I love how CAD is "derivitive" and stupid because it's a gaming comic. Yet these are the same fans that get mad at Kurtz when his comic isn't about games anymore.
I seriously think webcomic fans as a whole are mentally retarded.
1) that thread is so incredibly one sided it's terrifying. Airsick Moth is perfectly happy to paste a mean quote from Buckley but the only thing he says about his own is that it wasn't "at all combative." Gee.
2) The primary reason for this hate seems to be about a) Buckley made a mistake about Webcomic Appreciation Day, and b) he didn't like that idea. Guess what, I don't either. It's like having hot chocolate maker appreciation day. I use your stuff. You benefit from that. Why did you make up a day to appreciate yourself? Talk about Kurtz's term "websturbation." This is it at it's finest.
3) So buckley disbanded a guild and a forum. Uhm. Ok, so that's a little freakish and misanthropic, but seriously, why? The only explanation we have is from one guy, who in the mean time is venting his hate for Buckley, saying that he was drunk. So this makes his comic bad? The whole point of this column I just wrote is that if we stopped reading comics (or listening to music, or watching TV) every time the creator did something misanthropic we wouldn't have any entertainment left by now. With the possible exception of Dick Van Dyke. That man is class.
4) Straub is funny. Really, he is. But he's as socially inept as Kurtz and Buckley. What I'm talking about are the comments he puts in the most public place, with his comic. He say Buckley accidentally walked backward into popularity. because his work is derivitive. I say, "Derivitive? what?" Kurtz admits a cancer-like jealousy of Buckley's success, despite doing better and being as big a dork. Fact: Buckley has better art than PVP. Fact: Buckley ahs more compelling characters than Penny Arcade. I'm not saying it's funnier, because it's not. PA beats him in the funny, hands down. PVP, on the other hand .... ANyway, fact: Buckley has more coherant story writing than any other story comic I've ever read with the possible exception of Inverloch, and he's more consistantly funny than just about every other story comic (probable exceptioni: Something Positive). So, while this doesn't make it the greatest comic ever, it does make it a pretty darn good comic. So it's another gaming comic. Why does that even matter? He's funny, he's good, and he's consistent with comic presentation. It's only stupid little fanboy needs an creator jealousy that think his COMIC sucks because HE has done some screwed up things outside of the comic. There's a difference.
Or else you should never listen to Led Zeppelin, the Beatles, or 90% of other bands because they treat women poorly and do drugs in their personal time. Their music doesn't matter.
so yeah, even after reading that thread, I'm no more convinced that Straub and Kurtz have anything to say on the matter that doesn't directly stem from misplaced hostility and jealousy.