Scott Kurtz, creator of the popular webcomic PvP, has had his fair share of feuds in the past. He’s known for having a bit of an ego, but at the same time, he’s recognized that fact and has admitted his mistakes on occasion.

However, his latest outburst has now made it official: the fact that Kurtz is a complete asshole has officially surpassed the quality of his webcomics work. Kurtz received a letter from Wizard Entertainment recently, asking him to participate in one of their upcoming conventions. The letter was professional, but Kurtz’s reply was most certainly not; Kurtz had posted both the letter and the response on his website, for all the world to see. (I strongly suggest you read it, then carry on with the rest of this post.)

That response to Larry Ernst from Wizard was one of the most arrogant and juvenile things I’ve ever read. The fact that Kurtz used his reply to publicly bitch about his problems with Wizard as a company, which is not Ernst’s fault, shows a colossal lack of professionalism. Show me one instance in which Ernst was responsible for the questionable tactics Wizard has employed; he’s an ad sales manager, not the CEO. Even if he was responsible, his letter to Kurtz, while improperly addressed, was professional to a tee. Ernst deserved a response that was equally professional, not the witless screed that Kurtz puked up. Kurtz even admitted to hating everyone at Wizard, including Ernst, for acts the higher-ups were responsible for!

But wait…it gets better. Kurtz spoke about his letter on the Bleeding Cool forums, claiming that “professionalism is out the door with me when it comes to [Wizard], because they have never treated me professionally. Not even once.” Well, aside from the usual rule that two wrongs don’t make a right, this statement also proves Kurtz to be a liar. As I’ve stated before, and as shown on Kurtz’s own website, Ernst’s letter was nothing but professional.

Further proof that Kurtz is a lying scumbag comes with his comments on an article at The Beat. Here, Kurtz claimed that Ernst’s letter was not a trigger for his vehement statements towards Wizard, nor was any of his hate targeted at Ernst specifically: “It’s not like I flogged the guy in person or something.” Both of these claims are clearly false: the letter most certainly was the trigger, otherwise he never would’ve posted the response! Secondly, Kurtz made personal attacks towards Ernst in his reply in addition to his broad attacks on the company. He didn’t flog the guy in person, but he sure did shit all over him on a popular website.

Seriously, what a fucking dick. I’ve been told many times that Kurtz can be very hard to defend, due to his occasional outburts; well, there’s no defense whatsoever for this kind of behavior. I’m generally a proponent of separating one’s personal actions from their work; for example, Russell Crowe has a reputation for being a total prick, but he’s still a great actor. Kurtz’s behavior as of late has made enjoying any of his work impossible.

Kurtz owes Ernst a sincere apology. There’s simply no excuse for Kurtz’s actions.

(Note: I did send Kurtz an email on Wednesday explaining my thoughts on this matter, minus all of the swearing and name-calling, of course; I have this blog for that kind of stuff, remember? Anyway, I have yet to receive a reply, quite possibly due to the sheer volume of emails Kurtz receives each day. Still, that does not excuse his arrogance and unprofessionalism when it comes to his reply to Ernst.)

(Special thanks to Luke Foster for his assistance in research for this post.)