From our founder and editor-in-chief: Uh, guys… we just hit our 10,000th post! The amount of news, exclusive content, jovial filth and typos/grammar issues we’ve put out on the net is staggering.
As the editor-in-chief of Nerd Bastards.com, I am completely floored. We came, we saw, we kicked the Internets ass! It’s Miller Time!
I started this site as a means to provide a hub for all the trending news in nerd culture; movies, television, comics, video games and more. Instead of surfing multiple sites for nerdy goodness, I wanted one site to rule them all.
Nerd Bastards, however, didn’t quite start out that way. We had very humble beginnings. In the first year of the site, we had a butt page design (gawd, it was awful), a staff consisting of friends and family that wrote about boobs, gadgets and random news stories that were often days old and lacking in quality.
We, honestly, had no idea what we were doing and then, basically, I woke up one day and said “I’m a blogger now, bloggers are cool” and figured we’d learn as we go. 10,000 posts later, I can say we finally got it right. Truth be told, we found our stride at our year and a half mark.
Two things happened back then. 1.) I made a commitment to deliver timely nerd/geek centric posts with a focus on features and other exclusive content. All with a bit of flair, attitude and professionalism. 2.) Getting a talented, reliable staff to help me do it. As Nerd Bastards went on trucking, it welcomed writers Sarah Moran (our lead female voice and #1 contributor), Mark Poynter (limerick master and Facebook updater), Adam Donaldson (our most consistent/charming Canadian), jeremy r! hudson (Podcast hooligan, Photoshop wizard), Matthew Jackson (Our top movie reviewer), Jason McAnelly (One of our strongest and most reliable writers), Christa D., Jason Tabrys (podcastor and feature manager), Regina Lizik (another strong voice) and Nick Bungay (everyone needs a little Bungay in their lives). This rogues gallery of writers are what make Nerd Bastards possible. I steer the ship and crack the whip, but this site stands on it’s rocking staff. It’s takes a team to live the dream and, boy, have I got my dream team.
Thinking back on these 10,000 posts, it’s hard for me to decide what my favorite moments are. The site itself, being what it is – an outlet for nerdery – just astonishes me. I mean, we’re a respectable, legitimate authority on nerd culture; a site for nerds by nerds. What a cool thing that is.
Besides the awesome interviews we’ve secured, the events we’ve covered, the connections we’ve made and loads of praise we’ve received by fans, there ARE 2 moments that I always harken back to:
1.) Our first “BIG” story.
Remember when that insane biblical group – Westboro Baptist – protested in front of San Diego Comic Con? Well, in the days leading up to the con, we broke the story of their planned protest. We stumbled upon some flyer regarding Westboro Baptis’ts call-to-arms tucked away in some dark corner of the internet. We put the alert out that these d-bags were going to gathering in protest of nerds worshiping false idols. Our story was immediately cannibalized. Almost every blog in our field covered the story and linked back to us. Our traffic was insane. It was like hitting the jack pot. This was one of the moments when I felt we hit the big leagues. Oh, and then when Comic Con actually happened, and thousands of nerds counter protested with signs like “God Loves Gay Robin” and “Eternal Life Through Dragon Balls”…. man, that was something magical. Of course, we can’t take the credit for such an amazing display of nerdery,… but I like to think our initial story helped get the ball rolling.
2.) Getting accosted at by Kevin Smith.
The writer, actor, director didn’t like us making news out of his departure from movie making. This was back before it was common knowledge. We had saw, in some local Boston magazine, that he was done with making movies. So, we made a headline out of it. It, of course, exploded across the net. Smith had completely lashed out at us for making something out of (what he considered) nothing. Now, I’m a Smith fanboy, and for him to notice me… was a thrill. And, then, to be scolded by said hero was just hilarious. At least, that’s how I perceived it. FYI: He later forgave us and has since made a few Twitter cracks at/with us. You can read the original article and Smiths comments HERE.
The one thing I am thankful for, above all else, are the wonderful fans we have. From the old fans and the new, we do what we do because of you. You’ve stuck by us for 10,000 posts and we hope to see you for 10,000 more. We’ll keep writing if you keep reading. – Luke Gallagher
From our features editor: In my time here at Nerd Bastards, I have had the chance to speak on the serious and the silly and speak with nerd icons like Stan Lee, Robert Kirkman, Felicia Day, Nick Offerman, Mike Mignola and many others. These opportunities have been surreal and awesome but they aren’t the best part of working here.
The best part of working here has been getting the chance to bring in amazing people like Steven Sautter, Dev Richards, Anne Sisk, Myles Cockcroft, Tiffany Brown, Angela Wagner, Tarun Shanker, Daniel Burden, and others. Thanks to those people, we have dominated SDCC and NYCC, brought you inside a TARDIS Bar, taken you on a test drive of a DeLorean, run through an obstacle course while being chased by zombies, and more.
In addition to those people, Luke has accumulated an amazing staff here. Together we have all excelled because of the culture of attitude and honesty that we have built. A culture that wouldn’t exist without our readers, so as we cross the finish line on 10,000 articles (and — I might add — some fucking fantastic podcasts) I thank you for reading, for listening, for commenting, and for sharing. You folks fuel the fire, you are NerdBastards.
