Saturday, December 12, 2015

BAB2K


 2000


Doug: A long time ago and in a mobile classroom during summer school, in collaboration with my partner Karen I set up the first post for bronzeagebabies.blogspot.com. And here we are, almost 6 1/2 years to the day later, publishing post #2000. What a long, strange trip it's been! Honestly, I am in Karen's debt for bringing me along for the ride. She's pretty tolerant of me in many regards.

Doug: I wonder if we have much to say beyond what's been said in our last six anniversary posts, other than to reiterate that this has truly become a community. Sure, we've had many regular commenters come and go through the years (and you're missed if you're one of the "wents"). But this place never fails to provide at least a little respite from the daily grind. I think the fact that we've had 32,000 comments on 2000 posts says it all.

Doug: I can't recall which of us was the first to come up with one of our conversation categories, but you'll see sprinkled throughout the bottom of today's post some memorable logos. Sure, some others were tried and they didn't stick. But many of those below have become mainstays around here, like The Open Forum, Discuss, and our Who's the... twins. Hopefully we always manage to throw out an interesting nugget for your rumination. It's not always easy to be original (as evidenced by the number of times we've repeated ourselves), but we try!

Doug: Lastly, I'd again come back to the notion of community. Back at the beginning of February Karen and I recognized that our lives were in places where we couldn't meet our own expectations. So we reached out to our readers for a little assistance and you rose to the occasion (as you always do when we need a pick-me-up). I'd offer you a stat in support of our pleasure at the success of the Guest Writer request: as you read this we have run 51 guest posts/reviews/strips. That number may be more amazing to me than 2000!

Karen: I can't add much to that. A lot of water has gone under the bridge since we started this blog, but BAB has been a consistent part of our lives. While it's true that we've both had more on our plates lately, and we haven't been able to do quite as much, it's been terrific to see the community step up and truly transform the blog into more of a group effort. All in all, I'm very proud of this place and very happy to have met my partner Doug all those years ago -even if we still have never met face to face, or even spoken on the phone!




 




 

 

 







22 comments:

Edo Bosnar said...

2000?! Why, this blog doesn't look a bit over 1,900 posts big... o.k., sorry, that joke seemed to work better in my head...
Seriously, though, congratulations on such a high number of posts, especially since you both host this blog as a non-professional labor of love. Thanks for all of the great conversations you've started and/or facilitated, and the many great diversions!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations, Karen & Doug - but you should have waited till the next post and called it "2001: A BAB Odyssey" :D

Redartz said...

Congratulations, Karen and Doug! And along with the peals of applause, a big word of "Thanks" for all your efforts, care and attention along the way. It really shows. And now there are a full 2000 reasons why this is the best comics/pop culture site around, and more reasons appear each week!

I visit some places on the web (thinking of you, facebook) and see so much sniping it brings me down. Then I come here and am surrounded by this great group of friends, and I'm fired up again. Thanks once more to both of you, Karen and Doug; and to all the terrific, friendly and entertaining commenters here; long live BAB!

The Groovy Agent said...

Congratulations on your gi-normous achievement, and thanks a ka-zillion for being here for those of us who love pop culture--especially the pop culture of the good ol' Bronze Age! I need to be less busy so I can post here more often (y'all have such fantastic topics and conversations), but I want you to know I read every post and most every comment! You guys are fantastic, and I look forward to a reading few thousand more posts from ya's!

Martinex1 said...

Congrats Karen and Doug! That 2000 is really an astounding number. I am so glad I stumbled onto your site. There is really a great group here with great talent and always interesting conversation. I've read through some of the posts from before my daily attendance ... but 2000!!??!!! That is amazing! What an accomplishment. You probably have a few compilation books in there.

Thank you.

Graham said...

Congratulations on 2000, guys. BAB is a regular daily stop for me, even though I don't post a whole lot. Looking forward to the next 2000 and beyond.

Dr. Oyola said...

I haven't been around as much as work/life is a little crazy right now, and even when I've had a chance to read posts have had no time to contribute. . . but I love that Bronze Age Babies and its BABblers are still going strong!

Anonymous said...

When I first saw today's topic, I thought "2000? I didn't think BAB started THAT long ago!" Then I realized it was the 2000th post...duh! Anyway, congrats to Karen and Doug, and let's all meet here after post #4000!

Mike Wilson

Doug said...

Thanks, everyone, for the well wishes.

But I have to say, you who are clamoring for post #4000 -- whoo, boy! If we feel like we run dry on ideas and repeat ourselves now, what will we be like after another 7 years?

Colin, your idea cracked me up. "Now why didn't I think of that?"

Osvaldo, isn't it true about the speed of life? I think about ol' Groove giving us some love today and wishing he gave more. I wish I had/made the time to read his posted comics every day, because it would certainly broaden my horizons. I remarked to my wife earlier in the week that I sometimes think we are just as busy if not moreso with the kids out of the house.

So busy-ness aside, I am just settling in to write up a post for Monday. Hopefully I finish it. You never know.

Doug

William Preston said...

So glad you folks (and your minions) have been here!

Humanbelly said...

Yarks!
I am now overwhelmed with guilt for being a lapsed contributor for a stretch here--! (I'm full-out over-committed & overextended at the moment. . . like many here, I recognize. . . and those darned verbose comments I'm prone to do take a bit of time to compose, even when done feverishly on the fly. So I've had to smack my own hands away from the keyboard for several days, maintaining a desperate stranglehold on the temptation to expound away at will.)
(And Will doesn't take too kindly to that sort of thing in the first place. . . ;D )

Doug, Karen--- as many of us never miss an opportunity to let you know ('cause man, we DON'T want you to ever have even a SHRED of doubt--!)-- this happy, safe, welcoming oasis of easy discussion and examination of a wealth of shared interests, experiences, and passions carries an improved Quality of Life bonus that, to the outside eye, would seem to be just wildly- almost comically- out of proportion to its appearance (at first glance) of being a simple comics blog. It's just-- how to put this aptly?-- it's just. . . better, y'know? In fact, if asked "is the world improved by the existence of this blog?", the true answer is, absolutely yes-- it's a little teeny piece of the world, sure, but there's no question that lives are touched and connections and relationships are created (especially the unique and special one between you, Doug and Karen). The community here adds to the positive side of the world's balance sheet. We're all on the side of the angels. . . !

