A Bold New Direction! PanelPatter.com!

You know how comic book companies are always pitching bold new directions?

Well, it's my turn!

I'm very pleased to announce that this blog is now located at PanelPatter.com!

Not a lot is going to change in terms of the physical blog, at least right now. I'm still hosting via Blogger, which has been incredibly good to me over the past few years. Someday I might move on to a private host, but the less I pay in maintenance, the more I can buy in comics. (Yes, I think that way. You should, too!) As far as I know, all old links should still work, which is one of the reasons why I opted to do the transition this way.

Right now, I'm sure the site itself has a few bugs, so please bear with me, and be sure to let me know so I can fix them. I've tried my best to get them all out of the way now, but I'm sure there's a few I missed.

The change, however, is more than just a coat of paint. I'm making a few other changes as well as Panel Patter matures and grows.

The biggest shift is that I will be making a few changes to Panel Patter's focus. I'm not altering what I read or the type of comics I review, because once I saw the pleasure in being a comics omnivore, I cannot imagine being anything else. However, that doesn't mean I can't refine things a bit.

I started off reviewing comics almost as a way of keeping an ongoing reading list. I used to read a lot of older comics, and to some extent, I still do. While it's always nice to dust off an older work and talk about it, I find myself far too often saying somewhere in my review, "If you can get a copy of this, do so." The result is that far too often I've been lagging behind in the discussion of comics, and my primary reason for having a blog is to talk about comics with others.

Starting now, I'm going to focus primarily on reviewing and spotlighting comics, both print and digital/online that are roughly a year old or less, and thus fairly easy for someone to pick up or find on the internet if they're so inclined. This also includes older comics that are getting new life as a digital offering, as well as series (primarily manga) that are ongoing but may have started several years ago.

I'm also extremely pleased to announce that that I'm looking towards adding some additional contributors to the site. The first is someone close to my heart, my wife, the talented bike-and-other-things blogger, Erica Satifka! Erica will be on board to help me mostly on the zine and mini-comics side of things, along with whatever else crosses her mind. Her perspective on the comics world is not the same as mine, since she did not grow up with them but has become a fan over time. While Panel Patter will remain primarily my place to talk comics, it's nice to get some additional voices into the discussion.

Here's what else is new or changed at Panel Patter:
  • Digging into Digital will remain as a recurring feature that will be used to tag comics reviews and news that deal with the online comics world in some way, but not for reviews of print work that just so happens to also be digital. (So if I review a group of digital comics that are also available as a trade at the same time, they'll be treated as a regular review.)
  • My weekly linkblogging, Sunday Readings, remains in place as well. Curl up with your computer and enjoy things in one place that I enjoyed in several places over the course of the week.
  • Dust off the Panels will be my new place to discuss older comics that I really want to talk about. Sometimes, you just gotta discuss a Fantagraphics book from 1998, you know?
  • Panel by Panel, my monthly review of what I read, will return as well after a few months off.
  • Quick Hits is getting a revamp, and will now be for multiple books on a theme instead of individual volumes, as a general rule.
  • Year of... returns this week, and will be attempted again next year, if all goes well.
  • I'm retiring Webcomics I Like, which merges into Digging into Digital.
  • There is now a publisher index from the main site for easy checking for your favorite imprint.
I have a few other plans as well, but those will come later, as I build the structure for them. Keep your eyes peeled!

I'm really excited about these changes as I move into my third year of taking comics blogging seriously. I hope you'll like what you see, and stick around for comics conversation and craziness See you around for the new and improved Panel Patter!
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