Hello, Xyliacs!
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Barblog———————————-
Wasn’t sure what I was going to blog about today, when I noticed in my inbox that Webcomic Overlook had tagged some of the pages on Xylia- meaning that it been reviewed. I started to read the review and I could tell it was not going to be good. At all. Actually, it’s a blood bath panning of the story. Scrolling down to the end, I noticed it got two of five stars, and the last sentence was enough to keep me from reading the review.
Were I made of tougher stuff, like Bobby Crosby perhaps, I could maybe handle it. But since my ability to see worth in the project hangs by a tenuous thread at times anyway, it seemed wise to avoid it. The bits I read seemed less constructive and more just an assault of the blandness and predictability of the story, and those are things I can’t really change- at least not without completely overhauling the entire story.
To read the review, please go here:
I know many folks just wave their hand upon receiving such reviews and will tell you they dismiss them as ‘one guy’s opinion’ – but I also know these same people retreat to their studios, gnashing their teeth and pummeling the sides of their head. (Much like I’m doing..right now) The difference with me is that I am honest about it. life blasted apart by a liar has forged me to be this way. I’m cut down by this. Not sure what to do. Really feeling like a literary wast of time. That’s the reality. That’s my honesty.
To this reviewer, Xyliatales is a bit of fluff with over-romantic, simplified characters, and a ‘bland hero’ who put him in a diabetic coma. Most of what I read of the review were things I have always worried were true about the story, but had never been said by anyone else. But for me, the biggest problem is the reviewer finds Xyliatales sappy. And he is right- in our cynical, dark, electronic high speed world, is there really a place for old fashioned silly romance? Maybe not, but I wish there was. Call me a dork if you like, but it is what it is.
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Xyliatales On Air will be broadcasting on Sundays, along with the occasional last minute broadcast! (Just had a fun one last Thursday night!). I’m going to try for a regular time- like 7PM CST. I know some of you will find that an inconvenient time in other parts of the world- hopefully it will work for some of you! XYLIATALES ON AIR TALK SHOW SITE
Remember, you can follow my announcements on Twitter
Or consider friending me on Facebook- just make sure to let me know that you are a Xyliac when you send the request.
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Please consider donating for the Xylia cause! I plan on adding new things in the coming weeks- first I will be creating a series of hi resolution downloadable character cards, with profile images and bio information! In the meantime, browse our existing wallpapers and other things. As always if you don’t receive your download, please email me directly at bji2001(at)mchsi.com.
See all y’all on Wednesday! Y’all come back now, y’ hear?
Hugs,
~B
March 15th, 2010 at 8:15 am
Ah, what a nasty review to receive! Well, I guess I’m a dork like you: I love this story so far and I’m always looking forward to new updates!!! I’m glad there is a place where I can go for some ‘old fashioned romance’ or whatever he wants to call it. I like it! Keep hanging on and tell the story you want to tell!
x
March 15th, 2010 at 8:20 am
Hey Barb – it’s never pleasant to receive bad reviews but you have to bear in mind that blog content like that is usually driven by two things: a desire to piggy-back on the success of others, and a hope that being negative will attract controversy (and therefore readers). Nobody is going to care if a reviewer slates a comic that no one is reading, so they target the successful, popular comics – like yours! Another of my favourite webcomics (Simply Sarah at Drunk Duck) received a similarly negative review some time back. The creator’s response to that criticism was very similar to yours here. It IS hurtful for the creator to receive those kind of comments, obviously, but try not to let it get to you. Condemning something which everyone else agrees is good (or, less frequently, championing something which everyone acknowledges is bad!) is simply the a means for a blogger like this to publicise his blog. His opinions have no bearing on the quality of your work (and may not even be his real opinions at all!) Whatever you do, don’t fall into the trap of believing that his comments are somehow more valid than the opinions of all your many loyal readers. There’s so much competition out there in Webcomic Land, you can be sure they wouldn’t keep coming back if your comic wasn’t giving real pleasure to an awful lot of people.
