We'll leave that unanswered until we get a few things out of the way. Or at least, until I've had the chance to say some things.
I started this blog with several aims: to promote Paradox Comics, to provide a wider platform for the members of our 'reading group' to wax lyrical about comics and to give me a creative outlet so I felt I was contributing something to the wider conversation about the medium. And, as this is essentially an extension of a hobby (it's not a paying gig!), it's often been a struggle to keep content coming on a weekly basis but, somehow, thanks to the support of my friends and colleagues, we've managed it.
The PCG has been witness to a lot in the last twelve plus years. The New 52. Marvel Now. The rise of creator-owned work, particularly from Image Comics. The birth and incredible success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The mainstream popularity of comic book properties, from the aforementioned MCU to The Walking Dead and beyond. Comixology's emergence, and the success of digital comics. The passings of such creative titans as Darwyn Cooke, Len Wein and the legendary Stan Lee. We've visited numerous conventions, from the sorely missed Bristol Comics Expo to Thought Bubble to the wonderful Melksham Comic Con. We've followed the careers of some breakout creators, now top tier talents, like Jonathan Hickman, Scott Snyder and Jeff Lemire. Oh, and we also bore witness to our beloved Paradox Comics hosting various Free Comic Book Days, providing us with endless comic book delights and moving premises, the indomitable Andy Hine constantly working hard to keep us supplied with our weekly comic book fix. Basically, we've seen a lot, and we've done our best to pass on our thoughts and enthusiasms to our readers, many who've stuck with us from the beginning.
I couldn't (and wouldn't) have started all this without the green light from Andy, so I'm eternally grateful that he allowed my ramblings to be associated with his shop. But this was never intended as a solo venture, and I had plenty of help along the way, so a big thank you to the following excellent people: James Randall, Rob Nott, Stewart Ryder, Matt Tuffin, Dan Henry, Jo Sibley, Kenny Jeffrey, Simon McLean, Andrew 'The Butcher' Butcher, Tom Pike, Mike Smith, Billy Proctor, Mike Vincent, Ian & James Utley, Ann Luce, and, more recently, my sons Harvey and George (who were barely twinkles in my eye when the first post was published in November 2007!).
And now, in 2020, with the world sort of turned upside down, it feels like as good a time as any to say that we've done the weekly review thing now, we've done the comic book movie reviewing thing now... it's time to move on.
But no, it's not goodbye. Because we're moving to www.thepcg.uk!
Yes, we're still going to be writing, but having written about just comics for so many years, and considering our shared interests are far broader than that, we're going to be covering not only comics but films, TV, books and more. Maybe not to the same kind of routine schedule but hopefully with some reignited passion for things we love.
When will this new site go live? It already is! Click there now to see the start of something new and check back with us for lots of great articles in the future. This site will remain (we've invested too much time to close the doors permanently) but this is likely to be the last new post you see here.
So a very brief goodbye and we'll see you on the other side very soon...