Okay, so let me meet some lagging responsibilities, here:

Covers: Image-Only-- and that Spidey #67 is one of my all-time favorite covers. Geeze was I delighted to get that one on ebay about 15 years ago!

Fan of/Would be a fan of:
Joe Sinnott's inks/Joe Staton's inks.
Avengers/Justice League
JSA/All-Star Squad & Suicide Squad & Outsiders
Defenders/Doom Patrol & Metal Men

Subby Buyathon:
Cripes, I have 7 of those issues! So, going w/ what's missing--
DD#7, IM#25, MTIO#2, SubbyGA#11, Subby#15. That's 79 cents-- so I'll have to leave SVTU & Invaders on the rack, it looks like. . .

Video games: Sheesh-- am I really one of the more active folks in that realm? We've always been a Nintendo family, me & HBSon-- but the Wii is the last system we got. And man, I was RUTHLESS in my determination to get it for him that Christmas--! Starfox 64, though, probably still holds the crown as the most infinitely replayable game ever. ("We NEED your HELP, Starfox! Andros has invaded the LYLAT system!")

Whooo-- so, do I still get partial credit for turning the assignments in late---?

Doug, Karen-- again, thank you so many times over for so ably shepherding this small, globally-scattered group of friends down myriad paths of nostalgic delight-!

HB

Anonymous said...

Happy 2000th anniversary BAB! Thank you Karen & Doug!

Wow how time flies. While I wasn't here at the very beginning, when I stumbled onto this gem of a blog, I knew I had found an oasis of fandom, a refreshing change from the crazy and sometimes plain nutball fan sites out there as Redartz pointed out.

What makes BAB special (at least to me) is the fact that it truly is a community of fans who genuinely love their stuff; some of us have different tastes, but we all have been deeply touched by the work of our favourite creative persons.


So, all I can say is, congrats Karen & Doug, may the BAB live long and prosper!


- Mike '2000? Geez, I can't even count that high!' from Trinidad & Tobago.

Redartz said...

William Preston- do you mean I get to be a minion? I love Minions! I'm so excited...

HB- nice catch-up post there, and a fine tribute to our BAB dynamic duo!

Rip Jagger said...

Congrats!

Blogging is about persistence when inspiration is flagging. Take it from a guy who posts even when he has absolutely nothing to say. (Many would say that's most if not all the time.) The self-enforced deadline makes me think about things more deliberately and that's the real value of these bloggy things.

Sadly the posts here always seem to hit right after I leave home for work, so I'm often left out of conversations until the end. Nonetheless, I find lots of things to think about.

Thanks for keeping it going.

Rip Off

Simon B said...

Hi Karen and Doug! I'd just like to echo the far more eloquent commenters above and say a big THANKS! and KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK! Your hard work on this blog is truly inspirational and, although I don't comment half as much as I should, I always check out BAB and always, I mean *always*, enjoy the hell out of it! ( Sorry about all the exclamation marks! Oops, there's another one... )
All the best and congrats again on the fantastic achievement.

Humanbelly said...

Oh! On your catalog of logo images, you seem to have omitted the little "A Good Question" guy, skewered upon the horns of whatever fill-in-the-blank dilemma he's facing-! Ahh, he's one of my most-favorites, he is. . .

HB

PS-- and as a final catch-up addendum, related to the Christmas Gift post awhile back, my birthday was on the 5th, and HBSon COMPLETELY surprised me with a laminated Hulk print by Neal Adams, which he purchased at Adams' booth (and had him sign) at the Baltimore Comicon-!
Man, I wondered why he was texting me from the con, asking a lot of questions about NA's background and such. Now a feel a little bad for going off to him a bit about Adams' loopy and rather arrogant Expanding Earth advocacy. . . sheesh. Although HBSon did confirm that the man's ego was a mighty thing to behold as he listened to him talking to fans and folks. . .

Doug said...

Thanks William, HB, Mike, Rip, and Simon, for the kind words. Rip, I love that you usually choose themes for your week's posts. That helps to set a focus. Simon, I always like your concert reports, and those times when you just show us some beautiful scenery from the UK.

Good logo call, HB -- I appreciate the scrutiny. There were a couple of one-hit duds we've used, but I left them lay in my file. But the question mark guy is one we often use, and even just last week!

For anyone still coming here, or checking up on comments from yesterday, you might want to gather some thoughts on the Wein/Wrightson Swamp Thing. I have a review sludging (sloshing?) your way tomorrow.

Doug

J.A. Morris said...

Karen and Doug:

Congratulations to both of you on reaching this blogging milestone! I want to personally thank you for inspiring me to create not one but two comic blogs since I discovered BAB. And thanks for creating such a wonderful community!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations, and thanks for creating such an awesome blog!

- Mike Loughlin

William said...

Congrats Karen and Doug. Looking forward to the next 2000 posts!!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations!!!!!
I only 'pop in' now and again BUT I always love visiting and am so glad when I do to 'see' old friends commenting.
Let us stand , charge our glasses and toast to two thousand more!

Frank

david_b said...

Congratulations everyone on **yet** another BAB milestone..!! It's been quite a ride.

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