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[wombat]

and I fear I won't stop checking as long as either Onstad or I have life.

You and me both, brother.

I also wish I could buy stuff. I have a particular problem that there is a "What we need more of is Science" sticker on the dashboard of my car, and my car is ten years old. I might need a new one someday, and how will I replace the sticker? I think I'm going to have to be one of those crazy people who keeps their VW Beetle running for decades, but I don't know if the New Beetle will stand up to that.

What I'm saying is this thing is woven into the fabric of my life, dammit.

[Jaded Tersk]

Just because the 'classic' period of Achewood is over doesn't mean that there won't be worthwhile things to see.  In fact, some of the stuff that has been dismissed as being after the decline has been very good.  I'll always support Onstad.  The funny thing about brain problems is that sometimes they kind of go away overnight.  So who knows what the future holds?  It might not even be Achewood, but it could still be good.  I think people are sometimes too critical and personal when it comes to these things (and yes, I am aware of the irony of sounding critical and personal in order to decry it, so don't bother pointing that out).

[Llewelyn Ash]

I think what frustrates me about it, not having seen a period of 'decline' due to starting late, is how he just doesn't make use of what you know he can make use of and what you dearly wish he would. I think that naming a homeless man Night-Shed is just a totally subtle demonstration of genius and I assume most fans get annoyed because of how much they just want to read anything he writes. The current strips account for such a relatively long stretch of time that you can't help but worry about his voice atrophying and getting lost, it happened to plenty of other people.

I have no idea what his Circumstances or brain problems were/are but if I was a psychiatrist I might suggest he try and relax by drawing some pictures of an otter in amusing situations; I'd pay up to $75 just for a picture of an unworried Philippe sitting under a tree these days.

[wombat]

Sadly, I think that drawing an otter in amusing situations ceases to be relaxing when your living depends on it. And even if it doesn't anymore, it's spoiled for him.

[Bulldog Jones]

Just because the 'classic' period of Achewood is over doesn't mean that there won't be worthwhile things to see.  In fact, some of the stuff that has been dismissed as being after the decline has been very good.  I'll always support Onstad.

I was going to express just this idea. Now that the five or six strips a year since 2008 have begun to pile up, I find that I get a lot more out of them, having the ability to read through them at a reasonable pace.

[jaydub]

His pace gives us the opportunity to Fletcherize his work.  Here we have something of a joke culture about harsh treatment of the author and his work - in truth we all lovep what he does, when he chooses to share, even when occasionally he's clearly mailing it in or flailing around trying to find a new angle.  The harsh treatment angle is more or less a counterbalance to all the blind knobslobbery that is the default posture of a fanbase.

[greenkoolayd]

Slobknobbery is my new favorite word.

[Jaded Tersk]

So really, when it comes right down to it, the main thing is just the pace of output.  If Achewood publishes six strips that aren't right up your personal alley exactly, but that happens within the space of 12 days, there wouldn't be wailing and gnashing of teeth.  But if those six strips are over 9 months, it's going to take the shine off for some people, and they won't feel like slobbering his knob anymore.

I'm not ashamed to say I'll drool on his tool.

[Llewelyn Ash]

I went and read some of the threads here from 2003 and people would get annoyed at him for posting a bit late one day and accusing him of being unappreciative of his readers. Imagine what the situation would be like ten years from now, Onstad all coming round and emptying rubbish in your garden, making you smell his armpits. Just cold shooting your dog.

[Bulldog Jones]

Imagine what the situation would be like ten years from now, Onstad all coming round and emptying rubbish in your garden, making you smell his armpits. Just cold shooting your dog.

"Really, it's the culture of entitlement that got to me. After twenty years of shooting the same dog, I wanted to explore other creative outlets - trashing peoples' gardens, making people smell my armpits. The fans don't realize how much work it is to wake up every morning, and instantly have to deal with the pressure of thousands of anonymous jerks, all clamoring for me to shoot their dogs the way THEY want, at THEIR pace."

[side_show]

It would certainly give us something to discuss at least.  

