[JJ]

It’s with a heavy heart that I have decided to put Filibuster on an indefinite hiatus.

My reasons are multiple, but the simplest explanation may also be the most blunt — the site is simply not popular enough.

I have been doing Filibuster for nearly eight years now, which is not an insignificant period of time by webcomic standards. I’ve produced almost 1,000 toons, and while my update schedule has obviously become far more loose over the course of the last year or so, overall, I’ve still held pretty firm to my self-imposed mandate of at least one toon a week, every week, since 2001.

Yet I don’t feel I have very much to show for it all. If Google Analytics is to be believed, I average an extraordinarily pathetic 2,000 visitors a day, a rate that has remained depressingly constant over the last few years, in spite of producing a number of very popular comics that have been cross-linked from some big-name blogs. In such situations I may get an enormous deluge of new visitors for a day or two, but it always trickles back into a wimpy stream soon enough. I likewise get very few emails from readers, and this site’s forum, though home to much intelligent and engaging dialogue, remains sparsely inhabited. It’s all very unsatisfying.

I don’t know exactly why Filibuster never “caught on.” Usually sheer longevity (coupled with a vaguely consistent standard of quality) is enough to drive up some sort of stable support base with just about any webcomic, but not so with mine.

I have my theories, of course. A leading one is that most people simply don’t like editorial cartoons, so I always faced an uphill battle. Editorial cartooning is a somewhat anachronistic art form with a subtlety that many people either don’t get, or actively dislike. Political cartoons, with their stock symbols and labels and visual metaphors and all the rest are formulaic, yes, but so is Manga and so are superhereo comics and so are online strips about video games and all the rest. But I’ve never quite understood why some folks get such a thrill out of eagerly denouncing and mocking the traditions (admittedly unimpressive and boring as they sometimes are) of political cartoons with a snobbish venom few other forms of cartooning ever have to face.

But editorial cartooning may be on the way out, anyway. According to Daryl Cagle, the prolific commentator on all things relating to editorial cartoons, as newspapers become less profitable in the internet age, editorial cartoons are often one of the first costs to cut. As a result, claims Cagle, there are now “only a few dozen editorial cartoonists left” in the United States “and they seem to be losing their jobs at a pace of about one per week.” So maybe I bet on the wrong horse.

Of course, this theory does not explain the tremendous success enjoyed by Cox and Forkum, another solely online editorial cartoon (now in hiatus too) whose popularity was enough to inspire tens of thousands of visitors, two books, reprints in newspapers across the United States and Canada, and all the accompanying rewards. Granted, Cox and Forkum was always an explicitly right-wing comic, which gave them a strong support base during the fanatic polarization of the Bush years. I’m not going to self-righteously suggest that I was somehow above crass partisanship myself when my pet issues were at play, but I was certainly less interested than most in making my comic openly pro or anti left or right. And that probably hurt me. Content wise, I was probably also too Canadian for my majority-American readership, and not Canadian (or perhaps not pro-Canadian) enough to get a strong Canadian base. But who knows, maybe I just should have updated more.

A webcomic can only be a labour of love for so long. In recent months Filibuster has become a bit of a chore, and its obligatory nature has often drawn my creative / artistic energy away from other projects that I am more interested in perusing. Living in Japan has likewise proven to be a much more difficult and unhappy experience than I anticipated, and the last thing I need when I’m in such a state is one more unpleasant chore to further lower my mood.

Lastly, I’m simply just not as into politics as I used to be, at least for now. I think President Obama deserves the benefit of the doubt for the time being, and I don’t wish him any particular ill in pursuing whatever agenda it is he’s pursuing. America voted for change, and he has a right to implement it. Politics in Canada, by contrast, has become so profoundly anti-change that I really have a hard time getting passionate about it anymore. Harper and Ignatieff are both decent men, I guess, but it’s going to be a long time before any effort is made to address Canada’s fundamental problems, which as a wise man once said, are never openly acknowledged, let alone solved.

Anyway, while one never wants to say never, especially when one is as fickle as I, I think this is going to be the end of Filibuster for a while. I’ve had a good run. Enjoy the archives, and if you are still interested in following my art, be sure to check out my Deviant Art page, which I will hopefully be updating more regularly in lieu of this site. When I do more writings or charts, I’ll also stick them on here, so updates will occur. I’m also planning on revamping my Canada Guide sometime in the future, so… don’t abandon Filibuster completely.

Thanks to everyone who has stuck with me this long. Though I may sound down, it has been a great experience for me overall, and I’ve learned a ton. Hopefully you’ve gained something, too.

Let’s stay in touch.

[Gunnair]

It's been a pleasure. Hope you return.

[ridenrain]

That's sad because I thought you're stuff was quite good. I just think you have a tough audience here.

