The Think About It A Minute Strip
Think about it a minute. Mushroom. Tattoo?
How crass.
Most people know I am pretty heavily into sports, mainly basketball, NFL football and hockey. When working at my desk here, I probably check ESPN.com a good twenty times a day out of habit/boredom. I read Bill Simmons’ column religiously, and listen to every podcast he does. Most are, in the very least, entertaining. But his latest one with writer Chuck Klosterman is fantastic. They cover an immense range of topics, some sports, some philosophical, all good. If you have any sort of remote interest in sports, you should listen to the January 20th podcast. It is fantastic. Absolutely fantastic.
Not much else to say today, we’re just going to let the art topic go for now and maybe revisit it in a month, perhaps after it has had time to settle and be properly critiqued. I’d prefer we focus more on the story now, which seems to be happening. So there we are. And there we go.
Back to work. So much work.
EDIT: I broke down and added Twitter today, because I really shouldn’t be such a social recluse. Also, there is undeniable marketability with it, so there we go. Now just to figure out how to make it do things…
My sidebar is getting overpopulated.
January 21st, 2009 at 12:07 am
Looking at this strip and comparing it with the previous one, I don’t see the big deal about the minor changes. If anything the only change I can see it on a 45 degree angle shot, when the nose becomes more anime-esque. Other than that, the changes to Aikida are minimal.
But then again, I haven’t been reading since what…1999 was it? But I have seen the artwork change pics you’ve posted and considering you’ve said that your artwork is A.) not your strongest point and b.) you’re always trying out new styles, it seems like kind of a moot point to criticise the artwork.
It’s not like Dominic Deegan where the artwork hit its constant 6 months in and stayed the same up till now.
January 21st, 2009 at 12:09 am
I’m going to throw out my tattoo guess. I’m thinking it’s going to be one of the tattoos she had in the old story line. Probably way off but it would be a fun nod to Aikida comics past. Any other guess out there?
January 21st, 2009 at 1:40 am
I think it’ll be the red bars. She used to have three and later a fourth one was added. IIRC they had some special meaning for her. Everyone wondered what it was. I think we might learn about this in a few days. :)
Great work on the window/ glass effect in panel #1.
January 21st, 2009 at 3:18 am
Yeah, I don’t see the big deal with the art changes either. I think some people went a bit Facebook on this comic, heh?
January 21st, 2009 at 9:52 am
Just wanted to say that I was thumbing through the last few days of comments and thought I would add my two cents here rather than have them lost in the ether in the other posts.
There was a guy from a few days back who took a massive shit on Josh for not updating with any frequency or rebooting storylines. I wanted to provide the flip side to that rant.
This is a guy that feels he’s being yanked around. But if he was a true fan, he’d be more interested in the evolution of your art and story telling ability than accepting of consistently delivered mediocre comics (and I know a thing about that because it’s what *I* do with my comic! :D)
I gotta give it up to Josh. There is no artist online as willing or as bold to grow artistically in the public forum as much as he has. Do I wish I could see that evollution on a more accelerated timetable? Selfishly, sure. But at the same time I know you can’t rush these things. You gotta try on different hats. See what fits. SO MANY people in web comics are afraid to do that.
Go back through the archives sometime and try to tell me Josh hasn’t improved as an artist. You can’t do it. He’s putting in great work here. If you don’t like it, keep it to yourself.
January 21st, 2009 at 10:05 am
Sorry for the double post, but I wanted to amend something my last post.
Looking back at some of the previous comments coming from people who have criticized Josh for only accepting positive feedback is bullshit. If you don’t like the art, fine. But don’t be a fuckwipe about it. There is such a thing as *constructive* criticism.
Conversely (and for the sake of argument) SO WHAT if Josh was only accepting of positive feedback? This is his website! His house! His rules! You wouldn’t walk into your friend’s house and tell them that their living room was poorly decorated, their shoes looked goofy and the meal the invited you over for tasted like crap. You’d be thrown out on your ass! If you want to be critical of someone, there is such a thing as tact.
Josh - I will tell you right now that you do not have to give your critics a soapbox to stand on with your site. Block comments for moderation. If they’re over the top, delete them. You wouldn’t stand for that kind of abuse in person. You shouldn’t have to stand for it on your site. That might sound like a dictatorship to some. That’s because it is. You don’t have to make excuses for it.
I don’t care if you have an “investment” in these characters. Their not your creation and you don’t decide how they are represented. Additionally, just because you may have donated to the site in the past for an incentive images DOES NOT give you clearance to bitch, either. That’s a one-time transaction, not a lifetime membership to the “Boss The Artist Around” club.
I’m sorry. I’m getting kind of worked up about this. But as a fellow webcomic creator, it really pisses me off to see supposed “fans” be so bossy and demanding. Shame on you!
January 21st, 2009 at 10:14 am
*applaudes Tom’s comments*
Forum moderation! Don’t take any more of their crap, Fenris! The old Aikida site had a forum, right? Take control!
