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.
The interwebz can indeed be a godsend and a curse. It provides a place for creative types to share their passions, and for others to knock them down. That said, I wouldn’t let a clutch of negative comments overshadow the overwhelming number of positive vibes that emanate from your fans, me included. That you do this in your spare time, for free, isn’t lost on me, and I have great admiration for anyone who sticks it out (John. W etc) whereas I caved in after a year or so because I felt pressured to deliver. However, unlike me, Leanne and you have a genuine talent for making a strip look effortless (I know it ain’t), and I’m constantly amazed at the quality of the artwork and the left-field approach you take to the saga.
In other news, get better soon – as you know from my FB status, I (literally) feel your pain, and hope it gets sorted soon.
Finally, don’t quit and don’t close comments. I request this for purely selfish reasons, of course. 🙂
Guys, I don’t comment much (or at all recently) but I do read them all, and above all love what you’re doing!!! Fuck the Haters!
Rod, hope you feel better soon man, that sounds horrible, and Leanne, thank you for taking care of our favorite New Zealander! You guys tell awesome stories and the Art is top notch, I’ve always been super impressed that you guys do this on top of all the other stuff I know you do! It’s a love for the material that keeps you guys going, and it totally shows, you rock, and as I said F the Haters in the BH!
You guys are awesome and fun, but all this should be fun for you too. I hope you keep at it, though!
Oh, and mynocks really do look like flying vaginas!
…and I absolutely LOVE Leia’s expression!
HAHAH, i thought i was the only one who thought that about the mynocs.
I do love your what you do and haters will be hating..know that there are plenty of us who appreciate your hard work.
Is this a bad time to ask, “Where do babies come from?”
Rod & Leanne,
You both ROCK!!! I love this site and the comedy and the little extra tid bitz you post with all of the strips… And the art — perfectly refreshing!
And for those people complaing about accuracy… that is what a real Va-Jay-Jay looks like (if it had wings)! :LOL
This is my second favorite strip… The probe droid and the taun taun is still my favorite but this strip is a very close second.
I can almost hear 3P0 queen out in a To Wong Fu sort of way at the site of the bat! Awesome!!!
My Mon Calamari senses tell me that this will be the most commented on BMS strip evar! And the mynock looks like it would be the perfect soul mate for the symbol of Pompeii–a winged shlong!
Hater’s gotta hate, screw ’em, you’re awesome!
I’ve been reading this strip since early episode IV (it’s been 2 years!) and never before commented- however, I will join all of these other people in saying now that your strip is absolutely one of my favorites out there. It’s a very witty, well-made parody, especially for being done merely as a hobby! It has actually helped me get back into my old romance with the Star Wars films themselves.
People who nitpick the little things on here don’t get the point of this webcomic, and the fact that they feel the need to nitpick something made in such good humor merely shows that they have delved so far into their “fandom” that they can’t even stop and enjoy the stuff about Star Wars that made them fans in the first place.
If you guys stop making the comic, it will be a sad day for many of us, but if you do, I’m sure most of the people who read this will understand and respect that decision, and keep coming back to re-read the old strips for a good laugh. As for the haters- it’s rather unfortunate that people can’t be kinder in what they have to say, but in that case their words probably aren’t even worth paying attention to.
For now, keep up the good work, and I wish you a speedy recovery!
Live long and prosp…
Poor Rod probably hates us by now. He’s all out of commision with is Herniated Mynock and he can’t get a moment to lay down because he has to moderate all of our comments!
But really cool lesson… tell people that you are going to remove the comments and the post blows up!
Ugh maybe you should threaten to stop doing to the incentive voting strips, maybe then people would vote more often!
Everyone should vote before the Incetive strips are taken away too! Ahhhhhhh (Screams in the best Kermint voice I can muster)
That’s exactly what I say when that seen happens.
I think C3PO should have a more terrified look on his face being that he is the gayest robot in history
I have enjoyed this comic for a long time ever since a friend of mine told me about it. I would love to see it continue and like many others have said, I did not notice any of the mistakes until someone pointed them out. I hope you feel better soon and listen to the doctors. they usually know what they are talking about.
Cue Han to rush out to investigate…
Dear Blue Milk Special creators,
You guys ROCK. Please keep up the good work, and if necessary have an intern pre-read your email so you don’t get discouraged. I would really miss BMS if it went on hiatus!!
Guess that’s why so many site these days just have the like & +1 buttons!
Whatever you decide, thanks for all the laughs. I doubt I’ll ever see Biggs in the same way again 😀
Love the strip.
Take the time to do what you need to, well be here.
I hope you feel better soon, Rod! I can’t imagine how awful to have cervical spine issues. *shudder* Must be horrible.
I’m sorry that you’ve had a troll infestation, too. If that’s hitting on top of Life Interrupting Big Time, I can see where it would suck the life and enjoyment out of a diversion.
The most important thing is that you take good care of yourself and do what you need to do to feel better physically and mentally. If that means a hiatus here, then that’s what it means.
Just wanted to offer my support and positive juju during what sounds like a really unhappy time for you right now. Best wishes to you and Leanne!
I am sure I speak for a lot of people when I say we truly appreciate everything you guys have done. There are NO mistakes, it is extremely funny and the artwork is excellent. While I love my dose of BMS I would not enjoy it if I knew you guys didn’t enjoy doing it. If you guys decide not to continue, I will be sad, but I will also appreciate the awesome achievement you have accomplished. It will exist forever to always be enjoyed. The minority of low lives (you know who you are) can move on to spread their negativity like a plague elsewhere. The most important thing is your health and happiness and only positivity will help. Best of luck and may we see you return to the strip knowing there are more lovers than haters.
