There’s something outside…
Just an FYI as it applies to the production of BMS: I have been in intense physical pain all week. My herniated cervical disc has flared up and for the first half of the week I could barely move. Multiple painkillers, neurological and muscle relaxants later, I’m doing ever-so-slightly better, but stuck with a heavy duty neck brace and struggling to find a sitting or lying down position which doesn’t make me groan in pain. I can no longer drive and my time in front of the computer is very limited. Leanne is doing an excellent job of looking after me, but it’s very stressful on her as we try to get through the next couple of weeks with pain management assistance and a visit to a neurosurgeon neck specialist.
I just want to say really quickly, that there are a number of our readers who are extremely supportive and encouraging and who have been a joy to please over the years. BMS continues to exist because of you guys.
Readers need to understand how petty some of the feedback and comments have been lately. The Yoda finger debacle; being told we don’t try hard enough and could do better; criticizing Leanne’s art or my storytelling; as well as the trivia and corrections, which really don’t apply to a cartoon parody whose main purpose is humor–not 100% accuracy! It’s a real shame that so many fandoms are afflicted by a small group of people with no life outside of the minutiae of their favorite subject; be it Star Wars, Doctor Who, or whatever. The result is some really insensitive feedback from people who seem to lack a sense of humor. If we’re letting these people down then why do they keep coming back each week?
You can’t blame Lucas for going back and making certain changes, considering the things that BMS is starting to get picked apart over. It does start to get annoying… While I’d be willing to ignore a lot of these nitpicks, when it keeps getting pointed out it starts to feel like a burden waiting to be addressed. Our enthusiasm has taken a few blows lately as a result of these trivialities at a time when we have larger and more important things to worry about in our lives. You don’t need this sort of crap marring one of your chief diversions.
I’ve always known it would be tough trying to complete our epic parody of all three movies in the original trilogy. I’ll try to keep BMS going (and there have been difficult times in the past), but I may remove the comments option for future strips.
It could be that we now have so many readers that it is inevitable that many of them take Star Wars way more seriously than we personally think is healthy and as a result the over-analysis is more frequent? Perhaps obscurity isn’t so bad after all!
In any event, we have a small number of strips that are ready and scheduled for the rest of this month, but the future of BMS depends entirely upon the happiness of Leanne and myself. I have removed the donation feature as I don’t want to feel that I still owe our faithful more strips if they’ve made a recent donation. I want the flexibility of being able to put BMS on hiatus, if necessary, without feeling I’ve let anyone down. Your thoughts are welcome in what is probably the last strip with a comment thread for the foreseeable future.
Come to BMS with a sense of humor and if you don’t like it, “move along… move along”.
Thanks guys. We should have a new festive themed Voting Incentive for you shortly.
oops
Don’t. Just don’t. Don’t start thinking like that.
You guys are awesome.
I know I don’t comment a lot {read: at all} but I’ve been reading since around the middle of IV. This is, in fact, the strip that got me reading webcomics to begin with, and this is still my favorite. If people nitpick, it’s their own fault. It doesn’t reflect on your talent, abilities, or at-times-incredibly-juvenile-wait-while-I-stop-crying hilarity.
I know that I won’t be let down if you stop updating, and I won’t stop recommending this to other people I know. It’s been a great ride. But I’d hate you to stop because people are idiots. If you want to keep working on BMS, keep working on BMS. If you don’t, that’s your choice.
Stay sane. Keep up the excellent work. And good luck.
Ditto !
Well said!
Get well soon!
Ditto – I didn’t even know what a webcomic was until I saw this. Now I own one!
Hope you get better Rod. Sad to hear that comments are closing – I don’t often participate but I enjoy reading what others have to say. It’s a shame some people can’t just same something nice. In any case, there’s still Facebook for when I feel like dropping you a message.
I love today’s strip by the way, looking forward for the others you and Leanne have ready. And Merry Christmas!
It’s a shame that you are dealing with all this now… I’ve enjoyed everything you have put out so far, and while I’d love for you to finish the original trilogy, I’d understand if you stopped. This should be entertaining for you.
My one concern is that if you disable the comments, you’ll never hear from those of us who DO enjoy the strips you produce. But, if the negative comments are outweighing us, I can understand why you’d take down the comments bar as well.
If this is the end… Thank you for all the laughs. You are the reason I watched the Holiday Special, and that made your jokes even funnier to me. You and Leanne have a wonderful sense of comedic timing and pace. Thank you for making me smile on days when I needed a pick-me-up. 🙂
I’ve always enjoyed the work you guys do. I think it’s great that you’ve got enough background knowledge to make half the jokes you do in these strips. I learn lots of new things about Star Wars, here! Anyone who feels like they have the right to criticize your series doesn’t get out enough to actually be entitled to have an opinion. I can’t speak for everyone, but I hope you recover soon, and I’d be thrilled to see BMS continue. I think it’s work you should be proud of.
