New Year's Resolutions from Panel Patter and Pals

Happy New Year, everyone!  We here at Panel Patter are looking forward to a great year of comics and conversation.

With that in mind, I took some time to contact various friends of Panel Patter and ask them if they had a resolution they'd like to share. Here they are. Look for some great things as we all try to make 2014 an even better year than 2013 was!

Panel Patter-ers:

Rob McMonigal, Blogger for Panel Patter and Newsarama: Last year, I completely failed at webcomics. After reading more webcomics every year from 2009-2012, I didn't do so well in 2013. My goal is to up my Comics Rocket usage and catch up on all I've missed.

Whit Taylor, Creator and Blogger for Panel Patter: I plan to spend less time in 2014 reading emo-esque graphic novels and minis that make her cry and more that make her double over in laughter.

Scott Cederlund, blogger for Wednesday's Haul, Panel Patter, Newsarama and Sound on Sight: In 2014, I want to work on my understanding of storytelling in comics and to be able to write about the art of comics more than just writing about the stories or the drawings in comics.

Erica Satifka, Science Fiction Writer:  I resolve to have Rob stop bugging me about contributing again!

Panel Pals:

Adam P Knave, cowriter Amelia Cole, Artful Daggers, Never Ending and more: Looking back at 2013 my life changed, due to comics. Looking forward though, I realize I'm not writing enough, or editing enough. My goal is to make 2013 look like kindling, compared to the fire of 2014.

Jamal Igle, Creator of Molly Danger and Co- Marketing director of Action Lab Entertainment: I don't have any resolutions for 2014. I have a plan. Plans work better for me than promises. 2014 is year two of my five year plan.

Alex de Campi, Writer of Grindhouse Doors Open at Midnight and others: I resolve to read more mainstream comics in 2014. I just picked up the Waid/Rivera DAREDEVIL for Xmas and realised how much I missed well-done superhero tales.

Natalie Nourigat, Artist and Writer, including A Boy and A Girl: I've been preparing my annual resolution blog post, and one fairly simple and fun goal of mine for 2014 is to do more movie
reaction comics, because they're really fun for me and people seem
to love them. :-)

Aaron Duran, Podcaster, writer for Newsarama, and creator of La Brujeria: As simple as this sounds, I really want to spend 2014 reporting on more positive and supportive stories in comics. The negative stuff gets the headlines, but it rarely helps anyone or the industry.

Jen Vaughn, Artist and Writer, including Cartozia Tales and Adventure Time: 2014: less dating, more drawing.

Lori Henderson, Blogger for Manga Xanadu and Good Comics for Kids: Last year I said I would work on catching up on some titles I had fallen behind on, and I never got back to it. My goal this year it to finish up at least three long (over 15 vol) shonen manga.

Jamie S. Rich, Writer of A BOY AND A GIRL and THE DOUBLE LIFE OF MIRANDA TURNER: I am going to strive to always remember to talk about the good stuff I read. People are always quicker with a complaint than with a compliment, so praise is a precious commodity. When I read a good comic, I need to make sure everyone knows it.

D.J. Kirkbride, Co-writer of AMELIA COLE and NEVER ENDING: 2013 was terrific personally and professionally. I got engaged and had two comic series published. I'm not getting engaged again, so the appropriate 2014 follow-up is getting more books out there!

Erica Friedman, Writer at Okazu and SocialOptimized: Last year I maximized my interest in and knowledge of the intersection of pop culture and social media. In 2014 I'm going to expand my research, writing and speaking on this topic, because it's so much fun!

Tony Breed, Creator, Finn & Charlie Are Hitched: I bought a lot of great comic books in 2013 that I haven't found time to read yet. I'd like to read those books, and be better about this with the ones I buy in 2014.

Ron Randall, Creator of Trekker: I resolve to determine what certain clients mean when they ask for a project to look "more like a comic book, less like a graphic novel" or vice versa. And then to produce two new Trekker TPB's in 2014, one of which looks "more like a comic book" and the other "more like a graphic novel". Safe assumption: they will look the same.

