It was a year ago today that Al and I brought this site into the world, red-faced and squalling. We really didn’t know what we were doing, and there were a lot of things that we probably should have done differently. I don’t think we realized that a year later, we’d just be wrapping up our first chapter, having only introduced a fraction of our protagonists. But after those first tottering steps, I think we’re finally getting our feet under us.

Thanks so much to all of our readers, and especially those who have been with us from the beginning.  Your support and comments have really meant a lot to us. We look forward to our next year with you and the years after that!

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Al here. I’d like to take a few moments and add a little to what Shawn wrote. I look over what we’ve put together over the last year and I’m immensely proud of what we’ve accomplished. At one point, when The Specialists was still mostly just ideas and some concept drawings, I said to Shawn that I had become very fond of the characters we’d created and that the story was one worth telling. I felt that–given the chance–others would come to like this world we were creating as much as we did (and still do). And it’s immensely gratifying and humbling to discover that there are indeed others who like and appreciate this story we’ve put so much time and energy into.

We agreed at the start that The Specialists was going to be the story we wanted to tell, and that we weren’t going to bow to outside influences to change or water down or otherwise alter the story. We’ve done that so far, and I’d like to tell you, our faithful readers, that there’s a lot more of this story to come, and Shawn and I are both excited for you to see the big things ahead. It’s gonna get wild soon kids–stick around!

And so, let me just echo Shawn and say thank you. We sincerely appreciate everyone who stops by and reads our comic, and we’re grateful for all the encouraging comments. It makes it worthwhile knowing that so many of you out there are digging what we do.