Ah, I didn't know that. I kinda assumed it was...you know
[Webcomic] PVP Discussion
- Thread starter Dei
- Start date
Oh right. Mike Wieringo. I don't know why I remember that.
...oh. He had a semi-noble reason for that letter. I feel like a semi-dick now.
I dunno. Sure, it was good of Scott to remember his friend and try to protect his friend's legacy; but that con didn't kill Wieringo, they didn't rip him off, they didn't besmirch his reputation, they just refused to invite him to their con. Scott going off on them for screwing up his name and throwing Wieringo's name in to justify why he wouldn't attend doesn't sound noble to me, it sounds like grandstanding - like he knew that too many people would have called him out on refusing to go to a con because they screwed up his name, so he threw in the fact that Mike had been snubbed by the con to cover up the fact that he was being childish and to win the altruism vote.
So he exploited his dead friend to save face? YAY! Scott is a dick again! I do not feel bad now.
I'm not saying that that is what he did, just that that's how it feels to me. I don't live in Scott's head, so I can't say that definitively that's why he did that. But nothing about Scott's treatment of other people in the last seven or eight years would lead me to believe that anything he did was purely for someone else' benefit. Like when he wrote a blog post to his fans, telling them to fuck off if they didn't like the direction he was taking the comic, because it is his comic after all, and he can do as he pleases, and if they don't like it they can read something else.
And web-comic authors WANDER why our genre isn't taken seriously. When you make somethig and hope to make a profit off of it, there is a chance of getting a fan-base. When you get a fan-base that buys your shit, you are making a product. When people have problems with your product, your supposed to try to improve said product or AT-LEAST lie and be nice to the customer and tell them that they will see what they can do. Scott Kurtz is not the best business-man.
Guys the Steve Kuntz is from a joke strip involving Penny Arcade.
Ah, I miss their bitter hilarious rivalry. Good times.
Oh yeah... I remember that comic now. Still, it doesn't mean that the con meant to call him that, or that they knew who he was aside from being someone that the guys at PA talked about in a strip. On the other hand, they could have been a) attempting to be humorous or b) being complete douche-nozzles. Which con was it, anyway?
They didn't call him that. Steve Kuntz has only ever been associated with the Penny Arcade joke.
The con in question called him Kurt.
http://pvponline.com/news/dear-kurt
The con in question called him Kurt.
http://pvponline.com/news/dear-kurt
I got mixed feelings about Penny-arcade. Not Tycho and Gabe their lovely guys just the punch-lines always feel fifty fifty with me.
figmentPez
Staff member
Oh no...
It's hardly that simple. Mike Wieringo's death was very sudden and very traumatic for a lot of people. I have a couple of friends who knew him and he was apparently one of the friendliest guys you could meet in the industry and was nice to new creators just starting out. He didn't receive a whole lot of recognition from the likes of Wizard Magazine when he was alive (that magazine gets - or got, is it even still around? - some criticism for only really focusing on creators who are the new hotness), so some people reasonably felt it was disingenuous for them to name a panel room in his honor. Likewise, they - at the time, at least - had taken up the practice of scheduling their cons so they'd draw audience away from independent conventions. So there's that.
Considering they got his name wrong and didn't even appear to be "inviting" him but instead asking him to give them money to exhibit at the con, plus his not unreasonable view that they paid attention to 'Ringo (and almost everyone else, really) for as long as he was a headline, I can understand why he was pissed. That doesn't make the letter come off as less bitchy, but I can't exactly fault him either.
Assuming this means what I think it means, the team behind Axe Cop can probably actually make LOLBat funny again. I've never read it, but it gets excellent reviews.
So back to fifty-fifty then. Meh, whatevers. And the Lol-bat Axe-cop cross-overe...yeaaaaaaaaaaah. That is definitely....a thing...that will happen.
I'm all for Kuntz bashing, but I'm pretty sure the tastemaker line was a joke. I actually thought his angry letter was funny. Did he not like that con? Absolutely, so it was a real angry letter, but that doesn't mean it can't include comedy.
Except for that time he wrote a little kid to tell them he wouldn't appear at their birthday party. What a dick.
Except for that time he wrote a little kid to tell them he wouldn't appear at their birthday party. What a dick.
Really? All my childhood idols had the courtesy to NOT write me back. I'd think "Oh, their probably just swamped in fan-mail!" This however is the utmost in dicketry.
Can someone find me that letter (assuming Ravenpoe wasn't kidding)? I mean, it's one thing to say something like "Fuck you lid, I won't come to your shitty birthday party. You'll probably have a clown. Clowns are gay." and quite another to say "Hey Jimmy, Scott Kurtz here! I'm sorry, but I can't make it to your birthday party buddy. I did make you a present though - a hand drawn sketch of Skull! I hope you like it! Happy birthday sport!"