As for my favorite works here. I’m a big fan of Myles’ TARDIS bar experience, Dev’s zombie run, whenever Other Jason takes the stick out and beats the drum for creator rights, my interview with Sam Witwer from Being Human because it was our first big interview and it was also the most fun I’ve had during an interview, and the responsible way that we covered the Aurora tragedy and later the effort by All C’s Collectibles to help the victims with Aurora Rise, an effort that is ongoing and one that we will continue to cover. – Jason Tabrys
Our Viceroy of Awesome: I’ve been with the site now a little more than a year, and I can already say that I have enjoyed each and every minute of it (more than 675,000 and counting.) While I have not been blessed with an official title here (Luke… Viceroy Of Awesome, think it over) I have enjoyed my time here just as much as you’ve been annoyed by my typoo;s.
What started out as just an excuse to read and review each and every first issue of DC Comics New 52 quickly grew into an outlet for my thoughts (and mostly bad jokes) on the current nerd condition and the news stories that spew from it. Hell, it has even given me the chance to do a podcast with a megalomaniacal New Jerseyan (see above).
So, I thank you dear reader/listener for all of your endless support. Each and every time you comment or tweet or email that I should ‘eff my own ‘a’ and that my head so far up my own ‘b’ I can probably taste my own ‘q’ (ew)… I know you are really saying we support you, Jeremy. We support you.
In all seriousness, thanks for helping the site hit 10,000 posts and for helping the still relatively new and totally official podcast of NerdBastards.com, the BastardCast, be a success as well. If you have not yet listened to an episode, you should because Jason has been talking smack about you for weeks. Cheers. - jeremy r! hudson
His name is Nick, sometimes he works here: I remember being a part of Nerd Bastards back when the site was just over a year old, but back then I wasn’t writing for it like I am today. I was just a fan of the site who answered Luke’s call for someone to contribute to the site and nearly four years later I’m still at it.
What originally started out as something to pass the time for a young, dumb 20 year old turned into an older, more thoughtful nerd who writes about cosplay and awesomeness every week. I can claim that being a part of the site has made me an awesome writer, but I’d be lying, I’m still making mistakes that either Luke or Jason scold me for. It has, however, made me a better person.
I used to be a pretty depressed kid that hated a lot of people a few years back and writing for Nerd Bastards has turned me into a 24 year old Zen Buddhist that occasionally makes a dick joke or two (Editor’s note: or three or four or fifteen). How’s that for a turn around? Writing for the site now compared to back then is like re-watching Attack of the Clones: You know it sucked, but you can’t help watching it. Everyone has taught me something or told me something that I hang onto, the kinds of things I would have never learned on my own.
As for favorite stories, I have two since I couldn’t decide on one like a real man. The first being the whole Westboro Baptist incident at San Diego Comic-Con, I watched that unfold from the sidelines and it still makes me laugh at how bad this “Church” was trying to compete against nerds in cosplay with comic-themed protest signs. If that ever happens again you can be sure I want to be a part of it. My second favorite is Nerd Bastards at Hal-Con 2012, it was my first con experience ever and something that has become a top 10 of stuff I’ve experienced thanks to Nerd Bastards.
I love everyone I work with and while I may not speak with everyone on a personal basis or meet anyone outside of a computer screen, I’ll still call them my friend. It’s not the Canadian way of doing things, but I consider it the Nerd Bastard way of doing things and hopefully it works for all the new readers or the older ones who’ve been here from the beginning.
Thank you for showing up for 10,000 posts and let’s hope you’re here for 10,001. -Nick Bungay
From Adam the bold: The appeal of Nerd Bastards for me, as both a writer and a reader, is our laid back approach to nerdery. We can be hyper-critical, sarcastic, foul-mouthed, inappropriate and even downright disrespectful, but we’re cool about it. Of course, I mean cool as in temperate, and not actually saying we’re cool because contrary to popular belief being a nerd is still not cool. We do not rule the world, and we certainly don’t rule Hollywood, but on this little patch of digital land called “Nerd Bastards” we’ve established for ourselves a place where we can be ourselves, and appreciate the nerdiness of it all even if a given movie, TV show, comic or game falls short of expectations. After all, there’s always the remake.
As for the Bastards themselves, you couldn’t ask for a better, more dedicated crew of Nerds, and we have to be since we work for cheap (or for the love, if you like). I love the times where we Bastards, many of us separated by great distances across this continent, come together to combine our words and our passion to cover big events like San Diego Comic Con, or even just answering your questions in the weekly “Ask the Bastards” column. There are people I see everyday that I don’t think I know half as well as some of my fellow Bastards, which flies in the face of the old fashioned view of the computer being this cold, impersonal place where you never get to know anyone. But that maybe my sappy Canadianess talking.
As for all time favorites, I’m still loving the Bastardcast. It was one of the things that got me into the site in the first place, and the new version with Jeremy and Jason is balls to the wall awesome every week. How these two guys don’t have their own drive time radio show, I don’t know. (Although it probably has to do with one living in Canada and the other living in Jersey. I’m not a geographer.) As for my own work, I’ll always be grateful to Luke for allowing me to nerd out with articles like my Buffy re-cast and my magnum opus about how I think DC should make movies based on their characters. Excelsior! – Adam A. Donaldson
Advertisement
Like Us
Follow Us