Letters posted here are associated with the following article:

52
Letters
Tuesday, January 22, 2008 12:00 AM

Kansas O'Flaherty ... Secret Agent

It's all coming back to me!

The letters thread is now closed.

View:
Wednesday, January 23, 2008 05:22 PM

Suggestion

Fire Toni Schlesinger (if she really writes this wretched mess; I suspect it's actually a drunken intern) and hire Tideswimmer.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008 01:40 PM

"Leaning on advertisers is a hallmark of knee-jerk conservatism. I expect better from progressives."

Silly me, I thought being able to make your voice heard was a hallmark of being an American.

Silencing protected expressions of dissent is a hallmark of knee-jerk conservatism.

You should expect better from yourself.

The way the customers are being treated over this travesty of a comic strip is indicative of how they're being treated by the site as a whole. Advertisers have a right to know if they're money is not being spent well. Telling them works for me.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008 11:42 AM

Tune in Next Week

Next Week's "Adventure"

Joe: Kansas, did you ever hear of the Danvers Lunatic Asylym?

Kansas: The what? You mean the Asylum?

Joe: That's what I said, the asylim.

Kansas: There, you did it again. Only different this time.

Joe: Different what? What are you talking about?

Kansas: You keep misspelling "Asylum."

Joe: I'm not spelling it at all, I'm just saying, "Have you ever heard of the Danvers Lunatic Assylum?

Kansas: There! You did it again?

Joe: What are you talking about? Words are only how you pronounce them. They don't have a spelling.

Kansas reaches up and grabs a word balloon.

Kansas: Look, it's right here. Asylym. You spelled it wrong!

Danvers enters, dressed in a space suit, and wielding a ray gun.

Danvers: Drop the balloon, O'Flaherty. You're coming with me to my base on the moon.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008 10:34 AM

Going after the editors is one thing

Don't we want editors to be responsible for editorial content? Why in the world would we want corporations to dictate what gets published and what doesn't?

In this case, the editors have a responsibility to be responsive in some way or another to their customers -- otherwise, the customers can and will walk away. That's our prerogative, and that's our power.

Leaning on advertisers is a hallmark of knee-jerk conservatism. I expect better from progressives.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008 10:08 PM

OK here's how to get advertisers' names

Step 1: Log out. There's a link on every page.

Step 2: Visit the comic again For convenience here's this week's URL.

http://www.salon.com/comics/oflaherty/2008/01/22/oflaherty/

Step 3: You may need to disable your ad-blocker.

You will now see two to four ads on the comic page.

Step 4: (optional) Refresh the page, the ads may change. In three attempts I collected six advertisers.

  • Bose
  • Aussieweek.com (apparently a joint venture of Qantas and Australia Tourism
  • Bank of America
  • ING Direct
  • Disaboom.com
  • BlueLithium.com
Tuesday, January 22, 2008 08:57 PM

New theory:

Dirk McGirk is writing this. He has to be.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008 08:50 PM

Report card: KOF

Art: Mostly photocopies, no movement whatsoever. F

Spelling: Asylym. 'Nuff said. F

Geography: Even flying car cannot explain one-panel world travel. F

Penmanship: Incomplete. Has not attended class.

English Lit: Inability to remember what happened in the last thought balloon, much less panel, strip or story. F

Math: Cannot seem to divide anything of substance or interest by 4. F

After-school smartassery: can't even do that right. F

Seriously, Salon, what is the deal? This is so bad it is insulting to us all. And to you. Make it stop. If it is intentionally bad, which it had better be, it is not even doing that well, which is quite an accomplishment. That the "creators" can only muster one defender a month tells us all we need to know.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008 07:15 PM

It was all worth it...

... slogging through weeks of this truly wretched attempt at a cartoon...

...to get Machete's link to Kukuburi:

http://www.kukuburi.com/2007/08/09/one/

Now THERE'S a cartoon to be proud of! A million thanks to Machete for the suggestion, and one small thank to KOF for being bad enough to turn me to it.

PS, an observation: I see that Ramon Perez, artist/author of Kukuburi, regularly responds to his readers on his cartoon's letters section. Why do we never, ever hear from TS and TB? Are they too embarrassed to read their own letters?

Tuesday, January 22, 2008 05:51 PM

Didn't see that coming, did you Salon?

No responses, no explanations, no nothing but red-starred raspberries. I love that people aren't taking the editors' insults any more and are actually fighting back! More power to you.

In the end, I wonder: will all the ill will and potential damage be worth the passing, juvenile thrill for Salon of thumbing their nose at their customers? And over a rotten comic strip that nobody likes, of all things?

Looks like we'll see.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008 03:29 PM

Or maybe it's a reference...

...to that awful movie "The Number 23" (which may earn Jim Carrey a Razzie Award for his performance).

Tuesday, January 22, 2008 03:24 PM

Does anyone else think...

Maybe I'm trying to be too hip here, but doesn't anyone else think that the "23 men" is a reference to sex? As in 23 chromosomes?

Tuesday, January 22, 2008 02:56 PM

didja see what got the sole red star in this thread?

A snide,third-rate piece of snark slagging all the KOF hatas. That'll teach you fools to say mean things about Joan Walsh's friends!

Tuesday, January 22, 2008 11:05 AM

but what will I wear?

This KOF phenomenon is Duchamps Urinal, Web 2.0. In the case of KOF (and Borat, etc) we have art = crap + frame + audience reaction, where reaction is primary.

And look at the reactions: membership cancellations! advertiser warnings! other strip suggestions! and, mainly, witty ways of calling the strip crap..

How many of us watched Borat thinking we'd never be fooled in a similar situation? We've all turned into.. almost.. characters in a play reacting to our playwright, kind of. Actually, maybe "tormenting" is a better word. I don't know. Forget that.

On a different note - who else got the evite to Toni's party next Thursday eve?!! I'm starting to realize how attractive she is.. with a mysterious past:

2003 Recipients of Henson Seed Grants

Toni Schlesinger (New York, NY)

"Dinner at 8:30" is a theater work with live performers, puppets, and musicians, featuring sets and puppets designed by New Yorker Magazine illustrator Tom Bachtell. It tells the story of a playwright who is tormented by her characters. In an effort to rid herself of them, she invites them to a "last supper" where seduction, intrigue, mayhem and murder ensue.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008 10:27 AM

As you were saying...

I like how the entire first panel (25% of the strip!) is devoted to the phrase "As you were saying..." which I guess is supposed to be some sort of poorly-handled linking device from the previous "episode"? At any rate, it's adding even more Waste to an already-huge waste of space. (and now I'm wasting my lunch hour writing about it... viva la waste!)

Most Active Letters Threads

360

A key British official reminds us of the forgotten anthrax attack

A vast array of establishment and expert sources do not believe this episode was really resolved.
189

Is Obama's civil liberties record understandable?

Was it unreasonable to expect him to adhere to his commitments regarding the Constitution?
93

How dare you criticize wasteful defense spending!

So you think it's only terrorist-appeasing lefties who are down on Pentagon profligacy? Think again
47

Have yourself a very merry black Friday

The author of "Scroogenomics" explains why holiday shopping is a drain on the wallet and the holiday spirit
46

Police to talk to Woods

Early morning crash raises questions, and revives tabloid speculation

View all »

Letters Help

Currently in Salon