Shortpacked VS Lil Formers?
February 19th, 2009
Oh man, seems my latest strip has annoyed Shortpacked! creator David Willis enough to make a strip about how much he HATES Lil Formers!
http://www.shortpacked.com/d/20090219.html
Beware Mr. Willis… a terrible vengeance will be brought on Monday… yeeeeeessss…
February 19th, 2009 at 3:29 pm
EEEEEEK!
Wonder what vengence would look like?
February 19th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
Get him Matt!
I hope your able to shut down his anti-humor site and get their ilk out of the fandom forever
February 19th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
As a fan of both, I wish you the best, and I hope Shortpacked! gets back to its regular funny self soon.
February 19th, 2009 at 4:33 pm
Here here, about getting their ilk out of the fandom.
Seriously, I’m sick to death of this “Gee-Whunner” labelling garbage. Why is there no “Bheeeest Warrierz” term or “Bayformer fAnZ!!”?
Everybody should be allowed to like OR HATE anything they want to.
Matt, I’m highly anticipating your “vengeance” strip, but I hope this doesn’t turn into some kind of ongoing “West Coast/East Coast” feud between you two in your strips. I don’t even read Shortpacked, the only time I see it is on the odd chance somebody forwards it to me.
(I must say though, Willis’ strips mocking Pat Lee were actually funny. Maybe you guys can work together on a benefit comic that satirizes Pat “The Transman” with the proceeds going to all the artists he’s ripped off. )
February 19th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
You could point out that Bumblebee is not Hot Shot and Armada isn’t exactly new, or Bulkhead DOES have an older version!
February 19th, 2009 at 4:55 pm
I have read 2 Shortpacked! strips and liked half! The one I didn’t like was this one because it’s crap!
February 19th, 2009 at 5:13 pm
I’m not gonna lie, I’m going to have to agree with that comic.
February 19th, 2009 at 5:18 pm
Seriously, I read both comics, like them both and this whole thing really should be taken lightheartedly.
Just an opinion.
February 19th, 2009 at 6:02 pm
I was guilty of this myself at one point, but now think that most people are reading Matt’s statements of “anger” on posts like this one too seriously. I don’t think he’s actually very upset at all. This whole thing has been good for both comics, in the sense that it’s generating LOTS of publicity for both.
February 19th, 2009 at 7:25 pm
Honestly, I think the best thing you could do is not respond and just continue to do what you do - which is make strips that a lot of people find entertaining. Willis, of all people, lecturing on what makes funny is… well, inadvertently that’s the funniest and most ironic strip he’s done in years. But probably not in the way he meant.
You just do what you do best which makes a lot of people smile and a lot of people laugh.
I would hope that you are indeed entirely laughing it off an aren’t in any way, shape or form hurt by the comic or the spiteful wikipedia entries. I know you’re obviously doing so in your post here but either way, forget about it, there’s an awful lot of people who love what you do exactly as you do it.
February 19th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
I love Willis’ blog posts about toys, but his comics are often quite strained for humor. I think his comic about Lilformers was more ironic than anything because of that.
February 19th, 2009 at 8:23 pm
This won’t be good. Don’t do it Matt, be the bigger person!
Please, I’m a big fan of yours, and if you retaliate, I will lose a lot of respect for you.
February 19th, 2009 at 9:37 pm
Are we sure that comic represented Willi’s opinion, or is it Ethan (the character’s) opinion? Because there are plenty of shortpacked! comics where Ethan and Willis (who occasionally turns up as a seperate character in his own comic) disagree with each other to the point of mental abuse and illustrated physical violence. They’ve even updated/corrected/messed with each others transwiki entries! Willis’ views generally seem a lot less extreme than Ethan’s.
February 19th, 2009 at 9:38 pm
Although, to be fair, the one shortpacked comic about Batman playing Dance Dance Revolution was so fantastically funny that Ive given him a pass on allot of stuff ever since
February 19th, 2009 at 9:46 pm
“Are we sure that comic represented Willi’s opinion”
Given his edits to the Lilformers TFwiki entry, yes. Totally. Especially as the opinions aren’t even being voiced by the character you mention.
February 19th, 2009 at 10:11 pm
I like both comics, but this was unprovoked, so I’m on your side here.
Plus, it’s not like Shortpacked! hasn’t completely beaten a joke to death (The four days straight of the same freaking Rock Band joke for example).
February 19th, 2009 at 10:34 pm
Kick his ass Matt! Hes worthless!