As a side note Llewelyn Ash, I'm not sure if you're aware, but Onstad long ago condemned this message board and claims not to read our posts.  Onstad previously ran a message board that died back in 2003 where he opened himself up to reader criticism, and that didn't work for him so he shut it down.  TOUAMB is and has always been a place were fans can discuss their honest frustrations and praises with the understanding that none of the content here is directed at Onstad himself.  

Has anyone here ever directly contact Onstad with criticism or hate mail since the inception of TOUAMB in 2003?

[Llewelyn Ash]

I read, or maybe heard, a recent interview with him after the 'end' of the hiatus where he said he had received his first piece of hate mail in regards to the new strips and that had been a significant milestone for him. I can't believe there was a time when he used to speak to readers. I also can't imagine a time when there were at least three strips in a week.

Not to lower this to the level of 'HEAT' magazine, or whatever its American equivalent, I didn't realise he had broken up with his wife; that would certainly put a dint in a fellow's work flow and general demeanour.

[wombat]

Has anyone here ever directly contact Onstad with criticism or hate mail since the inception of TOUAMB in 2003?

I don't know about criticism or hate mail but some of us have definitely been in touch with since then.  Surely, speaking of slobbering, you recall my story that I went to see him on his book tour and he knew who I was before I really introduced myself. Squee, and I had him sign my arm, and all that. So yes, Llew, he definitely used to speak to readers.

So, I was thinking of the whole "how could he abandon this" question, and I can't believe I haven't made these points before, but, a soliloquy:

One the one hand, to someone like me who is trying to have some success at creative work, it's mindboggling that he would not keep the strip up. He was successful enough to support his family. He had lines out the door at book signings. As someone who published two books and have had both publishers decline to publish followups because the first ones didn't sell enough, I can't imagine why he'd throw it all away.

On the other hand, as some of you may recall, I personally threw away a previous career that to all outside appearances was successful. People don't just quit tenured university jobs. But that is what I did. And there's more similarity than you might think, in this way: Nowadays, getting a faculty job where you can do research is a lot like trying to become a successful artist in that there are way, way more people who want to do it than will ever actually get to do it. I basically felt in my career like I was standing at the top of a heap of broken bodies, metaphorically. I guarantee there were people who were as envious of me as I am of Onstad.

But there came a point where I couldn't do it anymore. Part of it was feeling that I was out of creative ideas, although there was more to it than that, but that was a critical part of it.  Anyway, basically I did exactly what he has done except for that I made a clean break since there was no other way to do it.

And yet still I feel.... good God, man, I would kill for lines out the door at book signings, how hard is it to make more stories about cartoon cats? I can throughly empathize with both sides of this question to an extent that practically makes my brain want to explode.

[Llewelyn Ash]

Can there be an agreement then on whether he should just go through the motions? Should anyone? What if he put out five lacklustre strips a week with one gem every three months and reliable (any) access to merchandise, would that be preferable to the last couple of years and would you respect him more or less for it?

When he drew parallels to Garfield and not wanting to just churn it out I know what he means, but Garfield does have something about it that I think makes it worthwhile though its author seems to hate it. What's good in Achewood arises from it being just a little strip that's ostensibly the same as Andy Capp or whatever and if it doesn't have that core to its being then I don't think it really exists anymore. Looking at the long decline in output one can foresee a time of one or two strips a year while he insists it's still alive but it's just your hope that'll start up again.

My vote would be for him to fake it, sometimes make it, and be a hack like Chekhov and Faulkner; there's a lot of art to being a really good hack and you never know what could grow out of it.

Imagine a fuck*ng phone shaped like Ray. Imagine!

[Arachno-capitalist]

how hard is it to make more stories about cartoon cats? I can throughly empathize with both sides of this question to an extent that practically makes my brain want to explode.

http://iwanttodrawacatforyou.com/

Meanwhile I have the most boring ambition imaginable to be the best financial engineer of my generation, so this arts and crafts stuff is out of my sphere.