"Suddenly, six years later…."
Six years. Daily updates.
Send help.
If you’ve read the previous five times I’ve gone though this particular preamble, there probably won’t be much here new to you guys. But as always, I wanted all of you to know how much I appreciate your readership, your comments, your e-mails, your banners, and so on. The feedback and the back-and-forth is part of the enjoyment I get out of putting together material for this site every day, and thank you for that.
Plus, I once again thank my long-suffering girlfriend Nora for putting up with this particular obsession of mine, my parents for me even being here in the first place, pal Dorian for being my continuing partner in crime and a swell friend, and employees Aaron and Timmy and former employee Kid Chris for allowing me to exploit them for the entertainment of others. Well, not “allow” as such, but they haven’t sued yet, so I figure I’m okay.
And, as always, I must pay homage to he who came before: the enigmatic Neilalien, First among Comic Bloggers, for showing us how it’s done and for all the helpful advice he’s provided. Thanks, Neil! (Can I call you “Neil?”) (Er…I mean, Mr. Alien. Sir.)
A little something different happened over this last year as well…internet pals Ken and Mark, just as a goof, cooked up the parody grammar/journalism advice Twitter feed Fake AP Stylebook back in October, and invited a few other friends to participate, including me and some other comic bloggers you might recognize. It turned out to be a big hit; within a few days we had thousands of followers and multiple agents contacting us about pursuing a book deal. And now, a month later, we have nearly 71,000 followers (as of this writing) and we’ve got an agent and things are happening and it’s all very exciting. Turns out this internet thing has its uses. But seriously, I couldn’t have been a part of this if it weren’t for this goofy site of mine here and building the online relationships I have with all these talented folks. (Read more about the Fake AP Stylebook in this recent article.)
So again, thank you to all you folks who continue to tolerate my internet presence here day after day. I’m still trying to have fun with this hobby and this business I’ve been involved in for more years than I care to think about, and I hope you’re having fun with me.
And now, let the self-indulgence begin…well, continue: a selection (i.e. about 80%) of my posts from the past year that you may enjoy revisiting. BEHOLD:
The return of the Conquistador, the most patience-testing series of posts I’ve ever made (1 2 3 4 5 6 7), The Spirit movie promo items, I was totally implying that was urine, secrets of my magazine-writing past…revealed, Swamp Thing and Sluggo – together at last, Mike’s BBS days, the death of customer Sean and the arrest of the suspect , Green Arrow’s bullbleep, more of Mike’s BBS days, the worst Watchmen (unofficial) merchandising tie-in ever, 2008 Prediction follow-up (1 2), dude, the Hoaxmaster, Biblical UFOs, Grundy ain’t no Swamp Thing, Spider-Obama mania, a tribute to Porkins, the fans react to Mopee, QUESTION TIME 2009 (0 1 2 3 4 5 6), Swamp Thing fights a giant purple monster, SGT. SHARK, raw mutants in vicious nightgowns, no it’s not weird at all that I have children’s size Swamp Thing slippers, I knew not what I asked: Defense of Rob Liefeld and Youngblood Week (0 1 2 3 4 5), possibly my favorite comic strip panels ever, the “After WATCHMEN” initiative, the 3rd Annual Ultimate Wolverine Vs. Hulk Day (soon to become All Star Batman Day), in which I posit the Watchmen reading experience in serialized form is different from trade form, original Watchmen solicitations, I’m totally making a urine joke here, the amazing 10 IN 1 SCOPE, I saw the Watchmen movie for free and really late at night, I turn 40 and immediately drop dead, Who Eats The Watchmen Cupcakes, the Watchmen/A-Team crossover, BIG-ASS KIRBY STYLE MUTANT DOG, the senses-shattering Frog by Day, Progressive Ruin Regrets the Error, screw you – the Sneezler is awesome, Swampy by Birdie, Swamp Thing monsters and vans, America’s favorite comic strip about a comic shop The Ruin, oh that crazy Twist, I bought the Howard