So yesterday was my Birthday! I turned: “Too old to be writing a comic about High School”.
I want to take a moment to talk about some of the comments I got yesterday. Nothing bad. I'm not scolding you. But about “bloodbending” being an ability used before in fiction. When I did BGH#486 it was because I knew this would come up. The whole point of that page was to illustrate that sometimes different people come up with the same plot-device and they can HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH EACH OTHER. Sometimes different people just come up with the same idea. It's not an actual reference or even inspired by it.
As far as I know there are only two instances where hemokinesis was used. One of them was a cartoon (That I have never seen), and the other was a Japanese Manga that I didn't even know existed until Wednesday. That's not exactly a commonplace thing in the super hero genre. I'm not claiming I came up with it first, I'm just saying I came up with it on my own.
And even then…no one dismissed Magneto as being a reference to Dr. Polaris, despite Polaris coming years earlier. No one gives Alan Moore grief for making “Watchmen” an intentional homage to the Charlton comic heroes. Deadpool is one of the biggest characters Marvel has right now even though he was a total knock on DC's Deathstroke. “Thanos” is one of the greatest comic villains of all time, even when he was based on Darkseid.
The Joker was ripped off of “The Man Who Laughs” and “Batman” was Bob Kane's attempt at cashing in on Superman. Kane even wanted to give Batman powers before Bill Finger talked him out of it.
That's just how things go. But sadly, this is one of the reasons I'm ending BGH.
When I started this comic I was in High School, and it is obviously ripe full of cheap parodies, references, and homages. There's no denying that. But as this comic went on and I grew along with it more and more I started implementing my own creative ideas and storylines. Fleshing out these characters just as any other writer would.
But time and time again I would get a comment saying: "It's just like character!“, ”It's a reference to when this happened in that one story", or any permutation thereof. And a lot of the time that just wasn't TRUE.
I don't blame you guys. It's not your fault. This comic bounces back and forth between referential humor and melodrama. It'd be unfair of me to expect you to just psychically know when I'm actually trying to be original. But that's also why I'm ending THIS comic. Because I want to do creative things and not be hounded by the idea that I'm just ripping someone else off. I want my work to stand on its own.
Even if it's really crappy. THAT'S a criticism I'm totally okay with.
eh, that is why I often nick things in the bud, like when I came up with the idea of [url=http://insanityofxade.com/index.php?id=237]Xadians becoming black holes when they die[/url] I had came up with it many many years ago, well before StarTrek came up with their [url=http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Red_matter]red matter[/url]. I was really lucky I watched the movie and was able to disclaim it or I would have been hounded myself for that.
I think the main reason why you've had to deal with people talking about "This character looks like character X from story Y" is because you started this comic as a parody of many superhero stories.
I mean, most of your major story arcs refer to an established stories from another comic, like the coming of Galactus and Emerald Twilight. Then you've got characters that parody a mixture of heroes, like Captain DC being a mixture of Captain Marvel and He-Man while Future Dan was wearing stuff from like 5 or 6 famous villains when he was first introduced.
As a result, people are probably prone to assume that anything that you consider to be original work is a parody of something else. I don't think it's meant to be a criticism but more them believing that you're parodying something and thus are trying to figure out what it is.
With that being said, I think it's a good move on your behalf to do a fresh start and kickstart a new story. Looking forward to see what you're cooking up.
And to be frank I think it's rather stupid to claim that this s stolen from Avatar. Blood bending was nothing like this. It involved controlling people like puppets by manipulating the fluids in their bodies. Water benders are capable of doing that during a full moon (when they're the most powerful), provided that they train hard enough.
Don't let the morons get to you. One of the reasons I enjoy this comic (besides the parodies)is the originality- the unexpected plot twists. Beyond that, your artwork is beyond anything else I've seen and would stand by itself. If you aren't an art major and planning a career as an illustrator the world is going to lose a great talent. Anyway, what were you going to use as a super power that HASN'T been used 'somewhere' before? Nobody bitches about the ho-hum superpowers being reused (super strength, flying, laser vision, lethal odor).
I thin the general point most of your fans here are trying to make is this: If you have a story to tell, and it's decent (which BGH has been awesome so far) none of us are going to care what source material you did or didn't use for anything.
A friend of mine and I keep joking about D&D 3.5 trying to figure out where Wizards of the Coast were keeping the cameras in our place. A lot of our homebrew rules were essentially included in the 'new' game.
It's been pretty clear to me so far that BGH is a super powered parody of the industry, complete with it's own good, solid plotline.
