2022 Year in Review

2022 has come and gone with us all swept up within the full swing of the new year as 2023 is rolling forward. We're into the second week of 2023 as of this posting and I'm still playing catch-up in terms of wrapping up unfinished articles from 2022. That being said, I want to recap and touch base as I reflect back on 2022 and look towards the future with what I hope to accomplish in 2023. 

The State of Method To Madness in 2022 & Going Forward

Creative Writing & Original Artwork

On December 28, 2018, I made a promise to myself and to the late Stan Lee's memory that would be at a certain point in both my writing and illustrating my own original superhero universe. After a few rocky starts and stops, I was making some great headway over the last two years, but 2022 really hit me hard in terms of failing to hit the goal I set for myself. 

I actually wrote two chapters of Diosa's story last year instead of taking the duration of an entire year to write a single chapter, but that's not where I felt I failed at on my goal. I keep telling myself that I need to tailor my work for the enjoyment of myself, but instead, I found myself falling back into the old habits of trying to please and draw in a bigger audience or in this case, a bigger niche audience. Writing my story in a manner in hopes of appealing to Supergirl/omni-goddess (think omniscient being who is indestructible/invulnerable to the mere mortals around her that bend to her every whim) and female muscle/Amazon niche communities and fandoms isn't working. I had to stop myself from adding more content that I be hopeful that would appeal to those fans than sticking to the original plan(s) for that story. 

On the other side of the coin, I haven't gotten anything new for the mainline Bullets, Blades, and Blood story outside of the current logo I created. A portion of that I can blame on the fact that I don't want to go too far into that story as Diosa is going to appear in that story at crucial point and I want to write out her earlier adventures before she's at that stage of her heroism. So yeah, I don't want to spoil any details between that point.  

Artistically, I know that I could always learn more to hone my craft as I see the flaws in everything that I either put pen to paper or create digitally. I recognize that there is only so much that I can accomplish with just a bare bones laptop. It has been a miracle that I have been able to do as much as I have been doing for the last few years. Over the past month, I've took the necessary steps to upgrade and improve my hardware issues and limitations, so that won't be an excuse going forward. 

For 2023, I'm going to take the time to watch some more tutorials, download some more online classes, and take more strides to educate myself on improving my craft. While I appreciate the few kind individuals who have been able to point me in the right direction and answer questions that I have about graphic design and 3D rendering, I'm tired of being spoken down to like I'm idiot when the only thing I want to do is to learn how to do this stuff properly and professionally. Is that too much to ask? There's a lot of amazing artists on the Internet with a lot of them sharing and selling their work on DeviantArt, Patreon, Ko-Fi, and other various platforms. I'm not saying all of them are this way, but more often than not, I get the same response/reaction from those artists claiming that they don't want to help anyone as it would threaten their own business and steal their customers away. If it's going to be like that, I'm sorry for even asking. That's why I have come to the conclusion that if I really want to master this craft, I'm going to have to help myself - alone. 

That was one major revelation I made in 2022. I realized that if I have to brown nose and kiss the ass of these various artist cliques and groups to be accepted, then I don't want to be a part of them at all. I have my own Discord server and small, yet loyal following of supporters, so I need to focus my energy on that. Taking the advice of others who I'm not even remotely close to about "networking" into these other groups and cliques isn't the way to go for my own path. 

Series Retrospectives

I haven't had a chance to map out and plan the next Series Retrospective release since finishing the one on Spider-Man Unlimited, but I have definitely added a few more cartoons and game series that I would love to tackle, including Hunter: The Reckoning (video game series), Rumble Roses (video game series), the original Blade film trilogy, and the Legend of the Dragon (animated series). After the unexpected demise of Kevin Conroy, I think I should fast track retrospectives on Justice League and Justice League Unlimited, along with some retrospectives that are long overdue on the rest of the DC Animated Universe that I want to cover eventually, including Batman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, Static Shock, and Superman: The Animated Series. 

Other Misc. Content Updates & Future Releases 

• Reviews & Quickies will definitely still be the main focus going into 2023, with a few pending articles that should be available by the time you finish reading this post, including but not limited to reviews on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Guardians of the Galaxy: Holiday Special, and an array of short thoughts on various films, cartoons, and TV shows that I didn't have a chance to do a long form review on throughout the year.
  
