T Campbell's Blog
Writer of Penny and Aggie, Fans (also called Faans), Rip & Teri, Search Engine Funnies and A History of Webcomics. Experienced webcomics editor, currently seeking full-time work and working on strange and interesting new things...Sunday, August 06, 2006
Part One: Comic-Con Heals All Wounds...
Scott Kurtz and I kissed and made up at the SDCC 2006.
Even the slashficcers didn't see that one coming... though they shouldn't have been surprised.
Say what you will, say what I will, Scott knows how to extend the olive branch. I mean, greet me warmly on Friday, call me a friend and tell the Image guys "anything on this table is free for this guy?" Sold! What flamewar?
Though I didn't quite have the temerity to bring it up, I suspect we laid the groundwork for this rapprochement when I disclosed that I was leaving Clickwheel and the reasons why. If I may retain a facade of public discretion, let it suffice to say that those reasons disproved, decisively, certain notions that Scott seemed to carry about me, which in turn permitted him to disprove notions I carried about him. Misunderstanding, I remain convinced, is the source of most conflict in this world. Bloggers in Israel and Lebanon: keep building those bridges.
(The Rant Which Started It All is still on Scott's blog as I write this, but if he's anything like me, deleting outmoded blog entries is not high on the List of Priorities.)
You didn't hear about this.
Nobody mentioned it on their blog. It never came up in a podcast. The New York Times remained strangely unmoved. Fiddy didn't put it in any lyrics. Your local pastor didn't quote Matthew 5:9.
Partly because it wasn't important, and partly because it was boring.
At best, it was a rehash of the Tycho-vs-McCloud anticlimax we got last year. Remember that hullabaloo? Remember how it trailed off into an insubstantial bubblegum backbeat? Me neither, and I wrote about it.
And oh, yeah... I didn't see a reason to tell you until now, either.
Find out why... IN OUR NEXT INSTALLING ENTHRALLMENT. Part Two, coming... soon.
Even the slashficcers didn't see that one coming... though they shouldn't have been surprised.
Say what you will, say what I will, Scott knows how to extend the olive branch. I mean, greet me warmly on Friday, call me a friend and tell the Image guys "anything on this table is free for this guy?" Sold! What flamewar?
Though I didn't quite have the temerity to bring it up, I suspect we laid the groundwork for this rapprochement when I disclosed that I was leaving Clickwheel and the reasons why. If I may retain a facade of public discretion, let it suffice to say that those reasons disproved, decisively, certain notions that Scott seemed to carry about me, which in turn permitted him to disprove notions I carried about him. Misunderstanding, I remain convinced, is the source of most conflict in this world. Bloggers in Israel and Lebanon: keep building those bridges.
(The Rant Which Started It All is still on Scott's blog as I write this, but if he's anything like me, deleting outmoded blog entries is not high on the List of Priorities.)
You didn't hear about this.
Nobody mentioned it on their blog. It never came up in a podcast. The New York Times remained strangely unmoved. Fiddy didn't put it in any lyrics. Your local pastor didn't quote Matthew 5:9.
Partly because it wasn't important, and partly because it was boring.
At best, it was a rehash of the Tycho-vs-McCloud anticlimax we got last year. Remember that hullabaloo? Remember how it trailed off into an insubstantial bubblegum backbeat? Me neither, and I wrote about it.
And oh, yeah... I didn't see a reason to tell you until now, either.
Find out why... IN OUR NEXT INSTALLING ENTHRALLMENT. Part Two, coming... soon.
Comments:
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Once upon a time you said that you tried to avoid people who treated you badly or acted irrationally, and yet you've been desperate to make nice-nice with Kurtz.
I think it's fair to say that if Kurtz were not so successful that you wouldn't have anything to do with him. Indeed his success seems to be his only redeeming feature for most people.
I think it's fair to say that if Kurtz were not so successful that you wouldn't have anything to do with him. Indeed his success seems to be his only redeeming feature for most people.
It may be fair, but it's flat wrong. Kurtz's helpfulness to the small cartoonist and his moral and physical courage would command my attention even if his audience was a hundredth of its size. On top of that, I actually find him funny, more often than not. (My favorite webcomic ever is a PvP strip.)
"Desperate to make nice-nice with him??" I attacked him just about every chance I got! Three different podcasts, multiple forum threads, multiple blog posts... if I'd done any more Kurtz-bashing I'd have had to add it to the homepage as a separate project!
BUT, and this may be what bothered you, I was always conflicted as I did so, always trying to reconcile what I admired about the man with the things he'd done and said that just didn't make sense to me. It took me about this long to figure out their source, and it was indeed a misunderstanding. Not a harmless or minor one. But misunderstandings can be fixed, and should be fixed.
I've made similar attempts to reach out to others who've attacked me over the years, usually with pleasing results.
When things were at their nadir between Scott and me, I got plenty of invitations to join the Anti-PvP Fan Club, and oh, sometimes it would have been so easy. But that is not how I want to live my life. If that means you-- or someone "successful"-- think I'm a pussy, I'll have to live with that.
