Welp, comic fans, after 2 years and over 200 strips today marks the end of “So Super Duper’s” run on the blog@Newsrama. Some of you may be dismayed by this, more than a few may be overjoyed, but regardless of how you feel (assuming you care one way or the other) I can honestly say, from my perspective, that sending my little comic out into the world has been one super wild rollercoaster ride, with just as many highs as lows.
When I created “So Super Duper” some 4 years ago, with the youthful naïveté of a lifelong comic lover, never in million-bazillion years did I ever dream that I’d be syndicating my often rough, mostly crude, very heart-felt little indie comic on a major site like Newsarama. It’s not a secret that I’ve been beaten up pretty badly by a good number of Newsarama’s legion of comic readers (apparently using Comic Sans is a sin worse than any other, which has been duly noted, FYI) but despite the many (many, many, many) attacks I can honestly say that I’m proud to have been a contributor to the site. And I recognize that all the heated criticism (and the vitriol) comes from the same place that I pull from when I create a strip: our mother $%&^# love of comic books.
I’m happy and proud to be an out, gay man, who just happens to also be a devoted comic reader, thriving comic fan, and now, actual comic creator. I’m proud and extremely thankful that a site like Newsarama would showcase an underground talent like me, someone who has a lot to learn but has the drive and passion to grow and become (I hope) better.
It still boggles my mind that a mainstream comic site like Newsarama would be so open and supportive of a comic book series with unabashed gay themes, many a gay character and the occasional guy-on-guy smoochies. I’m honored to have maybe contributed even the tiniest bit of something to the history of comics, maybe even to our shared cultural dialogue, and perhaps, just maybe, to the importance of having visible, multi-faceted homosexual characters in the comic book medium. And hell, frankly, I’m really just grateful that I got off my fat-fanny, stopped talking and wishing and dreaming about one day creating my own comic book and actually did it.
So thank you so much to my incredible blog@ editor Troy Brownfield for taking a chance on me, for giving me this amazing opportunity, and for always having my back. Thank you to Newsarma for the home and the platform to share my work, to Celina Hernandez for taking over the art chores of the comic and for making my story shine and sing and look 200% better than I could ever do, to Prism Comics for giving a voice to myself and to many other LGBT comic book creators, to the many creators who contributed back-up stories and pin-ups (you rock), and super special thank you to Rich Boutell for being the first comic store owner to put my books on his selves.
To all those who read the comic and enjoyed it, to those who were able to change their minds mid-dislike and see the book for the diamond-in-the-rough I had hoped it was (and is), thank you so much. And for all those who hated it and hated me, thank you. You’ve made me a stronger, better, more determined person.
And finally to my boyfriend of 10 years, we’ve sure had a super wild rollercoaster ride (with just as many highs as lows), but I could have never, ever, in infinite number of worlds (or Crisis’s) have created a single page of a comic book without your love, your enthusiasm, and your unwavering encouragement. I love you, now, and always.
So this is the end of “So Super Duper” on Newsarma, but like our favorite space-faring mutant rising from the ashes, this isn’t the actual “end” end. Look for the return of “So Super Duper” in mid-March on the fabulously fun geek-filled website:www.fanboysoftheuniverse.com!
Kissies!
Brian Andersen
March 2011
One more time: for more “So Super Duper” go to:www.sosuperduper.com!
