It was 12 months ago that I was writing an article very similar to this (Why not check out last years [UXN Year 5 Review] to see how much I copied and pasted) but it feels like only yesterday. As I get older time seems to pass more quickly, or maybe I’m just having too much fun to notice Time pass by?
The biggest thing to happen in the world of the X-Men during 2005-2006 was of course the release of the Third, and potentially final, X-Men movie, but that’s not why you’re reading this. You want to find out all that’s happened over the last 12 months since we updated you on our progress. So let’s run through some of the highlights of the year, as well as some fantastic statistics that will astonish and astound you…
Issue Summaries
As of the time of writing this, and you just know Homer Jay will have written another summary as you read this, there are 3172 summaries on the site, not including reprints. Back in August last year, I revealed that we had 2581 summaries online. That’s a total of 591 summaries added in 12 months or if we’re trying to be clever, 1.62 summaries added to the site each day. Not bad considering each summary is now at least 5 pages of A4 (assuming you are using a font size of 10pt in MS Word, or whatever you’re preferred writing package is), I don’t think there are many sites that pump out that much textual information in a week, let alone a day, and that’s before we even take into account other sections of the site or the Forum.
So let’s get to the nitty gritty: how are we doing in comparison to the total number of issues featuring X-Men characters? As stated in last year’s article, this is a moving target as more comics are produced each and every month. Our current estimated total is 4173 issues, not including reprints. Nothing says math better than pie, so lets see those charts…!
This time last year we broke the two-thirds mark with 68%, but this year we’ve now reached a staggering 76% breaking the ¾ mark. Could that be light at the end of the tunnel?
Last year, we tried to estimate when we would reach that light, and our guesstimate date for completion was just after the site’s 8th birthday. Working on the same principle we did last year, that marvel would release approx 250 new comics featuring x-men characters each year, and using our new daily rate of 1.62, our expected time of completion would be 2 years and 7 months. So we’re still looking at reaching this goal somewhere between our site’s 8th and 9th Birthday. Now Marvel, do us a little favour and cut back on those titles a little!
Spotlight On
The much loved, but heavily time consuming, Spotlight section had 10 new entries added, taking the section up to a total of 66 Extensive spotlights on major characters. On top of this we also updated 6 spotlights with additional information, be it updates to the main text, costume galleries or Alternative realities entries. Now if only Monolith and Joerg would get started on the Wolverine Spotlight… Hey, where did that red dot on my clothes suddenly appear from?
Fan Fiction Awards
One of my favourite sections of the site got a bit of a revamp this year. The Fan Fiction section got a little makeover to try and make it easier to navigate. New editors came on board to help get all those submitted works online and a couple of new groups or universes of titles arrived. On top of this, the guys in charge of Fan Fiction decided to run the first UXN FF Awards. Several categories were created for each ‘universe,’ as well as some awards applying across the board to highlight the fantastic work produced. To make it fair, current fan fiction writers were able to vote in each category, with the top 4 entries then going to a public vote. The Awards were then revealed at the FF Awards Show hosting by Professor Eggsavier and his Astonishing Eggsmen, Now if only I could sign them to a contract to appear more often.
April Fools
We like to have fun, but this year I think we might just have upset a few people. Since we first started creating spotlights, no other character has been requested to receive a spotlight more than Wolverine; in fact I’ve even had death threats if we don’t write that spotlight (but enough about my personal life). Since Day 1, we have always stated that Wolverine would get a spotlight, but because of his very complex history and countless guest appearances, we know that it is a mammoth undertaking and as such would be saved for a special occasion. Cut to April 1st this year, when visitors came to the site and thought we had started a Wolverine Event Month, with the first day being the Spotlight... or as it actually turned out that on clicking the link to view the Spotlight, visitors we’re greeted with an April Fool’s Joke. Yes we’re cruel, but sometimes it’s worth it! [APRIL FOOL'S DAY 2006 - WOLVERINE EVENT MONTH]
Special Mentions
It’s very easy to forget what we’ve updated over the previous 12 months, from the glossary entries, to Current Title Information and whilst everything, well apart from my contributions, is of a high standard, I think it’s only fair to list some of the highlights. (click the links to go check them out)
X-Men Primer – Douglas Mangum
X-Men Movie Guide – Douglas Mangum
Aurora Spotlight Competition - Peter Luzifer
Cover Gallery breaking 5000 covers! – Trevor Cates, Binaryan & Homer Jay
Exclusive Brubaker Answers your Questions – Trevor Cates
Updates to the Villain Teams Section – Monolith
So another year goes by, putting us another step closer to world domination. The next year should see more of what you like as well as some very interesting developments for the site, which will affect everyone who uses and contributes to the site. In fact I even heard that the Wolverine spotlight might be completed for April…