well, it looks like this is the end of the comic... i'm not sure if i'm going to keep doing it (unless other papers will pick it up). i had a good run. i'm also glad they're at least letting me make fun of them in my last two strips. you can try to write to the comic editor if you like (and maybe convince him otherwise), but they seem like they have their minds pretty set on it. Anyway, his email is here...
kevin [email] said at 6:34 PM 03-23-2005: i think that this comic ruled because it actually had local references and stuff that people reading the washington city paper would get because they live in... duh.. WASHINGTON!
almost all the the other comics they run seem like generic syndicated stuff.
ed [email] said at 6:38 PM 03-23-2005: Dear Mr, Nash,
I am writing to express my disappointment in your decision to stop running Ben Claassen's "Dirtfarm" comics. Although they are often irreverent - or perhaps because they are irreverent - they consistently make me laugh. I really don't understand your stated reasoning. What could possibly be more "diverse" than this comic? It is funny week in and week out, with topics ranging from the most mundane events of everyday life to the most sublime nuances of the human condition. The CityPaper will be much less entertaining without this comic. I hope that you seriously reconsider your decision.
huddo [email] said at 6:42 PM 03-23-2005: tell yr comic editor that he totally doesn't have a sense of humor. if he is to make his salary ruining comic artists lives with his decisions he should perhaps take a second look at red meat instead of canning ben. actually i'll tell him myself by boycotting all of city paper advertisers.
reggie [email] said at 10:18 PM 03-23-2005: I smell limited edition Dirtfarm Graphic Novel! You know what, the CityPaper sucks forget them whores! They wouldn't no funny if it ran up and shot them in the kneecap while wearing a shirt that said "Funny" on it.
huddo [email] said at 10:12 AM 03-24-2005: Since i work at City Paper with Ben and Brad, i took a peek down into the Comics Dept (empty as usual) and saw Mr. Nash in his cave cube hunched over and editing a Garfield. Folks, we don't even run Garfield.
brandon [email] said at 10:32 AM 03-24-2005: Some excerpts from what I wrote. I hope it helps. I guffaw when I read your shit. I've been a great fan of your stuff since that time in college when you first showed me one of your "dumb little books about..." I know I'm really more of Josh's friend.
I guess, and I haven't really probably ever had a conversation with you of more than a few sentences, but, I appreciate you, man, and what you do. I hope they change their minds.
Dear Sir,
....
I can't stop you if you want to populate your pages with Chris Ware straight lines and well-drafted amputee genitals or Max Cannon floating skulls, or even Sleaze Rat (oh, it is funny when sleaze rat does something unloveable!). Hell, the Reader does it, and the Reader does just fine...for the midwest. But there's a reason that the midwest is the midwest, and I think you'll see my point when I tell you this: the midwest is very boring, and Chris Ware does very well there, in the Midwest...
...
The coastal areas of this country pride themselves on being prideful about themselves. It's sort of like being Cato Kaelin, except with Civic Pride....
....victorian petticoats gathered up around a head full of thoughts about laundry....
....right now, you're ripping his feeding tube out with one hand and denying his requests to appeal with the others....
....Love the fact that PEOPLE GET TATTOOS OF THESE CHARACTERS. I'm not kidding, I've got a Fappy tattooed on my right shoulder. He sheds a clown's tear. When I'm sad, I just look in the mirror at how sad that darn, crazy sad seal is, and I feel better....
christian [email] said at 11:06 AM 03-24-2005: ben, last night a friend of mine who you've never met noticed a button on my jacket that is a drawing of yours (the girl with the martini glass) and said "is that a drawing by that dirtfarm guy?". i said it was and he said "oh man i love his comics, they crack me up" and i agreed and told him that your comic had been cancelled that very day. he was outraged that your comic had been cancelled in favor of some of the other crap they run in the seedy back pages of the district's free weekly. so there's some feedback from a truly objective non-biased fan
kara [email] said at 11:24 AM 03-24-2005: Okay, I'm going to give an honest opinion now.