  I also want to review some things that aren't your typical television shows and films that are currently streaming and/or premiering in theaters or your favorite streaming platforms, such as Tiger Mask W - something that would be more in the vein of the conversation for Let's Talk Wrestling since it features so many popular real life wrestlers from New Japan Pro Wrestling and parody/homages of other popular wrestlers from around the world. 

• Collectors' Corner will return in 2023 as I've had a few articles on that front on my mind to crank out. One article is going to be about older toylines that I would love to revisit and collect today. Another is providing my thoughts on price escalation in terms of collectibles and where are we as consumers getting the most bang for our buck. Then I'm going to try to share more stuff than just on social media of what I have been collecting and selling as of late.
  
  
  

• (30) Things I Like is something I have been procrastinating to finish for several years now and I'm making plans to complete that this calendar year. I'm honestly embarrassed that it's taken this long to finish actually. 

• Last but not least, I'm going to host a few more Discussion threads, specifically talking about various themes and terms in film theory that applies to a lot of modern media that I notice a lot of casual audiences are misconstruing (namely the male and female gazes along with the importance of identification between the spectators and the spectacle that is media itself), so I want to take the opportunity to educate my readers. 

The State of Let's Talk Wrestling in 2022 & Going Forward

Let's be honest here, there wasn't much talk about wrestling from me on this site like previous years. I've scaled back my weekly wrestling watching habits and routines considerably for my sanity at the start of 2022 as I felt like the only thing that I was covering on this blog was profession wrestling as that was 90% of my content output for 2020 and 2021. 

In terms of watching wrestling in 2022, I have cut out watching All Elite Wrestling entirely, except for the PPVs and clips on my timeline(s). This treatment is similar to how I have opted to digest World Wrestling Entertainment's product for the last few years, with me finally giving up watching NXT 2.0 this year as well. I will continue to cover the "big four" WWE PPVs - Royal Rumble, Summerslam, Survivor Series, and WrestleMania, along with continuing to cover the other various WWE PPVs throughout the year if I have the time or if there's something of interest. As for AEW, I'll continue to cover their "big" PPVs of the year, but I can't promise that I will cover every TV special and ROH PPV either when I haven't bothered to care to tune in at all. 

I will admit that I have tuned into more IMPACT Wrestling programming over anything else this year though. Despite the fact that the vocal majority of wrestling fans and names in the industry regard that company as "wrestling purgatory", I am always entertained when I tune into their product one way or another. 

Truth be told, my on-and-off again collaborator Serena and I were going to do a back-and-forth commentary on the whole Vince McMahon situation and the CM Punk/The Elite All Out Media Scrum & Brawl debacles but we never could find the time to align our schedules on the matter to do either big story justice in terms of offering our two cents. Serena keeps up with even less mainstream wrestling than I do these days, but we were really looking forward to writing something together again. Sadly, it just wasn't in the cards for 2022 in terms of scheduling. 

As of 1/11/23, we're going to have a LOT of Vince McMahon news to talk about this year so we don't have to rule out this conversation completely... Oof. 

Maybe I should cite some examples of stuff I really loved and was passionate about in wrestling for the last few years:

• Lucha Underground - From the visual presentation of a comic book come to life with cinematic elements of a full-length feature film with tons of world-building to actual in-ring product, this was the show that I couldn't wait to watch every week. Fast forward to them losing a lot of their talent to the independents and specifically WWE (and now AEW currently), their final season went as over as smoothly as a fart in a crowded elevator. I feel the same way currently about seeing their talent in other companies as I do about the former greats from Ring of Honor. Everyone took something that was a niche product and now it's oversaturated in every avenue of mainstream wrestling now. We see both ROH and Lucha Underground wrestling styles in every goddamn show now and it's boring. It's not special anymore when EVERYONE does this style now. I feel the same way about strong style in general. Everyone in mainstream wrestling wants to wrestle like they are main eventing at the Tokyo Dome. A lot of modern wrestling has lost the originality and uniqueness that made me fall in love it in the first place.
  
