Lame/Sick/Tired/Lazy/Dead/etc.

We’re going a little meta today:

[Aside: does anyone know when the term ‘meta’ became so en vogue? Why the heck is everyone talking about it all of a sudden? I love NBC’s Community (why, oh why, have they not been nominated for ANY awards yet?!?!?!) and I love the fact that it has been described as a “meta sitcom” - because that’s some of their funniest stuff - but why is “meta” so cool? Why is something referencing itself as it really is so in? Are we tired of delusion?]

Anyway, I’ve been sick this week so my inspiration juices have been taken over by mucus. I was just going to post a 10 second drawing with something to the effect of, “Sorry, no blog post today. I’m lame/sick/tired/lazy/dead/etc” but then Ben’s voice came ringing through my ears from that one time he told me how much he hates it when webcomicers do strips like that.

And so, with no further ado, here are those words from the brother himself. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Ben Morrell:

Not to take the "old man" role on this website but I've been reading webcomics before most of you kids were even aware webcomics existed. (Now get off my lawn!) It's probably approaching something close to eleven or twelve years now I've been viewing people's online humor doodles. This of course doesn't make me any kind of expert, but it has helped me to develop some things that I think should be avoided when something like the unavoidable happens. By this I mean the break in the storyline for the "I'm sick" or "I'm not feeling good" or the "Got back from a 'con' and I am too tired to do something for the people that help support what I do for fun/a living who didn't/couldn't make it to the 'con'" drawing/message.

These are annoying at the time, and I understand that things come up, but to insert them into the archive is just sloppy. I'm Joe Newuser cruising through your archives and enjoying your witty writing and/or drawings and suddenly - BAM - I find out you were sick 4 years and 3 months ago. No offense, but unless you'd publish it in a book, I'd rather not see anything about your personal life in the artwork/strip section.

It seems like it's a slippery slope as well. I've read comics where you didn't see a sick day message for years and then you see one, then a few months later another one, and then another one, and then it becomes a regular part of the comic. (Ok, that might be a slight exaggeration)

It seems easy enough for me to either 1. have enough strips lined up so no one ever need know you are/ were sick and/or 2. create a kind of "404" page that says you are sickly and you tend to fly by the seat of your pants and you didn't get the comic done. But then don't archive that image, just re-use it each time you want to take a sick day. Scribbling some artwork on a napkin with one of your characters looking ill doesn't make me feel like you're putting in some work.

Everyone has things they can't control, hey my life is a perfect example of that, but if you are going to produce something that people pay for, or help support you with, you need to know your limits, and how best to avoid problems. (There are of course objections to every rule, so please don't summon fire down upon me or tell me that "so and so does great sick day messages." It's true, there are some great ones out there... it's just generally NOT the case, especially when it's a story based comic. (vs. daily jokes (which oddly enough daily joke people tend to write better sick day comics than story people.)))

So there you have it. My personal favorite is using guest strips to fill in. Seeing your favorite characters through the eyes of another artist and fan (preferably not fan art, but done by another cartoonist with a distinct style) is always a treat. Abominable Charles Christopher has some really great guest strips (More on ACC next week.)

That’s all. Have a great weekend, and don’t over-do the Nyquil.