'Borgenson' writes in TCJ:

"Ian’s comics, to me, are earnest, if unrefined, extensions of the P.Bagge school of cartooning, which is to say, cartooning based on pure exaggeration. His drawing style is fluid and mercurial, often bordering on inconsistent.

If there’s one major fault in Ian’s work, it is that he seems to overcompensate for his lack of technical chops with an overabundance of the grotesque. I find nothing wrong in this direction, but Ian tends to meander in his own irony, which makes for pretty uninteresting work.

There are, in my mind, two stables for successful ‘grotesque’ cartooning. One is satirical, based on careful observation, and the other is purely celebratory. Drew Friedman’s work fits into the former category, and Johnny Ryan’s fart-for-fart’s sake approach is as celebratory as celebratory comes. In my mind, one of Bagge’s strengths as a cartoonist is his ability to balance these two disciplines (or lack thereof), successfully gravitating towards one or the other for specific narrative purposes. Harker is a fairly smart fellow and a competent storyteller who seems to ‘get’ this, but lazily resorts to stoner nonsense ever too often.

His Ultimate Peanuts parody, though shamelessly cliché (customary lesbian references to Patty and Marcy included), is one of his better works. Pathos and parody do not usually coexist on the same page, but the ending, in which a Lucy comes on to Charlie Brown after being spurned by Schroder, wallows in the kind of sickly schadenfreude one gets from seeing characters at their most debased and desperate, and this combined with a right amount of grotesqueness is what makes the strip funny.

All in all, I disagree with Ace’s assessment that Harker's primary appeal is a love for cartooning that “shines through his work”. If I wanted that I’d read B.J and the Dogs. Harker is ultimately too cynical and self-aware an artist to take himself seriously, in fact a lot of the conceptual energy in his work seems to be channeled into challenging his readers whether they should take him seriously. Ultimately this is a dynamic that could translate into a recipe for originality and success, or an oeuvre of irritating cartooning, only time can tell."

Last edited by Eui-Chien Borgensen on Sat Nov 10, 2007 5:52 am; edited 1 time in total

Little boy, you've got a lo-o-o-ong road to walk before you can even think of writing serious critical prose. Pathetic.

As pathetic as the other harrumphing idiots on this thread, including the normally sane and subtle Kristy Valenti--who seems overwhelmed by the sheer 'tardedness of the Gutter jerks spewing their crap on www.tcj.com, , and has apparently decided to lock down this perfectly normal thread (started by Hunter*-- what a coincidence, eh, Kristy?):

http://www.tcj.com/messboard/viewtopic.php?t=3200

My view? Let the crappy little trolls march on over any reasonable poster on the TCJ board. Bravo Borgenson, Steinke, Hellman, acebackwords, Kletz and "Geedis" Bogner. Heil Hellman is your cry, and Deppey seems to love it.

I made my stand against your lies, and Deppey responded by saying: "No, I want the TCJ forums to be wrecked by liars and trolls, so fuck off."

So, Ian, Hunter: you're doomed.

*Hunter and I spoke on the phone; he confirmed my identity. This put him on the shitlist of Danny Hellman and his stooges, who include Dirk and, it seems, Kristy Valenti.

Why didn't you post this at TCJ? oh, right.

The real Kim Nyholm?

http://images.google.fr/imgres?imgurl=ht...l%3Dfr%26sa%3DG

You fucking liar.
Oh, by the way, Elrod-- why did you say you weren't banned, when, in fact, you were?

http://www.tcj.com/messboard/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=1647

Want to prove me wrong? Just post again, anywhere on the TCJ board.

Go ahead.

What are you waiting for?

...Elrod?

Hmm?

...Elrod pussied out.

Tell you what... get yourself banned from TCJ again and Elrod will post a humorous "PWNED" photo on that thread too.

Are you crying? You're crying aren't you?

*hands you a tissue*

I didn't realize the thread got locked, lol.

Oh well.

That thread didn't get locked because everyone hates Hunter you fucking moron.

You're right. Half of them want me in their anthologies so I must be doing something right!

Half assed, but right I'm sure.

and joe, while we're on it.

Why the fuck do we keep getting paired together in various publications?

It's always, me, then you printed right next to each other?

