When I created The Casual Geekery at the end of July 2016 – bringing back an idea I worked on with a friend back in 2008 – I used it mostly for comic book reviews. I would buy my books on Wednesdays, read them on the subway on the way to work and write down some thoughts the next day. The site has evolved a bit over time and I’ve taken to writing about more and more of my interests.
The last 12 months have been a great one for the site. Thanks to readers like you, we’ve grown considerably over the last year. When I saw how many views came through in November, I was ecstatic. And then, there were even more in December. And they’re still coming in.
A lot of that has to do with the great help I’ve received this year in posting stories. Chief among the help was my music man, JOE MARVILLI. Every weekend, his SONG OF THE WEEK featured a lot of great music.
Some of Joe’s most popular Song of the Week features this year included songs from boygenius, Cherry Glazerr, Sidney Gish, Belly and Maggie Rogers.
When Joe turned 30 this past summer, he took a look back at his 30 favorite albums from every year of his life. The 30 YEARS, 30 ALBUMS feature was a big hit, and you should also make a point of checking that out.
On the video game side of things, UNCLE DAVE spent the year playing some of the more eclectic games from Steam and writing about them in BIG STEAMING PILE. His look at Tannenberg was particularly popular this year, as was Don Bradman Cricket 14.
I even managed to get some video game time in this year. I may not be as big a gamer as I used to be, but I still made some time for – mostly PS4 – video games. I started off the year with a review of BURNOUT and MLB THE SHOW 2018. Later in the year, I played the Sony-exclusive SPIDER-MAN and Mini Arcade’s BURGER TIME.
Back in January, I decided to make more of an effort to watch the huge DVD/Blu-Ray collection I’d amassed. But knowing that I would never be able to decide on what to watch on my own, I figured doing a Twitter poll to have everyone else decide for me was the best way to go. So, MOVIES AT RANDOM was born.
I managed 41 movies in 2018 – less than I wanted but more than I expected. Some of the highlights included EMPIRE RECORDS, Kevin Smith’s DOGMA and the seminal classic ROCKY V. We’ve added a few more movies to the selection thanks to Christmas gifts, so the feature will continue into 2019. First up in the new year is the adaptation of V FOR VENDETTA!
This site wouldn’t be around without comic book reviews, of course. Our full archive of comic book reviews can be found HERE, while Joe and I have compiled an extensive list of TV reviews, which you should also CHECK OUT.
We’re all looking forward to getting back to business in 2019, and I hope you’ll join us for what should be a fun ride.
Of course, if you’re interested in being a part of the Geekery team, send an email to thecasualgeekery@gmail.com. And make sure to follow us on Twitter, @Casual_Geekery!