To all of you out there who've read Tom's blog, Ben's original response & have been following this thread, I think Ben has conducted himself with a lot of dignity, intelligence & grace throughout it all. Not many people would've reacted so well moreso when the criticisms laid on one is very incorrect & unfounded.
So, pls join me in giving him a hearty round of applause...
Obviously we don't know what's been communicated between Ben & TB but I'm still unsure about it being "tongue-in-cheek". I've re-read the blog again with this in mind after seeing Ben's note above & I'm sorry to say that, you can read his blog in many ways but tongue-in-cheek ain't one of 'em. So, at least to me & probably to many others out there, it just doesn't wash.
I'm hopeful for OF, that it will take off. But realistically speaking & sadly so, I see mainly hardcore fans buying them with a small percentage of newcomers jumping in. I do wonder how many of us are out there & I do fear there won't be enough of us.
There've also been a lot of criticisms laid on Marvel over this whole incident which I feel, to a high extent, is not fair. Marvel is where they are because they've given a lot of fans hours & hours of enjoyment & thrill over many decades. It doesn't come with disrespect to or of fans. It is merely the conduct & attitude of one or several people within a large company. So, let's keep it in perspective. Don't know about you all but I have to say that since Joe Q took over as EIC, things have never been so good at Marvel for a long long time (although... the X-Men & Uncanny titles had suffered for many years until only recently) with some hits and misses which are inevitable.
Anyway, April & OF #1 release will be bitter-sweet - I'm really really getting impatient to get my hands on it but also sad it's going to be 5 issues only. With a small possibility it'd get an ongoing release.