Anders Nilsen sees the year out at Medium with a beautiful full color comic called On Optimisim: Why 2015 Won’t Suck. It’s a very direct and straightforward work from the often oblique (and marvelously so) Nilsen, but it has a few good words that we should all tam into account for 2015. Even though 2014 was a pretty great year for comics, for a lot of folks (The Beat included) it was kind of sucky on a personal level, and a lot of the creative personnel of the industry seem to be sinking into a “happy peasant” mind set, as living in a hovel on the outskirts of the giant corporate castle seems like a lifestyle choice worth making.


All that said, optimism is the fundamental human state and despite the setbacks 2014 had a lot of great, amazing stuff. And 2015 will be even better. As I mentioned many times this year, I’m finally living in the world that I envisioned wham I was 13 years old, a world of limitless storytelling and a return to the diversity that comics always had. A world where people don’t think comics are dumb or stupid,

So thank you for your support throughout the year, both in the form of encouragement, written and verbal, and monetary (Advertising, Paypal and Patreon) and to all my wonderful contributors—Kyle, Hannah, Zach, Todd, Torsten, Jeff, David, Kate, Kate, Jason, David, Alex, Matt and Lindsey and anyone I’m forgetting. Thanks to Steve, Zainab and Joshua who quickly moved on to bigger and better things. And thanks to everyone at Stately Beat Manor who fed the cats and made us laugh.

And here’s to a 2015 filled with ninjas, dinosaurs, kittens, iPads, shooting stars, pirates, emeralds and chocolate hazelnut Vietnamese instant coffee.

We’ll leave you with this reminder: Always don business wear before sitting down to the drawing board or keyboard. IF JAck Kirby did it, it’s good enough for the rest of us.

2 COMMENTS

  1. Jack certainly could be a snappy dresser, but this photo may be a bit misleading. I think a little historical research will prove that Jack was simply dropping off some Thor artwork at the Marvel offices that day, and was dressed up because he was going to take Roz out to dinner afterwards. As he turned to leave, however, Stan suddenly ran out of his office in a panic. Don Heck’s artwork had been mailed to DC by mistake! Lee was so upset he was almost weeping. Jack rolled up his sleeves and said, “Okay, I can do a fill-in, but I’ve got to meet Roz in twenty minutes.” “But – but – I don’t even remember anything about the story Dazzling Don was working on!” moaned Lee. “Mm, I think I can manage,” said Jack. It was a giant-sized annual, but yeah, he finished it in fifteen.

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