Hi.
First off, please don't think this is a primadonna writer getting annoyed at people critising his mighty work. It's not like that at all, and in a moment you'll see why I've resorted to writing this.
I'm Tony Lee, and I'm the writer of Stalag #666. Now some of you like it, some of you absolutely bloody hate it, and that's fine by me because everyone has the right to choose and all that. I get as many emails a week from people saying they enjoy it as I get from people not liking it so currently the jury's still out. And to be honest it has been a learning experience, and something that I've used to change my next 2000ad story, Necrophim.
But here's my problem. And I'm sorry guys, but this is going to turn into a bit of a rant.
You hate my story? Sorry dude. No, I really am. Personally, I'd love every reader to love my story - but as a first time writer for the Tooth? I'm going to have things I put in that you're not going to like. Hell, there are people who have written for 2000ad for years who get slated on stories. And as I said, that's totally the right of the reader and the reviewer. And it is totally your right, if you hate such a story to complain about it on forums, down the pub and suchlike. You can be as vicious and vitriolic as you like. Free world, free speech.
Now I'll be honest, in twenty years of writing, and in five years of writing comics I've never had reviews so negative and I will admit that three weeks into Stalag #666 I emailed Matt, actually concerned that I wasn't a good writer and suggesting we pull the tale. But Matt is a consumate professional and pointed out that although I was getting thrown into a grinder, there were people out there who liked the story - and these people wanted to see the end.
So blame them.
But the hatred of the series still continued. Again, as is your right. You don't like the story. I get it. And it's unfortunate that it was written before it started to come out. I don't like letting anyone down and I've seen quite consistantly on here and on the 2000ad Review site that I've apparently written the worst 2000ad story ever. Not exactly the praise I wanted to hear.
But that's not the point of this post - THIS is why I'm posting to you. Not because I'm crying at bad reviews - I can deal with that. What I'm posting about is THIS. There was a package delivered today. Not to me, but to an address I used to live at - and I'm utterly f*cking disgusted.
It's no secret that anyone with a couple of hours, hell minutes on google can find anyones address online and someone obviously did, albeit getting the wrong, out of date address. Now over the last few weeks I've had anonymous people post cut-and-pasted negative reviews of Stalag #666 from this board and the 2000ad Review as comments to my blog posts, usually pretty much every time I post something positive on my blog. I live with it. It's a price I pay.
But today someone I used to live with at an address I used to live at got a letter. I'm not saying anything more on that - just that an address that I don't live at had a letter sent to me, and the person who lives there, be them relative or friend saw it was addressed to me and opened it for me, thinking it was important.
"Dear Scumbag writer of shit stories." It started. And this is pretty much word for word, read down the phone to me. "Why don't you f*ck off back to whatever crap you were writing before you blackmailed Tharg into allowing your retarded w*nkstains to be printed. And I hear you've got more coming out? Give up. You're shit."
It then proceeded to give a cut and paste of EVERY negative review. It gave me the ones from here, it gave me the ones from 2000ad Review - including every review bar the most recent one. Not a single positive one, and I know I've had a couple of those - but EVERY SINGLE 'WE HATE THIS STORY' ONE. It was three A4 sheets.
Okay, I get it. You hate this bloody story. But then they read the kicker out to me.
"get the message?" It continued. "F*ck off out of comics. Go back to working in KFC or wherever you threw up from. I can shit better scripts than you can write."
And the following page? THEY HAD WIPED THEIR ARSE ON A SHEET OF PAPER. They had wiped excrement all over it. It stank.
AND THEN THEY HAD POSTED IT TO ME.
What the f*ck? I mean, SERIOUSLY, what the hell is f*cking wrong with you if you'd hate a story so much you'd shit on a piece of photocopy paper and send it to a writer as a protest?
Well whoever you are, and I know you obviously read this forum as you cut and pasted from it, I hope you're happy. Because I didn't open this, someone else did. Someone who didn't deserve to wake up this morning with such a terrible surprise. How would you feel if your elderly father or mother recieved something like this for you? What about a brother, sister, your TEN YEAR OLD NIECE opened this letter up, sent to an address you no longer live at?
Getting told that a story that you're actually quite proud of (as I was with Stalag #666) is tedious and boring and the worst thing ever? It hurts like hell. It's worse than ever being the last on the line picked in games, and having been on this end of it, I'll never bitch about a book or film again. But as I've said countless times I wouldn't have it any other way because without people like you who have the balls to say what you think, I wouldn't grow as a writer. It's almost amusing though - from the moment I send in the script until the moment I read the comic, I never see the art - so often I actually read your reviews of my work before I see it myself. Which is a bit screwed up.
But if you truly think that sending me faeces in the post is a valid argument? Then matey? You're totally f*cked up in the head. And the next time it happens, I'm going to the police. This one was burned.
But I won't stop writing for 2000ad. Because it's something I fought for seventeen years for. And I'll be damned if I'm going to be scared off by some twat with a toilet paper shortage.
Anyway, sorry for the rant and thanks for taking the time to read this. It's not a 'think of what you say' email, I'm quite happy to be nailed if you think my story is crap. And I'd appreciate it if someone linked this to the 2000ad Review board. But please, please -
Don't make a postman do that again. I'm crap, I'm a terrible writer. I get it.
Please don't post something like that to me again, yeah?
T