If someone wants to give you a hard time about character X or Y, send em my way. I'll put em straight.
Ignore the yapping of the small dogs. Your work stands on its own very well. It can also be said that some works are ripping YOU off. Kudos!
People on the "Indernetz" can often be highly critical, and people who have something positive to say don't post nearly as much as hypercritical jerkoffs. Fortunately the Drunkduck community seems to be an exception, I see far more supportive comments than deconstuctive.
That said, youw work has definitely moved WAY beyond a simple highschooler's parody experiment. You've done work in BGH that is as good as a lot of indie and mainstream comics. More importantly (in my mind at least), you've developed and refined your own unique style. It's very recognizeable, and it's very good.
If it's time to move on, it's time to move on. Besides, who says you can't revisit your own creations? Eh? Eh?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simpsons_Already_Did_It
and what god of war said.
it isn't quite what avatar had, the blood bending was simply controlling one's actions by moving the blood within their body, not so much actually using the blood like they do all the other elements. the zombies in high school thing is more popular in japan, due to the importance of high school in their society over ours (U.S.A.), but it is becoming more popular (and controversial as well do to the fear of violence in high schools).
as far as age having to do with writing about high school, that only happens between 16 and 26. at any other age it is perfectly fine to write about high school, unless you are writing about getting laid at your current age with someone that is still in high school, then the age of non acceptance is 16 to 48. once you get above that age getting a girl that is still in high school in a fantasy situation is purely a symbolic thing (key word: fantasy).
not saying that you shouldn't go off and write another comic, just that doing another comic might not be as world changing as you sound like you think it will be. but you have been doing BGH for quite some time, and with the weird taboo surrounding parody comics, i think you may get a lot more recognition for your work if you do a more serious comic. your work is good, i think i have told you this before, but it is really good, and it is one of the best on the net (which is better than the retail stuff).
Eh, forget them. It's cool and you're doing somethign a litle diffrent with it. I don't get what this mania with NEVER REPEATING POWERS is. I mean, what is this, the legion of super heroes?
I like it.
Man, don't take it too hard. Robert Silverberg once said that there is really only one story everywhere - person A tries to realize goal B and ecounters obstacles C. Rest is just a decoration.
Karen Traviss said once "There are only five basic plots in the world, so don't worry if your story has been done before - it never bothered Shakespeare, and the story lies in the execution, not in the plot points. If your story really hasn't been done before, ever, chances are that humans won't understand it. Fiction is about shared human experiences, or else it won't resonate."
As a fan, I don't really care if you use something that was used by somebody else before - I care how you use it. It doesn't matter if hemokinesis was ever used before, if it was, okay, if it wasn't, okay - I wanna see what you do with it. Every plot device can be used in infinite amount of ways. Look at Irredeemable - on the surface it's just overused, almost cliched "Superman goes evil" idea. Inside it's one of the most original comics on current market.
There always will people who will tell something is unoriginal or that you ripped it from something else. You shouldn't care about them.
That's said I understand your need to move to something different. I hope you don't come to hate BGH - too many creators resent some of their works. I also hope you will post here to inform us once you will start new comics.
for blood control, i got one more character to add to the list : jedah dohma http://darkstalkers.wikia.com/wiki/Jedah_Dohma from the video games darkstalkers
Got the shark tank next to the pool and the guy manipulating the blood is right over it.
Unless your over 65, then your not too old to be writing about high school.
Great minds think alike. Though from what I have seen with blood manipulation of any kind, never seen hemokinesis done here. Brilliantly brutal and direct.
Happy belated B-day.
One of the various life lessons I've picked ups somewhere is "Everything in art has been done, but it hasn't been done *by you*". I'd say that the same definitely applies to fiction.
If you feel you need to move on, by all means do so. Just be warned that there will always be idiots out there who will say stupid things, and there will always be some overlap between you original ideas and something obscure that someone, somewhere, has thought up first. Try not to let it bother you.
Anyway, kudos for actually choosing to end the comic, rather than letting it fizzle out (as so many do). If you choose to start another comic, I'll be looking forward to it.
just add a z or gt at the end,
BAD GUY HIGH Z
reboot the comic or just bad guy community college and you will fine.
Kidding aside sad to see bgh ending but I really want to see what new comics for grow ups you will came up , a diary comic that your character will hate all the new stuff, something about a pet that hate mondays,
joking aside again
This is something that Im worried about a lot of my favorite authors when I was a child degenerate over time as they grew older they lost touch with reality and they start doing lame stories.
