The following first appeared in the ComicsXF newsletter. You can get early access to our editorials, a roundup of the week’s best content and get to know the members of the ComicsXFamily by subscribing right here.
I woke up last Christmas morning with a Slack notification blinking. Our webmaster, Jason Large, had spent all night building the homepage for the ComicsXF relaunch. It was an incredible gift and the fruit of countless, underappreciated hours from him and our entire relaunch team. Looking back after the past year, I still can’t believe how lucky we have been.
You need to understand that there is nothing cool and glamorous about writing about comics. A site like ours is filled with folks cramming in 1,000 words on their lunch break or staying up after the kids go to bed to record a podcast about Zero Hour: Crisis in Time! Our biggest perk is getting to read low-quality, heavily watermarked PDFs of comics a few days before everyone else. All while getting yelled at for ever saying anything mildly critical. We do this for less than minimum wage.
And still, I feel lucky that I have gotten to steer this ship to as much success as we have had in the last year. The move from Xavier Files to ComicsXF was critical for us. It was a statement to the world that we weren’t just some X-Men fan site, but a platform where some of the brightest and funniest minds out there can talk about this medium we love. There’s times we are mean, times when we’ll be brutally critical about a book or a company, but let me be clear, we love comics and love the folks behind them.
Our goal for 2022 is to do what we have been doing this whole time, use ComicsXF as a platform for a smart and diverse group of writers to share their thoughts and experiences with the things they love, while shining a light on some of the best creators in the game. We are not in this to make a quick buck. Every dollar we make from ads or reader support goes directly into the pockets of our collaborators. We are here out of passion and love. It’s where we came from and all we want to be.
As we take a moment to contemplate the year that was while looking forward to the year that will be, I want to take a moment and say thank you to you, the loyal reader who has taken the time to support us. You have decided that you find what we say worth your time. You are the reason we have been able to find any success in this cutthroat world of the comics internet. I’d love to say that I would still be doing this if no one was reading it, but I don’t want to lie to you. I crave the validation your support gives us. We’ve grown to be a player in this world, and that’s because of everything you have done to read and share our site.
So I want to raise a toast, for those who have been with us since the earliest days, for those who don’t know what “Xavier Files” or “WMQ Comics” ever was, for those who have supported us on Patreon, for those who support just by reading, for everyone who has been with us in the last year, cheers! May you be as blessed in the next year as you have blessed us in this one.
Zachary Jenkins runs ComicsXF and is a co-host on the podcast “Battle of the Atom.” Shocking everyone, he has a full and vibrant life outside of all this.
