First off, thanks to all the Heralds and passerbys who made 2018 the best year in Comic Book Herald history! I shared a bunch of the “inside baseball” stats with my Patreon supporters, but suffice it to say, I hit a new milestone in visitors (over 3 million!), and added a minimum of 1 new reading order per week!
As we start a new year, I wanted to share some of what I’m planning on the site in 2019. Feel free to chime in the comments with any ideas or requests of your own!
1) My Marvelous Year Podcast & Reading Club
A couple years back I started a reading club called My Marvelous Year, where Marvel fanatics like myself could read through every single year of Marvel history, 10 essential stories at a time. I’m bringing it back for 2019, this time with a podcast where Zack Deane and myself will discuss all the stories on the reading lists.
We’ve been hard at work in the latter parts of 2018 making sure the podcast is ready to roll, and building some exclusive community discussion in an MMY slack channel for Patreon supporters. I’m extremely excited to get the pod and club rolling again.
Our first episode released January 7, 2019. Expect new episodes weekly throughout all of 2019!
Subscribe to the Podcast! — iTunes, Google Play, Pod Feed
2) Weekly “Previously On” columns & Weekly New Reading Orders
This past year was really the fist year I got on a firm weekly publication schedule (one of the benefits of doing everything yourself: your boss can’t set deadlines you don’t approve!). In addition to a minimum of one new reading order per week, I also started my “Previously On” column (via my first Patreon goal!).
One element I’ve tried to navigate over the years is finding time and a space to actually write about comics (as opposed to the more obsessive compulsive organization that goes into chronology). “Previously On” is my attempt to do just that, with a structure of 1 reviewed item, 1 big trend or news item, and 1 new comic-y thing I love per week.
I hit #50 this past week with a review of Daredevil Season Three, 2019 comic book predictions, and my favorite 10 albums of 2018!
Likewise, I have my reading order release calendar scheduled more or less through August 2019. Patreon supporters get first dibs at requested guides, but anyone can make a request that may or may not send me down a rabbit hole of reading (for example, I got completely obsessed with reading every Marvel original graphic novel these last couple weeks!).
3) Talented Help!
Apart from a brief stint in 2014 where I experimented with freelance comic book reviewers, the entirety of Comic Book Herald’s output (and management) comes from yours truly. To be clear, this is absolutely bragging and borderline begging for adulation and applause. Please clap.
Of course, with years of experience, I’m very aware that I simply don’t have the resources to write as much new content as I’d like, and especially to keep the hundreds of guides on the site updated.
So, I have some very awesome writers coming in to help Comic Book Herald’s output grow early in 2019! I’m really looking forward to making CBH more of a go to destination on a more consistent basis, and of course to keeping the world’s most comprehensive reading orders up to speed with the times!
I am as excited as ever to continue Comic Book Herald, and as grateful as I’ve ever been for everyone who has supported the site. Thank you, and as always, enjoy the comics!
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