Thaaaat’s all folks!
As we’ve hinted rather broadly the past few days, it’s finally time for the Keeper to hang up his cape and return his beloved Fortress back into the mists of comic-book Limbo.
It’s been a privilege and a pleasure to be part of the comic blog-o-verse these past few years, but we’ve reached a point in our lives where your humble host can no longer maintain this site in the manner – or frequency – we consider acceptable. Plus, to be honest, the Keeper can’t really think of anything else to say!
There’s only so many ways, after all, to express our disdain for the Big Two’s current efforts or enthuse over Golden Age Kirby and Ditko comics. We’ve toyed with the idea of expanding our scope a bit, but the whole “Fortress Keeper” persona was specifically created as a homage to the old EC horror hosts. Not the best vehicle for discussing, say, the collapse of the newspaper industry …
(Or our longstanding crush on Kathryn Erbe …)
So, once our schedule clears up a bit, we’ll probably set up a general interest blog to scratch that particular itch. In the meantime, the Keeper will continue to post (or re-post, depending upon the story in question) classic pre-code comics over at our Tumblr blog, Olden Times. Since we are trying to free up a bit of time in our always busy day, the stories will be presented with little comment beyond creator and publication credits.
If you’d like to stay in touch a bit more directly, please follow us on Twitter for such earth-shaking pronouncements as our opinion of the S.F. Giants offense!
Finally, we’d like to thank everyone who has visited and/or commented the past four years. It was truly wonderful encountering so many fellow travelers and we hope to stay in contact one way or another in the future.
Take care everyone. We’ll see you in the funny papers!
Marc
June 24, 2009 at 12:15 pm |
Thanks for all the great posts. I really enjoyed reading them.
June 24, 2009 at 12:54 pm |
I’ve just checked my favourites list and noticed that 6 out of the 10 comic book blogs I’ve visited regularly for the last couple of years have finished recently. Hey I’m running out of interesting stuff to click on !! The biggest brashest blogs aren’t always the best and I always enjoyed my visits to the fortress. Best wishes for the future.
June 24, 2009 at 1:13 pm |
Thanks for all the good stuff, Marc! Enjoy your new free time!
June 24, 2009 at 2:42 pm |
It was stumbling on to this blog that gave me the inspiration to start mine.
I rarely commented here but always read.
Thanks …
June 24, 2009 at 3:22 pm |
Thanks for a great blog! All the best in the future.
Fr. Dan
June 24, 2009 at 4:19 pm |
You’ve always had a lot of excellent posts, even if I couldn’t always think of anything interesting to say about them afterward. Best of luck in all your future endeavors.
June 24, 2009 at 4:24 pm |
Keep, ” Nooooooooooo!!!! ”
fella, it’s been an absolute joy. I know I’ve never commented as much as I probably should have, but, trust me, you’ve been a constant source of joy and information to me, and there’s been more than a few good laughs along the way. I’m gonna miss you. all the best, mate.
June 24, 2009 at 10:20 pm |
Ah, man, thanks for the ride. I know how you feel, but I can’t help hoping you’ll reconsider. Make sure you post back here if/when you start any other blog, okay?
June 24, 2009 at 10:24 pm |
Dammit, I knew I should have listened when they told me attachment to transient things leads to suffering!
(It was either Siddhartha Gautama or a Jedi, I’m not sure.)
I’m gonna miss this scene, guy. I’ll follow you at the new gig, certainly, but it was the discussions in your comments that always grabbed me. Being a great host isn’t just about laying out good content for people to enjoy — which of course you always did — it’s also about making your visitors feel welcomed and appreciated. Either someone has the knack of that, or they don’t…and you most definitely do. If and when you get around to a new blog, whatever the topic, be sure to send out word to your pals and I’ll be there like a shot.
June 25, 2009 at 1:16 am |
Tomorrow I express my regrets…today…today…there are just too many emotions. Like, Golden Age Emotions. I gotta get ‘em down to Silver Age Emotions at least before I can express ‘em, otherwise it’ll just be all “Ha, Keeper! You advance towards the Sixth Plane of Jupiter! Well…
“…We’ll have a cosmic fist-fight, and whoever loses will go into the SUN!”
P*O*W!!!!!!!!!!
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!…God I Miss That Guy.”
Tomorrow I’ll be back with my Silver Age goodbye, Keeper!
June 25, 2009 at 8:14 am |
What a shame…! Good job.
June 25, 2009 at 8:23 am |
I arrived late to the party, but once I was here, I enjoyed reading your site and will miss being introduced to near forgotten gems from years ago. Thank you.
June 25, 2009 at 10:57 am |
Sorry to see you go. I just discoverd your blog a little over a month ago. I’ve only been able to spend a short time here, but what you presented was great. Thanks for the memories.
June 25, 2009 at 4:09 pm |
Best of luck to ya! Be sure to let us all know when you surface again on the Net!
June 25, 2009 at 10:11 pm |
Vaya con queso.
Vaya con queso.
June 26, 2009 at 12:14 pm |
Awww, man …
Thanks, Keeper, for consistently writing what was one of my favorite comic book blogs.
June 27, 2009 at 5:39 am |
This was a wonderful blog, I will miss it terribly. Good luck on all your future ventures.
June 28, 2009 at 12:48 am |
Good luck and thanks for sharing all those golden age comics with us! I’ll be following Olden Times!
June 30, 2009 at 6:08 am |
Thanks for everything, Keep. I still have a printout of the splash for that Twilight Zone story, “The Tyranny of Time” at my desk, so you won’t be forgotten!
July 1, 2009 at 7:55 am |
Take care, Marc, and thanks for your entertaining and informative posts. :-)
July 4, 2009 at 6:02 am |
Gah! I’ve been so far behind on my own blogging, I’ve been completely out of the loop on blogs I usually (used to) visit! Very sad to see the blog go down! Fortress of Fortitude was one of the few comics blogs I felt I had any overlap with, even if it was by the most minimal of link-shared association.
Why no archives? It might’ve been nice to be able to nostalgically thumb through the history of the blog.
Amidst the sea of repetitive “humor”, weekly review, and general commentary blogs, I greatly appreciated the Fortress of Fortitude for standing apart from other comics sites. Sorry to see it end, chief!
July 4, 2009 at 4:35 pm |
I’m truly sorry you decided to remove all your old content in shutting down. Everyone stops posting at some point, but that in no way requires deleting the entire site like it never existed. It really defeats the purpose of the web as a resource when people do that. At the first least, could you turn off comments and leave the archive available somewhere for folks to continue to enjoy? The Fortress was truly a wonderful resource and I’m sad I can’t point folks to it anymore.
July 5, 2009 at 11:17 pm |
Oh no…!
Your Panel Madness entry is gone!
And I too am sorry I can’t point folks to your blog anymore, especially my old Golden-Age-lovin’ friends.
July 6, 2009 at 12:13 pm |
Sorry to hear that you’re no longer manning the Fortress, Keeper. It was great fun while it lasted.