Im sure it wont happen to you
(my first comic I did was about robots megaman style
and probably I dont have the stomach to do something like that these days)
pragashpio at 6:04AM, June 23, 2011
I think you've been extraordinarily successful in blurring the line between parody and creativity.
Xade at 6:51AM, June 8, 2011
eh, that is why I often nick things in the bud, like when I came up with the idea of [url=http://insanityofxade.com/index.php?id=237]Xadians becoming black holes when they die[/url] I had came up with it many many years ago, well before StarTrek came up with their [url=http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Red_matter]red matter[/url]. I was really lucky I watched the movie and was able to disclaim it or I would have been hounded myself for that.
Product Placement at 4:03PM, June 7, 2011
I think the main reason why you've had to deal with people talking about "This character looks like character X from story Y" is because you started this comic as a parody of many superhero stories. I mean, most of your major story arcs refer to an established stories from another comic, like the coming of Galactus and Emerald Twilight. Then you've got characters that parody a mixture of heroes, like Captain DC being a mixture of Captain Marvel and He-Man while Future Dan was wearing stuff from like 5 or 6 famous villains when he was first introduced. As a result, people are probably prone to assume that anything that you consider to be original work is a parody of something else. I don't think it's meant to be a criticism but more them believing that you're parodying something and thus are trying to figure out what it is. With that being said, I think it's a good move on your behalf to do a fresh start and kickstart a new story. Looking forward to see what you're cooking up. And to be frank I think it's rather stupid to claim that this s stolen from Avatar. Blood bending was nothing like this. It involved controlling people like puppets by manipulating the fluids in their bodies. Water benders are capable of doing that during a full moon (when they're the most powerful), provided that they train hard enough.
ThunderSpirit at 12:20PM, June 4, 2011
Don't let the morons get to you. One of the reasons I enjoy this comic (besides the parodies)is the originality- the unexpected plot twists. Beyond that, your artwork is beyond anything else I've seen and would stand by itself. If you aren't an art major and planning a career as an illustrator the world is going to lose a great talent. Anyway, what were you going to use as a super power that HASN'T been used 'somewhere' before? Nobody bitches about the ho-hum superpowers being reused (super strength, flying, laser vision, lethal odor).
JillyFoo at 5:38PM, June 3, 2011
I'm totally cool with you wanting to make work more easily seen as original. I'll still check it out, pop/parody humor or not.
Tolrick at 4:18PM, June 3, 2011
I thin the general point most of your fans here are trying to make is this: If you have a story to tell, and it's decent (which BGH has been awesome so far) none of us are going to care what source material you did or didn't use for anything. A friend of mine and I keep joking about D&D 3.5 trying to figure out where Wizards of the Coast were keeping the cameras in our place. A lot of our homebrew rules were essentially included in the 'new' game. It's been pretty clear to me so far that BGH is a super powered parody of the industry, complete with it's own good, solid plotline. If someone wants to give you a hard time about character X or Y, send em my way. I'll put em straight.
TheFlyingGreenMonkey at 3:26PM, June 3, 2011
Anyone esles thinks he will turn into a zombie since zombie blood has been exposed to his own blood?
Wes_Nero123 at 1:58PM, June 3, 2011
Ahh I love it when this comic updates!
Slash Wombat at 1:10PM, June 3, 2011
Wait, I just noticed, electricity vs. blood... over a shark tank. Now THAT'S entertainment!
Slash Wombat at 1:09PM, June 3, 2011
Shark Tank!!! It's de riguer in villainous lairs. Just doesn't feel like home without one.
Slash Wombat at 12:47PM, June 3, 2011
Ignore the yapping of the small dogs. Your work stands on its own very well. It can also be said that some works are ripping YOU off. Kudos! People on the "Indernetz" can often be highly critical, and people who have something positive to say don't post nearly as much as hypercritical jerkoffs. Fortunately the Drunkduck community seems to be an exception, I see far more supportive comments than deconstuctive. That said, youw work has definitely moved WAY beyond a simple highschooler's parody experiment. You've done work in BGH that is as good as a lot of indie and mainstream comics. More importantly (in my mind at least), you've developed and refined your own unique style. It's very recognizeable, and it's very good. If it's time to move on, it's time to move on. Besides, who says you can't revisit your own creations? Eh? Eh?
