I’d be way more inclined to check out “True Story…” if the creator didn’t come off seeming like a total prick in his online interactions. It’s off-putting enough when creators of fictional material aren’t terribly likeable people **cough**millar**cough** but it’s pretty much the kiss of death for creators of autobio comix.

God knows, if I based my purchases on a person’s public behavior, I would not own half the CDs I own.

The problem with the Internet is it preserves someone’s poor judgment fairly well. Do a search of me, and you’ll find instances of Tim O’Shea being a royal jackass on numerous message boards (hell, do a search in these comments sections).

I enjoy Beland the storyteller, and choose to cut the short-tempered creator some slack.

Guy, that’s why I made the example of music.

Rightly or wrongly, the Internet allows us contact with creative people that we’re not typically afforded (that’s changing though, as most fledgling musicians are marketing themselves through myspace). Your point is nuanced in that this is a autobio creator being unpleasant. I know Tom Beland, I’ve interviewed him in the past, I support his work. Do I agree with how he conducted himself with those posts? No.

I have an immensely different perspective and I allow my own experience to influence my judgment. I have a horrible temper, one that after 39 years, I’ve finally gotten control of. About 39 years later than it should have been. I’m not saying Beland is like me or has my temper, mind you. But there have been times I have sat a keyboard supremely enraged at someone–most times I did not send a reply. But I can see someone sending a reply. I wish Beland had contacted this reviewer offline to express his displeasure. It’s always the smarter way to go.

Honestly, I never had even read Burgas before yesterday, and I dare say I won’t read him again. Nothing against fellow former Great Curve collaborator Brian Cronin and the gang over there. But honestly, Burgas seems to not be able to separate how to review the work versus reviewing Tom’s life. AFTER the blow-up post, he writes: “This is, supposedly, a love story, but that never really comes across. The fact that Mr. Beland is no longer with Ms. Garcia might lend some retroactive recognition of what’s wrong with their relationship, but even without that knowledge, this does not read like a great love story.”

He’s judging the relationship more than the story. With autobio, the line is blurred on what you’re reviewing admittedly.

Opinions are subjective, and Burgas has a right to his (and judging by the comments in the thread, Burgas has a loyal following, which is a sign he’s a solid writer to many folks), but I think he never really got what enraged Beland so much. Also, is there any chance part of Beland’s disdain for the reviewer came from Burgas’ use of the word “gook” (it was removed, so I’m confused where it was used exactly)?

This does not justify Beland’s response, but I know that back when I was a reviewer, when I set a creator off (or put him or her on the defensive), I did my best to listen to his or her concerns if they contacted me (not change my review, of course). Years ago, I panned Michel Gagne’s work in a back-up story for DC’s Detective Comics. Gagne reached out to me and I grew to appreciate what he was trying to do. Granted, Gagne wasn’t enraged at me. And he reached out to me offline.

Guy, correct me if I’m wrong, but it appears that Burgas escalated the ill-advised (for both parties) dispute when he called Beland a “dick”. Then later, Burgas revised his Beland review but then called Beland a “dick” again. Not exactly the way to take the high road for Burgas either.

I don’t judge Tom Beland’s life based on his online interaction. Hell, I don’t judge him at all. I judge his work. And I just know that when I see his work in the store, I’m buying it.

I respect your inability to separate the two, and also I realize I have an inbuilt bias because I HAVE dealt with Beland on a personal level (where I was interviewing him and on the Tartsville boards years ago) and the fact that we both are fans of sports pundit Tony Kornheiser.

To dismiss Beland’s work based on a questionable review (and his poor reaction to it) is rather unique, though–but I know auto-bio makes it a unique situation even more. Out of curiosity, have you ever read any of Beland’s work before or after this online fiasco?

Just for the record, the problem I had with the reviewer in question was the fact that I felt he was just out to piss off a creator (which he was able to do) just for the sake of pissing me off. It was horrible, on my part to take the arguement online, for all the world to see and, well, it was a bad judgement on my part in general.

What’s difficult for me to understand is why my overall personality is boiled down to that one example. My feeling is that if you want to judge someone’s personality, you have to take a look at the good they’re doing, as well as when they pop-off at a critic. Here are some examples:

• I’ve donated original artwork to Unscrewed (the campaign to raise money for creators ripped off by Rick Olney) for their auction,

• I’ve donated a page of art AND a complete sketchbook to the Lea Hernandez auction, after her house burned down.

• I’ve created characterizations of some of my readers for their wedding announcements, free.

• I teach cartooning in schools both in Puerto Rico and in Napa Valley… and I’ve never asked for any kind of payment.

• I gave the original page featuring Lily’s very first appearance in TSSTG #1 (Clib’s Boy Comics) to our comic book retailer, Christine at Comic Relief, as our way of saying thanks for her support.

• I have a reader, Gary Dunaier, who asked me if I could get him a copy of one of my mini comics for his collection. When I got to his table at the New York Comicon, I gave him an entire set of the mini-comics, a page of art from the TSSTG series and a TSSTG baseball cap. All free.

• When someone buys a trade paperback from me at a convention, I insist on doing a sketch in the book… as a way of adding something different for the buyer. I’ve done this since my first trade came out. Again, I’ve never charged a dime for this.

And yet… after all the good I’ve done with my work, people love to bring up ONE thread where I got upset… lol. I just don’t really understand this.

Now, I’m not typing this in anger in any way. I’m just saying that, if you’re going to say someone’s an ass or unprofessional because they defended themself against what they considered an review that was below the belt (and again, yes, I blew my stack, which was not the best way of handling it)… then why is it all the good a person does in comics is automatically eliminated..?

Anyhoo…. if you like the series, thanks for giving it a shot. I can honestly tell you I’m much nicer in person than I was on that website. And also, Lily and I have been back together since November of last year.

Best!

-Tom Beland

What’s difficult for me to understand is why my overall personality is boiled down to that one example.

Basically, it comes down to first impressions. I’d heard of TTSG but had never read it, and your dust-up with Burgas was, unfortunately, my introduction to you and your work. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one, either. It’s the unique situation of TTSG being autobiographical that makes that first impression a bigger roadblock than it normally might be.

This looks like a good opportunity to give this acclaimed series a try. I’m tempted to read the review where the creator gets pissed off, but who cares. That’s just trivial drama.

lol.. well, when you bring up the Angels, I’m too old-school to enjoy the new version. I was so into Jaqueline Smith… I even had a scrapbook filled with photos of her when I was in junior high. It just felt wrong to see her not in the film. So wrong….