  
  

• NWA Power!!! - A return to form for the old school studio wrestling shows. I loved the intimate feel of the shows and the old school environment, down to the throwback commercials that they cooked up. Jim Cornette was let go from commentary after making an outdated joke that didn't fly in modern times while VP David Lagana stepped down following some allegations that came to surface with the show's production quality taking a nosedive soon after that. NWA was struck another blow by the COVID-19 pandemic forcing them to go on an extended hiatus that caused them to lose a lot of their promising talent and prospects to the up and coming All Elite Wrestling. Fast forward to present day and the NWA is a shell of their former self. They lost a lot of their big names, such as Thunder Rosa, Ricky Starks, and more recently Nick Aldis. (Laughs) Billy Corgan even thought it was a good idea to make Tyrus of all people their current World Champion. If that's not enough of a bigger nail in the coffin to this company, I don't know what is. I hope their remaining promising names (namely Kamille and former WWE alumni Melina Perez) head to IMPACT whenever their deals are up.
  
  
  

• Major League Wrestling - I thoroughly enjoyed the years I got into their product when the Dynasty (MJF, Richard Holliday, and Alex Hammerstone) were on the rise and feuding with the New Era Hart Foundation (Teddy Hart, Brian Pillman Jr., and Davey Boy Smith) while Salina de la Renta's Promociones Dorado were taking over the company by storm and butting heads with Konnan. All of this was giving me the vibes of what I missed from Lucha Underground, but I quickly soured on their product when they let Salina go among others who were signed by either WWE or AEW. It felt like they were losing all of their star power. MLW would then bring in Lucha Underground's Dario Cueto, affiliated in name only into their company as an authority figure. I tuned in a few times to see the setup and explanation for this turn of events, but sadly, it wasn't enough to rekindle that fire that Lucha Underground gave me. 

I'm still in the same boat as I have been in at the start of 2022 where I feel like my love of wrestling is going down the drain completely. Sure, there's a few things I still like in modern wrestling but my feelings of being completely enamored with everything under the sun about it is fading and fading fast as the years wear on. 

The common suggestion I get from a ton of people is to watch New Japan. I used to follow their product about a decade ago when I would work 2nd and 3rd shift jobs that allowed me to pull all-nighters to watch their shows live. Now I work 1st shift jobs where I have to be up when their shows are already in progress or have literally just finished airing and my entire Twitter timeline has already spilled all of the results on the front page as soon as I load it up to check my messages in the morning. If I'm perfectly honest, I get fed up of hearing that shit coming from people that simply watching Japanese wrestling is the end-all-be-all solution to my fading interest in modern wrestling. I should clarify that I don't think that there's not any good wrestlers out there currently. Instead, I feel that modern wrestling as a whole is extremely underwhelming to me as a whole outside of a few exceptions across the board in every wrestling company.

So excuse me for getting annoyed with people who tell me that I should be as enamored and as in love with everything in modern wrestling right now. It's like everything else I'm into. If I have a difference of opinion with the vocal majority, then I'm painted as public enemy #1 and I'm clearly wrong for not drinking the Kool-aid like everyone else.  

My Top 5 Personal Accolades For 2022

One look at the images above by a savvy graphic design artist and they could tell you that I don't have the slightest idea of what I'm doing when it comes to using that application, but I like to say that I made four images that I was proud of this year at my skill level. I can't take all of the credit when larafan gave me a few pointers. For 2023, I hope to devote more time learning to develop this skill even further for even more elaborate works of art. 

For the countless artists online that do this kind of thing all the time, this may not be anything significant nor special to you, but it meant the world to me to do this on my own (for the most part). For the record, I printed out the Diosa #2 cover and framed it on the wall of my home office to motivate me to not stop there. 

All of this venom and hatred against a show that they aren't required to watch at all, yet attack with so much aggression all because it doesn't satisfy their individual head canon and misperceived notions about this character, or even worse - all because she doesn't visually suit their preferences for jerk-off  (masturbation) material.  Before I was civil about it, but at this point, I hope those individuals all find something else to do with their free time rather than complain about something they didn't like in the first place. 

I'm going to get a ton of heat for saying it, but I really makes me question what those individuals who are pining for a return to a Savage, primitive Neanderthal-like She-Hulk instead of intelligent, independent female really think of women as a whole. That goes without mentioning the disturbing amount of peril and bondage fetishes and rape fantasies associated with not just this female character but others across the Internet in terms of fan-art and fan-fiction. If Hollywood has to cater to those strange bedfellows, then count me out. 