March 15th, 2010 at 9:49 am
Fie! on the critics, and a pox upon their kind! Their opinions are… well, theirs. And yet, they believe that the world should benefit from their “cutting” insight. As if they have some special talent, some gift given from on high, to dictate what is good and what is poorly done. News flash: they don’t, no more so than you or I do. The only thing they’re good at is running their mouths (or, in this case, their fingers across a keyboard). If they know so much about what they’re reviewing, why aren’t they out there making a better example of it? Because they can’t. Those who can, do. Those who can’t, critique.
Hey, I’m not a guy for sappy romance stories. Seriously, I’d rather be fed feet-first into a wood chipper. Yet, your story has me intrigued. I keep coming back. I wail and gnash my teeth (on the inside, where it counts) over the long days between updates. I’ve considered driving out to you, just to fix your computer and keep you going. If none of that speaks to the worth of your story and your art, I don’t know what does.
I guess it boils down to, who are you going to listen to? One critic (or ten)? Or the hundreds of people who visit your comic? All things being equal, I’d peg my worth to those who vote with their visits, rather than those who cut with their words.
March 15th, 2010 at 10:50 am
*jumps on my horse* (or soapbox or whatever is handy)
Barb. Plain and simple, you have a story to tell. I come by weekly to see what is new and sail away for the time it takes me to read and admire the artwork on the page. When there is no posting, I review some of the archives to remind myself of favorite moments.
There are many artists and visions out there and not everyone is going to love everything (I, for one, can’t stand the Twilight series, but many others love it! – does that mean my opinion invalidates the millions who have read and liked it? Heck no!). The reality is, you have hundreds who come by and enjoy your comic. If one blogger can counter that feeling and that knowledge, well, I don’t have high hopes for the world.
Keep on keeping on. I, for one, will keep on coming back.
March 15th, 2010 at 11:02 am
Yeah… there are too many reasons not to consider the opinion of this reviewer valid. Not just in the sense of “it’s just his opinion,” but in the sense that his opinion is demonstrably flawed. I think he shows from the beginning that he’s not fair-minded. I see this in his “review” of your About page. His comments show a complete lack of humor or whimsy… or at least, a lack of willingness to appreciate it in others, since he uses humor that could be… criticized (read mocked, since that’s really what it amounted to) on similar grounds in *his* About page. In my opinion this is pretty petty, and also bad form.
That aside… he’s questioning the value of your story. But for me, that raises a question: What *does* he consider valuable? From his review, I’d say… pain, disgrace, and destructive shootings sprees :-p. In fairness… well, I would love to be fair and harsh at the same time by going through and doing a point-by-point rebuttal. But this is already working out to be unreasonably long, so I’ll stick to the fact that at heart, his critique seems to be rooted to a greater or lesser extent in the current fashion in which the gritty, grimy, “edgy,” and “realistic” are the stories truly worth hearing or telling. Well… okay, they’ll make an exception for stories that get the adrenaline pumping, too. Two things are worth noting about this fashion. First – it’s no less cliche than ideas of beauty and true love. Seriously… in college I took an “advanced” fiction writing class (which helped drain my last vestiges of motivation senior year). I could count on one hand the number of stories that *didn’t* revolve around dark and gritty drugs/sex/death themes. …Unless I included my own, in which case I might possibly have had to go to a second hand :-p. Point is… it wasn’t creative. It was just “in style.” Second – the current fashion is no more realistic. This world *is* full of beauty, and it *does* hold real love, even if also holds the dark and painful. And… though current fashion doesn’t acknowledge it, there is merit in telling a story that’s saturated with beauty and goodness and optimism. A story doesn’t have to be dark to be valuable, or to say something true.
March 15th, 2010 at 11:08 am
It seems significant to me that the only comment on the review is praise for your artwork, Barb. Perhaps the reviewer personally prefers a different “genre,” and let that preference color the review. Not very professional, but understandable. Your work has real value. It’s natural to allow one negative comment to outweigh the many positive comments, but please be encouraged by the support you receive here.
March 15th, 2010 at 11:17 am
Long-time reader, first-time poster–as Wayfarer said, the reviewer seemed to be completely biased against your webcomic from the beginning. The quality of the artwork alone should have merited at least a 3.5 even if there were NO plot. Yes, Xyliatales is a bit predictable at times, but who wants to be thrown for a loop every other update? Sometimes a person just wants to indulge in a sappy romance, and Xyliatales has that plus AMAZING artwork to go with it.
