No longer Tuesdays & Fridays...

[bernieh]

Schedule Announcement

Sorry but not only do I have to miss today's update, but I need to announce that I'm relaxing my Tuesday/Friday update schedule and going to a "whenever I can" basis. I love doing this comic strip but I can't handle doing it on this schedule any more, and I don't want it to start sucking ass as a result (if it ain't too late already). This is NOT a hiatus, or the end, or anywhere close to it - it's just that new comics are gonna go up a bit more sporadically. If I've learned anything from my pathological gambling problem is that sporadic reward is more addictive than consistent reward so think of it like that!

Actually what I'm gonna do is write stuff in this blog more often, or start an "actual" blog somewhere else or something, so that you'll still wanna come back regularly. If you DON'T wanna keep checking back all the time, then you should really join the mailing list so you'll get an email whenever a new comic goes up or there's some news you should know about. Those of you hip to RSS can simply subscribe to the feed for all updates.

Another reason I need to slow down a bit is I got some other big projects in the works. One you'll see soon; others are a bit more ambitious so you'll see 'em later on down the line, but trust me they'll all be worth it. And no way in hell will aLp be forgotten. Thanks as always for being such awesome fans; I won't let you down.

[stargazer]

Too bad. Till now, I had something to look forward to on Tuesdays and Fridays. Yet, I am on the mailing list, so I will get a few pleasant surprises.

And yeah, totally useless first post dance.

[Rocktavia]

Totally cool with me. Life gets busy.
I'd rather see a good genuine comic every now and again than a couple of sucky ones every Tuesday and Friday.

Now it'll be like Christmas everytime you post another one!

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Take me to your leader!

[Army of Darkness]

Thats perfectly fine, afterall, its not like you're being paid to make this comic- you do it for fun and other peoples enjoyment. I used to like putting a new 'comic' on my website every week, but after a while it becomes a chore, especially when you have work etc to contend with.
Take it easy B and I look forward to the next comic, whenever it may be.
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People are dying, we need guns!

[cfos]

Hope your project(s) turn out well -- thanks for the laughs and looking forward to more.

[CaptMarvel]

more shall come... Preston and Abe love each other too much.

[lexnokc]

well since everyone else is gonna be so upportive, i'll go ahead and say it, YOU SUCK! noooooo, just kidding, but i really will miss the updates. Its a sad, sad day for yours truly.

[Lilyiris]

I really love aLp. Oodles and oodles... and if I have to wait, I will. Good Luck with your other stuff.....how exciting it will be to get that first mailing list email.........

[Kry]

B, you rock. Keep rocking whenever you want.

[holokaustos]

Sorry, but I just can't stand around with these fans and say that all is right.

Alien Loves Predator has been seriously deteriorating for a long, long time. With the exception of the latest strip ("Do my taxes, bitch!"), the humor isn't what it used to be, with the consistency of the posts being very undependable and the committment to the entire site lacking.

I understand the stresses of parenthood, especially with twins, since I have four children of my own and two of them are twins! However, I've also come to understand that it's imperative that I iron out my priorities and stick with them. Doing too much adds to the problem and makes everyone else suffer.

Why are there "other projects" for Bernie? I can see being taken by surprise with the twins and having to curtail aLp a bit; going to once a week was an excellent and valid ideal. But why add on more projects when the demands on the one he has now aren't being met? Why add on to an already full workload when he can't even handle what he currently has?

Family, work, and aLp should be focused on, not more projects. We've already seen how aLp has suffered by not sticking to priorities: reduced postings, then missed postings, then sporadic postings, then twice-a-week postings, then "Hey, when I get around to it" postings! It's ridiculous. Either do it or don't, but don't drag the fans through it all.

I know there are lots of Bernie fans who will be angry over my post. To them, I ask that they stand back and look at the past year or two objectively, then flame me. But what I say is true, even if it's not popular: aLp needs to be indefinitely shut down, until Bernie can devote the time, talent and energy to it that it deserves. Anything less will be a waste of web space and an insult to the fans.

Thanks for letting me speak my mind...

