Very recently (like three and a half minutes ago) a loyal reader of Pinkerton posted this comment in regards to the Panel Mammals:
What did you do? You started it. You begin the Panel Mammals days by shutting down 44UA and starting Pinkerton, a splendiferous move. Then Scott chainsawed Tree and is starting a new feature, which I’m sure with Scott’s sense of humor will be great. Today Jim and Jarrett annouce they are re-tooling their respective strips. What is going on in Panel Mammel land? I’m thinking it was all a big bait-and-switch scam. When you guys said you started PM to try something different, who wouldda figured you meant all new creations? Hard to believe it would have taken this collaboration of talent for you guys to figure out that what you were doing wasn’t what you wanted to do.
So anyways, if anyone is mad for any of the original creations going bye-bye, blame Wit – he started it. Spork-head. – Me!
First off, let it be said that a lot of this post is tongue-in-cheek but I’m going to address for anyone out there following the Panel Mammals.
You begin the Panel Mammals days by shutting down 44UA and starting Pinkerton: Sort of…the truth of the matter was that when Jarrett approached me to join the Panel Mammals I had already begun to develop Pinkerton. The only difference was it was behind the scenes and nobody knew. I told Jarrett I would come on board with Panel Mammals but that I’d already decided to pull the plug on 44 Union Avenue. I sent Jarrett and Jim samples of Pinkerton. They didn’t barf when they saw it. The rest is history.
Then Scott chainsawed Tree and is starting a new feature, which I’m sure with Scott’s sense of humor will be great: You bet yer ass it will be great. Tree fans will feel right at home and will not be disappointed in the least. But don’t believe the hype…I didn’t loan Scott the chainsaw. He stole it.
What is going on in Panel Mammal land? What’s going on in Panel Mammal land is exactly what we planned from the beginning. Creative expression. When I was approached to join the group I was leery. I didn’t feel the need to join any old cartoon conglomerate of sorts. But when Jarrett and Jim pitched it, they sparked my interest. Panel Mammals is not only about letting you in on some great comic mayhem. It’s about creativity. It’s about collaboration. It’s about spreading our technical and creative abilities around to influence each other. The emphasis here is “creativity.” What makes PM so interesting is that everyone is doing something completely different both from not only a style standpoint, but from process and technique standpoints as well. Where else can anyone just browse in and see the development process of a comic strip? And better yet…you have the ability (and are urged) to comment. You, the reader, have an influence on the things that are happening.
If you ask me, that’s pretty amazing.
Good post. I guess it helps you know my sarcastic nature. I’ll have to use emoticons next time I try to humorously rant so newbies don’t freak. It’s actually great that you’ve all gotten enough feedback or whatever to stretch what you’ve all gotten comfortable doing and now, thanks to setting up PM, can stretch your wings. I think the changes probably would not have happened, or at least not as soon, had you guys not created this community.
I really just wanted to give you hard time and blame you for starting it. And call you Spork-head. I was gonna call Teresa that but she’d hurt me.
Yeah Wit, I think you summed it up pretty well… We’re trying to make the best comics possible, and joining forces to do so. I think the dramatic changes that everyone is witnessing is just proof that the idea is sound, and our little organization is working. I know I’m starting think more and more about comics from a lot of different angles than I had previously.
Just like “me!”, I want to blame you. Not for the changes with the other mammals, but with-in myself. Like Jim I too am looking at comics from utterly new angles, and I have seen many changes in myself due to this. I am working on a new strip, but I still plan on pushing my original, just to see how far it goes. This new strip is fresh (for me) and will allow me to explore avenues not available with the characters in “Madstop”. See what you started!
Change is a good thing, I used to be against change. But lately I’ve been more compliant to various editors requests. So change is sometimes a good thing. I really don’t like being pushed into artistic methods that don’t reflect my style, but I have come to the realization that editors opinions on certain changes equals more readers. Which in turns leads to bigger checks. Yeah to bigger checks…