Day: January 31, 2014

Originally published March 10, 2000, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1373

I’ve been doing this column for nearly a decade and also having a lousy memory, which naturally presents a danger: I don’t recall whether I’ve covered certain topics or not. So if I have discussed the following, then hopefully I’ll say something new. If I haven’t, then it’s completely new.

Which actually makes me wonder about commercials when they advertise an episode by saying, “An all-new episode.” What’s meant by that? It’s not a rerun? Then why don’t they just say “new”? What’s with the “all?” It particularly annoys me when it’s an episode that’s actually a clip show. You know the type I mean. There’s a framing device of some sort—someone’s looking at a photo album, or one character has amnesia and someone else is filling them in on their life. And there are scenes from other episodes for illustration, which wind up occupying fifty percent or more of screen time. I’ve seen that on Xena more than a few times. So where do they get off calling that an “all-new” episode? Because it’s not. A lot of it’s old.

Am I the only one who worries about these things? Besides Jerry Seinfeld, I mean?

Probably.

God, I need a life.

Mushing on: One of the questions I continually get asked (which leads me to believe that either I didn’t discuss it, or I did but lots of people missed it or didn’t pay attention) is whether I pay attention to critiques and comments from the fans. They’re certainly unavoidable. They’re all over the place, in boards and folders and such.

The answer is, yes, I always pay attention. But how I react to that commentary varies depending upon the circumstances and my mood. Here are the various techniques I’ve used regarding fan comments.

Continue Reading “Reacting to Fan Reactions” →