#100
Well, it's almost Christmas, the world didn't end and we're glad it didn't, because we just hit the 100th post on Trash Mutant! We've been at it since May, publishing classic after classic, blowing people's minds and making them rethink their whole existence. Now seems like a good time for the Trash Mutants to sit back and chat a little about all the stuff we did since the launch, and look into what's coming up in the next 100 articles.
"These were THE HITS!!!" Señor Editor: Well, other than all those interviews we did with all sorts of talented people from all corners of popculture... Some articles definitely got more readers than others. Understandable, since you never know what will become real popular. RC's "Marvel Movie Rights Conundrum" article got a fair amount of hits when it dropped, since it answered the questions a legion of uneducated fanboys keep asking, but it's real success came after that. People google that stuff all the time and find this article and now they have the answers! Whoever said Trash Mutant is not educational? My "3 Great Grant/Breyfogle Batman Villains" article has been one of the most popular articles we got. Most of my music articles did pretty well. I'm so good, you guys. Rajun Cajun: My movie reviews were always decently popular, so there's that. The most popular among those was me and Ross's "Dark Knight Rises" review. While I'm still talking about Batman, my Batman: Evolution Through Media article from way back got a few good hits as well. Thanks for the love! Ninja Ross: I was pleasently surprised to find out that my Slender Man Article was fairly popular! Not only am I glad that this fantastic monster is getting attention but I'm also glad you people like me. You REALLY like me! Also, the #DIRTYLAUNDRY review got some healthy hits. Thanks for giving me attention, readers! "I can't believe you @*$%#s didn't enjoy this article" SE: I really liked that "Daredevil" #1-2 Back Issues Ross did. I have no idea why it barely got any hits. What kind of world are we living in? NR: It's a freaking travesty that Señor Editor's 2012 music article wasn't popular with more people. I've read that thing and I can tell you that you didn't have to be a music expert to enjoy that. RC: An article that I really liked that got no love was Señor Editor's review of "Penguin: Pain and Prejudice" he wrote way back last May. It pushed me to buy it, and I never looked back. Great comic. Great review. Great stuff. And shame on you for not looking at it. SE: You know, I did a few Batman articles and interviews and then completely stopped. It was my Batman phase. My Batman phase will no doubt return, though. It's Batman. Batman rules. Also, Ross' "Silent Hill" article was an insanely researched piece, but it didn't yet get the love it deserves. I shed a single tear for that. "Best of the stuff we reviewed" NR: I liked Rajun Cajun's movie reviews a whole lot. This guy knows what he's talking about and that's usually a plus in most things. And it was a real pleasure to team up with him on the "Dark Knight Rises" review since we're both big fans of Batman and movies in general. As some of you may know, RC has been very busy so there's been less of these but I honestly can't wait until they come back. RC: Of all the stuff I reviewed this year, the best thing hands down was my "Ted" movie review. Not because I liked the movie; it was great for what it was. No, it was my favorite because it was probably the most controversial thing I've ever written. I posted that bad boy on my blog, and the things I said about this movie must've triggered some hateful nerve in the people who read it. I like to argue. It's a passion of mine. If more people commented on the stuff we post, I'd retort a lot more frequently and happily. So, yeah readers. Do that. Oh, and send me comics or request some specific movie reviews! I'll do it in my free time! (Is this what this section's for?) SE: Yeah, wait a sec, so is this a "from all the stuff I reviewed I liked THIS the best" or "this was the review I liked the best"...? We should have thought this through before. Oh well, I'll just go with the first option. The best thing I got to review this year was Sole's ARCOEE album. As far as other stuff goes, Olly Moss' "Silhouettes from Popular Culture" was a pretty great artbook. I am also jealous of the bitchin' Flash Gordon books Ross got to review (here & here). "The features" SE: Well, obviously the most popular feature is Trash Mutant Interviews, which regularly brings thousands of hits. Big thanks to all of our interviewees, especially the first few ones who must have looked at the site, figured we barely have any articles yet, and still agreed to an interview. NR: Yeah, TMI is fantastic. It's always nice to connect with people we admire. But Back Issues is one of my favourite, especially since I'm not that well versed in older comics. It's fun to contribute AND read! SE: Back Issues is due for a comeback! It's been missing for a while. The REGULAREST of our regular features is no doubt RC's Movie News, which always gets some people talking and has been getting better and better lately. Yes, we will be