Rod & Leanne,
I hate to see negativity bring you two down from a passion project. I enjoy reading your strip, and love to share it with people.
It’s inspired me in a lot of little projects I hope to get off the ground someday.
I look forward to the conclusion of your series! May the Forciness be with you.
Oh man, I’m so sorry to hear that you’re in such pain! I hope that everything turns out okay! I love this comic and I don’t want it to discontinue, so please get well soon so we can have more BMS? 🙂
And, I dunno if this is part of why you took it down, but I have never had the urge to donate to a comic moreso than now. To me, donation is about perpetuate the continuation of the artists, and thereby, the comic. So… I don’t expect anything when I donate, really… And if there is to be a hiatus, that wouldn’t affect my spirit of generosity!
On the note about the comments, I understand where you’re coming from. Nit-picking is only good when the artist intends to eventually publish or something. To be honest, as a humor-loving, Star Wars-loving fan who criticizes movies with poor storyline or mistakes, I didn’t even notice the Yoda finger-thing until I happened to read the comments one time, and as for spelling errors? …I apparently overlooked them as I never noticed them prior to them being mentioned in the comments.
Of course, it is your choice to remove the comments, and it doesn’t really bother me either way, as I am not a big commentor (the only reason I’m rambling on here is because I really love this comic and feel that you guys need some encouragement!), and if removing them will bring you greater peace of mind, then by all means, do so.
I hope that there will come another way for your readership to express themselves and discuss the comic, however… A forum, perhaps, when you’re well again?
In any case, I really don’t want to see you guys get discouraged about this comic. It is a wonderful parody, crude and dirty at times, but I love it, and I’ll keep coming back to it until it’s finished, and probably follow both of your works long afterwards. Leanne has a brilliantly simple style of art, and I wouldn’t have it any other way, as I adore it, so tell whoever’s criticized it to bugger off for me, would ya? ^__^
I dont know about the FB comments but I was five when Start Wars came out and it changed my world. I love anything with a space ship or space battles or SCIENCE! because of Star Wars. But I also like satire, and things that poke fun at themselves and BMS is the pinnacle of Star Wars satire. The thing is huge, and has spanned most of my life and has had a lot of holes and ret cons.
You guys do a brilliant job and if some people cant deal with the fact that part of loving some thing is to accept mistakes with humour when ever possible then that is their problem not yours.
Keep it up.
I know how hard it can be to keep a strip updated once a week – let alone three times a week to the high quality that you guys produce. I come and stay for the humour of the strip – it’s brilliant. Who cares if Yoda has 3 or four fingers? Personally I didn’t notice as I was too busy laughing. I hope you get through the pain quickly Rod.
Hey. Dirk Flinthart from Deep Down Under here. Run me through Google: I’m a minor SF/Fantasy writer with the odd award under my belt. Among other things.
I tell you this because I want to speak as one storyteller to another.
Your take on these films is hilarious. I read this comic eagerly, and look forward to the new posts. The original Star Wars trilogy was hugely important to me as a kid… and precisely because I enjoyed them so much, your lampooning is not only utterly inoffensive, I find it adds a marvellous new dimension to the familiar old scenes.
Thank you very kindly indeed.
And the art? Perfect for the task. I love the stylised faces. I like the attention to detail where detail is actually important – and I like the simplicity of the overall look, which is necessary to let the story unfold through visuals and action.
I’m sorry you’re getting shat upon by haters. Best I can tell you is that it’s part and parcel of the game. You put your heart and soul on the page. Sometimes you win… and sometimes you deal with fucktards who can’t even manage to be civil.
My usual response to the really loud critics is simple: “Do better. Put something up for the rest of us to appreciate. If you really do know how it ought to be done, then don’t just sit, dissolving into your own sweaty, lardy, ass-fat staring at a screen: CREATE SOMETHING.
When you do, THEN I’ll be interested in your critical opinion. Until then, you’re a reader — one of many. Thanks for coming. ”
Take care, and please – keep the good times rolling. I love the work.
Hey, I googled you and you seem jolly interesting. Published anything in N. America (I was too lazy to dig further)?
Sorry to hijack the thread Rod, but at least I’m not complaining about lady parts on the cockpit. 😉
Published in the US? Not yet. Not so’s you’d notice, anyhow. But as usual, there’s some stuff available through Amazon. And I’m still working, so with time and luck…
And who could possibly complain about ladyparts on a cockpit? My cockpit doesn’t get nearly enough ladyparts, as far as I’m concerned…
If I’ve made any comments that have bothered either of you, I’d like to apologise.
