This week The Grype received its 2000th official Facebook “Like.” And since we aren’t Lady Gaga or Justin Beiber (or any other such massive internet “Click Me” machine) we consider it to be something of a landmark. Readers can “Like” our separate Facebook pages, or our individual cartoons… but each specific “Like” of The Grype on our website represents a unique online visitor who has come here and formally registered their appreciation for what we do. That’s priceless, as far as we’re concerned.
Now, sure… we could always just pepper these pages with infographics and Top-Ten Lists and misleading ad links (“Best 5 Reasons Celebrities Go Topless— And You Won’t BELIEVE #3!”) in order to artificially inflate our visitor stats. But we don’t. Because we aren’t here to spread more meaningless bullshit around (well… not TOO much more). Our comics, our blogs, our essays— even when they drift into “rant” territory— are all quite sincere. And they express real opinions and a shared point-of-view— namely, our very real outrage at the rampant abuses that abound in the modern business world.
Admittedly it can get depressing, constantly wading around in the assorted rottenness that clings to the ankles of the great corporate behemoths that have risen to dominate our American industrial landscape. And sometimes the frustration level around here gets hair-pullingly high. In fact, sometimes we would rather just walk PAST the abandoned refrigerator on the deserted job site, without prying it open to see what’s been hidden inside. Sometimes we don’t WANT to smell what’s in there, or learn what industrial garbage is being foisted upon the rest of our hapless citizenry by the greedy bosses.
But there’s also a certain hopeful nobility in opening that door and taking a huge whiff of it— the rank essence of corporate malfeasance— so we can alert our friends about what we find. To warn them. And to broadcast that warning, over and over again, promising that although hidden moguls in expensive suits may sit in boardrooms planning to abuse the rest of us with their financial recklessness and criminal negligence, they can’t hide their perfidies forever. Because even if they pay everyone off and almost get away with it, they can always expect us— and people like our readers— to call them out on their predatory bullshit.
When the constant storm of bullshit gets too ugly and ridiculous for us to handle, we turn back to our comics to lend us a dose of subtle (or blatant, depending upon the topic) snarkery… for solace, as a balm warding off any potential psychotic break. Because comics will always be there, ever ready to unveil tiny bits of truth we never knew we knew… about life, work, relationships, and the odd world in which we live.
In our case they also provide an endless string of awful behavior by that incorrigibly-narcissistic orange sociopath, Harold Orson Grype. A lab-made monster who continually gets away (more or less) with unwholesome antics, due to the rank incompetence and misguidedly-indulgent hyper-idiocy of the corporate landscape in which he functions.
You know. Just like in real life.
We also have a vengeful Civil War robot and assorted other comic options, for any who prefer to partake of their geekery in those hyperspecific flavors.
Today marks the 221st edition of TheGrype. Our first blog and comic debuted on July 21st, 2011. In the almost three years since, we’ve published 250 comic strips to these pages, along with 221 blogs topping a word count of over 150k. So we obviously don’t know when to shut up.
And there is so much more to come. Maybe ads! And actual site income! Or… a Donation Button! And possibly even— dare I say it?—a Tumblr account! (Just in time for its new owners, the geniuses at Yahoo, to stomp it flat and run it into the ground like they’ve done to everything else.)
Most of all, we thank you, our readers, for taking this ride with us.
The Yeast Grows!