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The Rant Shack
(Wherein We Rant)
Mike Says:
(10/01/03)
Good to be back. Sad to see summer behind us. Summers in San Diego really are something to behold. Ask Tim about summers in Sacramento. Okay, now I'm just being mean....
So we're officially back again, for those of you who were concerned (I'd count the number of you, but then I'd only be able to type with one hand. Okay, just leave that opening alone. Leave it. Right there. Thank you). The good news is, we've been hard at work during the site recess, and Tim's been cranking out new strips for your free-to-view pleasure while we're working toward the completion of the first Nice Guy comic. As mentioned before, we hope to be pimping said comic and next year's San Diego Comic-Con (so show up and get yours there!). That's if all goes well. Along the way, we've got a couple of other appearances to look at. Tim's going to be doing some promoting at a show in Sacramento (more details on that next update) at the end of this month, and we're also looking at Wonder-Con in Oakland in early 2004. Tim will be making that one, I might be making it with him. That's a "might" because things are pretty close to getting really screwy with my life, and I don't know where I'm going to be by then. But I do plan to make sure none of this real life wackiness impedes the progress of the Nice Guy. Took us too long to finally get this thing started to quit now.
The post-Comic-Con reaction to the Nice Guy has been fun. We've been getting some fan mail, and a lot of those fans are spreading the good word and turning other people on to the site. Most excellent! The more the merrier. I've particularly enjoyed seeing the different reactions the comic and the whole concept itself. There are folks who, as I expected, totally identify with Jeff and the N.G. syndrome. Many e-mails have started with just that sentiment. Which is great, because that's the chord we were hoping to strike.
The other reaction I find pretty funny is a certain demographic within the male audience who get really, really angry at the strip. Seriously. We've gotten people ranting about what a loser Jeff is being, and how he should handle things with Becki this way, or should stand up for himself, or blah blah blah. I mean these guys get really pissed. I expected that we'd get some identification with the character and concept, but I didn't expect over-identification. I guess for some of these guys this thing is hitting a little too close to home, based on the near-violent reactions. The great part about it is that they're not really mad at Jeff...they're mad at us for making Jeff act this way or make the choices he does. I like that. They're still identifying with Jeff, but they really want Jeff to succeed. Further proof to me that, like it or not, there is a little Jeff in all of us. I wonder if Cathy Guisewhite has to deal with this in her Cathy strip? Are there women writing her, pissed off that Cathy can't find Mr. Wonderful? Do people read The Born Loser and write in asking "Why can't he be a born winner?" Well, don't worry. For our protest demographic, we're thinking about putting together a companion comic called "The Really Cool Guy Who Gets Laid A Lot", just to make them feel better. We're all about our audience's emotional well-being.
Got to run for now, but we'll be back in a couple of weeks with more stuff on the site, and more news about this show in Sac. Maybe you (yes, you!) can get a chance to meet heralded (I think someone heralded him once) artist Tim Watts. If you do, ask him about that chick in the dark at Kevin's party that time. Oh, yeah, you'll be his best pal right away. Heh heh heh.
Michael
The
Nice Guy
“Pilot”
Now on Sale!
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New strip added in the Comics! section: "Kneeeel Before Zod"
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New update in The Rant Shack...with the news on the A-1 Comics Van Fundraiser...and the shocking Tim Watts finger news...
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Update to the Photos page with A-1 Comics shots! Sorry, no shots of Tim's finger...
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