I’m doing the autobio approach myself and know it can be REALLY tricky and dangerous to involve those closest to you into a story, as they might feel misrepresented or even feel like a part of their/our intimacy was stolen. so there’s a responsibility. I’ve already hurt people this way.

also there’s always the risk of exploiting real drama in your life. we live so secure lives with so many options. it’s like we’re happy if we’re faced with dramatic challenges and we wanna use it for art. but I think this should always be done in awareness of the context and the frame it’s being made public.

anyhoo, read the whole archive in the last weeks and appreciate it, came from “super everything” blog. keep it up.

I just wanted to thank you for being so honest in your work, I’ve been following your stuff since I found your first ‘hourly comic’ in London one summer, I love your style, how you’ve progressed and your willingness to share your life with us readers, thanks to your work, I’ve been more truthful in my own autobio comics. Again. Thank you for being so strong, and to anna – even though this is a couple of months behind (?) I hope you’re feeling stronger too *hugs* xxxx

That works, Ellerbisms as a straight reflection of your life, right down to the abruptness of the tone and subject matter shifting. When you put it like that, I suppose looking at something autobiographical as a structured narrative is a bit backwards.

“To say that I only did this strip to get more page views is a fucking joke and an insult to not only me but my girlfriend.”

I’m sorry you feel insulted, but that’s not what I said. Admittedly, in a sea of abrasiveness, it’s understandable that you might have got the wrong end of the stick on that matter. My point was that I was unsure why this matter was covered in something as light-hearted as Ellerbisms, because I was very certain that it WASN’T to do with getting pageviews. But then, by now looking at the comic as a reflection rather than a narrative, it would remiss to omit it. Again, I’m sorry if you took that as offensive, but I assure you that was not my intention.

While it may well be impossible (I couldn’t even begin to imagine what it must be like) for you to distance or detatch yourself from autobiographical work, especially regarding important events such as this, it’s somewhat difficult at a base level to identify the “cast” as anything other than characters, given that I don’t know, have never met you, and most likely never will. However given that I am aware that Ellerbisms is not a work of fiction and that I have some familiarity with the subject matter itself, it would not have been unreasonable for me to assume that a tad more tact may have been in order. On that same note, please do not misconstrue all this as some sort of personal attack on you, your family or the events.

Anyhow, I’ll apologise if you’ve found me to come off as a “jerk”, and I’ll thank you for answering my questions.

Firstly, I want to say thank you for finally leaving an intelligent criticism of the strip as opposed to being just another internet jerk.

However.

I have several qualms with your responses and I’ll address them here publicly as you did with yours.

First of all, if you are so indifferent about this strip then why in the world would you continue to read it, come back and check for comments and engage in a discussion? If you didn’t like it to begin with, what’s lost? Nothing. Move on with your life. If you never liked it and you still don’t like it why would you leave a comment saying I jumped the shark? If you didn’t think it was good in the first place then it can’t “jump the shark.” Also, if you post a negative comment on someones strip, the people who do actually like it are going to retaliate or offer a counter view, so you shouldn’t be surprised by the hostility towards you.

People responded to your original post because, let’s face it, it was a prickish comment. How can someones life “jump the shark” anyway? If you had posted your second post first then people wouldn’t have an issue. The fact that you dived in with a snarky comment rubbed me and others up the wrong way.

You have an issue that the strip above is “sandwiched” between gag strips and therefore you can’t take it seriously? Well as you can see from Monday’s and today’s strip is that the subject is still being dealt with, so we’re not back to the LOLs just yet. I know the jump from laughs to darkness was quite dramatic but not only has that always been the case with Ellerbisms but what else am I supposed to do? I had no idea that the event itself was going to happen and I think that highlights the fact I was oblivious to what Anna was going through. Would you rather I have a few strips leading into it, when I had zero thought that it was happening until the day it happened? Maybe throw some more knives into past strips to give the reader a heads up? From my perspective it came from nowhere, just like the strip.

Ellerbisms is mostly about the chuckles, yes, but it’s also had spontaneous moments of seriousness as illustrated here, here,here, here,here, and here to name but a few. I don’t think this episode surprised anyone that really pays attention to the strip as there’s always been a bit of darkness running throughout it. Much like other strips though I only give a small portion of the event and never the full picture, much like the “gag” ones, you’re still getting a very small moment of the day.

To say that I only did this strip to get more page views is a fucking joke and an insult to not only me but my girlfriend. Ellerbisms represents our life together and it’s what I’ve chosen to write and draw about about. Why in Ellerbisms? Well there’s your answer. It happened to us and I thought it was as an important aspect of our life. I’ve been talking with Anna about doing this strip for months and it wasn’t an easy decision to come to, but ultimately I wanted to draw it as pure and simply, it happened to us.

Okay, so you got a public reaction out of me which I believe to be the main point of your original comment but this is where it ends, I don’t think we have anything else to discuss and if you’re going to throw accusations at me then I can’t be bothered to continue to discuss this with you. Thank you for your honesty regarding this strip, the way you handled it in the first post was that of a jerk though and if you don’t read the strip ever again, I don’t really give a shit.