Thursday, June 28, 2007

Tangents

What's the best way to describe Robert A. Howard's Tangents by Robert A. Howard? Up until now I've been calling him a cocksucker, which is - I suppose - fairly accurate due to the amount of cock he sucks. Metaphorically, of course. But now I picture him more as That Kid.

You know That Kid. There's always That Kid. Hell, you might have even been That Kid. Especially if you can't remember That Kid.

"Hey guys, whatcha doin'?"

That is the call of That Kid. He's the one that... that you don't like for some unspecific reason. Or some specific-yet-childish reason. He's just weird, perhaps. Or he smells funny. Or you're a duplicitious little shit of a ten-year-old and you just like to make others miserable. Either way, That Kid is not getting in on your fun.

Not for the want of trying, oh no. That Kid is prepared to do anything whatsoever to earn your friendship, so he is not so desperately lonely. "Hey, eat this bug," you'll say. And by God he eats it. He crams it in there with tears in his eyes because he believes that this, this is the moment when all the abuse and the lies and the pain pays off and his dream comes true.

"So are we friends?" That Kid says, through a mouthful of beetle shell and feelers. No, no you're not. Not with That Kid. Never with That Kid.

So that's little Bobby Howard for you. He's That Kid of webcomics. He's there, fawning and telling you what a top-notch guy you are, desperately wanting acceptance and friendship. He's offering you any advice he can give whether you need it or not, which doesn't really matter because it's stupid advice anyway. He's telling everyone you're best friends behind your back.

Now, because a lot of webcomic creators have this "thing" about wanting adulation without criticism, they'll welcome Bobby with open arms. They don't care that he's a creep and he's praising them just to get in good with them. No, no they don't. They don't care why anyone praises them, because they make up their own reasons in those delightfully removed-from-reality minds that they have. Bobby's squirming with pleasure that he has a new friend, and he'll always go "Hey, I know Jennifer Diane Reitz! I do! Huh? Huh? Aren't I cool?"

Basking in reflected glory, so to speak. As much as any webcomic creator of that calibre has any glory. They've got a lack of glory, really. A glory hole. Hur hur. That's another cocksucking reference for those of you not in the know.

So, that's Robert A. Howard for you. He'll suck your dick for you. He'll simper "I wrote you a review!" in your forum. He'll eat that fuckin' bug and ask for seconds. Be his friend, webcomic creators. Be his friend. Go on, be his friend. Please be his friend. You're super-cool, really. Be his friend. Please.

53 comments:

Anonymous said...
Look its pretty damn clear your a troll so you don't need to keep telling everyone. We get it your a douche.
Cowcaster said...
all I know about this guy is from the comments he left on your blog, but chances are he's not actually "that kid". he just spanks his sausage to the omnigender transformation fetish wankfodder that people like JDR and whoever does the wotch churns out.
John Solomon said...
His site is almost entirely "reviews" where there's never anything wrong and everything is so great and the author is such a dish, please love me. Go look, if you think you can stomach it. He really is That Kid. Who also jerks it to transgender fetish wankfodder, probably.
duuuurrr said...
Don't forget the whole "in his 30's, and lives in his parents basement" thing, or his "haha! Kitten collective! I'm so wacky and crazy and interesting! Hey, where are you going" crap. Or even his sad desire to be the next Websnark, as if that was some sort of goal any person should ever consider worthy of a thought. And then his piss-poor taste in comics and authors to fellate. Boy, he sure showed us with his GIGANTIC WIT. He's just trying so hard to be constructive and not say an ill word. OH NO! These poor webcomic artists! They can't handle opinions! Waaaaaaaah. What a condescending twat.
Anonymous said...
Oh no John Solomon what did you do Now Robert A Howard is going to come back and "zing" you with stuff that goes "right over" your head
Anonymous said...
From JDR's forums: "Dissassembly of your insulting fake comic: Why is it hosted on an image-hosting site instead of one of the Jenniverse sites, if it's supposed to be Jennifer's work? Why is it JPEGized? If Jennifer seriously made such a thing she would've saved it in GIF format, since it's obviously got very few colors and you're trying to date it to match the UJ look, all of which was in GIF format. Why are the lines so clumsy and blocky as if done by dragging the mouse rather than carefully fixing it all up pixel by pixel, as Jennifer did with everything she ever drew in DPaint? Noy only does Unicorn Jelly feature better lines, she drew such complex animation as the PDH Kamishibai in it, all without this jagged once-over look on the lines. Some of your lines are also broken. Check out Stephen's deformed fingers on the bottom, and how every single line has square jaggedy edges where it was halfass drawn in MSPaint or somesuch." holy fucking lol
Anonymous said...
Someone call the FBI, we have a budding agent here!
John Solomon said...
Howard: "Gentlemen, these pixels confirm my first hypothesis! Hypothesis is a big word, it may go over your head. But I'm certain that this image... is a fake! And not because it shows MY FRIEND THE FAMOUS JDR in a bad light!" FBI: "Gad, Howard - you've done it again! You sure zinged that faker!" Howard: "Ha ha! Be my friend?" FBI: "Eat this bug first."
Anonymous said...
That poster on JDR's forums must be feeling like a right schmuck now that JDR's shown up and said that yes, she did in fact draw that comic.
Lurdiak said...
Hahaha, I love how, to deflect criticism from how undeniably pathetic that comic was, she brings up her heart condition. "Yeah well that comic was kind of.. I HAVE A HEART CONDITION I MIGHT DIE OF A BROKEN HEART PEOPLE ;_;"
Benjamin said...
died of a broken kokoro :smith:
Anonymous said...
*rolls eyes* You're pretty sad, y'know that? I love it how trolling is considered funny here. And now you'll all jump on my back because that's...also funny, somehow? I think you need to step away from the keyboard and take a good hard look at yourself, because all I see right now from what you've written is ugliness.
Anonymous said...
"I think you need to step away from the keyboard and take a good hard look at yourself, because all I see right now from what you've written is ugliness." That's because we're writing about JDR.
John Solomon said...
oh no i have been writing ugliness oh nooooooooo This fucking "nice" culture in webcomics has made these throwbacks forget that talking shit is awesome.
Anonymous said...
*eats more dead kittens* I just stepped away from my keyboard, and you know what? JDR is still ugly from either distance.
John Solomon said...
Ha ha, someone linked me to his forums and he's treating me like JOHN A. HOWARD'S INTERNET NEMESIS THE ENEMY OF JOHN A. HOWARD ON THE INTERNET which is fucking laughable.
Amber Glych said...
Since you're obviously full of shit, if you hate it, P2P must be doing something right by having Tangents because I've yet to read an opinion of yours you've been right on. Kind of like a lipmus test of quality. "If Solomon hates it, we must be doing something right." I'm sure it's not just me thinking this. Metafilter* and TAC** can't be wrong since they hate you too, but I put out three webcomics as well as countless other actual PAYING work a week. Probably a total of 40 pages a week in art and story. Are my webcomics perfect? No. I don't put them online for them to be perfect, I put them online to share my little story. Is there a lot of white noise out there in webcomic land? yes. But attacking the better comics and calling them crap will only buy you enemies... What do you do besides type out venomous trite hatred in words? For someone who pushes so hard to get noticed, you sure do poke at Rob hard for getting some attention you so desperately crave. Maybe it's not that he's "the Kid;" maybe it's that you see "the Kid" inside you in him and it kills you to look so closely because you don't like peering at what you hate within yourself. Try this, back up from the keyboard. Go outside. Take a walk. Live a little. I bet that monitor tan of yours is worse than Tangent's. MMMmmmhhh... Green skin. Attractive. -glych *http://www.metafilter.com/62388/Your-favorite-web-comic-sucks **http://www.talkaboutcomics.com/blog/?p=1133