What's up with that?

Do they think we're the same person or something?

You really don't get how message boards work, do you? If you're still typing a post, nobody can respond to it.

What are you babbling about now?

He's babbling the truth that "Elrod" is a liar and a fucking coward.

Challenge to 'The Actual Kim Nyholm':

You claim that your 'Elrod' sock on the Comics Journal' board hasn't been banned.

I challenge you to prove that by posting ONE SINGLE POST, dated after today, the tenth of November, 2007-- anywhere you like; as long as it's on the Comics Journal Message Board, and that you link your post onto this thread.

Of course, you can't do it; you'll twist and turn and scream insults so that you can try to weasel your way out of it, but, baby-- it just will not work.

So, come on, 'Elrod', you lying coward-- which is forgivable, in the way of things (alas), EXCEPT!
...Except when your acts and statements convict you of deep stupidity.
And, Elrod?

You are deeply, deeply stupid.

No, pretty sure he was babbling about anthologies and him and I always being in the same ones.

So who's deeply stupid now?

Oh that whole babbling thing was about me?

I thought you were on about something else.

But yea, in narrative corpse we were originally put side by side. In Bam we were, but that was obvious.

I just wonder if people are aware that they automatically lump you and i usually in the same genre or back to back?

Alex, I gave you my conditions for accepting your challenge: get yourself banned from TCJ again, and Elrod will post an amusing "PWNED" graphic on that thread. The ball is in your court, mister frenchie fou fou.

So you pussy out on the challenge.

Thought so. Said so.

As usual, you show yourself to be a liar and a coward.

Seems strange to call someone a pussy when you're too afraid to come here and beat me up like you promised.

Not at all: I conditionally accepted your challenge. Meet my conditions and I will proceed as you requested. TYIA.

No, you're the one who claimed he wasn't banned.

Why lie about it?

Elrod isn't banned.

If you want me to prove this to you, you'll meet my condition. If you don't meet my condition, I see no reason to comply with your ridiculous request.

So: what is it going to be, "Alex?"

Elrod is banned.
You can prove the contrary by posting a second time on TCJ.

If you fail to do so, you are conceding that you were banned.

So what is it going to be, "Elrod"?

PS-- your vandalising Wikipedia was definitely a slimy thing to do.

I will prove Elrod isn't banned if you meet my condition. I have no interest in doing anything for you gratuitously. So, meet my condition or fuck off.

Thanks in advance.

Just checking in to see what condition my condition is in.

*drops acid*

No, that was me.

"Ridiculous request"?
All I asked was that you post a second post under the 'Elrod' name on the TCJ board.Anywhere, on any subject.
An action that would have taken up 30 seconds of your time--

But noooooooooooooooooooo...!

You PUSSIED OUT.

Or he thinks it's funnier to watch you flail. Either way.

Flailing at COOP too? Oh, that's a short timer on that fuse.

No, no, there's no use trying to "spin" Elrod's
spectacular failure.

He's fucked, you know?

Actually, this nasty little thug has a lo-o-o-ong history of fucking up. He has a natural genius for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

Witness his shitty attempt to "prove" that I don't live in France. This blew up in his face, because a) I DO live in France, and b) he posted my telephone number online.

The shit-for-brains chortled and gloated until he reliased what a fool he'd made of himself, when John Hunter and others phoned me up-- proving that I lived in Europe.

His next shitty attack was a sockpuppet troll on Wikipedia so inept that all his socks were voided within 24 hours.

I'm sick of this.

Dirk, Kristy-- do your jobs for a change, okay?

Coop's a lying asshole; not quite as bad as you, from one point of view (he isn't nearly as dishonest and stupid), but rather alarming from another (he's a violent and unstable creep.)

By the way, James...do you really think you can escape your past? Is that your latest illusion?

I will make sure that you DON'T.

Ever.

I set a reasonable condition on your challenge. If you're not willing to meet it, I have to ask why not? Afraid you're wrong?

As for me, I have no need to prove anything to you. I'll gladly do you the favor of proving that "Elrod" wasn't banned from TCJ, but you have to get yourself banned again first.

If you're not willing to do anything for me, why should I do something for you?

Someone did all those things to you? Link?
Um... this is comicon. You can't post on the boards that Dirk and Kristy moderate, remember?