jamoecw at 12:01PM, June 3, 2011
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simpsons_Already_Did_It and what god of war said. it isn't quite what avatar had, the blood bending was simply controlling one's actions by moving the blood within their body, not so much actually using the blood like they do all the other elements. the zombies in high school thing is more popular in japan, due to the importance of high school in their society over ours (U.S.A.), but it is becoming more popular (and controversial as well do to the fear of violence in high schools). as far as age having to do with writing about high school, that only happens between 16 and 26. at any other age it is perfectly fine to write about high school, unless you are writing about getting laid at your current age with someone that is still in high school, then the age of non acceptance is 16 to 48. once you get above that age getting a girl that is still in high school in a fantasy situation is purely a symbolic thing (key word: fantasy). not saying that you shouldn't go off and write another comic, just that doing another comic might not be as world changing as you sound like you think it will be. but you have been doing BGH for quite some time, and with the weird taboo surrounding parody comics, i think you may get a lot more recognition for your work if you do a more serious comic. your work is good, i think i have told you this before, but it is really good, and it is one of the best on the net (which is better than the retail stuff).
Willowanderer at 9:53AM, June 3, 2011
Eh, forget them. It's cool and you're doing somethign a litle diffrent with it. I don't get what this mania with NEVER REPEATING POWERS is. I mean, what is this, the legion of super heroes? I like it.
alschroeder at 8:26AM, June 3, 2011
(Nodding.) Nothing's totally original. My character is equal parts FLOWERS FOR ALERGERNON and Athena, with a litlte Doc Savage thrown in. GREAT page.
God of War at 7:39AM, June 3, 2011
Man, don't take it too hard. Robert Silverberg once said that there is really only one story everywhere - person A tries to realize goal B and ecounters obstacles C. Rest is just a decoration. Karen Traviss said once "There are only five basic plots in the world, so don't worry if your story has been done before - it never bothered Shakespeare, and the story lies in the execution, not in the plot points. If your story really hasn't been done before, ever, chances are that humans won't understand it. Fiction is about shared human experiences, or else it won't resonate." As a fan, I don't really care if you use something that was used by somebody else before - I care how you use it. It doesn't matter if hemokinesis was ever used before, if it was, okay, if it wasn't, okay - I wanna see what you do with it. Every plot device can be used in infinite amount of ways. Look at Irredeemable - on the surface it's just overused, almost cliched "Superman goes evil" idea. Inside it's one of the most original comics on current market. There always will people who will tell something is unoriginal or that you ripped it from something else. You shouldn't care about them. That's said I understand your need to move to something different. I hope you don't come to hate BGH - too many creators resent some of their works. I also hope you will post here to inform us once you will start new comics.
giovanni at 5:26AM, June 3, 2011
for blood control, i got one more character to add to the list : jedah dohma http://darkstalkers.wikia.com/wiki/Jedah_Dohma from the video games darkstalkers
Khelder at 5:26AM, June 3, 2011
Shark pool? If Evan had a hand in rebuilding the school, shouldn't it be a dolphin pool?
Dragonfire10503 at 5:17AM, June 3, 2011
I can see your next big comic: Bad Guy College!!
RazorD9 at 12:06AM, June 3, 2011
Got the shark tank next to the pool and the guy manipulating the blood is right over it. Unless your over 65, then your not too old to be writing about high school. Great minds think alike. Though from what I have seen with blood manipulation of any kind, never seen hemokinesis done here. Brilliantly brutal and direct. Happy belated B-day.
Squirrel Master at 11:49PM, June 2, 2011
One of the various life lessons I've picked ups somewhere is "Everything in art has been done, but it hasn't been done *by you*". I'd say that the same definitely applies to fiction. If you feel you need to move on, by all means do so. Just be warned that there will always be idiots out there who will say stupid things, and there will always be some overlap between you original ideas and something obscure that someone, somewhere, has thought up first. Try not to let it bother you. Anyway, kudos for actually choosing to end the comic, rather than letting it fizzle out (as so many do). If you choose to start another comic, I'll be looking forward to it.
algeya at 10:52PM, June 2, 2011
just add a z or gt at the end, BAD GUY HIGH Z reboot the comic or just bad guy community college and you will fine. Kidding aside sad to see bgh ending but I really want to see what new comics for grow ups you will came up , a diary comic that your character will hate all the new stuff, something about a pet that hate mondays, joking aside again This is something that Im worried about a lot of my favorite authors when I was a child degenerate over time as they grew older they lost touch with reality and they start doing lame stories. Im sure it wont happen to you (my first comic I did was about robots megaman style and probably I dont have the stomach to do something like that these days)