[Canadaka]

sad to here I know how you feel though. I have felt many of the same things about this site, its traffic has been stagnate for years as well. But i have come to accept that and i'm ok with it. I really do think your cartoon filled a niche that doesn't have much contenders. And although we may differ on a range of political views, I always enjoyed your cartoons and thought they were mostly presented in a balanced fashion.

Have you ever done any Search Engine optimization for your site? Building links actively and such. This can be a tedious game, but it can have great payoffs, CKA gets more than 50% of its traffic from Google searches. Where i find most webcomic sites aren’t big on SEO and they get most there traffic from links on other comics, which is fine, but they are missing out on tons of ‘free” traffic.

The inconsistency of updates is defiantly a factor, but can’t be the only one. Angela’s website has only weekly updates as well and is fairly inconsistent, but her site has been growing.

I for one hope this isn’t the end, what will we do without the crazed beaver character!

[Canadaka]

one thing about your charts, they are great search engine indexing material. But you don't contain those pages within the framework of the rest of the website. So there are no links back to the homepage or other parts of the site. So its hard for earch engines to find them, and people that do get linked to them, don't get tempted to the comic with no links.

[commanderkai]

Boo! Stay and keep making those cartoons man!

Sigh, well, whatever happens with you from now on, good luck!

[Kwyjor]

Oh well. 'Tis true that my enthusiasm for the comic has waned with the update frequency.

A high point that stands out in my memory is the comic depicting Chretien's tenure with popular Christmas video game releases.

A low point that stands out is the one about the "fat lady singing" regarding evidence of WMDs in Iraq, which is the only commentary I can recall coming across that gave any credence to those vague reports of satellite images of trucks.

By the way, I think that link you wanted was http://wonkette.com/407126/subtlety-is-overrated .

[martin14]

just wait till the Republicans get the House back in '10,
and the NDP get into government in Canada soon.

You'll be busy enough

I enjoyed your stuff, good luck to you...

[asimperson]

I've been reading this comic for at least 5 years, and it's one of the primary reasons this American knows anything at all about our great frozen neighbor.

Thanks for the time and effort you put into all of it, and I hope you get back on the horse sooner rather than later.

[TattoodGirl]

I will miss it all.

[Psudo]

I'm not at all pleased with your disillusionment or abandonment of your comic. In that sense, I empathize completely. I don't really have any other internet hangout, so I'll try to stick around and keep the forum interesting and the visitors interested. I'll be missing you.

[CanadianJeff]

Just seriously filibuster was my favorite comic and I'll be saddened to see it go. I seriously wish you all the best JJ.

[Amilam]

Wow has it been almost 8 years? I've been following you for most of that time and I've always enjoyed your comics and your subtle insight. Unfortunately the political atmosphere in the States is so punditry driven that it's hard to make much of a impression unless one uses the heaviest of cudgels. Your Fox and Corkrum is a good example because while the quality of art was high, it was mainly the extreme right wing ideology as well as it’s close connection with the rightwing blogs that made it so popular. It’s also how grossly inferior comics like DaybyDay garner webtraffic. I always appreciated the high quality of art and consistent attempts to look beyond simple party line.

I’m sorry that it’s come to an end, and sorrier to hear that you’re not in a happy set of circumstances these days. Speaking as someone doing the same as you, only in Seoul instead of Japan, I’d recommend finding new challenges. Personally, I’ve worked really hard at acquiring the language, collecting stories from the locals, and hitting the gym.

[Mr_Canada]

Canadaka wrote:

sad to here I know how you feel though. I have felt many of the same things about this site, its traffic has been stagnate for years as well. But i have come to accept that and i'm ok with it. I really do think your cartoon filled a niche that doesn't have much contenders. And although we may differ on a range of political views, I always enjoyed your cartoons and thought they were mostly presented in a balanced fashion.

Have you ever done any Search Engine optimization for your site? Building links actively and such. This can be a tedious game, but it can have great payoffs, CKA gets more than 50% of its traffic from Google searches. Where i find most webcomic sites aren’t big on SEO and they get most there traffic from links on other comics, which is fine, but they are missing out on tons of ‘free” traffic.

The inconsistency of updates is defiantly a factor, but can’t be the only one. Angela’s website has only weekly updates as well and is fairly inconsistent, but her site has been growing.

I for one hope this isn’t the end, what will we do without the crazed beaver character!

Trev, if you ever closed this site, I'm sure us locals would be at your house within an hour.

[Mr_Canada]

martin14 wrote:

just wait till the Republicans get the House back in '10,
and the NDP get into government in Canada soon.

I'm a proud Dipper and I find that statement hilarious.

At least don't suggest 'soon', lol.