It's the end of 2000, and with the genuine new millennium of the common era nearly upon us, I thought I'd waste some of your time catching you up on the activities at Doane Central.
The company I work for in real life finally moved us into our new studio...when I took this job in August of 1999 (!) I was told it would be just a few weeks before we moved...now, finally, here we are.
It's been a bit of a frustration, because they obviously had many, many months to prepare for the move, and yet it seems like nothing works quite right. On the bright side, it's nice to be a little closer to work, as I was driving 106 miles round trip every weekday. Now we're down to a much more pleasant 88 or so. I never realized how much getting 40 minutes a day of my life back could mean to me.
On the personal front, my wife Lora and I celebrated our 7th anniversary this past May. Our daughter Kira is doing well overall in 2nd grade. We're told she reads at a third grade level. Our son Aaron is in kindergarten. He's the youngest kid in the class and has made lots of friends and really enjoys school.
On the web site front, things seem to be going well for Comic Book Galaxy. We've had the site up just three months now, and get about 4000 visitors a month.
I first came up with the concept for the site after writing for another site from January to August. I had some serious disagreements with the other site's owner about the direction and operation of the site, and began to think of what my next move should be. As lucdicrous an image as it is, when I pictured a comic book box against a field of stars, the rest of the site appeared out of the ether quite easily. Luckily, I've had a "galaxy" of talented contributors backing me up all the way.
In launching the site, I received absolutely invaluable assistance from Marshall O'Keefe (the other half of the cyber-entity "Comic Book Galaxy Partners") and Brian Florence, who provided essential web design advice early on.
I was quite lucky, and remain profoundly grateful, that many of the writers who I had worked with in my previous position chose to come with me when I started up the new site, including Mike Comeau and Mike Yates (now departed), Loren Di Iorio, Ed Douglas, Dan Coyle, Dani Royer, and Rob Vollmar. In addition, I was fortunate enough to bring some new people on board, including Johanna Draper Carlson (now departed), Christopher Allen, Tom Brevoort, Sal Cipriano, Michael Crawford, D. Emerson Eddy, Adam Fischer, and Chris Ryall. Our most recent addition is Neil Polowin, who brings with him cartoons by Fred Hembeck, a coup by just about anybody's definition.
Response to the site has been heavily skewed to the positive, and I have to credit our great, diverse writing staff for that. Each brings something unique and wonderful to the table, and the whole is much, much greater than the sum of its parts. I'm hoping that in 2001 we will provide even more content for visitors to the site.
If it seems like CB Galaxy is my prime focus, well...my family obviously is my top priority, and everybody has to have a job...but writing about comics now for the last year has really been one of the great joys of my nearly 35 years here on earth. I've met, in person and online, many of my lifelong heroes, and made some terrific friends in the writers that I am honoured to have associated with the site. It's really been one of the most gratifying experiences I've ever had, and at the end of the day, I wouldn't trade it for anything.
That it's all occuring online is an indication of the growth and power of the internet. Most likely, you're reading this because of its existence. It's an amazing tool for work, fun, and most importantly of all, staying in touch. That's what I'm doing here. Please make sure you do the same in 2001.
Alan