I don’t think the forum is Mills-bashing per se. Most of the problems people have will Mills come down to the same things: his constant slamming of Rebellion, his inconsistent stance on creator rights, and his recycling in the comics he writes that are most visible with people on this forum. However, I’d argue because he is so constantly vocal about everything, that’s why he becomes a discussion point. Rarely do we have to wait long before there’s another comment where he’s bashing Rebellion for something or other, claiming the company is disingenuous or somehow has a vendetta against Mills and his work, and so on.
As Funt says, it’s not like this is one-way traffic either. That would be more of a concern. Typically, I’d say these threads more often turn into interesting discussions about things like Rebellion’s attitude towards contributors, creator rights, new technologies, and so on.
As for American Reaper, I’d say the big problem for me was the format. It just took up too much of the Meg. Because it didn’t really click with me, its decompressed storytelling dominating the publication didn’t exactly put me in a position where I felt increasingly favourable to it, let’s say. But the broad strokes of the story worked well enough, and its finite nature was good to see. (And I don’t mean that as damning with faint praise. I like it when stories end, even if there’s always a door ajar for the future.)