Don’t take the reviewers too seriously, they’re scum-sucking bottom-feeders who tear apart what other people do without offering anything really useful themselves… This is the most hilairious parody of critics I’ve ever seen! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHtjl8V483A
March 15th, 2010 at 11:57 am
Barb, that’s one more idiot on teh internetz. (God knows we don’t need any more, but there you have it.) People’s tastes are different — OK, Xylia’s not going to appeal to someone who wants grittiness, black humor, and depressing conclusions. But he’s a jerk who’s been given a free soapbox (thanks, internet), and chosen to snark about something that doesn’t appeal to him. It sucks that he did, but it’s not in any way a reflection on you.
How many fans do you have here? We all come back to this site over and over because we love your art, we love your story, and we love your characters. If your comic were bad, no one would read it. And yet here we all are, because we love the world you’ve created. Don’t let one vocal douchecanoe get you down.
March 15th, 2010 at 12:36 pm
Here’s what a critic said about Star Wars: “A hodge-podge of low cultural dross, moribund genres, pretentious movie allusions, cartoon characters, ingenuous platitudes, thudding clichés, lousy dialogue, worse acting, Star Wars is a junkyard of cinematic gimcracks not unlike the Jawas’ heap of purloined, discarded, barely functioning ‘droids. It’s a lousy if mindlessly entertaining frivolity; if this were the only film we had to judge Lucas by, he’d seem little more than an Ed Wood with state-of-the-art technology.”
Here’s what another said about Citizen Kane: “In the fiftieth anniversary version that I watched, a subsequent documentary informed me that somebody was once offered $800,000 to destroy the negative of “Citizen Kane” — as if this were a bad thing.”
As artists, critics must not matter to us. They do, of course on some level, and their words sting. It’s not about becoming cold to the world and not caring about what people say, but you have to suffer the slings and arrows of every person who has an internet connection…much more than artists in the past had to deal with. File it under “one man’s opinion.” You wouldn’t stop doing what you’re doing because some random person didn’t like what you did, would you? “Xylia” is gorgeously drawn, is a lovely romantic story, and is your personal story to tell. You have a loyal and rabid fanbase, but in the long run, even they don’t matter. “Xylia” is inside you, and needs to come out. It is something you will leave behind, and is more than 99% of the population could ever hope for as a legacy.
The writers at Pixar said it best in “Ratatouille” when the critic, Anton Ego, has his epiphany: “In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so.”
March 15th, 2010 at 1:34 pm
To quote Anton Ego from Ratatouille:
“In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so.”
I love the story and the artwork, so please don’t take this to heart!
March 15th, 2010 at 1:36 pm
Missed that the commenter above had the same quote…whoops…
March 15th, 2010 at 2:48 pm
“Were I made of tougher stuff, like Bobby Crosby perhaps, I could maybe handle it.”
Your blog post is a very respectable way of handling a review like that. I suspect Bobby Crosby’s “handling” of the sitution would be much…less so.
Don’t let the review get you down; your comic is for yourself and for your readers (and I hope you enjoy writing it as much as I enjoy reading it), not for the critics.
March 15th, 2010 at 3:16 pm
Hey, don’t let the review get you down! L.M. Montgomery, one of my favorite writers, once wrote “Remember pine woods are just as real pigsties and a darn sight pleasanter to be in.” Gritty realism might be true to life but stories of love and romance are true to life as it should be!
March 15th, 2010 at 3:30 pm
ignore the critics. Your web comic is great.
March 15th, 2010 at 4:11 pm
Barb, your comic is in the top tier of what a great many comics wish they could be. Your artwork is second to none ( note that the reviewer didn’t even mention how beautiful the comic is ), and the story is refreshing and welcome.
March 15th, 2010 at 5:09 pm
Psh. What a downright snobby, pretentious and cynical person. I am truly sorry for anyone who can’t see how awesome Xylia is. I mean, to be that jaded, yikes. I read the review and I disagree completely with everything. I love all the characters, the Xylia lore, the dialogue and most certainly the art! I’m really not even much of a fan of webcomics, but Xylia has me totally entrapped. It’s at the top of my favorites folder (seriously!) because I enjoy it so thoroughly.