"Desperate to make nice-nice with him??" I attacked him just about every chance I got! Three different podcasts, multiple forum threads, multiple blog posts... if I'd done any more Kurtz-bashing I'd have had to add it to the homepage as a separate project!
BUT, and this may be what bothered you, I was always conflicted as I did so, always trying to reconcile what I admired about the man with the things he'd done and said that just didn't make sense to me. It took me about this long to figure out their source, and it was indeed a misunderstanding. Not a harmless or minor one. But misunderstandings can be fixed, and should be fixed.
I've made similar attempts to reach out to others who've attacked me over the years, usually with pleasing results.
When things were at their nadir between Scott and me, I got plenty of invitations to join the Anti-PvP Fan Club, and oh, sometimes it would have been so easy. But that is not how I want to live my life. If that means you-- or someone "successful"-- think I'm a pussy, I'll have to live with that.
To be frank, I think Rahm's comments are both fair and right. I've not read or followed your blog from the beginning, but you seem to treat the web as a mirror for your own considerable narcissism, often by attaching yourself to other people's projects. It's neither pretty nor edifying and some of us are growing very weary of it.
You have talent. Let's see you put it to some creatve use.
You have talent. Let's see you put it to some creatve use.
Anon: Go fuck yourself.
Rahm: The one thing you may not realize about T is that he's definitely one of those "Give 'em a million chances" sort of guys who will reciprocate any niceness he gets shown.
The fact that he's been super forgiving towards a guy that tried to sink his book before it even saw the presses says a lot of his good character.
I realize this is the internet and you have to hold on to your grudges to the death, but maybe you should also fuck off on this crap and start taking this stuff at face value.
Retards.
Rahm: The one thing you may not realize about T is that he's definitely one of those "Give 'em a million chances" sort of guys who will reciprocate any niceness he gets shown.
The fact that he's been super forgiving towards a guy that tried to sink his book before it even saw the presses says a lot of his good character.
I realize this is the internet and you have to hold on to your grudges to the death, but maybe you should also fuck off on this crap and start taking this stuff at face value.
Retards.
Making nice, is not always for the benefit of the person you have had conflict with. Sometimes it's just fucking theraputical. I applaud your effort to purge some of that nasty history. It really helps you regain that focus that got you into webcomics in the first place. Fuck the naysayers.
Oh, and T, it was great to meet you at SDCC!
Oh, and T, it was great to meet you at SDCC!
Can't it just be as simple as we're all sick of fighting over stupid shit?
I know I am.
And T, when the new website goes live, all my old blogs will MYSTERIOUSLY not be transferred over.
New website, new slate.
I know I am.
And T, when the new website goes live, all my old blogs will MYSTERIOUSLY not be transferred over.
New website, new slate.
Yeah, it can be. That does seem to be the mood that's going around.
I hope so, 'cause we all got more important things to do with our lives.
I hope so, 'cause we all got more important things to do with our lives.
When did the F-word get so ubiquitous on such a courteous blog?
"Kurtz's helpfulness to the small cartoonist and his moral and physical courage..."
Huh? And double-huh!??
Could you give an example of his "physical courage" (and I will resist the plethora of hamburger jokes that come to mind).
William G.,
Once upon a time, you were the scourge of webcomics commune and I think even at odds with T Campbell more than a little. Then not too long ago (like say, right before you got your gig with Graphsmash) you suddenly not only became his foaming-at-the-mouth guard dog, but you basically couldn't go anywhere without seeing your head so far up his ass that you could see the color of your eyes when he opened his mouth.
So you should take your own advice given to Anon. Weasel!
"Kurtz's helpfulness to the small cartoonist and his moral and physical courage..."
Huh? And double-huh!??
Could you give an example of his "physical courage" (and I will resist the plethora of hamburger jokes that come to mind).
William G.,
Once upon a time, you were the scourge of webcomics commune and I think even at odds with T Campbell more than a little. Then not too long ago (like say, right before you got your gig with Graphsmash) you suddenly not only became his foaming-at-the-mouth guard dog, but you basically couldn't go anywhere without seeing your head so far up his ass that you could see the color of your eyes when he opened his mouth.
So you should take your own advice given to Anon. Weasel!
I've known T for far longer than you know, you ignorant little twat. And also for far longer than I've been on Graphic Smash. It was my friendship with him that convinced me to join up in the first place.
Got anything else stupid to say?
Got anything else stupid to say?
I think it's pretty clear, Rahm, that William G speaks for himself.
With regard to Scott, you would have to see him in person to understand.
With regard to Scott, you would have to see him in person to understand.
"When did the F-word get so ubiquitous on such a courteous blog?"
Apologies - bad habit. Still, making peace with anyone is theraputical. And "disregard" the naysayers.
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Apologies - bad habit. Still, making peace with anyone is theraputical. And "disregard" the naysayers.
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