Holidays usually mean a lean time for postings due to visiting relatives and limited computer access, so I want to leave you with this. (Having written that, I’ll probably post a dozen times now.) Here’s my list of things for which I’m thankful. Well, Monitor Duty-related things, or we’d be here all night.

I’m not saving the best for last, I’m going to list this one right off the bat: I’m thankful for you, this site’s visitors. That isn’t just a cheap bid for appeal, a “Nobody Rocks Like OSHKOSH!” I’m serious, it is thrilling to look at the number of unique visitors this site gets. Some days I forget that and grow disheartened because few people use the comments field and our new forum has a small number of regulars, but then a post will get people riled up and there will be a slew of comments from people we’ve never heard from before. I have to remind myself that lurkers always outnumber the known visitors and even I don’t say anything at the sites I enjoy on a daily basis. I know you guys are out there, reading and hopefully enjoying, and I’m very grateful.

Now, in no particular order…

I’m thankful for Alan Kistler’s articles, which have brought the attention of everyone who missed the kinds of article we ran when we did Fanzing Magazine. (Don’t forget to look for Alan’s Fanzing features and origin articles!)

I’m thankful for R.B. Propst, Mark Gillins, Bruce Bachand, J. Morgan Neal, Scott “cplotter” Frank, Seth Gottlieb and Chris “Blue Spider” Arndt who keep this site hopping with great links and commentary.

I’m thankful for George Perez’s cover to Infinite Crisis #2, since it has Ralph and Sue Dibny smiling at each other in one small corner. Given how much I’ve missed them in the last year, and how unlikely it is that I’ll ever see that sight again in anything published by DC, I had to own that issue.

On a related note, I’m thankful for Green Arrow #56 just because Dr. Light (of all people) finally used the word rape and said what I’ve been saying ever since Identity Crisis: He’s astonished that he could rape one of the JLA’s family members in their own headquarters and they didn’t kill him. After a year of Justice Leaguers breastbeating about their oh-so-controversial decision, I’m glad it was finally said by someone. (Also comforting was Hawkman’s “If I’d known what a hassle this would turn out to be I’d have killed him then and there!” in a recent issue of JLA.)

I’m thankful for Aaron Williams’ PS 238, an enjoyable book that is on its way to being adapted and hopefully will lead to bigger things for a great guy. I met Williams and his wife at WizardWorld Dallas 2003 and they were terrific booth-neighbors. If you’re not getting PS 238, you’re missing out and have no right to complain about the quality of books published today.

I’m thankful for Geoff Johns, who has managed to meld respect for comics history and continuity with an astounding ability to tell entertaining modern stories. Last year, when “Identity Crisis” had me in the dumps, Geoff wrote a Flash tie-in which focused on the human side of the tragedy of Sue Dibny’s death. I was bothered by Brad Meltzer’s neglect of Elongated Man throughout a mystery story centering on his own wife’s murder, but Geoff has kept Ralph in the picture. Almost everything from DC that I still enjoy is written by Geoff Johns, with a few exceptions.

I’m thankful for Gail Simone’s “Birds of Prey”, a book that sparkles with humor and action every month. Gail needs to be on more books. Her run on Action with John Byrne has been the first Superman books I’ve bought in a while.

I’m thankful for two of my closer buddies in the comic industry, Chuck Dixon and Scott Beatty, who stole Nightwing back for six weeks so they could do “Nightwing: Year One”. I hope DC will continue with their “Year One” books.

I’m thankful that I finally finished cataloguing my comic book collection. It took over a year, but I now have over 6000 comics listed on Comics Relief, my comics-for-sale site. (And that doesn’t include about 500 or so that are my personal keepers.) Phew! I’m LESS thankful that after months and months and months of typing in the information for every book and searching for cover images, I finished just in time for the software makers to announce that they were starting a comics database. Uff-dah. I knew that was going to happen.

I’m thankful for Beau Smith, who is as nice a guy as he is a boisterous bigmouth. He recently sent me a note that he loved his copy of Metro Med #0 and wished he’d stolen the idea. I may frame it.

I’m thankful for Ian Shires at Dimestore Productions, who offered the Small Press Idol contest that we won last year and published our winning story in Mysterious Visions Anthology #1 this year.

I’m thankful for Robert Bavington, the artist who has helped us on Metro Med with character sketches and pinups.

I’m thankful for Roz Terrill, the colorist and digital painter who did colors on Metro Med. (Watch for my next post.)

I’m very thankful for Scott McCullar, Gregg Noon and Erik Burnham of Shooting Star Comics, who have been supporting and encouraging me for the last two years as I try to make my way in the comics industry. They’ve been pivotal to where I am today. What more can I say?

Finally, my biggest thanks go to Phil and Sherry Meadows. Phil, for all of his hard work on our comics over the last few years, and Sherry, for putting up with my bad influence on her husband in taking up all his free time.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Remember, it’s not Turkey Day, it’s the time of thanks, so be sure to count your many blessings this year.