Don’t let this jerk get you down Barb. Right now there are 15 comments above this one with glowing reviews of Xylia. These are the reviews that matter, not the review of one jaded, nasty quasi-person. I’d like to post my initial reaction to Xylia, which is still my reaction everytime I load up this page….Holy wow.
March 15th, 2010 at 5:22 pm
Hi Barb -
Xylia is beautifully drawn, interesting, and fun to follow. I also really enjoyed reading Nigel’s Opus. Please keep on keeping on. I want to read to the end. I hope you ignore the review — he’s just wrong. Pity him.
March 15th, 2010 at 6:32 pm
Why does this guy think the world cares about his opinion? Is he with the New York Times Book Review, or something? No, he’s just some beeatch with an blog, and therefore as irrelevant as a street-dwelling lunatic screaming obscenities at a wall.
I won’t tell you “don’t let it bother you,” because I’ve gotten that advice before, and find it about as useful as standing in the rain and being told “don’t let it get you wet”. You have every right to let it bother you. But I hope you won’t let it *stop* you.
And I’d rather stab myself in both eyes than be exposed to sappy romance, and I love Xyliatales. So there.
March 16th, 2010 at 1:51 am
A few things occured to me when I read his review:
1- It doesn’t seem like he’s read the entire story.
2- He doesn’t comment on the art more that to say that he doesn’t like the way you do eyes.
3- He acts like he’s annoyed by the way we (that we, the readers, and you) interact.
That is strange, and a little unfortunate. Or maybe not, he’s just a random guy on the net, not a professional reviewer. I guess he’s allowed to do that.
And after reading a few more reviews I can add: he doesn’t seem to like fantasy very much. Or stories about romantic relationships.
Well. Then Xylia isn’t his sort of thing. That’s all right, his blog isn’t my sort of thing. We don’t really like the same things. He doesn’t like The Dreamer, xkcd, Earthsong or What Birds know. Thank good not everyone agrees with him, the world would be a lot poorer if they did…
March 16th, 2010 at 3:53 am
Pretty much everything in my RSS feed is romantic or funny. It’s the pick me up I need before I head off to the real world and endure it for another eight hours. A guy who’s turned his blog into his day job may have forgotten how badly the rest of us need our happy to deal with the office.
March 16th, 2010 at 5:31 am
I wanted to comment only to say I enjoy your comic FAR, FAR more than I enjoyed anything of Bobby Crosby’s (and I do actually read Phoenix Requiem religiously, so I like Sarah Ellerton’s work). Couldn’t get a few pages into Dreamless because if Xylia is predictable, Dreamless is downright boring.
Just saying.
March 16th, 2010 at 9:27 am
*please* don’t compare yourself to that *shmuck* and drama queen bobby crosby. you honestly think one of your fans believes you’d handle a bad review as poorly as he would? seriously, he’ll have a harder time selling print comics, even though he miraculously (and for him, it is indeed a miracle!) snagged sarah ellerton for dreamless, simply because nobody who’s interacted with him honestly likes or has any respect for him. even mentioning his name adds negativity – let’s forget him.
i’ll tell you something though. most fans are sycophants – they will not offer much in the way of constructive criticism. so if you genuinely WANT to improve (which most people do not), you’d see what you could take from this guy’s mostly unfair critique. i admit i was righteously indignant one time, when a female critic (who’d done a few terrible comics herself) ripped sarah ellerton apart on a podcast. sarah’s *way* more talented than this woman, by light years, literally. but sarah took it in stride, with such class. unreal. she may have privately torn some hair out of her head, but publicly she pretty much kept quiet…however, she obviously took the criticism to heart. the woman had said that sarah’s art was stiff – her poses and characters unnaturally positioned. no life to the page, no action. i see in retrospect that there was some truth to this with inverloch. if you take a look at phoenix requiem, it’s obvious that sarah has made a very serious effort to work on this – there is no longer any truth to that whatsoever. but had sarah NOT heard the negative review, phoenix requiem might not be so brilliant as it is. honestly, sarah’s humility in accepting the truth of that (where i could not, as her fan!) and turning it to her advantage, and the confidence to continue on and get better with her art and storytelling, humbled me. what character she possesses!
the scathing review may not be warranted (i agree with others – this simply isn’t his genre), but i have faith in your ability to do as sarah did and i’m betting you’ll take something positive from it.
