So many people in the webcomics community are obsessed with $$$. That’s the start, beginning and end to their strip. But as many people have said here already, it doesn’t always have to be about money.

The point I brought up in the podcast was recreational sports. I play in a men’s 35 and over baseball league during the summer. Any delusions of my ever playing baseball and getting paid for it went out the window YEARS ago – but that doesn’t mean I never stopped wanting to play the game I love. You could make the same analogy with golf, softball or volleyball. For those of us that play those sports recreationally, we don’t get paid to play so why do we do it? We do it because we find enjoyment in it.

Now, it’s always great if you could take something you love and turn it into a money generated venture – such as coaching, for instance – or going to cons and selling your art.

I do believe that sometimes, when people ask Scott – or any other creator – for a critique or advice, that creator quite often comes from the point of view of “Well, if you want to be as successful as me, then blah, blah, blah…”. Heck, there are quite a few art instructors that teach their classes in exactly the same fashion. It takes a very special person that could look at someone’s art (or athletic talent) and not imprint themselves on that person. When I coach, I try to figure out what special attribute a kid might have instead of comparing and measuring him against myself.

Those of us who have gone to art school and have had to suffer through professor critiques will tell you, you have to take the good with the bad and then figure out what is important and what isn’t. Unfortunately, that’s something artists always have to deal with but the most important thing is keep producing as long as you enjoy it.

-Chris

What gets lost easily in the world of Webcomics.com is that there are alot of us out there who have little more than a passing interest in what it takes to be financially successful and most of us simply want to draw and write and talk with like minded individuals, and share this little project of ours with others who might find it entertaining. People like us are not concerned whether we are to old to “make it”

Don’t take what he said too hard (It sounds like your over it anyway.) Just take the parts of the criticism that directly relate to your strip itself and do with it what you will.

We all grow and get better. While my comic books continue to be produced, I personally stopped the webcomics while I work on them. No worries since I don’t live and die by the webcomics. We’re all different, does anyone really want to be a copy of another series? Does anyone want to read the copies?

We all don’t like the same thing, thank God! I follow many webcomics / comic books but not all are “popular”. Many popular series don’t interest me in the least. Not my thing. I love the variety we all produce. If you ever find me at a convention then I’ll give my opinions of any comic but I don’t spout off on the net. Comic creators do themselves a disservice trashing other creators. It’s not productive, so I won’t do it. Constructive crits I’m all for, trash talk went out of style with the Jerry Springer show.

Hey, for what it’s worth…I like your comics and think some just don’t get it. Who cares? Not everything is for everyone.

I would say that your art is better than the following:
http://www.pvponline.com/1998/05/04/mon-may-04/

So I don’t think you’re in such dire straights as Kurtz may have implied.

As someone who just recently started throwing comics up online for fun, even though I have no talent, I wonder if Kurtz realizes that not everyone is out there to create the next PvP or Penny-Arcade and rake in tons of cash. Some people are in it for FUN. I wonder if he also remembers that he got grandfathered in, and if he launched PvP in 2008 rather than 1998 with the same quality it had back then, it is unlikely he would be as successful. Simply put, it’s hard to luck out and have your site noticed regardless of your talent level.

If you enjoy doing it, then that’s reason enough to do it, right?

On the bright side, you probably got a nice little spike in traffic.

If his comments about your age bother you now what are you going to do if you start meeting fans and they comment about it?

And there is more that you can do besides “go back in time and start the strip when I was younger”. You can use that comment to light a fire under your own but for improvement. Nothing like wanting to prove somebody wrong to get you up and motivated in the morning. If you start flagging then think about that comment. See if it helps. If it doesn’t help then stop thinking about it and just get work done. The work is the most important thing. If you aren’t putting pencil to paper, stylus to screen, heck even stick to sand to create something you aren’t improving and we ALL need improvement.

Like I’ve said, I asked for the review and I got one. He did make a couple valid points. But what good does it do to tell an aspiring cartoonist that they’re not good enough for their age, and they’re just “fucked”. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with that information.