Pumped Up for 2017

I'm feeling pumped up about 2017. Last year was chaotic and stressful for me, including moving twice and switching jobs, and it made it tough to focus on getting reviews done. Fortunately, I've worked hard to improve my situation in life, and I'm expecting this year to go a lot more smoothly.

Still, 2016 wasn't a complete letdown for the blog. I reviewed five more webcomics last year than I did in 2015. I want to continue this trend in 2017 by focusing on posting more consistently, and my goal for this year is to write at least 24 articles or reviews, or two posts a month on average. The way I'm going to accomplish this is by writing shorter posts. I expect that some creators and readers will be disappointed that my reviews aren't as thorough as they could be, but I'm content as this point to make some sacrifices in order to expand the blog's coverage and to better match my vision for the blog.

Another change I have planned is that Nicole Ntim-Addae will be more involved with the blog. She reviewed “These Memories Won't Last” and Stymie last year, and I'm hoping she'll be contributing to the blog on a regular basis. If anyone reading this is interested in writing for the blog as well, send an email to thewebcomicpolice@gmail.com.

I'm also excited to let you know that I've started working on a new design for the blog. When it's finished, the blog will look better, it'll be more user-friendly, and it'll be completely ad-free. So, expect to see various changes to the website over the next few weeks as I adjust the design and test out changes to the site's code. The new layout will also emphasize social media and reader engagement, and I'll be debuting a new Q&A feature that I'll explain later in another post. If you haven't already done so, this is a great time to follow the blog on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter. I'm also extremely appreciative of all of the reader comments (yes, even the haters), and I encourage all of my readers to speak up and let me know if you agree or disagree with my views.

Other than that, my plan for 2017 is to generally stick to the outline in last year's “State of the Union” post but to break up the topics into individual reviews and articles. For example, instead of doing one long mega post for science fiction webcomics, I'll being reviewing several sci-fi comics in a row before moving on to the next topic. I also have ideas for articles on controversial humor, critics vs. readers, and how to win arguments, as well as other topics, so expect to see something along those lines in the upcoming months.

If you have any ideas or suggestions for the blog, please send me an email or leave a comment below this post. However, I won't be taking any more requests for reviews yet because there's still just too many I need to get to. The upgraded website will have a new section for requests that will show all the webcomics I have on my to-do list, so there's at least going to be a little more transparency about the review process. I know people are eager to get feedback on their webcomics, and I wish I could review everything, but taking on an unrealistic workload is how I got myself into this situation in the first place.

Well … here goes. It's time to make the Webcomic Police great again.