Hello, my friends and fellow fans of Joel, Girdy, the Duke, Girdy, the new wave of characters, Girdy and the rest of the gang. I would like to thank you for your support of this site and especially for your support of its founder, artist and lead contributor: Joel C. Furches III. I would also like to welcome you to possibly the first of what I hope will be annual addresses on the present and future state of affairs of this web site.

            Let me begin by answering a few basic questions:

Q: Why are you writing this article?
A: Good question, ya little snot. I am writing this article because I am in the unique position of knowing more behind-the-scenes about the comic than anyone but Joel and I happen to have the some of the administrative know-how and anality to express the topics covered in an ordered format.

Q: Why are you writing this article now?
      A: Personally, I think the comic’s year starts in September and runs through August. This is because it more closely follows the college year and it also coincides better with the entirely theoretical dates for the hypothetical weekend in which SecretCon (the annual Secrets convention which has never happened) metaphysically takes place.

            Now that we have covered the why, let us turn to the what. In short, let us turn to a discussion of the past and the future.
            This past year has seen a lot of development and growth in the comic and the web site at large. The comic itself has seen about 140 updates. The first Mystic Techno Cowboys storyline concluded. The graphic novelization (Shaddup! Is too a word!) of the original Secrets of the Universe story was taken up and finished. A full-length Quiver story was presented. SoU’s Freshman Year came to a close, and Sophomore Year started. Throughout the year, Joel continued to play with and develop his artistic style. When the gang came back as sophomores, he was able to include many new characters (the Freshman, animals, girls!) even as we bid a fond adieu to some old ones (alas, poor Micah, I knew ye well…). Along with around 60 new articles, this forms an impressive and copious body of work. Join me in AIMplauding Joel and the site’s other contributors at LilTrumpy.
            Our readership increased in late 2005, in large part due to a series of advertising campaigns developed and sponsored by Joel. Earlier this year, we underwent a bit of drama with some external and somewhat random critics, which eventually led to our Wikipedia entry being removed. (I would encourage anyone with the time and wherewithal to write and submit a new one.) Thankfully, readership once more went up as Joel responded by posting ads on Megatokyo, Top Web Comics and other sites. Some bots recently have discovered and started joining our forum, which has quadrupled our message board’s membership despite our almost complete lack of binary posts.
            Perhaps the most significant developments, though, have occurred behind the scenes. The Almighty Admin (self-titled) was forced, for a time, to give up updating the comic. The Duke of Darkside (who was given his title by others ‘cause he is evil-ish) took up the charge, filled the gap and did an admirable job for several months. Eventually, Joel turned to Admiral (seriously, what’s up with IT guys and titles?), who became the first Secrets staff member, has regularly provided articles and updates so early we regulars check the site a day early. Admiral organized and troubleshot the comic’s archives. He worked with Admin on the site’s re-design. He has begun the process of moving the Secrets of the Universe novella from an old, external link to the current site.
            I, for one, cannot say enough about the site’s recent re-design, thought up by Admin/bbbco and installed by Admiral. The element of color helps make the page more attractive and the new format makes the comic, the articles and, by proxy, all the contributors look more appealing and professional. Its implementation, almost overnight, has allowed Secrets to avoid the distasteful “Pardon Our Dust� motif that kills so many pages. As I turn from the past to look at the future, I want to emphasize that this is the hinge which will turn our door and lend us even more momentum.
            I will pause now as the beauty of my imagery settles upon your soul.
            Joel has many surprises and additions planned for both the comic and the site. It is not my place to spoil his news, but I can say that you should look for new additions to the Secrets family of comics, including a good bit of fan service using both new and familiar characters. This will allow Joel to play with some of the many thoughts and concepts he has that just do not fit in the world of Mulligan College. We may also get sneak peeks at some of Joel’s, mine and other’s writing and drawing projects. Joel tells me he looks forward to guest artist contributions by Raze (yay!), myself (boo!) and other (you know, like, real) artists.
            Starting today, I am taking up responsibility for the Secrets store. This is in accordance with Joel’s request that I “do something, for God’s sake,� on the web site. If you have visited it before, you may notice some new designs up this coming week. Others will be re-designed in the weeks to come. Some, notably the “Girdy For Prez� line, will be going away, at least until 2008. (I will leave these items up for another week, so if you want to buy them, buy them now.) As the year progresses, I hope to experiment with actual stock, which would give us more flexibility in design and, eventually, may provide a profit.
            The site’s various contributors will also drive and be encouraged to write new articles on a much more regular basis. While we have many ideas and theories on just how to accomplish this goal, the simplest way is to make it part of our routine. Joel and I may both take up somewhat more regular columns. I encourage everyone who has written an article (and those of you who have not) to volunteer what you will and to keep us mind whenever you write anything of interest.
            To all of Secrets’ readers, we thank you for your time and interest. To all the regulars, we offer much love for your investment in our community. Joel and the rest of the Secrets contributors rely on your input and support. Finally, to any newbies or lurkers out there, I would like to offer my welcome while encouraging you to take the next step of joining and posting on the Secrets forum. Joel assures me that I am normally this boring, but normally much more offensive. I will try to live up to that next Friday. Until then, then.

G-rambling,
Girdy

This entry was posted on Friday, September 29th, 2006 at 12:01 am and is filed under Comics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.