Why I HATE Journey to Mt. Moriah

[MtMoriah]

Over the years of working on JtMM, I have never really received a lot of negative criticism about this strip, but I know it's out there. Criticism is a positive thing for an artist, so I am welcoming anyone who has it to lay it on me.

I'll start:

"I understand that JtMM is an experimental comic, but when is all the experimenting going to end and the making of a coherent story line going to start?"

My answer can only be, "your right, dear sir. I have promised for years to create something of substance (like a book, or a strip with reoccurring characters), but I have always fallen short. I have a number of ideas for larger projects, but have yet to find the time to put pencil to paper."

[Ataraxia]

They say that a sailor who complains is a happy sailor, so right from the start I'd like you to know that I'm very happy here in my cute little hat.

It's a tough thing to critique JtMM. Normally when doing a criticism, I try to look for systematic weaknesses. Since JtMM is an experimental comic without an ongoing story or recurring characters it's tough to find anything systematic at all. Any criticisms I make about individual strips might not apply to the work as a whole, and because it is highly experimental a certain amount of hit-and-missness is to be expected. With all disclaimers now out of the way, let's move on to the criticism.

The first thing I hate about JtMM is the fact that you miss a lot of updates. I feel bad saying this, since it's not a particularly useful criticism for most cartoonists. You might as well tell them "Your comic would be better if you drew better comics, and it'd help if you could poop rainbows". Still, it needs to be said. Missing updates is one of the top obstacles to building a consistent readership.

Some of your strips are extremely detailed. Others, such as "The Engagement", look like they were cranked out quickly. I don't generally like those ones so much.

I like the strips which contain a mystery, but certain other strips just appear random. Again, I don't like those as well. For instance, "Slither-Bot" is a very strange strip, but there appears to be a larger story happening of which we only get this tiny part. "Goodbye Nose", on the other hand, didn't engage my sense of wonder or curiosity at all. I think there's a fine line between "mysterious" and "arbitrary", and sometimes you cross it.

That's all I can think of for right now. I hope that some of it is helpful.

[MtMoriah]

Thanks, Joseph. I really appreciate the thought that went into your critique.

As far as updating goes, you're right. Last year was horrendous for me. This year has been better, but I did take off most of May, which I'm sure annoyed some folks.

Even I absolutely hate some of the strips from over the years. I have always enjoyed experimenting with different subjects and mediums, but lets be hones, some of the them just come out bad. That being said, some of the comics I hate the most, are the comics that people like the most. Go figure.

Anyway, thanks again. It really helps to have someone pick apart the comic and give me the straight scoop.

[hajrarara]

I'd like to use this opportunity to suck up, I mean, beg to differ, from Ataraxia's opinion.
My favouritest part about JTMM is how it doesn't update when it doesn't update. Not to say that I love not seeing any new strips, but I really respect and love the high threshold of perfectionism that you maintain whenever you do update the strip. In my view, the overall effect of this is is that it makes you a lousier cartoonist, but makes JTMM (maybe more obscure and smaller, but still-) a better comic strip.

The critique of excess randomness in some comics still stands, but it's another thing that I don't mind too much. Most of the unintelligible comics still pose a good question to the reader, and that's plenty. I also disliked when you used to post illustrations instead of comics a lot last year, but you've redeemed yourself by now, I think.
Anyway, overall, it all seems like a good amount of effort, used with purpose and brains.

I don't have other critics, and (well, I guess I just said otherwise 2 paragraphs above), I don't really disagree with Ataraxia's critique, I just can't imagine JTMM becoming radically punctual or eloquent and still remaining JTMM.

[MtMoriah]

Thank you, hajrarara. I agree that posting illustrations, was weak. That won't happen again. And I'm glad that other than some stale posts here or there, that you are enjoying my little experiment.

[Ataraxia]

My favouritest part about JTMM is how it doesn't update when it doesn't update. Not to say that I love not seeing any new strips, but I really respect and love the high threshold of perfectionism that you maintain whenever you do update the strip.

Well, that's why the criticism is no more useful than wishing Scott could poop rainbows (I'm really going to wear that out). By saying that he shouldn't miss updates, I mean that he should keep the same quality of work while never missing updates. For many webcartoonists this is an impossible goal. Still, it's something to aspire to.