Holy smokes. Today marks the one-year anniversary of Marooned. It’s somewhat amazing to me when I think back to how this all started. I had a few ideas for a gag strip, I developed them and posted them and then said to myself “now what?”
What happened was lots of wonderful people encouraged me to continue right when I was thinking of hanging it all up. As most of you know, I decided then to begin telling the stories of John, Asimov and the Martians and not just making silly gags. The transition was pretty rough, I’ll tell you. Looking through the archives there’s some stuff I still like, and some stuff… well, not so much.
But what amazed me the most – and honestly still amazes me – is that people seemed to really enjoy the strip almost as much as I do! Even through all the experiments I’ve done with the strip – changing style and colors almost on a strip-by-strip basis at times, you hung in there with me. I can’t tell you how much that means.
So to all my readers, whoever you are – THANK YOU! Some of you I know by name and some I don’t, but I appreciate each and every time you visit the site or read a strip in your feed or e-mail. I hope to give you an even better second year of Marooned.
Also, a big special thanks go out to all of you folks who comment on the strips on a regular basis. That’s really fun for me to get that instant feedback and see you enjoying the strip.
Lots of interesting stuff happened along the way. I believe my readership changed at some point. I don’t know how many of you have been here from the very beginning, but it was certainly slow at first. A few mentions on some blogs and forums, and readership began to build. I certainly got a nice traffic bump during Webcomic Idol 08. Taking third in that competition was in large part thanks to your voting efforts and support.
While this is a labor of love, there are some frustrations. I do feel that the strip moves kind of slowly at times, and that it has cost me readers. I really wish I could update three times a week, I know it would help. It’s just not humanly possible for me to do. Maybe someday.
My plan is that Marooned is going to be around for a long time. I have lots of story ideas for these characters, and it only keeps building. We’ve embarked upon the second story – but really the first one that has been fully thought out from start to end. A lot is going to happen in the coming months. We’re going to meet some interesting new characters and there’s going to be some shocking events. The world of Marooned is going to get much larger, and hopefully, more interesting.
This year there will be more comic books printed, t-shirts are on the way (they are being worked on right now!) and who knows what else is in store. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens.
As always, I enjoy your feedback. Feel free to leave comments or use the contact form to shoot me a message anytime you like. So once again, thank you!
Woah, that’s great..Happy first year anniversary to Marooned and to Tom..Well done..Looking forward to the coming years and all that it’s going to bring us..Sounds like it’s going to be a fun journey..
Thanks Mike! Appreciate you and all your support
Wow – it doesn’t seem possible!
Way to go, Tom, and here’s to a great Year Two!
Thanks Og – wouldn’t have been possible without you!
Hey Tom, congratulations. That is awesome. I look forward to many more years from you. Thanks for the great strip.
Thanks John – thanks for reading
Congrats on getting a year under the belt! Keep it up!
Congratulations on hitting the one-year mark. I swear it feels like you’ve been around much longer (and I mean that in the best possible way)!
Thanks you guys
Congratulations. I really enjoy seeing updates to this comic. The characters are engaging and the world is developing nicely. Here’s to many more years!
Thanks Chris!
Yeah, one year complete! Given all of your success during the first year, I hope you realize you have big expectations to live up to. Don’t worry though, us readers are all confident that you will continue to reach and even break these expectations.
Yeesh, thanks Tony!
Awesome, Tom! I’ve been here from the beginning! (or the near beginning, I can’t remember). It’s been a fantastic year, Tom. It’s been fun watching you experiment. It’s inspiring! Marooned is really something special.
That’s right Irma – you are one of my longest running readers!
Thanks so much, means a lot coming from a fellow artist!
Congrats Tom! That year seemed to fly by!