Anonymous said...
"But attacking the better comics and calling them crap will only buy you enemies..." Yeah I'm sure Robert A. Howard and his ilk are a danger to be reckoned with And the only way you can put out forty pages a week and work a full time job (probably at Taco Bell) is if you put out garbage
Benjamin said...
Actually, the article on TAC seemed to be positive, and many of the comments were, too. Not all of 'em, mind, but not enough to say that TAC "hates" this place.
Benjamin said...
Also, I don't see how any of the comics covered in this blog count as some of the "better" comics. Better than what? If you think that Dominic fucking Deegan is better than, oh, I don't know, Family Man. Dicebox, Gunnerkrigg Court (etc., etc. ad naseum), you need your head examined.
Anonymous said...
Amber Glych is defending orc rape! After all, she's "yet to read an opinion of [Solomon's he's] been right on", which must mean that she thinks that the Dominic Deegan orc rape scene was A-OK in her book! You heard it here first. I wonder if her publisher knows that she likes rape comics?
Ted said...
It's worse, because she also must be a racist and more leftist than Pol Pot simultaneously, as she supports both Single Asian Female and Minimum Security! Awesome!
Robert said...
*shrug* If you think I'm going to whine or complain about this, you're wrong. You see... you just linked me. You just guaranteed dozens or more of your readers are going to wander over to my review site. If just one person stays and starts reading? I win. If just one person reads a couple comics I review on the site... I win. And considering I'm not linking your site, and I'm not mentioning your site name or your name for that matter over at Tangents, you're getting no traffic from me. So, let's see. I'm getting extra traffic and more readers out of this, and you? You're getting nothing. As for your claim I don't offer criticism, and that my reviews are uniformly welcome by all... well, we've already seen what you consider to be a "review" as well as the fact you've proudly stated you won't be offering critical commentary. This is probably because you wouldn't know how to write critical commentary if your high school teacher introduced it in your English class. So. You get to indulge in some name-calling... and I get extra traffic for your efforts. Well, thank you, John, for the extra traffic. I'm sure they'll get far more out of my reviews than yours. Robert A. Howard, Tangents Webcomic Reviews http://www.tangents.us
Benjamin said...
This place has already been linked at pretty much every webcomics site anybody actually cares about.
jerkface said...
congrats robert you 'win' by having a shitty website where you post all your shitty writing from the cold dampness of your parents' basement. oh also you get to talk about kittens and be hilarious and random while you drool like a mongoloid over transgender furry comics lol isn't that so great! yeah what a winner
jerkface said...
hrrr just noticed the post times. it's like the primal rhythms of life urging me to shun this diseased and cross-eyed gazelle from the herd.
Anonymous said...
Hello again Robert A. Howard, it's me, mister anonymous, here to be all cowardly and anonymous because I'm not flashing my name here because I don't give a fuck and whatnot. *stomps on a dead kitten* I'm going to pose a question to you, something Mr. Solomon has posed to you while you were fellating the PDH forums about how awesome and nice and constructive you are and how you "zinged" the fuck out of this place. Have you ever seen a pile of feces? I'm talking about excrement. The smelly, lumpy, sometimes runny stuff that pours out of assholes. You probably thought, "that's a pile of shit." You called it what it is. What's going on here is no fucking different. *feeds a kitten to a rabid pit bull* And no, you're not winning. You don't win a damn thing. I've never heard of your fat ass before this hilarious blog ever happened and when I saw your website and took less than a minute on that, I knew you were full of shit from the get-go. You're just another basement-dwelling suckup who thinks his "everyone play nice" attitude fucking matters. I draw comics myself, Robert A. Howard. I do it because I think it's fun, and my theory about comics is they should be a visual fun playground. Walt Kelly's Pogo run manages this, R Crumb managed it, "Get Fuzzy" manages it, "The Far Side" did a great job at it, "Bloom County" was great in the 80's, but PDH completely fails in this department. First you have to deal with the godawful wannabe art, then you have to deal with the godawful dialogue. JDR's dialogue comes off as a fucking horrible James T. Kirk impersonation. One more thing, Robert A. Howard, you are not needed. There is no middle ground in webcomics, and you trying to mitigate it and be "constructive" and "helpful" doesn't do jack shit. Webcomics are either good or garbage, and you can tell by simply looking at the first and latest comic. Do that with Penny Arcade. The artist behind PA kicked his own ass to improve, he sure as hell didn't need a faggot enabler like you. This blog is calling out shit webcomics and letting them know this, and the resulting faggotry (yours) is icing on the cake. You don't win anything, Robert A. Howard. So get your Robert A. Howard ass back down to the basement.
