I thought black was supposed to be slimming. Dear Lord, someone remind me never to insert myself into my own comic ever again! I looked so much better when I pulled this stunt before back in 2004.
I wasn’t planning on doing anything special for Theater Hopper’s 7th anniversary. But when I found out that I had crossed the 1,000 comic milestone, I thought it made sense to announce both at the same time.
I had actually figured out that I had reached the milestone almost serendipitously. Back when the archive database was being managed by PHP, I knew exactly how many comics were in the archive. It even went so far as to exclude guest comics, movie reviews and other “tagged” entries from the complete tally.
However, since moving the site into WordPress, I kind of lost track of how many comics there actually are on the site. I guess they don’t make a plugin for that.
Basically, I was sitting at my computer last week thinking about this and decided to do something about it. So I downloaded all of the comics in the archive and cherry picked all of the guest strips, movies reviews and other non-comic graphic entries from the folder.
Lo and behold, it was actually last Wednesday’s comic was our 1,000th! Since there was nothing particularly special about that comic, I decided to bide my time a little bit and come ‘atcha with a proper acknowledgment.
And here we are!
I think you guys know what is coming next. I don’t mean to preface that in a way that makes it sound trite, but what I’m about to say next I say a lot. Because it’s true.
I simply couldn’t do this comic without you. I’m amazed that anyone is still interested in what I’m doing 7 years and 1,000 comics later. Some of you have been with me since the beginning. Some of you are just learning about Theater Hopper. It doesn’t matter if you’ve read every comic in the archive or just a handful. Every, single one of you have contributed to the success of Theater Hopper and I thank you for it. You are amazing.
If you have it in your heart, I’d really like to raise the roof on crossing this milestone and promoting it as far and wide into the internet as possible.
Please let as many people as possible know about Theater Hopper’s anniversary and 1,000th comic. Use Twitter, Facebook, StumbleUpon, Reddit, Digg… whatever you use and spread the word.
Let the guys at Fleen and Comixpedia know what’s going on. Say something about it in your LiveJournal or in a forum you visit. Anywhere else you happen to frequent, let them know about what’s going on here.
I don’t promote myself quite as much as I used to (or probably should), but this is a moment where I want to set aside modesty and invite as many people as possible to check out Theater Hopper so they don’t miss the next 1,000 comics!
Thanks again for everything you do and be sure to check the site later today for a couple more announcements. I have a few special treats up my sleeve!
Two days ago, Theater Hopper marked it's 7th anniversary!
Not only that, but one week ago we also racked up our 1,000th comic!
SO LET THE CELEBRATION BEGIN!!!
Dude! One balloon? That's it?!
Blame the economy.
Congratulations!
Gratz! Here’s hoping we make it to 2,000! (At the very, very least)
Wooo! Can I pop the one balloon? *evil grin*
Congrats! And know that I check this comic every day it updates, and have since last summer (and read a good chunk of the archive too). You’ve come a long way in your art too, compared to how you started. And I always enjoy the movie info. Congrats, and I’m with Nick, I hope we get to 2,000!
The reason you look larger is you put yourself in front of your characters. In the previous attempt, you put yourself behind. It’s all a matter of perspective 😉 btw, Congrats 😀
Congrats! That’s one hell of a milestone.
Way to go!! Wow 1000 huh? Pretty cool. Maybe you think you look better in that old comic but I think your characters look better now. You’ve really improved your drawing skills. 🙂
Since he whined maybe, you should have dropped the balloon on Jared’s head. But it would need more weight than just air. hehe
Good luck on the next 7 years and next 1000 strips! I’ll keep reading. 🙂
Congrats! I only started reading since the FML was put up, but i decided to read all your comments, I’m almost to 2005, and i have another 500 comics to go! haha, but its worth it.
Here’s to another 1,000 comics!
High fives all around 😀
Kudos to you Tom for going the distance like this. It’s an impressive step on any scale.
Also, my mind created two Simpsons references in this strip 8)
Congratulations!! I only discovered the site late last year, but I read all the archives and just love the adventures of Tom, Cami, Jared and supporting players. I look foward to more.
Congradulations Indeed! Here’s to the internet’s longest running web comic about movies!
Congratulations!
Amazing and congratulations. The internet would be darker without Theater Hopper
Congrats, Tom! 1,000 comics AND 7 years is a hugely awesome milestone. Here’s to many more comics, years, and milestones to come!
Wow a 1000 comics and seven years is a long damn time to keep something up. You should be proud of that.
congrats.. I started reading back in 2005 I think, read the archives then on a dial up internet connection. Took me a while.
congrats sir!!!
Congratualtions on the great milestones! Keep up the wonderful work.