March 16th, 2010 at 6:57 pm
Barb, I don’t need to repeat what so many others have said. It’s more than apparent that we love you, we love your art, and we also love your story. I understand so very well that it is difficult to see a negative review of your work and not lose heart. To be quite honest, you’re much better at it than I am. The unfinished stories I’ve collected are almost embarassing, but I quit when I encountered negative feedback. I truly wish that you don’t do what I’ve always done. It would devestate me not to know what happens next.
As an aside, I think you might appreciate what this critic had to say in response to the last comment I saw (made by spas on 3/16). I won’t quote all of it here since it’s actually pretty lengthy, but this little nugget stuck out:
“I do appreciate that Barb included the link on her site, and it was brave of her to read my rather negative review. I found her assessment of my review to be quite gracious, by the way.
When I write these reviews, they’re targeted toward readers. They’re not necessarily tips or suggestions the author. If it were the latter, I don’t think I’d be very qualified.”
He knows that he’s not qualified to offer suggestions, and he also later points out that this is very much his personal opinion (do -I- like it and would -I- recommend it to others). It’s not a review by someone who is in line with your target audience, or even likely to be friends with people in your target audience. The best you can do with this piece of criticism (imo) is decide if you want to reach out to include a different audience, and make small changes (or mental notes for future stories) that might draw them in.
No matter what, you’ve got webcomic success with the Xylia we’ve already seen. So no worries!
*hug*
March 16th, 2010 at 8:40 pm
I dunno if it’s been said yet or not–I don’t have time to read all of the comments–but I don’t think the review matters all that much. Look at all the enthusiastic, devoted fans you have who come back week after week, eager for just one more page of YOUR story. We all have different tastes, and one person’s distaste for “fluff” doesn’t make us–your rabid fans–like it any less. All that review says to me is, “Wow, this guy doesn’t like the same stuff I like at all.”
Chin up–you’ve got us!
March 16th, 2010 at 9:17 pm
Barb, being Italian on my father’s side, we have this here social and fraternal organization…….. Barb, all I can do is to repeat what so many others have said here, we love you, we love your work and don’t give a rat’s patootie what this guy thinks. Keep up the terrific work, I think that, in time, you’ll find far more people cheering you on than putting you down.
March 16th, 2010 at 10:24 pm
It seems pretty simple to me.
Hot fairies with Cockney accents = awesome
Your average guttersnipe “reviewer” = stinky
I like heaping helpings of clean-smelling awesomeness in my life. Therefore I give you an imaginary cookie, and bid you good cheer.
March 16th, 2010 at 10:26 pm
It might be good at some point, once you’re feeling more clinical, to read the review and distinguish the points that you do agree with from the ones you don’t. I think the strongest test of a creator is not just to take criticism or respond to it, but to analyze it and see if it agrees with your long-term goals or not. It is never too late to make improvements if you think you might need them, and if you don’t agree it is good that you have more data to drive your work by
Emotionally I agree any kind of criticism is wracking, but if it serves the purpose of strengthening my work I will always give it some of my time and thoughts. Just my 2 cents…
March 17th, 2010 at 1:51 am
Reading that review reminded me of something I heard once, years back: “Critics are people who couldn’t hack it as artists.” It seems his focus is more on the idea of faeries than about the strip itself; his criticism is less about Xylia and more about his own distastes in the fantasy realm in general, with Xylia as a convenient target. I’ve run into this a lot in my own artistic endeavor of choice (the toy customizing community) where criticism is often based less on your actual work, and on the critics perception of what that work should cover.
Me, I’ve enjoyed reading Xylia from the start, and I’m *not* personally a big fan of Faeries in general–but I love this comic, love the story, the artwork, and everything about it. You caught my attention, pulled it in, and firmly hooked it. And that’s something no petty little reviewer with delusions of blogger grandeur will ever change. Keep up the good work, Barb.