Ed Sizemore, Former manga reviewer/podcaster: I've been hiatus from manga and comics for most of 2013. I resolve in 2014 to develop a reading strategy for manga and comics that lets me enjoy the medium without getting burned out. A leisurely and sane approach for 2014.

Vanessa Gabriel, Co-creator of Girls-Gone-Geek.com: I kind of slacked on comics, in general. DC wasn't doing anything for me. A few Marvel books have been good, but I didn't keep up. I am like five issues behind on Uncanny Avengers. I only made time for a select few Image books (I salivate when I think of Lazarus and get giddy over Rat Queens). This year, I reaffirm my devotion to the practice of reading my comics. Every Wednesday. Because l love them.

Shannon Smith, Comics maker and blabbermouth: My basic resolution is to do the good stuff more and the bad stuff less.  Specifically, it has occurred to me that entertainment dollar for entertainment dollar, I get the most enjoyment from minicomics and zines.  (They are usually cheap.)  I get a lot of them for free because people are nice to me but I resolve to buy more of them and hopefully get on board with one of the subscription programs a few of the micro-publishers have been offering.  Maybe I'll even write about 'em.

Ben Towle, Writer and Artist, including Oyster War:  I had a couple of potentially high-profile opportunities present themselves to me last year and I failed to act on them because I was busy, because I had a "day job," because whatever. In 2014 I'm going to do a lot better job of seizing (comics) opportunities when they present themselves... and do a better job of trying to *make* those opportunities happen. 

Kate Dacey, a.k.a. The Manga Critic: I fell off the reviewing wagon in 2013. And while I enjoyed the freedom to read as much or as little as I wanted, I missed writing about manga. (Even the crappy stuff!) My resolution for 2014 is to saddle up again--if for no other reason than to persuade more people to read Thermae Romae!

Jeremy Whitley, writer of Princeless and My Little Pony: My resolution is to get more comics on the stands this year.  I've taken much more of a break than I meant to this year and spent a lot of time focusing on conventions.  I'm all talked out about last year's stuff and I'm ready to get some new comics out there!

Johanna Draper Carlson, Blogger at Comics Worth Reading (the blog that inspired this one): 
My resolution for myself is to cut the clutter. I need to be more realistic about what I can do and quit hanging onto review copies I’m never going to get to for months and months. 
My resolution for the comic industry is to embrace diversity. They need to be more welcoming to formats (webcomics, digital, or print, it’s all comics), audiences (quit fearing the other, whether another race or gender or interest), and differences (we may want to read comics of different kinds and stories and formats). 

Matt Dembicki, Comic booker and a member of the D.C. Conspiracy: I’ve been focused on completing larger projects in 2013, such as the upcoming ‘Wild Ocean’ anthology and inking/lettering ‘The Captive of Friendly Cove.’ My goal is to do more smaller projects in 2014, especially mini comics.

Rob Ullman, Writer, Artist, and rabid Hockey Fan:  My goal for 2014 is to focus on the long term goals…Old-Timey Hockey Tales #2, a second Atom-Bomb Bikini volume... instead of getting lost in the weeds with 1,000 quick projects. That and getting my goldang Kickstarter up and running!

Dr. Forrest Helvie, Professor of English Literature and Criticism, Writer and also blogger for Newsarama: 1. See my now-finished dissertation ("Capes and the Canon: Comic Book Superheroes and Canonical American Literature") published & available to the public.
2. Publish my first stand alone comic and at least 3-5 comic short stories.
3. Write twice as many articles and interviews.
4. Keep up the same pace with my comic reviews as I did with 2013.
5. Professionally cover NYCC again and one other convention.

Troy-Jeffrey Allen, Writer for Bamn and District Comics: My resolution is to not allow comic conventions and print to dictate how I get my books to people. The old ways of distribution never worked for me and it is time to accept that. 2014 is about making waves internally as opposed to hand feeding people content.

Andrew Cohen, Writer and Artist, including Dr. W, They Came to See Me Die!, and Howzit Funnies: In the past, I've been pretty sporadic and half-hearted with my online and social media presence, so in 2014 I'd like to use those tools more consistently and reliably."

Thanks to everyone who participated, and may we all meet our goals here in 2014!
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