It was a real letter, but it was also a joke. I was being sarcastic.
OK, how is an employee of WotC going to be able to buy out and intimidate two multimillionaires?
Wait, wasn't that from a joke blog post making fun of the letter to the Con, along with (I think) two other letters from "Scott Kurtz", none of which were actually written by him? I can no longer find it, but I could of sworn that's what it was.
Can someone confirm or deny the existance of said blog-post? Or Starbucks?
S
Soliloquy
Here it is.
And if I remember correctly, it was a joke by someone else making fun of his rant about the con, but Kurtz actually thought it was hilarious and now uses the "Tastemaker, Pioneer, Legend, Ruler of Goddamn Australia" line in letter and used it in his Twitter bio for a while.
EDIT: Oh hey, we've got the full text of Kurtz' original blog post that was being mocked right here on our very forum!
Click the link and bask in its glory!
S
Soliloquy
If this will be anything like the Dr. McNinja crossover, I think I'll pass. If it's worse, I might just have to watch the trainwreck.
So rather than building up a buffer of comic strips before his trip to Melbourne he is just going to get a bunch of other people to do his work for him?
Not that I mind guest strips - I'm sure many of them will be great, but this seems to be how he deals with all of his breaks away for whatever reason.
Not that I mind guest strips - I'm sure many of them will be great, but this seems to be how he deals with all of his breaks away for whatever reason.
Dave
Staff member
Okay, current storyline with Cole fired & stuff. In the end she's buying the place, putting in a conference table and hiring Cole back. So you think it'll all end up being much ado about nothing? Everything remains the same as it was and nobody experiences any personal growth out of the situation? You know, like he accused CAD of doing for major, life-changing events?
Quick, draw Ducky in the hospital bed!
I hope Cole comes back, the office ain't the same without it's hilarious fat straight-man.
Dave
Staff member
That's the only reason I still have a job.
You know what was my favorite PvP story-line? Planet of the Quakes. I miss those silly violent days.
I agree. I enjoyed the wedding plot arc, and the Brent and Jade going to the EQ con and breaking up, and them going back and getting back together, and all of the "dramatic" plot arcs, but the ones I really miss are the off the wall funny/silly ones. Planet of the Quakes, teaching Francis about old-school video games, the gang sitting down to play D&D, the game about the characters creating characters to create characters to play in a tabletop game - but I guess once you've taken a few too many jabs at syndicated cartoonists for making comic strips where characters never age and nothing ever advances, you have to stop making silly/fun to read comics and try to progress the plot non-stop, except when you're running lolbat filler.
I'd gladly take a serving of copy-pasta as long as he got rid of the suck-sauce.
Normally I wouldn't bag on something like this, but the strip with Brent and New Brent is an awful lot like a scene from the Simpsons episode Krusty gets Kancelled.
[Krusty is trying to talk Sideshow Mel into quitting his job a fast-food joint]
Krusty the Clown: But you gotta come back, Mel! We're a team!
Sideshow Mel: No, Krusty, you always treated me rather shabbily. On our last show, you poured liquid nitrogen down my pants, and cracked my buttocks with a hammer!
Krusty the Clown: Ah, come on. You wanna spend your life hanging out with a bunch of dorky teenagers?
Squeeky-Voiced Teen: Here's your taco, Mister. Whoops. It fell in the fryer. I'll get it out. Ow! Ow! Ow-w-w! Ow-w-w!
Sideshow Mel: Sorry Krusty, I like it here. Mr. Johansen treats me with dignity.
Mr. Johansen: Is this clown bothering you, Mel?
Sideshow Mel: It's all right, Mr. Johansen, I'll handle it.
[Krusty is trying to talk Sideshow Mel into quitting his job a fast-food joint]
Krusty the Clown: But you gotta come back, Mel! We're a team!
Sideshow Mel: No, Krusty, you always treated me rather shabbily. On our last show, you poured liquid nitrogen down my pants, and cracked my buttocks with a hammer!
Krusty the Clown: Ah, come on. You wanna spend your life hanging out with a bunch of dorky teenagers?
Squeeky-Voiced Teen: Here's your taco, Mister. Whoops. It fell in the fryer. I'll get it out. Ow! Ow! Ow-w-w! Ow-w-w!
Sideshow Mel: Sorry Krusty, I like it here. Mr. Johansen treats me with dignity.
Mr. Johansen: Is this clown bothering you, Mel?
Sideshow Mel: It's all right, Mr. Johansen, I'll handle it.