"The Man's Too Strong"

There's something to be said for whining about something in an open, public venue where anyone can wander in, see what you've whined about, and perhaps do something about it if they are so inclined.

See, over at Dim Bulb today, I mentioned that we've never received any fanmail from people we don't know (at least, I never have. Can't really speak for Adam). This amused me, as the comic for Friday was all about the cliched webcomic convention of having a "mailbag day" when the artist can't come up with anything else (it wasn't that I couldn't come up with anything else--rather, I just wanted to make fun of the fact that many comic artists have this problem, it seems). Anyway, my rant mentioned we'd never received any reader mail from people we didn't know.

My desire to have feedback is probably well known by anyone who happens to be reading this. I almost crave it, you could say, like an addict craves heating up the ol' spoon for that hit of heroin. I've mentioned before that all I really want is to receive an email or something from a complete stranger saying something to the effect of, "hey, read your comic, really liked it, keep up the good work."

So guess what was in my inbox today when I woke up? No, I mean aside from spam offering to enlarge my penis. That's right--an email from a complete stranger saying they liked my comic.

I wouldn't have believed it was real except that they'd put "Crooked Halo" in the subject line. And they didn't offer to sell me anything, or ask me to help a deposed Nigerian princess. It wasn't anything fancy or spectacular. This person didn't praise my names to the Heavens in some sort of elaborate hossanah. They just simply said they liked my comic and my art style. And that was enough for me.

So I've rather been walking on clouds or sunshine or whatever all afternoon (clouds, probably--it's been cloudy and rainy, so I doubt there's been much sunshine to walk on). I'm sure this single, simple email will be the start of something--by which I mean I'll probably start wanting more and more. Soon, that one little email won't be enough. I'll want well-known people to email me and say they like my stuff, like the guys from Penny Arcade or Mac Hallor 8-Bit Theatre or something.

But we'll take it one step at a time, I think.

~chaos cricket

Song of the Moment: Bob Dylan, "Desolation Row"