Try not to let negative comments get to you.
Wishing you a swift recovery.
Your strips are one of the only few sites that I go back to on a regular basis. It’s like Christmas morning when I have been away from the web for several days, and just can’t wait for the BMS site to open up! Keep up the good work and I hope you feel better. Don’t let the negativity get you down!
I really hope you guys end up feeling better. Just don’t try to do anything you can’t handle.
And don’t worry too much about anybody posting here. There are plenty of people that read and don’t comment, but really appreciate the stuff you guys do. I just started reading this last week, and I love it.
I hope everything works out, even if it means a hiatus for a little while!
First of all Rod – take as much time as you need to get well. It must be miserable and a terrible worry. You don’t want to rush it and have it get worse with each flare-up. Especially not a youngster like yourself. It’s great that you’re such a devoted couple and help each other through times like this.
I suppose BMS’ success and growing exposure will attract a certain small percentage of anonymous arseholes. Always reminds me of that film Targets for some reason. Oh actually, that probably doesn’t help! So, you’re victims of your own success. Hope you can focus instead on the good thoughts and wishes coming to you here today. Would it be out of the question to have someone else monitor the comments before you and Leanne see them, and delete the shitty ones?
Take care and keep up the good work,
John, Johnny and Gabby
Mistakes? What frigging mistakes? You guys can draw 17 fingers on one hand of every character, and 2 penises on the other, and that’s well and bloody ok, because this is your original creation based on the Classic Trilogy, and you can do what the hell you want!!!!
Leanne’s art is amazing, irreverant, humorous, perfect. Rod’s scripting is fun, light hearted and affectionate. This strip as an unpaid side project is a fantastic achievement.
Neither of you owe anyone anything. You have no obligation to respond to any comment, you can delete or ignore what you like, you can do what you want, as it’s yours!! 🙂
If trolls are fed, even through good intentions, it makes them come back for more. Everytime a troll finds their comments get reaction, negative or positive, they learn they can get a reaction. It’s like arguing in the comments section on a Youtube video. You’ve lost before you’ve begun, the only way to win is not to play the game!
Ignoring people who have nothing positive to offer, IMHO, is the best, but not easiest, option. If a troll, a negative commenter, a overly picky “fan”, someone who just doesn’t get it, or just your general run of the mill idiot finds themselves ignored, it stands to reason they’d lose interest. Whereas if they get reaction, then they’ve recognized they can have an impact and they’ll just keep at it. Don’t feed the troll and it will eventually die.
Of course, easy for me to say and hard for you to do. You are likely having crap slung at you everyday, stuff the rest of us don’t see, and that certainly sucks.
It would be a shame if the negativity of a few ruined the experience for the incredible creative team behind BMS. But Rod and Leanne need to do what is best for Rod and Leanne, and your decision will be respected, whatever it is. Happy Holidays and best of the season to the both of you!
There are plenty of assholes in the world and the more people visit the page, the more idiots will be among them. As you say in the strip 09, we can do anything about it. Well, you didn’t say that exactly, but you get the point 🙂 Just ignore them and enjoy putting them in the wastebasket. It’s a pity you can’t Force choke them.
I hope you feel better soon, my best wishes about that. If you need a break, it’s okay ;D
Hey Rod and Leanne. I haven’t commented before but I’ll keep it short. You both are awesome, this web comic is fantastic and I hope you recover without too much duress. Honestly, I don’t think it’d be too detriment to BMS if you did indeed disable comments; leave that stuff to Facebook and do what you guys do best. If you feel a break or ending is needed, then I’d totally respect that; you’re not providing a service here (though it may feel like it)!
To paraphrase a certain Emperor, “Love the strips… all of them…”.
Dear haters!
I want to see ANY of YOU being PRODUCTIVE in ANY way. Trolling (and even sucking so bad at it) is NOT an art. You think you are important or maybe a bit funny? Well, nice 12-year-olds-mentality you sport there…
Please, just stop it.
Go away.
And by please, I mean PLEASE! with holding rusty, dull razors at your non-existing hairless balls.
And to Rod : Get well soon, mate!
Let an old art fart tell you, Leanne : You are doing a great job!
get better sir! i just recently broke my collar bone as well. i hope your feeling well soon.
Hope you feel better Rod! I hope the strip continues but it’s all good.
I usually don’t read the comments for most of the strips I read just because of the crap you are referring to. I suppose it’s the silent majorities fault for not drowning out the trolls and banshees.
Here’s my part of the effort to drown the squealing weenies.
Love the art. Always have. It’s very distinctive. This is a good thing.
Love the writing. Don’t change a thing. You can’t hit it out of the park every time, but you guys always manage to get on base. This is as good as any writer could ever hope for.
I am thrilled with the entertainment you people provide. If I weren’t such a tight ass, I might even pay for it. As I am a tight ass, you are out of luck.
What I can do is say:
Well done.
Carry on.
Rod & Leanne,
Don’t let the negative comments get to you. you both do wonderful work that is very much appreciated. I would hate for you to stop doing this comic just because some people can’t seem to let things just be. This is a parody after all, and if turning off the comments helps so be it. Jeph Jaques did, and he seems much happier ever since. So, Rod please get better, and remember that there are a lot of us who don’t comment who just love what you are doing.