So, Kurtz tweets:
"It's fascinating the email I'm receiving over my "reality check" post. Is there a perception I happened upon success through luck or fate?"
"Many feel I succeed only because I started so early in the history of webcomics. Nobody arguing wants to argue I earned what I have."
Mr. Kurtz, you are a tremendous talent, with skill in both drawing and humor but you're also a lazy jerk. Yes, your success is partly due to happenstance. While your talent has seen you succeed despite your chronic lateness and your incredible ability to offend others, there are many who have just as much talent who have not succeeded to anywhere near the same level. When it comes to fame and fandom, there is a great element of chance. Some memes propagate, while others fizzle out, and often it doesn't have anything to do with how funny or culturally relevant they are. Fame, she is a fickle mistress.
If you were talented, driven and personable, then I would little doubt that you would have succeeded eventually, chance or not. There are many I respect who have all three of these, and more, who have succeeded, and it's clear they would have to have immensely bad circumstances in order to not succeed. However, when someone is only talented, and does not show a willingness to be disciplined in their work, or an ability be consistently nice to their fans and competitors, then their success is based on the chance that they can build a following before they lose it to apathy or aggravation.
It is both chance and effort that combined to make you the success you are Mr. Kurtz. Don't shy away from this truth, it is true for a great number of successes in this world. Let it be a reminder to have humility from your position of greatness. You have done great things, and I have enjoyed a great many laughs because of your work, but do not think to condescend to other artists who have not succeeded simply because you have. Be proud that your talent, and the time you've spent developing it, has allowed you to take great advantage of the opportunities that have come your way, but be humble and never forget that those same opportunities have not presented themselves to every artist, and it is not your skill that necessarily made all those opportunities available to you.