The reactions to this show and the fandom surrounding this character really made me reconsider where I stand with that online community going forward. I'm still going to love She-Hulk no matter what, but I'm going to be a lot more selective in terms of who I interact with and make content for that fandom going forward. 

As for the review itself, I have gotten a lot of positive feedback from a lot of people who have taken the time to read it and that really makes me proud of the work that I put into it. I thank every single one of you who took the time to read that very lengthy review and to give me your feedback on it. 

Closing Thoughts

2022 had it's ups and downs, but I wouldn't have it any other way. It was a lot more eye-opening than previous years, especially in relation to coming to grips of who I can rely on and trust in my life, and the sting of deceased loved ones still feels like a fresh open wound, but I think I'm learning how to navigate my emotions in a healthier sense for the better of my mental health. I resolved to not take any shit from anyone in 2023 and opt to cut off and out people who threaten my peace of mind. I'm too old for this juvenile shit and shouldn't have to censor myself to satisfy someone else's ego(s). 

I gave a lot of myself out of kindness to others in not just this year but for a long time at the detriment of my own sanity. For 2023, I have resolved to be a bit more "selfish" in a sense. I have to put myself first, whether it's for the sake of my peace of mind and mental clarity or whether it's for moving myself forward professionally. To be honest, I'm banking on myself financially with a costly risk that I firmly believe that is going to pay off in the long run. Truth be told, I'm not getting any younger, so I see it's now or never in terms of seeing how far I can take my artistic and creative writing talents. If I'm not willing to believe in myself, then how can I expect anyone else to do the same? That's the biggest thing I have in store for 2023. 

I hope you guys and gals who have stuck with me this long decide to stick around while I hope to bring in some new followers along for the ride. 

Special Thanks/Shout-Outs

• Acomicbookgirl - A invaluable friend that constantly puts up with me at my best and at my worst of days. She went above and beyond to make sure I enjoyed both my birthday and Christmas for the second year in a row. I swear, she's a tough act to follow. 

• Dani - Much like Acomicbookgirl, she really made a big effort to ensure that I had a good birthday. 

• Cityhunter77 - We don't chat as much as we used to, but he always makes the extra effort to gift me something around the holidays to show that he cares. 

• secpepper - One of my oldest friends that I can have nerd talk with at no matter what time of the day to discuss the ongoings of whatever I have gotten myself engaged into. He's also the #1 person I resort to for consulting in terms of technical support and advice on that end. 

• CrazyA1 - When I first started actively posting my art on my DeviantArt account instead of archiving my older works from high school, he was one of the first people to take me up on a commission. He's definitely one of the few bright spots in a lot of the same social circles we happen to be a part of online. 

• "Fonkers" / Fonk47, ArianeJones, Hawk9600 - These were the only three people who took the time out of the holiday to acknowledge my birthday on DeviantArt. A lot of people wonder why I don't identify nor associate myself with the majority of the cliques, communities, and fellowships on that website, Discord, and other online outlets? One reason is that all of those birthday lists go up in every community and I never see my name added to them. If those groups don't care to ask, then why should I want to immerse myself into those groups? The getting old part doesn't bother me in terms of how much I hate my birthday as the years roll on. The older I get, the more it feels like my birthday is insignificant in favor for the holiday. It's even amplified by the people who tell me "Merry Birthmas" or whenever I have to show my driver's license to someone and they have that shit-eating grin when they say, "Boy I bet your birthday sucks, huh?" just to fucking rub it in. 

• Burstlion - One of the only fellow Daz3D creators/3D artists that I can rely on to answer my questions about the software or point me in the right direction in terms of helping me figure stuff out or troubleshooting any issues/roadblocks I may stumble across.  Burstlion's helped me a lot over the past year or two now and always manages to never make me feel less than for not knowing how to do something in Daz Studio when I ask questions to some of my other peers. Being able to turn to you for help is something I will be unable to ever repay you for, but you have infinite amounts of thanks from me for not being one of those people in the 3D artists who feel threatened to "share their secrets" out of fear of losing their customers. 

• The efedding gang that makes sure to wish me happy birthday every year - There's far too many of you to list from Twitter, Facebook, and Discord, so I just want to take a moment and say thanks to each and every one of you. It means even more that you still keep in touch despite me leaving the game three years ago now.