Onstad does not deserve this

Achewood is a decent sort of comic but Onstad deserves to be shunned for the way he behaves to his readers. His ego is so vast that he will be on this board within a week posting under all kinds of aliases.

I could not believe that he would not even let you use his art on the site, he made you RE-CREATE IT EXACTLY. There is a huge outpouring of affection for this man and his (sporadic) work. Achewood ceased to be anything other than a means to sell t-shirts early this year, a pale shadow of its former self.

0-GARFIELD IN TWO YEARS
ONSTAD IS A DICK.

[jay-ell]

Hey!  Guess what!  

I was going to lock this thread, and say "We're not going to do this here," but I decided to wait it out.  

If you guys can have an adult conversation about this, I will allow dissent.  

Otherwise, if this devolves into a flame war, I'm going to have to say, "Sorry, this board is for devoted kiss-asses, if you're not a syncophant, you'll have to start a board of your own."  

Choose wisely, little message board community.  Choose wisely.

[jough]

[stops stopwatch]

Okay, it looks like we made it a little over 12 hours before our first asshole poster.

Who owes who?

Time to pay up.

[Pedro Picasso]

He went from a 5 a week comic with message board and serializer with no income to a 3 a week comic with sort of silly text, no message board, spotty serializer postings, and apparently pretty okay money from a shop.

That's going to seem a little down hill to some people.  People who like comics.  Also the level of affection the regulars show to a man who just kicked them out of his garage is kind of creepy.  Chucklebot creepy.

Maybe the Garfield bit was a little too far.

[AugustWest]

Will everybody join me in giving a big welcome to Onstad's first appearance here on the Board.  Welcome Onst... er, Evabraun69!!!

[Capn]

Hello, I'm here.

You know what, as long as Achewood is Achewood, I will continue to kiss the ass of the man who produces it, no matter how many times he kicks me in the teef.

There are no nice geniuses.
(Except maybe Einstein, but I hear he used to kick puppies when no one was looking).

[jough]

Einstein would totally kick Jesus.

Remember, just because Onstad can be a dick sometimes doesn't negate the fact that he makes me laugh at least twice weekly.  That's more than I can say for most people.

[CortJstr]

RStevens was a little cruel in his locking post too. He was all like "Damn Onstad, quit whining" which wasn't really what I expected.

[jough]

LAST POST ON THE OLD ACHEWOOD BOARD:

http://www.dumbrella.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=17;t=001016

It says:

please feel free to visit one of our other fine boards, many of which are manned by cartoonists who like to hear from their readers.

Ouch, baby.

I thought it was pretty funny, though, and I like Stevens's comics.

[satchel]

Onstad won’t come here unless his boredom and curiosity happen to intersect at a prime moment.

[Asherdan]

My first reaction was a tad pissy.

But then I relized that was like being shitty over having to give back a free toy, so I got over it.  

I find the 'wood to be a fundamentally different form of humor and still groove on it, and will continue to purchase goods out of enjoyment and support.

The fact that Onstad can be a mad dick doesn't really alter any of the above.  And rstevens is a funny guy, if cold-blooded.

[JorgeFabregas]

Rstevens had recently (I think) written this:http://www.dieselsweeties.com/webcomics.shtml, which pretty much would recommend against shutting down one's message board.

3.) Talk to your readers. Every day.

It amazes me how many artists and writers don't use their own forums! It frightens me every time I write back to a reader or respond to an instant message and hear them express amazement that I would bother to respond. My whole livelihood as a cartoonist is based on the goodwill of my readers. Unless they act like a jerk, I want to talk to every single one of them that I can. I try to respond to at least 90% of my email because every damn message is important. (I usually answer my readers faster than I answer my friends, but my priorities are weird)

We are still a small enough medium to pay attention to those who care enough to contact us. Keep in mind that the 1% of readers who actually will contact you are probably some of your strongest supporters. Listen to them. They want you to succeed.

On the other hand, I disagree with those who say that Achewood has gone downhill (the comics, when they come out, are still damned funny) and Onstad spends a ton more time on the strip than Señor Stevens, because it is generally more than four panels and requires manipulation outside of the facial expressions. Is it possible that endless hours spent making Philipe's trashy mustache just-so are responsible for the hostile attitude?

[AugustWest]

Meh.  I want to read his comics and other works, not marry the guy.  If being a dick works for Onstad, let him do his own thing his ownself.

I visit Achewood because it is consistently funny.   I'll continue as long as the level of funny is maintained.  I don't care whether Onstad is "friendly" in the guise of doing market research or not.

[misterhaan]

for me, achewood was an acquired taste.

at first i started reading it (from the beginning) and thought 'well this is pretty stupid.'

by the time i got through the archives though i knew the characters better and it's just plain funny, or at least cool  i'm not sure if the strip itself is getting better or if i'm just getting more into it, but like others have said, i will keep reading it!

the first variety hour didn't do much for me, but can't make up my mind on just the first one!

[jough]

As far as Onstad not deserving this (a message board devoted to his creation) I don't think this board is really for Onstad, who has made it pretty clear he won't be visiting.

So it's our board.

Onstad can take his ball and go home.  That's his perogative.  But we have our own balls!

That didn't quite come out how I had intended.