Unbagging 2025

Jon Maki December 29, 2025 0

Well, that was certainly something, huh?

I don’t have to tell you about how things went in general in 2025 because you were there and that’s not really what this site is for.

But what is it for? That’s a question that I’ve been asking about Comics Unbagged – and its parent site – for a long time, but it’s really weighed on me for the past year as I found myself continually asking, “Why am I doing this?”

The site did see a marked increase in traffic, but that doesn’t really mean much given that we’re talking about going from single digits to double digits.

Making the switch from manually inserting ad code to letting AdSense auto-insert ads led to a similar marked increase in ad revenue, but the automation is incredibly aggressive and led to a fair amount of aggravation for many of those visitors who account for the double-digit traffic, leading me to do what I can to dial it back to prevent visitors from being completely inundated by ads lose a lot of that increased revenue in the process.

While I certainly appreciate the small audience I have and the opportunity to collect around $100 every three to five months, it feels hard to justify the time and money I put into this site, particularly when 2025 was also the year that operating the site got more expensive.

Which brings us back to that question. Why am I doing this?

Because I don’t know what else to do, mostly.

And that’s why I’ll continue doing this – and wondering why I’m doing this – into 2026.

With all that said, let’s move on to why I’m doing this specific post: compiling a list of all the things I wrote in 2025.

Well, not quite all. I’m leaving out Pull List and Activity Corner posts, as they don’t involve much writing.

I am, however, including posts from the two new features that were added in 2025.

So, with that, let’s get on with our look back.

Unbagging

Short Box

Reread

Mail Call

Paneling

Reference

The Haul

Character Assassination

Whew, that’s a lot of mostly unread writing!

2025 was a year in which I tried a few new things, including actually going out into the world and talking to people, making some new merch, and putting a bit more effort into trying to convince people to pay me even though they won’t actually read my stuff for free.

But at the same time, I’ve mostly just kept doing the same thing I’ve always done, because as I said I don’t know what else to do.

And now we’re about to start a new year, one that is theoretically filled with new possibilities. Including the possibility that anyone is actually reading this.

In any case, so long 2025. I’m not sad to see you go.

And Happy New Year – and sincerest thanks – to any of you who are reading this.

Born and raised in the sparsely populated Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Jon Maki developed an enduring love for comics at an early age.

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