When I saw the title of this thread, I thought it referred to another out-of-print comics anthology to which Alex contributed. Why was there no Pretentious Chucklehead #2, anyway?

I'm sure his life is now an unending nightmare of pure torment. He's probably taped over all his mirrors.

You really have no idea what you sound like to others, do you?

Well then, I'm sure this is the last we'll hear from you on the subject.

Hmmm...that's an idea.

Let's throw the hat into the usual Gutters ring.

Would you contribute to an anthology called Pretentious Chucklehead?

Would you be willing to EDIT it?

----------------------------------------------

Elrod:

You lose.

I win.

(That and two euros will buy me a cup of coffee...)

Hey, remember the last time you claimed victory?

That was wacky fun.

Neither COOP nor I have ever been kicked off of the TCJ message board. You have. Repeatedly. And yet, you're still too thick to get the message: nobody wants you there.

Silly monkey, you can't do a thing about what I escape or do not escape. Just rant and rave on message baords and get kicked off of them.

Oh, how funny you are!

I'd be willing to ignore it.

I'm not sure what you think you've won. I mean, after all, I can post on the TCJ message board whenever I want, and if you want to post there, you're going to have to sneak in as "Mike Johnson" or some other silly sock.

Hmmm... maybe I'll go start a thread about Harlan Ellison or Tin Tin...

Nah. Maybe later.

YES to both, on the condition that each and every frame of each and every comic included was all about making fun of you.

I'd like to call my chapter "Rusty Chainsaw Enjoys A Fresh Ratatouille".

Hey, you didn't capitalize it this time! Good for you!

Have you guys really not noticed that "Borgenson" has turned out to be "Ray Tan"?

http://www.tcj.com/messboard/viewtopic.php?t=61&start=1580

If by "noticed" you mean "cared."

Can I get a little respect for the knots I've twisted Alex into here or what, guttersnipes?

Three cheers for TaKN!

Please do a comic about Alex's recent troubles with the internet...

We'll see.

Ceci n'est pas une chaussette has always known about that shared sock because....

Why am I not surprised?

Hey so I'm going to be in Paris next week...wanna meet up?

Because it's really easy to convince you that I'm anyone at all. Danny, Joe, James, Ray, Tony, Luke, whoever.

I'm waiting for the day that someone says I'm really Alex Buchet, and you respond, "Figures. That piece of filth Alex has always been... wait a second..."

I like how "AB" is now over at TCJ editing all of his posts. Luckily most of people quoted him os his spectacular meltdown is forever preserved.

You tried that once, and it blew up in your face.
Just like your failed Wikipedia troll.

*chuckles*

By "ble wup in your face" you mean, of course, "succeeded wonderfully since I (Alex) was standing alone waiting for you to show up".

Nope.

It blew up in his face because he not only failed to convince anyone he'd flown to Paris only to find me a no-show-- the moron also posted my phone number, Hunter was able to phone me and confirm a) my existence, and b)my presence in France.

Game, set, and match to Alex.

Good for him! I mean, you!

Because, as we all know, Hunter CANNOT BE FOOLED.

Alex confirmed that he's a complete assface.

"There's another factor, though...you, yourself, have often stated that you enjoy flame wars; I don't."

How the hell do you sleep? WHEN the hell do you sleep?

*high five, d00d*

I would enjoy a flame war with Alex. With actual flame, mind you.

No skin off my ass, Figaro---

uh, maybe I should rephrase that-- ah, fuggit.

Hilarious how McGee and Geedis are CHOKING in impotent rage. My guess is that they were both in on the disastrous Wikipedia abortion set up by Elrod and Figaro, and were gloating in anticipation .

When I crushed those assholes on Wiki, our dynamic duo were so, so, so sad.

Thus Geedis' aimless, unfocussed rage; thus McGee's clutching at straws.

BTW, "Big Dick Mcgee":

I guess you MUST have a big dick, mmm?
Since you don't hesitate to call Hunter a shithead and a liar.

Better stay away from Florida awhile, Dickless McGee.

lolwut?

I'm not worried about him Alex, since I can just whip out my own big dick and stab him in they eye socket with it.

Sorta like how you MUST be from France.