All good things come to an end, they say, and I think it’s time for this blog/website to take a bow, and as you can see above, this makes the Crime Syndicate sad.
I started annotating DC comics with INFINITE CRISIS back in 2007 and in the intervening years took a detailed look at a bunch of other events, also throwing in some reviews of comics I was buying at the time and then, over the last couple of years, I’ve concentrated more on the Untold Tales mash-ups which have been fun but have definitely taken me away from the annotation side of things.
Couple that with the declining number of comics I’m buying and the fact that my interest in new comics has waned over the last few years, and I think my regular comics buying days are almost up.
Back in October, the owner of my local comic shop suffered a medical issue and spent several weeks in hospital. He’s recovering well and is in touch with his regular customers like me but as I write this in the middle of December 2025, I haven’t had any new comics for two and a half months . . . and I haven’t missed them.
I’m still buying and enjoying the occasional collections – my Inevitable Look Back post shows that – but I’m picking up collections of old stuff, titles that I enjoyed when I was first really reading comics, in the early 90s and into the 00s. The new stuff, particularly from DC . . . m’eh.
This coming year I’m going to be selling off a big part of my collection. I sold about 2,000 issues a couple of years back and I think that was the start of me really thinking “I’m never going to read these again” and that leaves me with about 5,000 issues in boxes and 1,000 items (trades, prestige format issues, over sized issues, etc) on my bookshelves. Most of the trades/collections I’ll be keeping, but some will go; and I think the majority of my single issues will be going as well. Watch out, eBay!
I’ll leave the site up and might do some reorganising in a month or two so this blog isn’t the first thing that gets seen any longer, but in terms of new content, this coming weekend’s Random Panel will be the last.
Thank you to everyone who’s enjoyed the site – especially big thanks go to Dale, Calvin, and bobbo1966 for being the most consistent and regular commenters out there. Seriously, guys, your engagement is really appreciated.
Take care of yourselves, folks.
Crisis on Earth-Prime 
Well that’s certainly the saddest “like” I’ve ever clicked on.
To say I’m legitimately shocked & saddened to see you end this blog would be an understatement. You & my buddy Googum over at his Random Happenstance blog were part of my regular routine of blog-reading. It’s been a pleasure seeing your take on comic topics and the creativity you brought to your random mashups. I always enjoyed the unique combinations of characters you’d showcase on a regular basis.
That being said, I can definitely understand when it’s time to go & do something else with your time & energy, as I did when I stopped blogging myself back in 2019. I can also definitely relate to feeling unfulfilled by the current state of the comic industry, or at least with the main two; I stopped buying comics a long time ago, sold off my entire 30-odd year collection and only read certain comics that interest me online.
I sincerely wish you the best going forward Gary. Both to you and Mrs. Prime. God bless you both. Thank you for the fun times. Cheers.
LikeLike
Cheers, mate – I remember feeling the same when you closed your blog down. But hey, it’s been a good run and I have enjoyed it, but it’s just time to do something different. Thanks again for all the comments – much appreciated. Take care!
LikeLike
So no more new annotations either? 😦 I even subscribed to your daily blog posts in the hope of seeing some new content regarding those, but oh well!
Nonetheless thank you for all the hard work you’ve done in the last 10.5 years (time files, doesnt it)!
LikeLike
It’s not impossible that I might do some annotations at some point but honestly it’s unlikely. I’d suggest leave your email subscription in place and, if I ever post any updates, at least you’ll be notified of them!
Thanks and all the best!
LikeLike
Your blog’s been a lot of fun to read, and the nice things about leaving it up is, if you read something that really catches your interest, you have a place to talk about it if you want.
LikeLike
Thanks, Calvin – appreciate your comments over the years and yeah, no plans for this thing to just disappear. It’ll still be here for reference or if/when I want to post something else.
Cheers!
LikeLike
Sorry to see you go and I wish you all the best!
LikeLike
Thanks mate, and the same back to you! Thanks for all the likes and comments.
Cheers!
LikeLiked by 1 person