Unfortunately sci-fi fans and the internet can be a bad combination.
No, not at all Paul. The problems was not just with certain comments that I have approved recently, but several I have had to actually block.
I get pissed off with haters who won’t even use their real name.
Not you Darth Paul – obviously. Just haters.
I have two BIG regrets about how I have been on this site. My first regret is that I discovered it and then stupidly, STUPIDLY didn’t visit until awhile later.
My second regret–Yoda. I only blame myself for this one. I understand that all the crap thrown at BMS is from losers who live in their mom’s basement and for whatever reason, think they can do a better job. Because I was publicly recognized on multiple websites for editing five strips with Yoda, and the Yoda debacle being a big issue here, I seem like one of those @$$hats who thinks they’re so much better. But really, I don’t care if Yoda has 3,4, or even 5 fingers. That didn’t make me want to change them. No, what made me want to edit the strips was how bad Rod and Leanne felt about the whole finger thing. So this may be my last chance to clear things up. I’ve never met anyone from this site, but I still don’t want to look like a critic to fellow BMS fans.
I feel the same as Heidi. This is what got me into webcomics and will always be my favorite. Two things I hope for as far as BMS goes. Rod–I wish you a safe and successful recovery. And not connected to sickness or health, I hope that BMS will make it to Cloud City, at least.
Great work and good luck. Don’t give up!
No, Zayne. You’re not one of the bad guys. I’m grateful for the great job you did on the Yoda retouching. Leanne and I just want to control the art and its use. We appreciate your support!
One more thing–I used to like Prequel and Original Trilogies equally, but after reading BMS, I really am more of an OT fan. Thank you so much for all the laughs.
Hey guys,
this is my first comment here, but I feel that I have to say something to your thoughts there.
First, I really love your comic strips – I’d be happy if the updates were coming more frequently, but I understand that it’s difficult enough to do it once a week.
Your art and storytelling is really great. I won’t repeat everything the others said here, but for me as an encyclopedic SW mind – I’m admin of the German Star Wars wiki Jedipedia.net – it’s the only way to do a good comedic view on Star Wars while still keeping in everything the movies, serieses and EU has brought to us – and we’re still in Episode 5 here (well, besides Robot Chicken…). 😉
And don’t think the criticism outweighs the positive feelings you’re evoking with BMS – it’s very simple: Most people who love your comics don’t feel like commenting at all. They (like me until today) just enjoy reading them from week to week. Personally I checked back to your site every now and then even when it was down due to the server problems a few months ago – I wanted to know when you’re back online.
So please, reconsider the hiatus, keep up the fun and the great work!
Oh, and Merry Christmas to you! 😉
Merry Christmas to you too, Tyber. It’s always nice hearing from our international fans. Leanne is obsessed with Germany, so she’ll appreciate knowing we have readers there. We would love to get a German translation of the strips eventually. We already have Russian and a Spanish translation underway. 🙂 Nice site layout, by the way! Much prettier than most Wikis.
Let me know when you want an Australian translation. Should add an entirely new twist to the whole thing… “Strewth, Luke! Use the fuckin’ force, ya bloody drongo!”
Thanks for the appreciation yourself!
Speaking of a German translation… Maybe we can arrange something. We admins of Jedipedia.net would be honored if something like a partnership is possible. If you’re interested you can always drop me an email. 😉
Forget the haters, they are jealous star trek fans who want to ruin it for all of us. This comic makes my week. It’s phenomenally better than, and also more accurate than most of the EU, and definitely the PT. That’s right I said BMS is better then part of star wars it self. I don’t generally find the time to read your blog posts every week, and I had no idea that their could even be haters for such a great comic, so I’m going to stand up for the silent majority of lurkers and say that this is the greatest piece of fandom ever. And we who repeatedly go back and read all through the comic when they need to have a good laugh wouldn’t know what to do without you. Their are over a thousand votes on the latest poll (And we lurkers tend not the vote very often either (unless of course theirs an incentive strip of awesome-ness)) This comic is wonderful. I would shower everyone whose ever contributed to this comic with compliments if I could.
I’d be sad to see BMS go away, regardless of the reason. Yeah I think you’re learning what it’s like to get the attention of EVERYONE. Pity some/a lot of people only gripe about things, as if their opinion made/breaks things. That’s when anonymity on the internet is bad; they wouldn’t say a lot of these things to your face and that’s cowardly.
