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.

Just wanted to take a moment and reluctantly thank Wil Wheaton for being so cool with my “I Hate Wil Wheaton” storyline here on JEFbot. He could’ve been pissed about it or worse, he could’ve just ignored it, but instead he chose to mention it in his blog last week which sent many, many of his readers over to this site (if you had problems getting here, that’s why), and for that, okay, I thank him with no reluctance whatsoever.

So, a big “Hello!” to all of those readers who came over and checked out my webcomic. I’ve been totally blown away by your enthusiastic comments and email,  and feel giddy every time I get a new one. You all are seriously cool and I feel lucky to have you here.

Although the current “Wil” storyline is over, now that jefbot has an archenemy, I’m sure Wil will be mentioned (or possibly appear!?) within the webpages of JEFbot in the future. If you’re new here and have no idea what I’m talking about, check out these strips:
• Force of Wil
• Wil Power
• Wil to Fight

Also, if you have some time, check out the video by following the link below. It’s Wil doing the keynote for last year’s Penny Arcade Expo, and it began my inkling that Wil might not be such a bad guy after all. It’s great, check it out:
• 2007 PAX Keynote 

Thanks, Wil! You being so awesome makes it hard to hate you and really hard to create webcomics about hating you, which, in turn, furthers my hatred of you.

Just wanted to thank a few more websites for mentioning JEFbot in their pages over the past few months. JEFbot has been growing at an exponential rate since I first started writing and drawing it a little over a year ago, and a lot of that is due to people passing the word about this strip around! I always love when someone tells me they found their way here by reading about it on a website, or from seeing a JEFbot t-shirt out in the wild, or just plain ol’ word of mouth. So a big thank-you to everybody who has been championing this site, including:

• BlueBlood.net - for the great write-up and featuring of my Blue Elmo strip!

• ArtPatient.com - for such a great review and flattering article on what he learned reading JEFbot.

• Grinningskull.com - for spewing coffee out of his nose

• Ominous Knife - for asking readers what they would do in this predicament?

• dky bar and grill - for listing me in the comics she’s been reading and featuring my GTA IV strip.

If you’ve seen any other fans out there promoting JEFbot (especially if you’re one of them), please let me know!