patting ourselves on the back in this article a lot. RC: I'm not shy about giving myself a pat on the back! Movie News is something I love writing, and is something I'll be doing for you, the kind readers and commentors, for a long time. My personal favorite feature is no doubt TMI, but also Ninja Ross's Forgotten Game Greats. I'm not a gamer by any stretch of the imagination, but those articles are always fun to read. "What we've enjoyed writing the most (AKA MORE self promotion)" SE: Honestly, the stuff I enjoyed writing the most are the music articles/reviews and conducting interviews. Music is what I'm interested in the most, even though something that REALLY knocks me off my feet doesn't come too often. Sole's "Ruthless Criticism of Everything Existing" album was great and I loved reviewing that. A few of the music pieces I wrote got some attention and helped out with setting up an interview. I like that, because most of these are independent artists that have something really good to show, often with a really important message, so I always feel good about getting to spread the word about them, since I really appreciate them. There will be more of that. Besides music, I enjoyed making my "Walking Dead comic Survivor Speculation" (or something) article. I think I may already be wrong about some of my "when will this character kick the bucket" speculations, since no major character died recently, but it's fun to see if I got anything right. Time will tell! I also liked the Back Issues I did (the Hawkeye one, especially) and the weirdass books I got to review. Who could expect getting to read stuff like "Sherlock Holmes vs Dr. Moreau" or a Tarzan book where he's gone back in time... from the FAR FUTURE! Nobody, that's who. NR: I had a blast writing my Silent Hill Travel Guide. It's the article I've spent the most time researching. I replayed the games, analysed the maps and went so far as to pick the fan-made wikia apart for little details and differences in games. I love writing about video games, though and it's a heap of fun being "the video game guy" at Trash Mutant. In fact, it's pretty great that each of us have our own niches as well as being able to cross over. Señor Editor is "the music guy" but has an impressive number of comicbook articles under his belt, for example! RC: The movie news. Absolutely no hesitation there. I love movies, I love bashing stupid ideas, and I love telling the reader what they should be paying attention to, or what they should avoid at all costs. I love writing this segment so much so that it inspired me to switch my major to journalism. If it weren't for this site, its readers, and its darling commentors, I would've had no clue what my future would have in store for me. Thanks to everyone here, I think I found my calling, as friggin' corny as it sounds. On top of that, I love(d) doing movie reviews, and I'd really like to get back on that horse. Telling people what movies are awesome and which ones suck is probably one of the best things ever. If I could do that more often, I'd be a much happier man. I have a whole bunch of movie-themed article ideas in this sexy brain of mine, but, because of school and stuff, I can't ever get around to writing them. I'll make it my responsibility for next year to get some of those ideas out there to you fine readers. "What's next?" NR: We have a competition that still needs entries! We'd love to do more of those in the future, providing this picks up. SE: Yeah, we started the "Draw Trash Mutant Initiative" pretty early on in the site's life, and the submissions come in really slow. It's a very chill contest, in that way. I figure once we get enough submissions for this one and choose a winner, we could go at it again. Show us your artistic chops, Trash Mutant readers! While we're waiting for the submissions and pushing the contest, another thing we also hope to do with the site is bring in more full-time Trash Mutants and more guest contributors. But it's not easy being a Trash Mutant. There's a test and an initiation ceremony and all. RC: Hopefully what comes next is a sweet paycheck and my own action figure... Seriously though, you got that contest that's been going on WHICH NEEDS MORE MEMBERS. Once I have some real free time, I'll get my life together and put out some more movie reviews for you guys. That, and I'd like to get my say in some comic reviews. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it, though. SE: Yep. So all that and plenty of other stuff is up next. The site growing is gonna be a big focus for us. This was just the beginning, we will keep improving and expanding. So look forward to that! Last but not least, we'd like to thank ReuBen DeBord & Vicki Locey who contributed a few articles to the site, all of our interviewees for being good sports and really awesome people, and of course YOU, the Trash Mutant reader. Because we would be pretty depressed if nobody read this website. What do you think of all the past articles? What did you enjoy the most? What would you like to see more of? Let us know, because we love getting feedback. |
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