[greendragon]

I've been reading for ages and laughing heartily every time there's an update, but this is the first time I've posted. I've been driven to it by the post above! Holokaustos, I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt that you don't realise the situation here. Perhaps you don't realise that Bernie does this for fun, and for free? Who says it has to be one of his priorities? Your 'you need to get your priorities straight' assertion is, frankly, ridiculous. You write: 'why add on more projects when the demands on the one he has now aren't being met? Why add on to an already full workload when he can't even handle what he currently has?'

What or whose demands? This is his hobby, and we just get to enjoy it with him - lucky us. Bernie doesn't owe anyone anything - if he wants to make the strip for his own amusement, great, and if not, fine. It's absurd to suggest that he's not 'allowed' to take on 'other projects' - maybe a father of two needs to let slide projects which don't pay in favour of those which perhaps do?! (Does a hobby which pays nothing even count as a 'workload'?)

Of course you have an absolute right to remark on the quality of the strip; you may feel the quality has slipped and that's a fair comment. Bernie, however, has no responsibility to anyone to keep this strip going unless he wishes to and unless his day job and family life permit it!

I'll miss the twice weekly updates but I thought it was pretty amazing that Bernie found the time to do that much. Sometimes life dictates that we have to (at least pretend to!) be grown up and we can't spend as much time having fun as we'd like. Bernie, your work is awesome and I will continue to enjoy it whenever you have time to mess around with Preston and Abe.

[oh apparently it's not the first time I've posted, but the third... Hmm - I must have forgotten prior posts I've made!]

[holokaustos]

He isn't doing it for free. Look at the main page: Google ads and paid sponsorship. That means that an income, regardless of how trivial or large, is being generated, even if it's only to cover the costs of the site.

Also, if I remember correctly, didn't he have some sort of deal with Cracked? I'm sure he wasn't doing that for free.

Your argument that he was doing this as a 'hobby' isn't valid. It stops being a hobby when revenue starts to roll in. Maybe, maybe, he started as a hobby, but if that's the case, then it ceased to be one long ago.

Again, let me stress that Bernie is talented and has given me many laughs over these past couple of years. I just disagree with his choice and the stance of the fans, that's all.

[randall]

also a first time posting, although i've read every strip. i have no interest in flaming holokaustos for arguing that the creator of an excellent, free online webcomic isn't sufficiently responsive to his needs. (holokaustos: bringing in revenue to cover hosting costs, or even making a profit, does not mean it is not free for us. come on, man, this is basic stuff.) i mean, really, whatever.

no, i wanted to throw out a comment in support of the comic, because---assuming bernie's like most other creative people out there---every negative comment someone gives sticks in your mind much more than all the positive comments. there could be a thousand people posting messages saying how much we love the site, how funny we think it is, how we don't think it has gotten worse, how much it makes our day to see a new post, and all it takes is one negative asshole to offset all those comments.

well. i won't say ignore the negative comments. i won't talk about how laughably self-centered holokaustos is. (well, just that once.) i'll just say that many people love the strip, and whenever you feel okay with displaying your talents for us, we'll be happy and grateful for the chance to view it.

[holokaustos]

Jesus Christ.

I'll say it one more time:

BERNIE IS TALENTED. HE HAD AN EXCELLENT WEBCOMIC. HE HAS GIVEN ME LOTS OF LAUGHS, AND, FOR THAT, I AM VERY, VERY GRATEFUL.

What everyone is missing is my original point: why spend time on other projects when the current one isn't being addressed?

I'm sorry if people feel I'm being self-centered, because I'm not. What I'm being is truthful and objective. I don't worship aLp. I don't worship Bernie Hou. I don't seek to gain his approval by blindly accepting what he says. I simply wanted to point out that people have been laid back and not questioning a blatant problem with the site, even though it's seen some serious deterioration lately.

It would be great for people to read my actual words, instead of putting words into my mouth. I never said whether or not it was free for us. What I said was that Bernie wasn't doing the site for free. Jesus...

I mean, really, whatever.

