Before we continue....

Amelius on June 12, 2007

My deepest apologies to all, but this seems to be needed. I want this off my chest and if I type it in my notes, the people who need to read it, WON'T. That, is abundantly clear. I have the next page in progress, expect that very soon. This isn't really filler, just a badly needed announcement that happens to be interrupting the story I want to tell. If people listen this time, I promise it won't happen again. Now, on to my rant.

That's right, read my notes before you put your foot in your mouth my friends. I've said it…COUNTLESS times. I mean come on, have I not been honest with you all? Was I not baring my very soul, this same time last year, over my heartbreak? I have nothing to hide from you, and why would I lie to you anyway, especially about this?
Do I have to post that truly embarrassing collage I did before DD crashed just to show you that picture of Hex's hair on another character that belonged to me, that I drew when I was 11?
I'm really frustrated that I am having this issue STILL! I mean, it's truly, really obvious that some people refuse to read these notes! I know it seems that these aren't important most of the time, but if I didn't feel that communicating with you was important for our relationship, I wouldn't write anything there at all. You're missing all the links I put up to other great comics (not to mention the crossover links, I have seen a lot of befuddled “why is this arc so weird?” comments, It's because you're missing the other half completely!) Part of the reason I'm doing these cameos is to not only thank people who have been there for me, but to show you there are other fantastic comics on this site, and you shouldn't miss out on them.
And you're missing answers to questions that I'm sure you will undoubtedly ask, and have asked I have an FAQ for that in the forum now too though) and most important of all, you're missing every instance I have typed out that I don't take being accused of style-copying as a compliment. Yes, I realize to some of you, being compared to a popular, successful comic is a compliment. But I've said it before: I'm trying to make a name for myself, not Jhonen. And please realize there are OTHER styles of art out there, other dark humored stories, other curly grins that were there before JTHM, Squee, Zim or any of his other works came to be known. He is not the progenitor of all things slightly resembling “goth”, nor did he invent dark humor, revenge, gore, even random humor (CTV is NOT a “random humor” comic anyway)
And look at what I drew here…his style is a major pain to draw! I could hardly keep it up! Why would I want to copy that? I'm NOT dissing his style, so don't get defensive. I didn't put it down last time either. I like his works but golly geez people would you listen to me for once? I can draw as many vague comparisons to Star Trek to CTV as I could to JTHM. And need I post all 300 or more Beck the Ferret pages, in their tattered horror, all done in the ‘90s, to show you that I didn’t need Jhonen's help to draw something violent and twisted involving a cute character?
And I'll repeat what I said in a recent rant too: Show me more than 2 curly-grins in all of JV's work and I'll eat my hat. Find some bloody curly capes there whilst you're at it too!

Really, I'm not trying to yell at anyone here. I just feel very hurt that some people can't take my word for something. Even when I explain myself, I get this “Maybe you were subconsciously influenced” nonsense. I believe that can happen yes, when you actually have SEEN the thing to be influenced by. But I didn't.
And I am obsessively cognizant of my art, sorry to say. I let the things I want to influence me do just that, and I am rather selective, honestly. If you ask me who influences me, I will tell you. If you say “this reminds me of Calvin and Hobbes” or “Chuck Jones” or “Dr. Suess” or what have you, I'll take that as a compliment, and it attests to your keen observation.
But “This looks like JTHM” only comes off as “JTHM is the only gothy comic I've ever read, therefore all gothy comics look the same to me” or that you love that comic so much, you're projecting that onto mine to find connections where there aren't any.
Sorry to pop your balloon, but he is not one of my influences.
He's a unique artist and I'll give him credit for doing good work, but he is just not one of the people I've found to make an impact on the way I draw or write my comic. I know other people who're sick of getting this treatment too.
To give you an idea, I'd just rather hear you say you think the comic stinks than accuse me of taking ideas from other people. At least I can be original and fail, instead of succeed at being someone else.

Just a word of advice for the future, some artists may well bite your head off if you say the same thing to them. While this does top my list of pet peeves, I hope you can see I'm not blowing up at you and yelling in anger. I'm just frustrated.
(And it's giving me Freudian nightmares so cut it out!)