Speaking of, when it comes to removing comments, that can go either way. On one hand, you’d lose the ability for fans to give quick, easy feedback (as if an email took too much work to write out), but one, yeah you wouldn’t have to deal with the easily accessible flames of begrudging folk, and, at least for myself, I wouldn’t have the personal pressure of having to write in response to the uploaded episode.
That review I wrote awhile back, I stand behind and beside it, still. Blue Milk Special Eff-Tee-Dubbya for the win, Dear Fellow Artists and Cartoonists!
And a vagina with wings? Easy access to sex perhaps, but if they’ve teeth, probably not the best option. One of those “get what you pay for” scenarios, I suppose.
Hey guys! I love BMS. You guys do such an amazing job considering how busy you guys always are, yet these strips are always impeccable. Like a few other people commenting on here, I never noticed the small details such as Yoda having too many fingers or other things that might have been in error. Those aren’t what matters. And to be frank, since the humans have four fingers, why can’t Yoda, right? It’s a parody comic. No one’s saying you can’t! 😉
Anyway, as for the rude comments you’ve been getting, please don’t let them get to you. They’re jealous whiners who have nothing better to do with their lives than to berate others. BMS is one of your escape passions, and no one should have the power to make you love a passion any less. If you need to take a hiatus, that’s perfectly fine. Removing comments is ok, too. But don’t let these trollers get to you! Your true fans love and support you always!
May the Forciness be with you 🙂
Rod, Leanne
Okay, usually I just swing through, read the strip (and any I missed since my last visit.) vote. and move on. This might be my first time commenting. I love the strip. Stay healthy, but please don’t quit. If you need to pause and heal up for a while, please do so. I’ll still swing by periodically to see what’s new.
Please don’t take any “detractors” seriously.
I hope this holiday season is warm, brite, safe and fun for you and yours.
Jeff
Geez – the facehuggers in the Alien franchise have decidedly, how you say, *Freudian* features, and so does the – what is that thing on the Falcon – the Mynock? (sp??) What is it with sci-fi directors and their need to surreptitiously sneak genitalia into the look of odd creatures?
Boys. Go fig. X D
Flinthart pretty much nailed it on the head. As writers (yes, I’m also a writer; been published) we tend to tear ourselves apart enough as it is. We look over things we’ve done and think of at least six different ways we could have done things differently.
Nitpicking over the tiniest details of a piece of fiction is just an indicator that they have very low self-esteem and the only way they can feel good about themselves is to belittle others.
Ignore them. You’re doing great work here and both of you should feel proud of it.
Hi, I have appreciated your efforts immensely – I don’t think I can find a way to express my compliments that wouldn’t be a repeat of what some of the others have written.
Rod: I wish you a speedy recovery.
Both: The Forciness is strong with you and your trusty band of fan-Ewoks are behind you. Keep up the fantastic work 🙂
-Nyub-nyub!
The people who make horrible comments, aren’t about to come out and admit it. Trolls are trolls, and that’s all there is to it. They do it because it gets their rocks off, they do it because they’re insignificant little parasites who have nothing better to do in their life, or they have something to prove, or because they have certain physical inadequacies and must make everyone feel bad so they can feel good about themselves.
I haven’t commented in a while, but I’m still here, and I still enjoy each and every strip you guys have made. I’ve been here since the sorta-beginning, somewhere between Mos Eisly and the Death Star, is when I found this comic. I’m sorry to hear that you’re having medical issues, and wish I could help in some way, but if I had money, I would’ve donated a long long time ago.
I’ve tried these past years to catch you guys at comic-cons, but never got a chance to go to any of them. I’d love to meet you in person, just like I’d love to meet every one of my favorite webcomic authors. But don’t let the trolls get to you, as I stated above most of them are trying to compensate for the lack of certain things, and therefore must bring down everyone around them.
But I do hope things start going better for you guys, and I hope you don’t have to go on a hiatus, or stop updating all togather..You’ve made it this far, don’t give up! And I wish you guys happy holidays.
I really hope you don’t decide to quit. I love reading BMS. I also didn’t even notice the thing w/ Yoda’s fingers, or spelling errors – too busy laughing. Rod, I hope you start feeling better soon & keep making BMS once you’ve recovered.
Oh, man, back pain is no fun. Hope you get better soon.
Loved today’s comic. My first thought was to post, “wings are better than teeth!” and decided to make sure no one had beat me to it.
Now, though, I’ll just post this link instead:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BellisariosMaxim
And giga-ditto Mr Flinthart’s comments above.
Best,
Rob
The love and support in these comments is making my heart swell. I love you guys, and agree with everything said. So many people get joy from this. To the ones that don’t, tough. As you said, “move on.”
