Yep, today JEFbot hit its one year anniversary!

I’ve been so busy lately the date just kind of snuck up on me a day ago. That’s when I checked the archives, just to be sure I still had a month or so until the anniversary, and there it was, the date of the first JEFbot strip, Axis Powers: August 6, 2007. Upon posting that first strip, little did I know that 364 days, 64 strips and hundreds of thousands of pageviews later, JEFbot would still be going strong and would become such a big part of my life.

I love writing and drawing this strip, I wish I could put one out every day (or at least 3 times a week) but JEFbot still has a long way to go before I can quit my day job. With any luck, by this time next year, I’ll have even more great readers, I’ll be posting more comics a week and I’ll have published my first JEFbot collection in book form. I’ll also accept being a regular in an acclaimed TV series or starring in an awesome movie, like TR2N or Akira (as Tetsuo, of course).

Not much else to report just yet. Like I said, this whole anniversary thing kind of snuck up on me so I haven’t done anything to prepare for it. I’d like to do something, though. Actually, maybe you, the readers, can help me out with some suggestions. A new shirt? An officially licenced JEFbot coffee mug? An original sketch giveaway? A videogame-themed party at a bar in Hollywood? Send me ideas or you’re getting the mug.

Seriously though, I want to get a bit mushy and say how much I’ve appreciated all the love and support of you readers. It warms the valves of my fusion-powered heart when I think about how you’ve embraced the strip and the characters in it (especially since most of them are friends or family). Also, a special thank you to everyone who has taken the time to comment on the site or send me an email. That stuff really keeps me going when a deadline’s approaching, it’s 4:30 in the morning and I’m only on the second panel. Thanks for that.

So happy anniversary! I’m ready for cake.

UPDATE: The poll is now closed and “New Kick-Ass T-shirt” wins! I’ve already begun conceptualizing what will make this shirt truly “Kick-Ass” so expect some updates on that soon. It was so cool for me to get such quick feedback from you readers that I’m already thinking about more polls for the future. Big thanks to everyone who voted!

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After putting the call out, I’ve received a bunch of feedback from readers suggesting what I should do to celebrate JEFbot’s one year anniversary. The overwhelming response so far has been for a new t-shirt design but I’ve received a few other valid suggestions (and a few not appropriate to post) which I thought I’d present here for a vote. I’ll abide by whatever gets the most votes (please vote only once), even if you choose the coffee mug.

Here are the top six suggestions you came up with. If you have any others, I can probably slip in a couple late entries before I close off voting next week.

• With a new, kick-ass t-shirt design? (33 votes) WINNER!
• With a “walk on” part in the JEFbot strip? (30 votes)
• With an original JEFbot pencil & ink drawing? (14 votes)
• With a party in Hollywood where we all meet at a bar for drinks and cake? (8 votes)
• With a “favorite character” t-shirt? (4 votes)
• With some pretty cool JEFbot stickers? (3 votes)
• With a crappy coffee mug? (1 vote)

For clarification:
• Whichever prize wins will be given away in a raffle, like I did with the t-shirt giveaways.
• The “walk on” part would consist of  me drawing the winner into a strip, either as background or possibly something more substantial.
• The “favorite character” shirt would be a shirt devoted to a single favorite character, as voted on by the readers in yet another poll.
• If the “Hollywood party” wins, I won’t be paying for travel expenses or hotel stays. I’ll supply drinks and cake for the winner, as long as they’re of legal age. Also, “bar” could be substituted with “sister’s house,” “parent’s house,” or “my apartment.”