live tree men.
I'm off for a sammich.
I love the new layout btw, don't let the nay sayers get you down.
Nay lad.
I think that in today's Bad Machinery it was a work of genius in panel 5 to draw Amy in the Kate Beaton style...
La Beaton and I have many of the same influences. But I think she draws faces a little better.
The penultimate panel in the 11/11 comic is why I have eyes. Good show.
"Fair Trade not Fair Enough." Love it. I wish I had a shopping bag with that on it. Genius.
Glad to see that mysterious Rowland fellow showing up; he is a good lad of some talent.
Crisis Centre should be a regular comic.
John A, I'm sorry to hear you're having dong problems.
DUNG PROBLEMS! My livestock, man!!! New EU regulations on slurry, geez.
I don't know about the end of story comics. But I am struggling to think of another comic creator who had a successful formula and chucked it to produce something almost-but-not-quite entirely different.
Generally such tortured spirits end up living as a hermit in a small copse, chucking paintbrushes at fans of their old work
Such tortured spirits as Stan Lee and Jack Kirby you big crazy kook?
Seriously you guys.
I'm just going to ramble a bit here:
I think the new comic's very good. It looks better than ever and I think your characters are more distinct and the dialog is snappier.
That being said, I just don't get excited about it like I did with SGR. I realize this isn't terribly helpful and I'm not trying to give advice or suggest a course of action. I'm just providing raw audience feedback.
I like the comic, I read the comic, I can find nothing wrong with the comic that I can put into words. But it's slipped down in priority for the many webcomics that I read. No longer do I take advantage of the fact that there's a nine hour time difference between us to read the comic early. I've gone a few days without reading it and just catch up later (which I never did with SGR).
I read a lot of webcomics. I'm "into that" as the kids say. I can't tell you if that means that a more normal reader would have more time for Bad Machinery or if a normal reader would be more likely to spend their time elsewhere.
For the most part, I think it's just a matter of time. The first time I was introduced to your work (via Scott Kurtz) you were just that crazy guy who was a little wordy, and didn't draw stickmen cussing up a storm. It probably just needs a little more love from 'Ol Mr Clock.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, blah, blah, blah - let's just cut to the important part - Rowland was WRONG about sans serif man, JUST WRONG!!!!
;)
Is this the place where I tell you that I'm in love with the colour palette you've been using?
It is?
Okay then. I am.
Stan... Lee? Jake Curvy? Who are these people? Famous like you, John?
I think fonts are a good thing.
I'm with Cuthain. If you want audience feedback here is mine:
So far the new comic lacks the sparkle that SGR had. I think mostly it is in character development. Your strong points in SGR were your characters (and your bright, whimsical art.) That is why I read SGR rabidly, bought the books, and then read them all again. I would anticipate the new comic. That isn't the case with BM thus far. There are some hints to really great characters in Jack and Shauna, but so far it is all just hints.
I do have some ideas as to how I think you could pick up some of your readers again, but I know you don't like or want any advice of that sort. Or at least I assume so based on your forum post.
Anyway, just so you know I care, I still recommended your books to my local comic book store tonight. They may be contacting you about ordering a few to put on their shelves.
I was a bit surprised to hear that there was reader blowback, although suppose I shouldn't be. The new storyline is just getting started, it seems, and mostly you've been establishing the new characters. I'm sure that once things get going people will come back.
Stick to you guns. Show us what you've got planned... one strip at a time. Don't pull a Berkeley Breathed and slowly revert back to what you've done in the past because people want the old and familiar. We know you've got different things in you, creatively.
Long time lover of Scary Go Round but applaud the entrance of a fresh comic, I think it'll pick up reader momentum in it's own time. I love it already, so easy to do with Mr. (Ryan) Beckwith around and I am just going ape shit over the colouring of Bad Machinery.
John, I'm really enjoying the new comic, and I'm hoping that your situation won't seem so worrisome in the near future.
The most common criticisms I've seen of the comic seem to say a lot more about the critics than they do about the comic, in my opinion. You've been creating comics for a long time, and I would trust your instincts as an experienced writer and artist over the sometimes knee jerk reactions about the first handful of pages of an ambitious project.
Best of luck.
Your comics are fantastic.
I have heard rumor that you are English.
That means I do not know much about you.
Your comics seem to make you happy.
Keep making comics that make you happy.
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