John Solomon said...
DAAAAAAAAAAAAAMN SON Bobby Howard, you have been taken to school in the car of pain.
Bill said...
Ann Coulter, you crazy bitch, you kill me, you know that? (lol) And that name, Solomon, heh, you are a wise one. (LOL) Seriously, I feel you and I have a connection, a commonality. We're both despised, adored and irrelevant all at the same time. (LMAO) Keep 'em straight Ann!
Ekillr said...
Ummm, dude, are you seriously comparing John to Ann Coulter? Because of this silly ass blog that even he admits is a piss-take? Please, please, tell me that was an attempt at a joke. If it wasn't, then you are seriously fucking ignorant and ill informed.
Anonymous said...
benjamin, thank you very much for mentioning Family Man, Diceman and Gunnerkrigg Court in your post. All three were previously unknown to me, and, as we all know, really good webcomics are few and far between, I'm thoroughly grateful for being introduced to these three. They look wonderful from the get go, and I can't wait to start spending time in their company.
Therum said...
As soon as I saw that the Tangents guy rates in "ribbons," I knew his site was unworthy of my time.
Anonymous said...
I second (or is it now third?) the positive votes for Gunnerkrigg Court. I also question the educational value of Dr. Disaster's classes.
John Solomon said...
Gunnerkrigg Court has no place on this blog, because it is fantastic and Tom Siddell is a very nice man.
Chris said...
Yknow, I think my absolute favorite part is the writer of PDH thinks that all these outraged readers of DD and Shortpacked are going to flock over to the tripe thrown up as a comic over there. First, no one's flipping their lid over at Willis' forum, or even here, about that review. Even he got a laugh out of it. That's because he's not all self-important about having a comic, and doesn't treat the internet like Serious Business. And second, if you want to cater to people jerking it to orc rape, well man, what a demographic! I'm sure there's some pedophiles that could be roped in too, you just have to try harder! Cmon PDH, you can do it!
aquapunk0 said...
I actually know tangents on the crfh forum. and you know what? he is probably a million times nicer than you are. he does use constructive criticism, which i see you despise. he is probably wittier than you aswell. and has more friends than you. but so what if he's a nice guy? so what if he doesn't use swearing in the place of reasoning? so what if he actually bothers to talk to the readers of the webcomics he writes about, and actually gives reasons for his praise? the webcomics he reads have were-creatures in them. therefore he 'jerks it to transgender fetish wankfodder'. because he isn't stupid, spiteful, and malicious he will of course be a furry-omnigender-fetishist. obviously. feel free to delete this post. or say im a furry. or a 40 year old guy in his basement, jerking it to good, PG-13 webcomics, like the wotch, egs, or crfh. but just think about this- im a 14 year old girl. and im a hell of a lot more mature than you.
John Solomon said...
No, you're not. You just think that being mature is equal to being nice. Here's the thing, sweetheart: us grown-ups are horrible. We're scum. You think that your playground bullies are a big deal? That what Tiffany said about your hair in third period was just so mean? Aww. Prepare for a shock when you hit 21, because you're going to find out that being an adult means having to deal with more venom than a Goddamn snake-handler. So take your stupid, fucking teenage head out of your ass and wake the fuck up, princess. The lovely little speech you just typed up is indicative of nothing but your own overwhelming naïvety. Unless you remain the same kind of deluded imbecile that most webcomic fans are, and for some reason I think that's super-duper likely in your case, you'll grow up someday and realise that people like Robert A. Howard aren't better than people like John Solomon. Mind you, the day you hit 18, good ol' Bobby Howard is going to try and force himself into your pants like he does with everything else that has two X chromosomes and a vague connection to webcomics. So stay young and oblivious for a little while longer, hmm?
Morgan said...
Okay. Everyone? There is no such word as "naivety". It's spelled "naïvete". With an e, not a y.
John Solomon said...
It's a perfectly cromulent version that is frequently used by people who have stayed up far too late.
Mole guy said...
