ComicBasics.com Year In Review

To wrap up 2016, I wanted to take a moment to give you, the reader, a year in review. Thank you from my brother and I, thank you to everyone that has supported ComicBasics.com through its first year of existence. While trying, challenging, and with its fair share of brotherly arguments, the first year was a gleaming success.

It’s because of your visits and the feedback that we received that enabled us to strive to make a better website. 2016 has been one of the most rewarding years of my life and I anticipate that 2017 will be no different.

The website grows as we grow (and I’ll tell you that there has been a lot of growing) and any and all success it has had has surpassed our expectations. New friendships have been forged and business opportunities have presented themselves that have Joel and I forever grateful.

ComicBasics.com began as a simple idea that Joel and I thought of years ago. After what seemed to be an eternity, we drew up the plans and set our idea in motion. And by “drew up the plans and set it in motion”, I mean we flew by the seat of our pants.

Year in review

In the beginning, we created a very basic guide to a number of popular characters that would teach those who didn’t know as much as we did. While it wasn’t easy (there is so much information to pick from) it was satisfying. We started with Marvel Comics because growing up it was our passion. From there we ventured out into DC.

Once we had a suitable amount of character write-ups done, we began to branch out into what would become the backbone of the website; blogging.

I personally found great satisfaction writing articles that touched on “un-comic” topics like bullying, alcoholism, and racism.

One of the most honest articles was done around the topic of the sexist approach to female characters in comics. It was with great pride that I was able to express my views on these subjects that mean so much to me.

During my writing, it thrilled me to be able to talk about my favorite characters. You know, the ones I grew up idolizing. I will never forget the day that I was finally able to include my favorite, Cyclops, in an article. That day will live with me forever.

With the blogging comes the comments and feedback. As said above, it is what I hold dear to me. The interaction with you, the reader, cannot be understated. It is the fuel that keeps this fire going. I love writing a “Top 10” article and then having a whole bunch of people reaching out to me with their “Top 10’s”.

Different

What separates this site from so many other comic sites is our desire to use it to make a difference in the world. At the bottom of the main page, there is a link that will take you to a section of motivational quotes said by characters. In a time of such uncertainty, it is uplifting to read things that remind you that yes, there is good in the world.

At the tail end of 2016, we launched a section called Versus. The idea was to put characters from different genres, publishers or realms against one another and decide who would come out on top. This was done because, at heart, we are just two fans…fans who love to think about the “what-ifs” and the “could this happen?”. What we did not expect was the unbelievable feedback from it. It was fun to watch the emails, and reach-outs pour in from the readers and who they would have battle and which one would win.

Favorites

Finally, to cap off the year in review, if I could choose a few articles that have become my personal favorites, they would be:

• Comics and Bullying: There’s a Bigger Issue Than You Realize. Through it, I was able to touch on a topic that is still an issue in today’s world.
• Why Christopher Reeves Is A Bigger Hero Than Superman. This article showcased that an ordinary human could do extraordinary things.
• United We Stand: There Is Zero Room For Racism In The World. It’s pretty self-explanatory.
• Thundercats Ho! This is a post that I have wanted to write for so long. The voice on Lion-O commenting on it makes it that much sweeter.

I want to give a special shout-out to the people who have taken the time to promote the website and also the partnerships that have formed and will continue to form into 2017. Saying that, if you want to write or contribute to ComicBasics.com, please let me know. I can be reached at [email protected].

And with that ends my year in review. Time to get back to work.

See you in 2017,

Jeff