Can’t wait to see the tattoos Aikida gets. So hope they are the old ones. Bring on the badass we know and love!
January 21st, 2009 at 11:28 am
Just gotta say hmm Shrooms! <3
January 21st, 2009 at 11:33 am
Great work - I almost feel like I should be riding it right to left.
January 21st, 2009 at 12:48 pm
This strip look real good…
Looks like Peppers inviting Aikida to Hell… or something
January 21st, 2009 at 2:40 pm
You should give Aikida sunglasses–just to piss everyone off. :)
January 21st, 2009 at 4:01 pm
Unleash the thought-police!
January 21st, 2009 at 4:56 pm
Hey Tom!
I have been challenged with the old “this will probably never get posted, but…” before in comments, yet I have always posted them. As frustrating as it gets, I have always posted them. I brought this up in IRC though, the fact that some (I said some, not all) people only seem to bitch to a vulgar degree because they have a public forum for it. Not only can they swipe at me, they can can attention for it from their peers. I have considered drawing a line somewhere as to what I’d let through, but it is a slippery slope.
At the same time, I am seeing mention about this all over. There have been mentions in GU, PvP and Starslip Crisis during the past week about creators catching flak from readers based on changes, and there may be something deeper to this phenomena than creators realise. Comics have evolved since their inception, obviously, but never before have readers had the access to artists and writers that they do now, for better or for worse. Some creators handle in different ways.
Penny Arcade seems to pretty much ignore feedback, but can you argue with their system as the most successful webcomic (and perhaps comic, period) on the planet? On the flip side, here I am in my own comments session, at times debating with my own readership.
I don’t have any summary at this point, but it is an interesting subject to shed some light on.
January 21st, 2009 at 5:04 pm
Also, not to burst any dreams, but Aikida will not be getting the red bar tattoos just yet. They did have a history behind them, that no one figured out, so I plan to keep it to myself. When they do appear, everyone will finally go, “Ahaaaa!”
She might not get any tattoo at all, actually! Stay tuned.
January 21st, 2009 at 5:04 pm
With any change the first and most vocal will be those in opposition, with the second wave of support following in as a countermeasure. There will be high dramatists on both sides but, in most cases, 90% of the userbase will adjust.
Odd, while posting this I was thinking more about player-base reactions to changes in City of Heroes.
January 21st, 2009 at 9:42 pm
Josh, I understand where you’re coming from when you say it’s a slippery slope. But really, it’s not.
You fear that by deleting negative comments, it will make you look shallow or unable to handle criticism. But you and I both know there is nothing of value in a personal swipe against you. You wouldn’t invite someone into your home and let them insult you. This website should be your online home. No one should be allowed to desecrate it.
Promoting these comments to your homepage makes you look desperate. It makes you look like you crave attention so much, you’ll tolerate the hateful and the small-minded. It erodes your self-confidence and it alienates the supporters who don’t want to get in the middle.
Read the comments if you feel like you should. You’d have to read it anyway before deleting it. But what I’m saying is don’t give these people a platform to stand on. Because if you do, it either invites more harsh criticism or (like Jack Robyn points out) people coming out of the woodwork to shout those people down.
Yes, yes. I am guilty as charged. I’m one of the people trying to shout down the haters, too.
But I’m also trying to help you focus.
Look, either way - feedback that is overly harsh or overly praising is not helpful. You can’t learn from it. Calculated constructive criticism is the only way to go. Establish that environment in your comments and you will see more of that kind of feedback from your readers.
There is nothing wrong with standing up for yourself and stating clearly what you will tolerate and what you will not. TAKE THE POWER OUT OF THE HATERS HANDS.
Best of luck!
January 21st, 2009 at 11:14 pm
Tom’s got a point there Josh. It’s your house, clean it if you want to.
good looking strip btw.
January 21st, 2009 at 11:16 pm
And with that, I’m off to read the next comic on my favorites list… oh wouldya lookit that. It’s theater hopper!
Coincidence? GODS of FATE? or did I just happen to put them in that order for some reason I don’t recall? (probably the last one)
January 21st, 2009 at 11:23 pm
Aikida is No. #2 on my daily webcomic checklist. Right between “Least I could Do” and “Questionable Content”.
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:46 pm
Too bad about the red bar tattoos. I always thought those looked really good on her, that and that black tattoo of some type of design that I can’t really describe. If it’s not one of the old ones I’ve got no idea. Now I’m starting to get more curious about Pepper’s tattoo. Sure it could be something sexy or it could be a curve ball and be something very plain I suppose. Oh I will stay tuned thank you.
January 22nd, 2009 at 4:32 pm
She doesn’t need sunglasses she’s got a rocket launcher! http://randommode.deviantart.com/art/Aikida-net-3-110110700
I agree with Josh you also have to take people on or they just keep at it. I noticed almost everyone he confronted never said anything back, meaning they now know, this artist isn’t taking any crap. I see your point of view too Tom, because if someone is spamming insults after warnings they should be erased.