The Webcomic Overlook

A year ago today, I wrote the first “Webcomic Overlook” over at my Rooktopia blog.

It was a humble little piece about Nedroid’s Bad Webcomic Challenge, where he wrote a 100 quickie strips which — if everyone’s being utterly honest — weren’t actually bad at all. (I wasn’t the only one enamored. I noticed that Cracked.com loved it so much they posted the strip in full.) I took inspiration from John Solomon’s blog. While all of his reviews were negative (and controversial), I liked the candor. It was as if he were saying, “I know everyone else sugarcoats this stuff. Let me tell you what I really think.” My reviews began following the same trajectory, only with more positive reviews and a light sprinkle of Bill Simmons-style trivia tossed in.

The Webcomic Overlook turned out to be the most popular feature on Rooktopia. Yes, even more than my “Top 10 Badass Bible Characters” list! I got more visitors checking out my review than any other feature. So, in October, I took a risky move: I pulled the blog from Rooktopia and started The Webcomic Overlook blog.

And now, here we are, 111 posts later. I’ve wined and dined with kings and queens, and I’ve slept in alleys and dined on pork and beans. I’ve reviewed comics where Lego folks have parodied popular movies, and others where popular movies parody D&D players. I’ve plowed through gamer comics and struck gold, and I’ve rifled through fantasy comics and struck out. I’ve read comics about ninjas and zombies and cowboys that are also werewolves, but strangely I haven’t read a single webcomic about pirates (not that I haven’t tried to find a decent one). I’ve read about dreamy minutemen, presidents with disembodied heads, and a Napoleon who likes to eat cookies. I’ve reviewed at ComixTalk to shoot the breeze about Joss Whedon and at ComicFencing to determine once and for all if there was no need for bushido. Above all, I’ve learned that storylines focusing on miscarriages are never a good idea, though they can be an unintentional fount of humor.

I’d originally planned some sort of super feature here. Maybe I’d do some totally ridiculous spot featuring Top 10 Hottest Webcomic Characters or something equally ludicrous. (It would’ve been equal opportunity, too. Both Penny from Penny & Aggie and Scipio from Templar, AZ would have made it.)

But you know what? All I just want to say is “Thank you.”

From the bottom of my heart, Thank You.

Thanks for coming to the site and reading my reviews. There are plenty of great webcomic blogs out there — Fleen and Websnark, to name a couple — so I’m always happy that someone out there finds my crackpot ramblings entertaining and informative. I’ve had some readers call me a “serious webcomic reviewer.” I don’t know about that, but I appreciate it. This site doesn’t make huge numbers. I just broke 69K total page views since moving to the new site. I’m truly glad for each and every one of you who drops by.

Yes, even you, Bobby Crosby.

Though the folks who stumble on my site looking for lewd pictures of Hannah Montana can all go take a hike. I … I don’t know what to say to you guys.