9rules Network: One year later…

Posted in: Articles :: 2 Comments
8
Sep ‘06
9rules Network logo

Back when I first became a 9rN cult member, I wasn’t reading too many comics. In fact I wasn’t reading any. I had abandoned my love for comic books years ago when I was a strapping lad of 14. My dad sat be down and said “Son, you’re too old to be reading comics. You’re going to be weird if you keep it up.”
That totally freaked me out so I stopped reading them on the spot. No more Jim Lee drawn X-Men for me!

Ten years passed. I had been following Whitespace (now wisdump… I liked the name Whitespace better, for the record) for some time, as well as Airbag and several other weblogs. I had decided to make a personal blog of my own (entitled Soilblog) about my life in Southern Illinois. It was fairly boring and short lived. But during that time I was thrilled to learn of Paul Scriven’s idea for the new 9rules Network. Instantly I knew I wanted in, but also knew that Soilblog wasn’t gonna cut it. Round 1 passed and round 2 was soon announced. I took a look at the blogs that made it in to round 1 and noticed that no one was touching the comic book scene. This was my chance to bog my life down with more crap to do each day, and make it in to the 9rules Network!

I quickly registered the URL FreakComics.com and started writing. At first Freak Comics was a compilation of my original comics and fairly crappy “articles” about Marvel Comics (in other words, Marvel Comics press releases repackaged with short quick commentary ala Gawker). I submitted my site for round 2 and waited… in the meantime I changed the format of my site slightly, realizing that I hated Gawker and their poorly done format. I made an attempt to be more genuine and original. Soon after Scrivs received my bribe in the mail and decided to induct my in to the 9rules Network.

I feel I have vastly improved my writing style since then (albeit slowed down the frequency significantly over the summer) and hope to continue to improve in the months and years to come.

When I first started this site I was reading zero comics each month. Now the addiction has taken firm root and I’m reading around 30 - 40 comics each month. I am definitely a weirdo, as my father warned I would be. Hopefully this weirdo will manage to entertain enlighten and enrage with more articles and reviews in the near future.

Thanks Scrivs, 9rules Network, it’s members, and all six of my loyal Freak Comics readers.

also from freak comics…

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Scrivs has taken a lot of heat as of late for his decision to cut some members from the 9rules Network (a network of great weblogs, of which I am a member). I wanted to follow suit and declare my undying gratitude to Paul (even though I'm most likely the next…
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I joined a gang
Freak Comics is now part of a gang. No, we don't drive around shooting other gangs... yet. This is a gang / network (or "net-gang" if you will) of weblogs that feature excellent content and design. So why am I here? No one really knows. The net-gang leader who calls…
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Freak Comics 4.1
Just before joining the 9rules Network I decided to abandon the posting of press releases in their standard form. I feel this is a cheap way to blog. However, there is also some valuable information in the press releases that I receive, and I wanted to be able to bring…
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  1. AndrewE September 9, 2006 at 6:50 am

    You were probably too young at 14 but you should have told your dad “these are not comics dad, these are ‘graphic novels’” that’s what I did, got me over that hurdle :)

  2. Scrivs September 20, 2006 at 9:04 am

    I’m late to the party as usual, but I remember when I first came across the site and didn’t hesitate for a second to let a site about comics into the Network. Since then you have only gotten better and I almost have to stay away from the site for fear of rekindling my comic book addiction. Don’t know if there is enough in the bank account to share it with my anime fascination.

    A great look back indeed.

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