February 20th, 2009 at 12:56 am
Man, screw this guy…what is this hip hop beef or something? You’ve got your style of humor, he has his… That wasn’t even a friendly jab…that was a cheap shot. You’re better than this clown…don’t even answer. Who would’ve thought, haters on the webcomics scene?
February 20th, 2009 at 1:04 am
Well, nothing like an old school `Beatles vs Stones’, `Nirvana vs Pearljam’, `Blur vs Oasis’ style rivalry then (real or imagined- given how Willis’ admits to ahve ebaten a joke into the ground before himself, its possible that this is a fake swipe)! I particular like how both comics fans main gripe (for those who dont like both- I like all six of the above exampled bands!) is that the other comic isnt funny. Neither of you are as funny as my (non-existant) comic so nyah!
February 20th, 2009 at 3:36 am
Yeah, I saw the SP comic yesterday and was a bit saddend by the fact that Willis decided to take the low road on this one. Personally, I have always been a fan of both SP and LF. But if I needed to decide, this place wins.
February 20th, 2009 at 5:59 am
“Honestly, I think the best thing you could do is not respond”
Screw that. Smash Daves e-dick Matt! >:D
February 20th, 2009 at 11:06 am
I didn’t LOL at Shortpacked. Epic fail on their end.
February 20th, 2009 at 11:35 am
It’s funny how when Matt makes fun of the various Transformers shows and movies (even going as far as to say that Transformers Animated’s animators are monkeys) everyone thinks it’s hilarious but when someone actually makes fun of Lil’ Formers they’re somehow crossing a line.
Matt, get back at Willis if you must (it’s your right, and God knows there’s enough material for a joke) but if you were actually angry or offended by the strip, I suggest you get thicker skin. If you can’t handle being heckled then you really shouldn’t do satire.
February 20th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
Annnnnnnd did no one notice that in the last panel of the Shortpacked comic, Willis actually DID point out his comics also have at least one joke that gets regularly beaten to death?
Geez people, take a freaking joke.
February 20th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
I don’t think Sh*tpacked deserves your attention, but whatever you want to do.
February 20th, 2009 at 8:11 pm
I absolutely love Shortpacked, but I was a little dismayed at the strip. It seemed more bitter than funny, and I didn’t get why the hate (now the Frank Miller hate…that’s just hi-larious).
On the other hand, as MSpencer pointed out, um…more than half the time, LilFormers makes fun of things with a lot of vitriol as well. So, um…can’t take it, don’t dish it, maybe?
(Honestly, all I really know is Animated and Beast Wars, but I’ve always found this strip to be adorable/funny. I just relate better to SP…)
February 21st, 2009 at 7:06 am
So which one of you is Biggie and which one of you is Tupac?
I read both strips. Also, Lil’ Shortpacked sounds awesome. It’s like peanut butter and chocolate. Only the peanut butter and chocolate are bitter rivals who happen to love the same things.
February 21st, 2009 at 11:12 pm
Revenge!!! REVENGE!! BOOYA!
February 22nd, 2009 at 5:19 am
So, in Shortpacked, is it the humor thats a rarity? Or am I missing something?
February 22nd, 2009 at 11:45 am
Honestly, this was a very lame attempt on making fun of your comics, it was pointless and not funny at all. I don’t see why anyone would hate your comics they are brilliant. Keep up the awesome work =D
February 22nd, 2009 at 11:46 am
PS: Can’t wait to see the vengeance, at least he gave ya a reason to make a new comic XD so he served a purpose after all.
February 22nd, 2009 at 10:08 pm
It’s such an inaccurate and intellectually dishonest strawman critique of LilFormers, that’s what bothers me so much
February 24th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
as superior as Matt’s comic strips are the shortpacked comic was kinda right about one thing. He (Matt) does hate alot on newer “revamped” things ie. GI. Joe Movie, Transformers Movie, Transformers Animated, Dragonball Z Movie, Street Fighter Movie, Star Wars: Clone Wars etc. I’m all for voicing opinions and poking fun of stuff but seriously some of those haven’t even been released yet.
February 24th, 2009 at 6:17 pm
@LX: I do like new stuff when it’s done well. the original Clone Wars (by Genndy Tartakovsky) was AMAZING. The new show is so not even close to that. As for unreleased stuff… c’mon heh, the whole world knows the Dragonball and Steet Fighter movies will be garbage. GIJoe has a chance at being mediocre, but from what I have seen I’m betting garbage as well.