March 17th, 2010 at 3:55 am
Do you know how hard it is to find decent fluffy romance? Cursed difficult, is what it is. *grumbles* In any case, I’ve seen and read fluffier romance, and there are not many comics of any kind as beautifully drawn as this one.
Critics such as this one are a pet peeve of mine, anyway – they seem to suffer from a delusion that there is one single standard of Art that everybody must aspire to, and anything that doesn’t match their idea of Art must be trash. While in reality, there are unimaginably many visions of Art and in addition to that, equally many styles of good entertainment, all of which have value. Not to say that all results of human creativity are equal, just that it’s stupid to think that something isn’t good if you personally don’t like it.
March 17th, 2010 at 6:59 am
Just so you know, it’s OK TO HAVE SOME SAP! I think we forget that there IS something magical about forever loves and destiny, beyond fae and the supernatural. If it seems like it’s all been done it’s because you’re hitting on the true desire of our fantasies – that love is eternal and unbending, unyielding, that good overcomes evil, that evil is an action, not a person and that people can transform to better themselves. If you’ve ever seen Secondhand Lions, remember the speach that’s given on “how to be a man”. If someone is bored by that, they’re missing out on the greater parts of human existance.
I have learned over the past 10 years that it is necessary to believe in love stories. And that they can come true (I’m in one). Thank you for writing/drawing this one for us to immerse ourselves in. Your stories are as good as melted dark chocolate and a good wine. The plot is comfortably paced, and while not the most complex out there, it draws you in with it’s softness. Plus there have been a few quirks here and there that make me think, “hmm – I would have never come up with that!” The drawings are fantastic and constant in their high quality – very important! Most of all, it allows all of us to commune over the heartfelt belief that there is magic in the world; there is good in the world.
March 17th, 2010 at 7:11 am
Hey Barb,
I can understand that this review came in hard because it`s a very negative (and in my opinion rude) one. I personally don`t like reviews that are written like this and you are not weak for finding this hard to deal with, because it`s your art and in a way that is part of who you are. If I would receive a critique or review like this one I`d want to throw my pencils away and curl up in a ball in the corner of my room because the review is harsh, very harsh. And you care for the story, you care for your characters, you have put your time and effort into it and some guy just burns it down in an article. The thing is…it`s just an opinion. And yes, some people are going to agree with him and others, like us, don`t, it`s a matter of `taste.` But just because the guy does reviews on the web doesn`t mean his word is law. Personally I think that he doesn`t like it because he prefers it brought in a different way. I get the feeling that he doesn`t like slow paced comics, or mushy romance at all, but there are audiences that actually LIKE that, no matter how hard other people may find it to believe.
I`ve looked around his site to what kind of reviews he usually does and overall the things he labels as negative are the things that I like in stories. And the ones that I liked (and there are even some of my absolute favourites in there) from what he did got the least stars. Does that mean I have a weird interest comics? No, it means that he and I are different. There are people who`ll agree with him, they were there all along but came and just left again because they didn`t like it and that`s fine, you can`t please everyone. You can`t like all comics that are roaming on the web. But the people who read this story and like it, they`ll come back and that is the audience you`re doing it for. We believe in the story, we come back every week for it. And you write and draw for us, right?
I agree with Der-shing/Alexds1 here, take what you agree with to improve and make the story (even) better, if you already feared (I thought I read this in the blog) some of these were the weak points in the story then try to improve them. (you said so yourself: you were fairly new in writing when you started out, so you can`t expect it to be flawless) And then let it rest and don`t let it take you off of your goal you have for this comic, don`t change things you don`t want or give up because one person says so. YOU are writing this, and YOU decide how the story goes. There`s always someone who likes it the way you wrote it.
One more quote and then I`ll sut up
: `And he is right- in our cynical, dark, electronic high speed world, is there really a place for old fashioned silly romance?`
Oh yeah sure as heck there is!! What makes him right?? I don`t agree, AT ALL! Romance and love and loyalty is what this world needs, even if it`s mushy (which I like) lol. We have enough darkness and cynicism already, I think people love this story because there`s hope in it of unconditional love and triumphing over evil.
Try to focus on the love for your comic Barb.