[Sal]

i guess holokaustos has made some valid general points on how one should handle the broadly understood responsibilities one has (especially valid in reference to the responsibilities we take on ourselves, that's important to stress). i can't really argue with those assumptions, coz they're... well, right.
but how much these assumptions are relevant to Bernie's situation, that's a different story. i don't know Bernie's situation, so i'm in no position to judge his sense of responsibility, as i believe no one is unless they happen to know him personally.
and you know, it's a webcomic, not nuclear physics.

as for the quality of the strips, it's obvious there are better and worse. has there been more worse than better lately? i don't really know.
but it's fanaticism to claim that everything Bernie (or any other artist there is) has ever done is of the same top level, coz it's naturally never true. [that's except for Prince, of course. Go Prince!]

i'm sure Bernie doesn't mind criticism, coz he ain't there to save the rainforests and make every net-geek happy. he's just doing his comic.
if he got so deeply upset, as randall was kind to suggest, each time someone says "i liked last week's better", he wouldn't have gotten into showing his creations to the public in the first place. coz that's just an artist's lot and any artist gotta cope with it and get on with the show. [or, like Prince, you can end up an arrogant self-loving ass incapable of objectivity towards himself. but that's really a different story, and has nothing to do with the present discussion. Prince rulez anyway.]
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i have no time for anal love

[Kry]

[carp]

Liiiiiiive Journaaaaaalll is calling to you. It wants you to give it blogging love.


Also, do whatever you gotta do. As much as some fans like to think they have a say in what creators do, I have more respect for the people who do what's right for themselves than if they give in to the demands of their fans. I still enjoy AvP and I'll continue to enjoy it even when it updates sporatically, and I'm willing to bet a bucket of brine shrimp that's how the majority of folks will feel. It's a big bucket, too.

[Crispy]

[CatCreature]

holokaustos: It's people like you that makes me realize why I suffered a burnout three years ago!

I think it's right of Bernie to make the updates on a "whenever he can" basis! That will give the comic more "heart", if you know what I mean...

[Robot Chicken Koko]

Holokaustos, don't criticize. You don't speak for everybody when you bash his recent comics. I and probably most people still think they were great. And another thing, DON'T CRITICIZE!!!. Just thank bernie for a great run, and wish him luck on his future projects, his children and his family, and whatever he's got cooking for us ALP fans.

Thank You and Goodnight.
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"Gravitation cannot be held responsible for people falling in love." - Albert Einstein

[Tom Brazelton]

[Army of Darkness]

Here here, I couldnt agree more. I dont always find every comic hilarious, and I dont always get the jokes, but more often than not it at least gives me a laugh or two; once I couldnt stop laughing for hours afterwards. Seems to me that Bernie needs to concentrate on whats best for Bernie, not the ranting of some self obsessed, arrogant 'fan'. Nuff said, and good luck Bern.
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People are dying, we need guns!

[holokaustos]

It seems that everyone has misunderstood my stance on this situation, so let me clarify a few things:

1. I'm not telling Bernie what to do with his life. What I am doing is pointing out that it's dangerous for any person to keep adding to their plate, when they can't even handle what they already have. When that happens, something begins to suffer, whether it's family, work, or some other love or responsibility. My 'demands' are not demands. They're the concerns of a father and artist who has already gone down the path that Bernie seems to be started on.

2. I never suggested that aLp be shut down because I didn't like its humor or schedule. What I suggested was that it should be shut down if Bernie can't devote the time to it that it needs. aLp is no longer a little webcomic. It has turned into something greater than that, following in the footsteps of PA and PvP. THAT takes far more energy and attention than people may realize, something that Bernie hasn't been able to do for a long time now. If he can't devote what's necessary, then it may be time to shut it down.

3. I never stated that I speak for everyone. On the contrary, I made it clear that the opposite was quite true:

[Tom Brazelton]

[Robot Chicken Koko]

Holokaustos, you're still criticizing? Just think for a moment, how does this make bernie feel if he cares at all? If you like his webcomic and have benefitted from it, ie enjoyment, laughter, tears, then shutup. Cut the crap.
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"Gravitation cannot be held responsible for people falling in love." - Albert Einstein