Though we are not now that strength which in old days moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are.
-- Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Warning: This is not about comic books, it's about a comic book web site.
No, Comic Book Galaxy is not what it was a year ago. Or a month ago. It is, in fact, much smaller. It is, in fact...
Me.
Which is kind of fitting, in a way, since it began with me, trying to think of an idea, a theme for a web site that was not like any other site. In the late summer of 2000 when I conceived the basic idea for the Galaxy, I recruited my friend Brian Florence to be the webmaster, and another friend, Marshall O'Keeffe, bankrolled pretty much all site-related expenses until just a few months ago.
Contributors signed on, and signed on, and some dropped off, and others quit in a huff, and some just disappeared. One quit in a snit because he found out he was expected to actually communicate with the other writers on the staff mailing list. His implication (it was quite explicit, actually), was that we were all gay because we used a mailing list to share ideas and communicate about the site. That was a real highlight in the days when the site sometimes had as many as 25 or 30 regular contributors.
I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss those days. Jesus, we had fun.
Sure, there was also disagreement and controversy and tension, usually blamed on what Marshall calls my "Confrontational style," and usually, that was exactly the cause. But often enough I turned out to be right that for over a year, a loyal and talented group of writers stayed on and helped build the Galaxy into a site that thousands of people visit each day.
And then, the center fell through. I should have listened to David Byrne when he told me "Things fall apart; it's scientific." One of the biggest blows in the past few months was the resignation of editor/web-monkey R. Francis Smith. Three more editors would resign after him, with the site's architecture and content suffering because of it.
While I've always owned the site, a few weeks back I stepped away after taking a new, more time-consuming job. I tried to keep my hand in and offer editor Chris Allen advice and consultation when he needed it, but on the day before Thanksgiving I began to get sick, and by the first week in December, I was in the grips of illness, depression and rage like I have never known in my life. I got to the point where I really thought I would never feel better, and most days, I felt worse. I'm sure that constant pondering of the terrorist attacks of September 11th (hard to avoid in my line of work) had at least a small role in my depression, but for the most part, I was in despair over my seeming inability to regain my health. Health wise, I am still recovering from the pneumonia and bronchitis that were part of my problems in the past few weeks, but on the whole I feel much, much better, and my mood has improved greatly as well. In other words, if you care, don't worry about me. I'm fine.
Unfortunately, and this is something I have apologized for but probably should again, my unhappiness and ill health played itself out on the site's message board. Then another editor quit, essentially leaving no one running the show.
As things reached the crisis point editorially, I decided to step back in and take the site down for both technical and content reasons. I was unable to easily reach all the contributors, although in retrospect I should have probably made more of an effort than I did. The end result was a breakdown of communication and false assumptions that led to many folks assuming the site was dead and moving on to other writing gigs. I mean this mightily when I tell you I am sorry that happened, and I wish every one of them well. There's not one person who's written for this site that I am not grateful to, and I hope that they are able to look back on their time here without regret. For over a year, we all had a ball, and I miss greatly the camraderie and friendship we shared as we stuffed each other's e-mail inboxes with sometimes 50 or 60 messages a day.
And now it's down to me.
I came to the realization that while I don't have enough time to edit and guide dozens of contributors anymore, I also don't have the desire to abandon the mission of Comic Book Galaxy, which is to write about comics with passion, truth and diversity as the primary goals. That's what we've been about from day one, and that's what the site will remain focused on.
At least one Galaxy writer, who was with the site at the very beginning, has said he would like to continue to contribute as time and inspiration allows, and I would never say no to his request. I hope we'll have something for you along those lines within a week or two.
For now, my plan is to maintain the site with archives of reviews, columns and interviews, and hopefully I'll be able to provide something new in one or more of those three categories each week. That's my plan, and I will stick to it as best I can. The best way for you to stay on top of what is going on here is to sign up for the Galaxy Updates Mailing List, which you can do by using the form on the front page or by clicking here.
Thanks very much for your continuing interest in Comic Book Galaxy; I hope you'll stay in touch and let me know what you think of the site as it evolves from here.
Happy 2002.