BUT, if it ever stops being fun for you guys, then there isn’t a point to it. Your happiness and health are most important.
xoxo,
WK
Comments can be a real pain in the… so can people who take a joke/parody too seriously.
Personally I love what you’ve done with the material so-far, and would love to see you take it all the way to the end of ROtJ at the very least. I love all the little facts and things about the movies and production and such.
And while Leanne isn’t my top artist (sorry), she does have a style all her own, which can only be applauded, there are too many people trying to make their work look like somebody else’s allready. Also, I think the art works great with the storytelling.
P.S. Love the poster, I recently had one of those discussions go by in a group I read, it’s easy to skip through…
I consider it a MOOO point (but saying you’ll be having sex while the discussion is going on is just mean, and also untrue (nobody except the greatest tantric masters could have sex that long 😉
Good luck to you both, whatever you decide to do.
First off, sorry that I haven’t commented to show my appreciation of this amazing comic until now. Lurking isn’t my usual thing, but I can never seem to stay caught up to your amazing release schedule long enough to do so. The art & writing are both consistently on the spot and always bring a bright spot to my days, to a degree that has made this one of my ‘refresh as often as possible’ pages.
Now as for the crappy commentators: Super-fanboys are the bane of any popular creation. They’re the losers that loudly, publicly whine about how the newest season/movie/book of their favorite thing is terrible because of x,y&z, and then wonder why it gets canceled or modified into actually sucking (I’m looking at you, Star Trek & Heroes fanboys). Many of these parasites call themselves ‘purists’, but that’s just a pretty label for pr*ck. I’m a huge fan of many things, but the moment I start nitpicking, that’s when I take a step back, lest I fall to the dark side of fandom.
BMS is truly a worthy endeavor, and the fact that you have attracted the rabid hordes should only be an indicator of how well you have done with it. Take it from someone who has to tolerate out of control Trek fanboys on a regular basis – when they say something that makes you want to blow a gasket, just replace their words with the noises adults make in Charlie Brown cartoons. Same overall value, but much more amusing.
Feel better, Rod! I hope you find a doctor who can help you, or some awesome medication. 😉
I’m sorry to hear that negative feedback is bringing the two of you down and making you reconsider the strip. I haven’t been reading the comments much lately, so I didn’t even know people were being jerks. As someone who’s put content on the web in the past, I know how hard it is and how demoralizing bad comments can be. Try to remember how many people enjoy your work and not focus on the negativity if you can. I for one, would hate to see the strip end prematurely, but take care of yourselves first.
Also, try to remember that nerds pick on stuff they enjoy. It’s rude to do it where the creators can see, but from a certain kind of person, criticism is praise…for what it’s worth.
2 things to say here.
1) The Harsh: The first rule of show business is, you can’t please everyone. The second is, haters gotta hate. There literally is no way to avoid either rule. An the harsh part is, if a creator can’t deal with that, then they need to find something else to do. I say this as a fellow writer/creator of internet content.
2) This strip is a) unique in its function, and b) extremely well done. Leanne’s art is great (and her Khan blows me away every time I see it), the humor is funny and original, and the overall production quality is above and beyond even a lot of professional outfits out there.
If you love doing this, then keep doing it. If it becomes too much like ‘work’, then stop and find something new to put your hearts into. However, I say this as an impartial fan of this site, the English Speaking world is made just a little bit better by the existence of this strip.
Thanks, El fro. One point I have to make is that BMS is not work. We don’t do BMS as a professional project. We’re just fans making a frequently silly and out-there fan comic. We have no financial objectives or goals, but we still have to bear the same level of criticism as professional project. I don’t want to repeat the specific comments here. I think the trivial comments are hitting at a time when Leanne and I are both dealing with some difficult real life issues, like my health and comments like this are sucking the fun out of the project. BMS may end up being a place that is no longer fun to come and play when we need a breather from life.
By ‘work’, I meant ‘chore’, I guess. That said, I’m glad the strip doesn’t feel that way, and I hope it never does. Do you have any plans to monetize the site (to quote another SW parody, “moichedizing, moichendizing, moichendizing!”) so that it’ll partially support itself fiscally? I imagine the advertisements are part of that. I’m part of a small company that makes pin-back buttons (We’ve made Otakon’s house buttons for a few years), maybe we can talk about that. I know if I had the money I’d grab a BSM shirt or something. I imagine there might be limitations on which characters and images you’d be able to use due to copyright issues, but a Darklighter shirt? Tasty.
Anyway, I hope you guys will be able to see this project to it’s natural conclusion. You hooked me a year ago at NYCC’10, and I’ve been a loyal and steady fan since. I’d be sad if it went away.