The reason A&H Club is updating slowly
Added 2016-02-13 20:29:00 +0000 UTCIf you've watched me for any length of time you know I tend to not take certain comments very well. And it's not a matter of "oh Rick can't take criticism" because I do--in fact, even when I complain openly about peoples' behavior and commentary I find unreasonable, I know I'm still listening to them.
But the issue is, mostly in the comments I see on FA and partly on DA and Weasyl, is that there's a lot of praise that nevertheless feels backhanded, and it makes me wonder "am I doing the wrong thing, feeding the fuel onto the wrong fire?" Because there is a problem here--I can't offer a criticism of certain Christian practices, which I myself have in the past both experienced and embodied, without fueling the other side that views Christians as always stupid and dumb and will take any excuse, no matter how small, to take a dump on them.
And it'd be one thing if the issue was already over and done with, but given I still have *many* weeks to go in order to finish out this issue, it's quite often hard to feel like I can continue when I know that the next barrage of comments is going to be the same thing, and the next page and the next, and it's going to continue until I'm finally done and can put it behind me and THEN take criticism in context without having to push my way through it.
I hate it when the stuff I'm working on feel like a slog for that reason. It's not that I don't LIKE people having comments and reactions and whatnot, but it's the same reason I took comments off the main page of Housepets--each arc I'm easily in the MIDDLE of a project, my enthusiasm for which is an invaluable asset, and people are notoriously impatient when it comes to serials reaching their conclusion, and constantly making me second-guess what's about to come next EVEN IF what's coming next is a proper resolution.
So when I'm sitting at my desk thinking about whether to begin the next page of the issue, I'm often feeling "nuh-uh, you haven't thought about this enough, what if you're doing this ALL WRONG?!" and pushes my desire to complete the issue back another week.
I dunno; maybe next comic or issue I'll just avoid serializing it on my galleries until it's done.
Comments
If if means anything... I actually like Elizia! Largely because I come from a christian/catholic background (And missed church today). It's clear she's trying to help, and I also see where she's coming from (And she's right in a lot of ways).
Sartharina/Scow2
2016-02-14 16:40:08 +0000 UTCI have no problem with you not serializing it until its done. There are a lot of good reasons to do it that way.
David Ihnen
2016-02-14 06:02:13 +0000 UTCYou know, I'm actually very happy to hear your thoughts on this issue, I'd been thinking much the same things and have been hoping against hope that it WASN'T becoming a slog. I'm afraid i can't suggest anything different from those before me, but I understand the situation and will respect whatever it is you choose
Frank Hightower
2016-02-14 05:27:51 +0000 UTCSo. It's a mine field. I still love your work and put my money where my mouth is. Don't be too discouraged...or angry (hard, I know). Keep up the good work.
OldTiger
2016-02-14 01:54:57 +0000 UTCWhen religion's involved, like politics theses days, the brickbats come out. Goes with the territory. I haven't been a Christian for over 25 years but I can see how those who practice their faith could be a little sensitive--too many idiots are given a microphone to publicly ridicule them in truly nasty ways. That said, I was treated to some pretty disgusting propaganda as a kid ("Not Catholic? You are going STRAIGHT TO HELL,").
OldTiger
2016-02-14 01:51:53 +0000 UTCWhat I don't get is the number of people who look at your work, which constantly plays with expectation and stereotype to give us a balanced view of situations and characters, and still seem to think that *this time* you're creating a character that is simply "bad". I mean Eliza has been courteous this whole time (and attempted to be helpful in her own way) even despite obviously being somewhat uncomfortable with the idea of Adrian having a child out of wedlock. I'm curious what her reaction will be from here, but premature judgement on a character rankles me in ways that little else does. Anyway, as much as I personally want to see more of A&H as soon as it's available, I understand if you want to finish a chapter completely before uploading anything.
River Descending
2016-02-13 22:37:36 +0000 UTCSorry, substitute "this complete issue" for "this issue of A&H as a whole work", that wasn't clearly written. On effectively conveying the subtle point; if the current style of publication makes this more difficult, then publish differently, or work with the publication style. I suggested one method to do this above, I'm no writer though.
Alex
2016-02-13 22:12:22 +0000 UTCIt's pretty much what we get use to, though. People expect there to be an antagonist in stories, and people probably picked up Eliza as the bad guy because of how cartoons and anime in general treat this stereotype. Only until the message hits do they suddenly think "Oh, wait. I got this wrong"
GameCobra
2016-02-13 22:03:45 +0000 UTCWell the WHOLE COMIC isn't supposed to be a commentary on religious practice--it's a comic about difficult circumstances in general. But this issue in particular is supposed to highlight an important point that's hard to get across without making it fall under "Eliza is just a bad person and that's what bad people do" and thus ignored
Rick Griffin
2016-02-13 21:45:55 +0000 UTCFrom what you're saying here, I'm guessing that this issue of A&H as a whole work is supposed to present a more balanced commentary on Christian practices. However, as a reader what I've understood so far has been fairly one-sided. I think the problem is that when each page is published discretely, readers will inherently treat each page as a work in itself. This contrasts with e.g. a book, where the last page was a few seconds ago, and next page is always available. The book can more easily make a point and counterpoint over many pages, whereas a serialized comic would have to make both a point and a counterpoint on each page to have the same effect. So, I think your options are to either publish each issue en-masse or to change something so that you can maintain balance throughout. One idea might be non-linear storytelling, alternate two viewpoints page to page, or show both in parallel.
Alex
2016-02-13 21:41:19 +0000 UTCYou know, I think DA, FA, and Weasyl ALL have the option to disable comments for specific submissions. If you wanted to go that route.
Stoker Bramwell
2016-02-13 21:29:34 +0000 UTCIt might be worth avoiding the criticism and just doing what you wrote at the end of your post, keep the posts on Patreon and only publish them once its all done, (but not all at once more like one a week). If its becoming a slog it could be a idea to stop the story and move time forward a bit and come back to that story later. Poppy O'Possums creator did something similar and came back to the main story once they had got their mojo back. Either way I haven't any issues with the stories angle and Im looking forward to how it progresses. Keep it up Rick, your doing fine.
BSM
2016-02-13 20:38:17 +0000 UTC