If just one person stays and starts reading? I win. If just one person reads a couple comics I review on the site... I win. And considering I'm not linking your site, and I'm not mentioning your site name or your name for that matter over at Tangents, you're getting no traffic from me. So, let's see. I'm getting extra traffic and more readers out of this, and you? You're getting nothing. I don't think that John Solomon does this for traffic or attention like that kid would. That kid would consider getting more attention a win
Gulaben said...
I am coming into this rather late but i feel that a comment needs to be made. Dear Robert of the site Tangent. As a highschool student at this moment i can tell you several things about your reviews. 1. Reviews are meant to entertain and engage the reader while trying to persuade them to your point of view. You do not do this, you use overly flowery language to disguse the fact that these comics have no substance. 2. Big words do not mean great review. Nor does politeness or lack of swearing. As a person who has been reading a book a day for close to eight years now i can say some of the best things i have read use straight-forward everyday languge. For god's sake get off your high-horse and actually critise things. 3. Constructive critism does not make a good review, especially if such advice is not taken. This made seem odd to you but keep reading. Constructive critism is saying what is bad about something, then how to fix it. Strangly i cannot see that in your reviews, you simply say that while you found that somethings could be improved they are not that important and can be overlooked. THIS IS NOT CONSTRUCTIVE CRITISM. It can barely be called critism. 4. Some people need a kick up the arse to realise that they need to improve their work. You have not provided this service to any of these truly awful comic strips and John Solomon is attempting to, through insults, open peoples minds to how bad these strips are and hopefully ( however unlikely it may be) have the authors grow up a bit. This may improve their work or have them relise how much time they have wasted on their strips. 5. Effort means little in real life. If you respected effort you would respect Solomon for putting in the effort to get thorugh these comics and therefore would like his writing, but you don't. This is when you are insisting effort makes a good comic. Somewhat hypocritical no? 6. If you have a position stick to it. This is another thing you have not done. First you say Dominic Deegan is bad, then when called up about it you change your mind. "Did i say that that web comic was bad? I am so sorry, of course it isn't bad, just poorly thought out". What is the difference between the two? Bad and poorly thought out, well there is no difference really, it is just weaseling around with the english language in an attempt to not offend anyone. This does not work in real life, if you don't want to offend anyone do not write and post publically. You are offending people by not only endorsing comics they dislike, but also then telling them that they are stupid for holding a differnt opinion to you. This is insulting and shows a lack of respect for the opinions of others. If my english teacher was marking your work you would get a C at best, because of the points above. Now I obviously cannot swear in my reviews for school but i can and do completely take the shit out of them and i get good grades. I know you are going to say that I do not know what I am talking about and that I am wrong. I haven't finished highschool after all, but I can say that i am a writer myself and an artist and I will admit that my work is not the best, but you can improve this things if ones tries. These people do not try and you need to improve your writing style. This is because it rambles and is not consice engough. More importantly it is boring, a review should never be boring. As you have seen I have used my internet name, so you cannot use that against me. Hope I have opened your eyes, but i doubt i have thus proving my point about constructive critism. Yours sincerely, Gulaben
Gulaben said...
"aquapunk0 said... I actually know tangents on the crfh forum. and you know what? he is probably a million times nicer than you are. he does use constructive criticism, which i see you despise. he is probably wittier than you aswell. and has more friends than you. but so what if he's a nice guy? so what if he doesn't use swearing in the place of reasoning? so what if he actually bothers to talk to the readers of the webcomics he writes about, and actually gives reasons for his praise? the webcomics he reads have were-creatures in them. therefore he 'jerks it to transgender fetish wankfodder'. because he isn't stupid, spiteful, and malicious he will of course be a furry-omnigender-fetishist. obviously. feel free to delete this post. or say im a furry. or a 40 year old guy in his basement, jerking it to good, PG-13 webcomics, like the wotch, egs, or crfh. but just think about this- im a 14 year old girl. and im a hell of a lot more mature than you." What the hell i just cannot restrain myself, even if this person has already had the shit tkaken out of her. Hey 14 year old idoit! It is fools like you that mean that 'adults' don't listen to teenagers. I'm 16 myself and my soul has been a pessimistic, cynical pit for over 6 years and what Solomon said is true. Humans are assholes and given a chance they would fuck anybody and everybody over if they would gain something from it. This is a fact of life and the sooner you know it the better. If you cannot seen Robert for the hack he is then you are a fool, now i have already written a post about why he is an awful reviewer and now that i have gotten the venom over your stupidity over and done with i suggest you have a look at it. I doubt you will ever read this as you probably left crying when Solomon tore your lovely world view to pieces, but just incase you do i am posting this.