Plenty of things I thing I great, bu if they are great I have nothing to make fun of
March 2nd, 2009 at 8:15 pm
How ironic: the character’s reactions in the last panel is how I react to Wallis’ pitiful attempt at a comic. I can’t believe I read the entire archive before I realized how slagawful it is.
March 11th, 2009 at 7:53 am
I have to say, I can’t see anything wrong in that shortpacked strip… I come here for the cute art and the occasional snigger. I try to ignore all the OMG IT’S NOT BEEST WARZ or else I’d put my foot through my monitor and send Matt the bill.
March 17th, 2009 at 12:43 am
Dude, my opinion is easy to figure out: I only knew he wrote this strip because it was mentioned here. I gave up reading SP over a year ago.
Personally, I wonder what his issue is that he has to dedicate a whole strip to insulting someone else. Amazing how common decency goes out the window when people get a monitor and keyboard to hide behind.
April 8th, 2009 at 1:02 am
I’d take SP’s jab with a grain of salt. It doesn’t come off so much as an insult, but as a critique, since Matt does repeat his jokes a bit.
But does that mean Lil Formers isn’t funny? Hell, no. That’s why as soon as I discovered LF, it got a bookmark from me from my home and from my office.
I think David Willis of SP, in trying to mine humor from LF, missed one of LF’s biggest strengths: the humor of LF is based on criticizing the the TF cartoons and toys, as well as other popular cartoons, comics and toys and even video games. If a joke gets repeated, it’s because the scenario depicted has happened several times in that world. Even then, Matt still gets a lot humor mileage from it because he can manage to vary the jokes and point them in a different direction.
At the same time, when I read LF, I sometimes feel like I’m reading an editorial on the state of the world of cartoons, toys, and video games. When LF isn’t funny, it’s sharp and thoughtful- and still good.
My own critique of SP: thanks to this topic, I’ve been going through SP and… it’s just not funny. I’ve been reading onward from the strip where SP hits LF to the latest one, and I’ve only smiled or chuckled once or twice. Storyline-wise, SP isn’t going anywhere (neither does LF, but that’s because LF doesn’t have a storyline, so that’s OK), and the characters seem most defined either by their character quirks, flaws or by being stereotypes rather than by having any real personality. Again, LF has no standard cast of characters to critique on that, so it’s OK.
LF’s bookmarked on my browser, SP won’t be anytime soon.
April 13th, 2009 at 10:14 pm
Hiya Matt
And you ARE the better artist, in my opinon, smoother lines, more attention to detail and shading. But knowing you, I wouldn’t think you were offended, just being comical about vengence, right? 
The stip looks good; think SNL, when they make fun of something it’s actually a form of flattery. Ie; He’s noticed your work.
P.S You should do Jem again! ha
April 27th, 2009 at 5:30 pm
well I have no problem with you angering the mighty willis, He seems to exist to force his opinions and will on others and can’t stand it when anyone doesn’t agree with him..
Shortpacked is his soapbox, where he can gripe about Transformer Fans who just don’t understand how he is right and they are wrong for not likeing the exact same things he does..
The best thing to do is just ignore him.
May 24th, 2009 at 1:08 am
okay, I admit, I thought that strip was funny. And your strips do have a habit of doing just that. But I don’t see why he got offended over your strips. I mean, everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I have a few friends that dis Animated and rave about how good G1 is. Heck, even I dis it at times, and I LIKE Animated. But he shouldn’t have gone out and attacked your work. Best thing I can say is let it be. It might be a one-time thing.
May 24th, 2009 at 1:31 am
oh, btw, I’d never heard of shortpacked until now. I think I’ll check it out. (I’m still staying faithful to this one though, I love it too much
). Just so you know, I’m not taking sides.
Two things were said in comments above. 1, Armada Hot Shot is not Bumblebee, he’s Hot Rod. The fact that he took over the Autobots when Optimus dies proves it, though Hot Shot didn’t take The Matrix like Hot Rod did. (Heh, Shotimus Prime.) Not to mention, watch the 2nd to last episode of TF:Cybertron. He wants to help Optimus fight Galvatron, and someone else tells him “That’s Prime’s fight, kid.” (Just like Kup told Hot Rod in 86 movie.)
Also: “When LF isn’t funny, it’s sharp and thoughtful- and still good.”
The Superman one, I showed my brother, and he was reading out loud Lois’s dialogue. In the middle of her monologue, he went into geek-mode, and what he said totally complimented your strip. I wish I remembered what he said though. It was priceless.