By Dustin Cabeal
I’ll save you the long version of how Comic Bastards got its start; I believe I ran through that last year in a similar post. The short version is that I was younger, not by much, but I had a lot more time, or at least I slept less. I was also hungry, hungry to give my opinion about every little thing related to comics.
Comics, comic book movies, trailers, fan trailers, Kickstarters, IndieGoGos and anything that you can and have nerded out on.
I wanted to cover it all.
I quit my job and stayed home sitting in front of the computer all day. I had an article going up every hour on the hour. Then every half an hour. Then every twenty minutes. I was one man doing the work of an entire website. It was killing me because it became an addiction. I had to cover more, not just comics and nerdom, but movies and video games. It was too much, but I was pouring myself into it, so I didn’t care.
The problem was, there was no money in any of it. I’m a dude with a computer and an opinion. There are people that help me with reviews so that they can practice their writing and read comics. There’s no money here, and I’m not asking for any. I gave up on making money off of Comic Bastards a long time ago. Sure, there are ads, and those give me a nice little check here and there, but its nothing compared to what I’ve spent to keep the site running or just to sustain a living. But when there’s no money it’s hard to keep that level of commitment, especially when new
commitments arise.
I’m bringing this up because I don’t have the time to do what I was doing before. I would love to say that I do or that I even have the energy to do so, but as much as people say they want my opinion about a new story or this and that, people rarely read past the headline. That and I have a kid that I stay home with all day. I simply don’t have as much time anymore. My commitments are different, and so the site had to change to match my lifestyle.
The entire reason for this post is that I need people to know what we do and don't cover on the site.
I haven’t interviewed by choice in over a year. I haven’t covered fan films or trailers in over two. I won’t cover Kickstarters or crowdfunded projects anymore. As much as I’d like to say that I moved the needle with my posts, I have too much data that says otherwise.
My point is, there are a lot of things I used to cover on the site. I’m one man and no longer have a lot of time to dedicate to expanding the coverage of the site. Last year I decided that the Comic Bastards would just be reviews and press releases that I felt like posting. Because even though I heard that no one likes them (press releases that is), people still read them and get information from them. I’m just not going to give you my two-cents because that’s what I found out people really don’t care about. That and I’ve written a hundred thousand snarky headlines, I’m good.
There you have it, that image at the top, “Comic Bastards – Reviews… and Sometimes News” is the motto for the site, at least for 2018. Maybe one day I’ll have more time and the desire to say more will return, but for now, it’s just reviews. I can say more and do more there than I can pretending that I’m going to get a news scoop or battle a hundred thousand other sites that also need to cover every form of entertainment to keep their site running.
If you want an honest review or a press release (that’s not related to a crowd-funded project) posted, then we’re your site. I’m still just a dude with a computer so be patient because I can only review so much at once, but we’re your site. I’m your dude… or something.
And if this seems like a real “f’ you” to everyone, well it’s not. But I did figure it was time to get this information out there so that people can update their information. “Comic Bastards, they cover reviews and press releases.” We’ll be here next year and the year after. Pretty much forever. Even if it’s just to annoy the people that hate us and want us to go away. Because we’re bastards like that, especially me.
Happy Holidays Bastards!
-Dustin Cabeal
Owner – ComicBastards.com