Yes, 1 October was our ninth anniversary, and we … didn’t post about it. I thought of it in September, but, as you might recall, September was a shitty month for me, and I just forgot to post about it when the first came around. Travis mentioned it on our Slack, but you don’t see him posting about it, do you? I mean, it’s just an anniversary, but I do like to write a bit about it, so I told him that I would just wait until 1 November, which is a nice round date, instead of putting something up on, I don’t know, the 12th of October.
Anyway, we’ve been around nine years, and gosh, we hope to be around for many more, as well. This past year has been rough, I think you’ll agree, as at this time last year, most of us couldn’t believe that a certain Orange-Faced Baboon would manage to win a second term as president and go on to deliberately wreck the country for no good reason except … he wants people to worship him? That seems to be the motivating factor to everything the Tangerine Menace does — he wants his cult to love him, and if they do, nothing else matters. 2025 has not turned out the way most people wanted it to, and it’s hard to see how 2026 will be any better unless someone does the decent thing and, you know, shuffles off this mortal coil.
But enough of such talk! It’s our (sort-of) anniversary! Much like the past few years, I have to say that I’m very happy you’re still reading, even if our contributors have fallen off a bit. Real life, man, is hard sometimes, and I know that I don’t have as much time to write for this blog, and if I don’t, then people who actually have jobs don’t, either! (Yes, I’m looking for a job, and when I do get one, I will still try very hard to keep writing for this blog.) I really like our contributors, and I do wish they would write more often, but I get it. I hope that Fraser and I (and the old Hatcher columns) keep you entertained! As always, if you want to check out our other contributors, they’re listed on the side of the blog. It’d be cool to see some of them again!
Obviously, we greatly appreciate the readers here. I suspect we have fewer than we did when we launched (I know we have fewer than the old CSBG days, but that’s to be expected), but I hope those who are still reading enjoy our blog. We do try to have fun here and be entertaining and enlighten you guys about fun pop culture stuff, and I know I appreciate it when you tell me things I don’t know about stuff. We’ve had some people over the years who have gotten a bit stroppy, which is too bad, because one thing I have never minded is people with different opinions, as long as you don’t get personally insulting while you’re expressing those opinions. It bums me out that some people can’t handle that, and I appreciate that, generally, the commenters here are nice when they have something to say. We have some good discussions here, and I never want that to stop. I always take this opportunity to ask “lurkers” — people who read the blog but don’t comment — to comment on this post, just to say hello. We’re all friends here!
I know I’m still having fun writing for the blog, and I think Fraser does too, so we’ll keep on keeping on, and hope some of our other writers pop in when they can. We’ve been having some behind-the-scenes issues again which seem to be resolved, but I thought I’d bring it up because it involves money. Boo, money! We were having some issues with storage, and we’ve always tried to think of ways to get a bit more money for the blog. Jim brought up a Patreon a few years ago, but we didn’t do anything because we couldn’t figure out what to offer. Julie wondered if we might offer Atomic Junk Shop merch, which I thought was a pretty cool idea, but I’m not sure how to get that off the ground (I doubt if it would be that difficult, but I still don’t know where to start). Any suggestions you guys have would be appreciated. As always, you can donate using the button at the top left of the page, and if you do use Amazon to get things (believe me, I sympathize if you don’t want to give Bezos any more money), you can use the links we provide to send a bit of cash our way. No worries, though — we’re not going anywhere, as far as I know, so it’s not imperative, but if you’re able to do anything, we, of course, would appreciate it. I hate to bring it up, but it’s something that’s been on our minds.
Anyway, it’s another year of AJS, and we love that you’re reading, and we hope you like what you read, and we plan on being around for a while. Say hello in the comments, if you feel like it. We always appreciate it!
Congratulations with the anniversary. Nine years already. Times flies when you’re having fun. 😉
I hope to give more comments after this shitty year with my wife.
Keep it up and I’ll keep reading.
Op naar het 10e jaar.
Thanks, Eric. I definitely hope your next year is better than your last one!
Congratulations on the anniversary. Jeez what is time anymore. You guys are one of the few comics sites I still visit that hasn’t devolved into click bait slop.
As bad as this year has been, I’m loving the Seven Soldiers articles and I’m still finding hidden gems in the Hatcher Legacy Files.
Looking forward to many more years.
We always appreciate when you comment, sir, and I’m glad you’re still enjoying what we do here! 🙂
Nine years! Glad you’re still here writing.
Thanks, sir. I am too!
It has been fun. It’s a good place to post really nerdy discussions. Merch isn’t a bad idea but it takes time and effort — I never get around to doing that sort of thing for my own blog and writing, even though it’s on the to-do list.
While the Necrotic Toddler of the United States (not my coining) has been an absolute horror-show, I take some hope that it hasn’t gone at all as he and his toadies hoped. Some people folded but lots of others chose to resist, they haven’t shock-and-awed us into submission and he’s massively unpopular. Of course that only makes him meaner as there’s no greater crime in the Toddler’s universe that hurting his snowflake fee-fees.
Regardless, happy anniversary to us.
My worry is he’ll just go full-on dictatorship because he’s not getting his way, meaning canceling elections and sending the military out to arrest everyone. Sadly, I don’t think anyone in his Cabinet or on his side in Congress would bat an eye.
None of them. Though I don’t think many of them have the stomach for such a blatant move yet.
Nine years already. Time just keeps slipping, doesn’t it?
I’m still floating around, I just don’t comment much. I’m glad you and Fraser still have time to post.
As for money, I have used the donate button a few times over the years, but I’m guessing we’re all a little more concerned with our finances of late (I have a car payment for the first time since the blog was created). As for merch, I can always use more t-shirts. I don’t know about who to choose for larger orders, but I’ve actually had a few shirts made using printful.com. I’m don’t know for sure, but I bet you could order in bulk for a discount. Otherwise, maybe the have a made to order option? It’s how I have an Elf with a gun shirt.
Anyway, thank you for all you, and everyone who has contributed to the site over the years have done to entertain and inform us. Hopefully another decade awaits us in the Junk shop.
As always, thanks for reading, sir. We appreciate it!
Thanks for the suggestions, too. We’ll figure something out! 🙂
Congratulations on the anniversary! It’s good to still reading you guys.
I’m a comics book reader from France, back from the CSBG days, always waiting for more totally Airwolf panels and suggestions of stuff to look at !