I don't think that every comic you submitted should have been "panels." A lot of them were really good all around, but I think you might have had more impact by sometimes using one-joke comics.
The Pain, is a good example of the format that works best for you.
You are an extremely witty gentleman full of wisecracks which I think would often be more memorable standing alone.
huddo [email] said at 12:26 PM 03-24-2005: maybe we are all letting our friendships with ben get in the way of mr. nash's seasoned and professional ruling. perhaps mr. nash is a cold slap of reality that ben's humor and ours for that matter don't match up to the current times or is simply not funny. i've thought about this seriously and reflectively. mr. nash isn't only canning ben, but honestly he's canning all of us. i'm actually just testing this idea out and upon reviewing ben's comics i am starting to see mr. nash's point. honestly it's quite a wake up call about a lot of the areas of my life that perhaps i should "can". should i can brandon? ...yes... should i can carla? ...maybe... i think we should all think about mr. nash's decision and how it affects all of us personally, instead of just blindly rushing to the aid of a potentially not funny friend. just sayin.
shauna [email] said at 1:11 PM 03-24-2005: who the hell is mr. nash? we have a comics editor? huh, i should start coming to work...
but seeing the mew dirtfarm was the best part of my week in my own dark cave here! now what, ben?? now what??
julie [email] said at 5:36 PM 03-24-2005: Really? I don't feel like I'm being insensitive. No one who works at the City Paper (in these responses) has heard of ol' Nashie. Ben is a funny guy who thinks of funny things and then writes them. I don't think it's insensitive to imply that he might, once again, be having a little fun.
It's not like I said I would be happy to see his comic go, jeez!
Bring me Nash's head on a platter! That ought to solve this.
brad [email] said at 5:54 PM 03-24-2005: By the way, you must have forgotten that I work in the City Paper, in the PRODUCTION department, where anything graphic is dealt with. Matt and Shauna don't work in our department, and he's only there one day a week, anyway. Why would someone in editorial need to talk to a comics editor? Why would they know him?
christian [email] said at 6:15 PM 03-24-2005: the jig is up man. i feel stupid for not thinking of it myself but it's almost too obvious now. well-played, ben. bravo!
brad [email] said at 8:29 PM 03-24-2005: Yeah, I figured. And even if the joke wasn't over, I noticed some inconsistencies in my attempts to rend further authenticity to "Nash." So as usual, I would have ruined the joke, anyway.
brad [email] said at 5:35 PM 03-24-2005: He works outside the building, but he comes in on Tuesday to discuss things with Pete (and Ben, until he cut his comic). I don't really know what they discuss. I'm wondering how he convinced Amy that we need a comics editor.
kiche [email] said at 4:05 PM 03-24-2005: for your last comic you should go out with an exploion.
you should do a comic where the catholic church has the pope hooked up to a machine to keep him alive even though he is already braindead.
then you could show his soul up in heaven fucking terri schiavo in the ass (preserving virginity and not having to use the evil of a condom, which are not alowed in heaven).
dave [email] said at 5:34 PM 03-24-2005: great fucking idea kiche. he could also have a chorus of onlooking aborted fetuses chanting for the pope to blow his holy load!
brad [email] said at 5:25 PM 03-24-2005: Ben, fuck that Nash dick. I don't know what the fuck the paper was thinking when they decided to make that guy Comics Editor. Why do we even need a fucking Comics Editor, anyway? Anyway, the guy's a goddamn prima donna. He's only been at the paper 3 weeks, and already he's getting rid of our only staff comic artist?
Yesterday, he was parked behind me in the garage downstairs, so I went to his desk to ask him to move it. I said, "Hey--" and he started flittering the back of his hand at me, like he was shooing away a fly. I was like, "Um...I just need you to move your car, you're parked behind me. So he turned, very deadpan, pausing for second and said, "I know. I'll be down in a second." What the fuck is his problem!