Gulaben said...
'the shit tkaken out of her' Of course i meant taken.
Benjamin Barker said...
Gulaben, you're never going to see this, but having seen your comment, I'll feel better having written something. Two things. One: read Dover Beach by Matthew Arnold. Just because humanity is less than stellar doesn't give you an excuse. You should never blame someone for being nice. It's rare enough to find it. Misguidedly nice, too nice and taken advantage of, not genuinely nice and just in it for their own gain, etc? Sure. That's a problem. But genuine niceness alone is actually generally considered a good thing. We all get by with a little help from our friends. Two: invective is not a proper substitute for grammar.
Anonymous said...
And likewise, I am now compelled... 1. Tangents isn't genuinely nice, he's genuinely sycophantic and genuinely trying to get laid. Learn the difference. Blaming truly nicety isn't generally a good thing, but calling someone on their transparent airs to superiority is. 2. Condescending, self-righteous claptrap is no proper substitute for actual, substantive content. Try harder next time.
Artstsym said...
Look, I'm willing to concede that John, somewhere deep down, though he'll never admit it, probably considers getting more hits a win in his book. But he also realises that cock sucking is not the most fun way to increase readership. (Have you ever tried being nice ALL the time? Even when a person is so fucking wrong and concieted it hurts?) If you can tell the truth and be an asshole while doing it, that's a good balance. And finally, a correction: Constructive critism does not make a good review, especially if such advice is not taken. Constructive criticism does make a good review. John's best are the ones where he shows what they could do better. Tangents is just not constructive criticism.
Benjamin Barker said...
Someone responded? I feel all a-twitter. 1. I'm all for taking Howard apart. I've read some of his stuff, and it's, ah, less than impressive. Kicking Howard's ass is fine by me. I was going off on gulaben for his central assertion that niceness is somehow wrong on the basis that other people are not nice. At least, I think that was his central assertion. Also, I was amused that he seemed to think that adults are any more inclined to listen to teenage self-proclaimed pessimistic, cynical pits than the teenage overly innocent and nice. In my own experience, adults treat both with about the same amount of detached bemusement, the only difference being that they don't waste their breath trying to talk to the pessimists. 2. Touché. Good job calling me out on that. I was in one of my more internet-hating moods at the time.
Anonymous said...
You know what I'll do with this blog, John Solomon? I'm not going through the trouble of reading your reviews or the comments of people who agree with you. I'm going to bookmark every site that you mock and read the webcomics on them. I used to be That Kid. It sounds like you actually approve of what nasty kids do to "those kids" though you seem to be an adult. I'm sure you were a very naughty little boy who made "those kids" eat lots of bugs and do other stupid stuff for you. Other kids didn't make me eat bugs, but they made me bark like a dog. I thought they wanted to hear it because I was so good at it. My revenge for you is to make those people win whose sites you "review" by actually going to their sites and reading their comics. Most of them are pretty good. Jelena "Leena" Kivinen from Finland P.S. I don't know how to put my name in there without having an account. You can call me stupid. If there's anyone who knows me reading this, please post with your name if you're going to tell all over the internet what a wuss I was as a kid.
Anonymous said...
Done it. Bookmarked them all. I don't think I'm going to read all of them, but some of them might actually grow their fan base. Jelena "Leena" Kivinen from Finland who is always on that kid's side.
Anthony Harding said...
Dear whoever from finland or whatever: Nobody gives a shit about you, or what you do, and nobody cares how successful the comics reviewed on this blog are.
Anthony Harding said...
Post script: Have fun reading Dominic Deegan and Pastel Defender Heliotrope. They're just a laugh and a half.
c010n31 said...
they made me bark like a dog Haha, what? That's probably the funniest thing besides John's posts I've read all day. Also, sorry for commenting almost a year after the initial post and nearly two weeks after the latest comment but... fuck; that retard barked like a dog.