the Duck DVD – what’s it to ya, someone keep Jor-El away from the bottles, rejected by Marvel, Rogue vs. Dazzler’s apartment, Legion of Super-Heroes stickers, pal Cully asked for Galactus Week and lo, I delivered (1 2 3 4 5 6 6 1/2 6.75), I’ll have you know that my original joke for the Female Force comic in this End of Civilization installment was going to be “THIS ISSUE: A Female Force member dies!” – yeah, I know, Look at My Butt and listen to my podcast interview, Free Comic Book Day aftermath, the very first Sluggo Saturday, Klingons off the starboard bow Captain, Doiby Dickles – badass, Yul Brynner’s puppet show comic: the cover and the hideous nightmare inside, what YOU can do with comics, so anyway, Ben Grimm is in his 90s, I don’t post about Dr. Doom enough, I kick a guy out of the shop, and my friends turn into jerks, Hell-Rider is awesome, man , never look Popeye straight in the face, the strip that could only be called Fumpy, behold the wiener ring, hangin’ out with my governor, this issue of Sgt. Rock sponsored by Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron, I answer more questions (1 2 3), nobody in the Justice League knows when to shut up, I thought my Question joke was funny, I ponder a very hypothetical situation regarding a reduction in books starring the same properties, and a follow-up, Casper cosplay or something like that, I still get a lot of traffic going to the page with naked Jughead, dig the Drag-U-La, a Beatle, Stonehenge, UFOs, and nose candy, Kung-fu Kirby, I didn’t completely hate Transformers 2, in which I fail to explain why Nancy and Sluggo appeal to me, the “Which Is Nerdier: Star Wars, Star Trek or Doctor Who” debate…settled at last, Employee Aaron looks a bit like Johnny Depp’s Willy Wonka in that first pic, gaze into Darth’s eyes and see…something, still waiting for TRUK: Rebirth , the many faces of Ch’p, the day the Bat broke, behold Cardboard Batman, the hideous terror of Sweet Sue, a handful of True Retailer Stories, whoa what the hell Reed, and now – some Beatles quotes, boy, people really didn’t care about Models Inc., this Metal Men series had nice covers anyway, Kirby covers Comics Reader #100 , Arisia says what? (and the follow-up), yet another Sluggo/Swamp Thing mash-up, I am inappropriately amused by dead Green Lanterns, CRACKBUSTERS, what’s new from DC in July 1986, did someone say…Puffy Conan Stickers, Swamp Thing fire truck patch, ’90s Avengers dangly shelf-talker thingie, my terrible Dick Tracy villains, Hugo, man of really only one face but a variety of extra features, I lived through the Death of Robin, but barely remember it, the Clone Saga will never go away, it’s like they don’t want fans to find the comic, Linus is coming down from a bad trip, man , the metaphysical horror of Frisky Fudgie, Jaime draws purty, my favorite Gilbert panels ever , Mike Organism Designed Only for Killing , Sentient Weaponized Amorphous Man-Plant Designed Only for Killing, Flintstones vs. Indians, the inherent humor in bird death , the deadliest animal in the sea, MONSTEREX, NANCODOK and SLUGGODOK, Sgt. Preston is making damn sure you’re PREPARED, Holy Batman bookmark, this is probably the best thing about those late ’80s Superman cartoons, Swamp Thing pog kinda sorta, I bought way too many of these Aliens toys, this is a terrible Superman poster, you know what’s great? Writing at length about tampons, even superheroes love Crumb, the worst alien ever, Casper’s mom and his eternal doom, yes yes “Dan Cooper” I know, when a man and an elephant really love each other, this is the grooviest Veronica has ever been, when Dutch Spaniard Cowboys ruled the beaches, Joker loves his bootleg Jerry Lewis manga, and Shmidlapp has a bad day.
By the way, not that I’m one to sing my own praises, he said in his sixth annual anniversary post, but I think I deserve some kind of reward for that Rob Liefeld week. Sainthood at the very least.
And for reading all that, here’s a picture of me in the Virginia woods as a child, borne aloft upon my cranberry flares:
Thanks to everyone for continuing to read, and I’ll see you tomorrow.
And yes, don’t worry, there will still be a Sluggo post this weekend.