*lots of hugs for you*
March 17th, 2010 at 7:24 am
Barb, don’t sweat it too much. I know how you feel ( that insane urge to shred and delete, to start all over, to give up and never try again) but just because some people don’t like us or our stuff does not mean we are worthless! If we try to hold out for universal popularity we are gonna be in for an awfully long wait! Don’t give up! We like you and Xyliatales, otherwise we wouldn’t be haunting your doorstep regularly for more updates. ^.^
March 17th, 2010 at 11:35 am
@julie thanks so much for pointing out his response. i disagree with you and with him that he’s unqualified to criticize though. anyone’s qualified to give criticism. having run for public office twice, i get a lot, everywhere i go – from people who know NOTHING about politics – and everything at the same time. you know, most of these people think they’re the first to tell me the same thing i hear from everyone. but without a lot of campaign money, it’s not so easy to change the public’s perception of any given thing. sometimes grassroots internet campaigns have a massive impact, but mostly people spend a lot of money to get the job done right. still, i listen to everyone. why not? do i know everything? i’m tired of the juvenile brown-nosing that goes on in the webcomic fanworld. it’s not helping anyone. do we love xylia? heck yeah. would we love to see barb making more money, like scott of dreamland fame? HELLS YEAH. it’s that simple. there’s a real clear path to success, but sadly, it’s the road less traveled. bc it’s so much easier to drown in the chorus of the fangirls and fanboys who are truly doing their heroes a disservice. buck up, young fangirls and fanboys! even if barb has a weakness or two, you can still love her story and admire her talent. but if you want her to get even better, offer some criticism up on your own from time to time. you are capable of critical analysis. repeat that last sentence aloud to yourself a few times. i know it’s condescending that i say that, but do it: “i am capable of critical analysis.” i just think you’re all smarter than this. it’s great that you support barb – you’re all big giant sweethearts (like mike lynch – the one thing i like about him – obvious big sweetheart – the whine in his voice will never sell a record though – he needs a voice instructor like i need to get to the gym). but one-up that. with love, help the creators you love get better, if you can. i believe in you – i think you can.
alexds1, please ignore the above. your post was thoughtful, considerate and spot-on. but then, your comic is pretty good so you’ve obviously been through this yourself. found the meek recently through what birds know. look forward to your story developing further. one tool i think is great is the side story; if you haven’t done so, check out nigel’s opus – linked to in the top nav bar on this page. i wish more comic creators would write some prose like this – it really helps us develop a connection with the characters.
March 17th, 2010 at 11:43 pm
Don’t look at me, kiddo – it’s all been said, and far more eloquently than I ever could. My first plan was to find the Anton Ego quote…and someone beat me to it. Ah well.
May 21st, 2010 at 5:15 am
He gives a valid reading. He didn’t like it and he said why, in an entertaining way.
He did his job. Even if you are being honest that this hurts, all he’s done is given you food for thought. This will help you improve. I’ve tried to read Xylia a few times… He’s raised a lot of reasons why I can’t ever finish it.
August 2nd, 2010 at 3:07 am
My second book was panned by a reviewer… he trashed everything from a couple of real misspellings to the entire sweep of my book. In the next few years it became a best seller. It went through at least 20 re-printings. It paid for trips, conventions, and more research. The reviewer still sits in his tiny little room going nowhere. He never creates, all he can do is try to destroy. To heck with him.
August 20th, 2010 at 11:43 am
My post seems to have vanished. I posted a similar view at http://slamlander.livejournal.com/322633.html.
March 4th, 2011 at 3:04 pm
This is late — clearly much has happened and you have lived many days since this original review. I found your story today, and eagerly read the archives. I felt a loss when the story abruptly ended, and wondered what stopped you.
I am not a professional reviewer. I am not an artist. I am a romantic, who finds confort in the human heart, and who seeks to understand the order upon which the work is founded. Your story is simple on the surface, with what feels like a deep structure informing every panel. You have a graceful, engaging, and fantastical visual style that also tells the story, and energizes the Xyliate world.
I won’t refute his criticism — comments from every source carry a measure of truth. Please know, however, that one reader thanks you for the story, was carried along in the flowing waves of your art, and misses the several people who no longer grow in your pages.