“Just who is this…Neilalien?”

I wrote that nearly 8 years ago. Neilalien was the first comic blog I stumbled across and the first I linked to. Up until that point I thought I was the only one, when in actuality Neilalien and a handful of others had already beat me to it.

Neilalien turns ten today, and so does the very concept of comic blogging. Ten years at this is quite the achievement, but I think what’s even more remarkable is that he was doing this for well over two years before the first great comic blog explosion. That’s over two years of sending his astral form out from his Sanctum Sanctorum and into an empty, uncaring void, waiting patiently for the rest of the comics community to play catch up.

Reflecting on this occassion, what resonates most with me about Neilalien isn’t his longetivity, but his involvement. When I shuttered my old blog, he was there to chastise me, and when I began this one, he wrote to welcome me back into the fold.

Happy anniversary, Neilalien! May your Orb of Agamotto never dim!