Super Pamo prepares to take off on her motorcycle.
Motorcycles are infinitely more popular than comics. Here’s my evidence….
Since I started up this blog a little over a year ago, my average PAMO’S WORLD cartoon post garners any where from 30 to 80 page views, twice that when I market through e-mail and Facebook.
One post on my blog, however, has surpassed all others in the stats and that post is about a motorcycle. BIKER BUILD OFF MEETS FRED received nearly 10,000 page views in the first week it was published and continues to get around 50 views a week even five months later.
“I told you motorcycles are more interesting than comics.”
Of all that traffic, surprisingly few poked around to see what PAMO’S WORLD is about. Page views of my other entries has not measurably increased and the few that subscribed to my blog feed dropped out when they discovered PAMO’S WORLD did not prominently feature motorcycle related themes or reality TV stars.
And I don’t blame them one bit! Honestly, had I realized how popular BIKER BUILD OFF MEETS FRED was going to be, I would have parked it on the BIKER RAGS BLOG where it really belongs. But now, that article link has been bookmarked on motorcycle blogs and forums across the country completely screwing up my occasional need to reinvent my internet persona. As I’m sure Tim Gunn would suggest, I’ll just have to make it work.
Pamo decides to make it work.
Jeff, who is infinitely smarter than me, has suggested I make cartoons exclusively about motorcycles, since, as I now know, motorcycles are infinitely more interesting than comics. I considered that possibility for a short while until one sleepless night (the curse of an anxious menopausal worrier) I realized I had a better chance of selling party hats to a Jehovah Witness than succeeding at a lifetime of motorcycle themed cartoons.
This past Monday we were leaving the gym after our workout and I grabbed the latest edition of Knoxville’s weekly pseudo-alternative magazine. I like to look at the comics page which features a local cartoonist and a national one, both male. The editorial cartoonist is local and female. While driving to eat lunch, I began to speculate why my cartoons wouldn’t fit in with this magazine. The conversation went like this:
Pamo – “My cartoons aren’t political.”
Jeff – “Um huh.”
Pamo – “I don’t represent a strong point of view.”
Jeff – “Um huh.”
Pamo – “And I’m not male.”
Jeff – “Oh, I don’t think that has anything to do with it.”
Pamo – (Rolls eyes and thinks to self, ‘Yeah, that’s because you’re male. The only cartoon less interesting to male editors than a cartoon about mundane life drawn by a man is a cartoon about mundane life drawn by a woman.’)
Apparently, I was quiet for too long because next….
Jeff – “Besides, no one looks at comics any way.”
Pamo – “Hey! That’s not true. Lot’s of people look at comics. You look at my comics.”
Jeff – “That’s just because I know you.”
“I look at your comics, Pamo, because I know you.”
The thing is, Jeff didn’t say this to be malicious- it’s simply what he thinks. He’s not a comics guy and he finds motorcycles infinitely more interesting than comics. Me getting upset about it would make about as much sense as being upset about 10,000 page views of a non comic, motorcycle themed post on my blog.
OK – it upset me a teensy bit. But I’d rather Jeff give me his honest opinion, not a fake supportive one. It doesn’t change my absolute love of comics just as I would never attempt to change his absolute love of motorcycles.
In today’s post, I’ve placed motorcycle themed photographs for those of you who find motorcycles more interesting than comics. I’ve written a Pamo, straight from life story, for those of you who look at my comics because you know me. And now I’ll post the first installment of my comic strips from Journey to Art City for those of you who, like me, can’t get enough comics.
Until next toon!
PAMO
