Who Are the Most Active TDC Commentators?
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One of the things that sets The Daily Cartoonist apart from other comic-related news sites is its cultivated community of readers. People visit the site each day not only for the news but also for the comments. We’ll be looking at who has been active in the comments the longest, who the most prolific commenter is each year, who has contributed the most comments overall, and which stories have generated the most discussion.
In-house numbers:
In 20 years of publishing, we’ve posted 16,951 articles. Mike Peterson has written 2,663 Comic Strip of the Day columns, I have written the most with 8,423 posts, and D.D. Degg has published 5,367. D.D. Degg is so proficient, he’ll likely surpass my total in just a few years, despite my nine-year head start.
And then there’s the comments—the content you all contribute to this community. You all have published 74,333 comments. So with that, let’s take a look at who has been the most active in the comments.
Who Has Been the Most Active in the Comments?
One of the questions I’ve often wondered is whether we have readers who have been with us the longest. Since there’s no way to know exactly who has been reading The Daily Cartoonist the longest, the best I can do is measure engagement by looking at the year of each person’s first and last published comment. I omitted individuals who used only their first name, since it’s highly likely that multiple people would be counted as one (plus, I appreciate when readers use their full name). Below are those who have been most actively engaged in The Daily Cartoonist community over the longest span of time. Names are listed alphabetically, with the bolded name representing the top commenter in each “club.”
The 20-Year Club
Nick Anderson, Charles Brubaker, Jason Chatfield, Alex Hallatt, Tom Heintjes, Steve Breen, Mike Lester, Mike Lynch, Mike Rhode, Dave Stephens, Rick Stromoski, and Mark Tatulli.
The 19-Year Club
John Auchter, Brian Basset, Tim Campbell, Stacy Curtis, Brian Fairrington, Paul Fell, Robert Gidley, Anne Hambrock, Allan Holtz, Bill Holbrook, Clay Jones, Jim Keefe, T. Brian Kelly, Larry Levine, Jonathan Mahood, Jimmy Margulies, Mary McNeil, Neal Obermeyer, Frank Pauer, Ted Rall, John Read, Steven Rowe, JP Trostle, and Wiley Miller.
The 18-Year Club
Darrin Bell, Sandra Bell-Lundy, Paul Berge, Daryl Cagle, JD Crowe, Beth Cravens, Jeff Darcy, Ted Dawson, D.D.Degg, Peter Dunlap-Shohl, Jan Eliot, Brian Fies, Mike Gold, Mark Jackson, Jonathan Lemon, Gary McCoy, Rick McKee, John Pershing, Carl Pietrantonio, Linda Scott, Bob Staake, Rob Stolzer, Rob Tornoe, JP Trostle, Bob Weber Jr., and. Phil Wohlrab.
I could go on. If you’re not listed above and want to know which Club you belong to, let me know in the comments and tell you.
Top 10 Stories that Triggered the Most Comments
I was curious to find out which stories had been read the most. Unfortunately, when I sold the site to AMU in 2018, I abandoned the Google Analytic data from 2005-2018. I have no way to go back and look at the stats. The best I can do is to present the stories with the most comments.
333 comments – Scott Kurtz to speak at Macworld (2009)
266 comments – Ted Rall, Rich Stevens, others debate webcomic impact on cartooning (2008)
265 comments – Julie Larson: Syndicates are there for a reason (2010)
251 comments – Amazon posts final 10 in Comic Strip Superstar contest (2009)
250 comments – Mark Tatulli’s “LIO” launches with 100+ clients (2006)
226 comments – Universal launches talent search with Amazon (2009)
206 comments – 2010 Webcomic List Awards announces nominees (2011)
194 comments – Denver Post drops 21 comics, picks up 1 (2010)
190 comments – Open thread: Who’s going to this year’s Reubens? (2009)
186 comments – Allison Barrows discusses ‘PreTeena’ (2006)
How many comments published by Year
This is an interesting chart. 2005-2008, the site gained popularity. 2009-2010 are what I call the “Comment Wars” period, where certain personalities clashed and heated arguments ensued. I don’t recall who told me that they came to the site each day just to watch the fireworks. At a certain point, I banned the bad actors and comments dropped as both the bad actors and spectators moved elsewhere. By 2011 social media is becoming mainstream it everyone could have their own comment section on Facebook and elsewhere. 2013-2015 was my pre and post divorce period—my reporting became more intermittent during those years. 2016-2017, I was on “hiatus”. 2018-2022 are the years AMU owned the site. Late 2022, AMU sold the site back to me, and we (myself, Mike, and D.D. Degg) relaunched on January 1, 2023. The trend line for engagement has been moving up since—which is a good sign we have a strong and healthy community here.
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Who Are the Top Commentators by Year?
So who are the most prolific commentators over those years? They are:
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- 2005 – Andertoons (4)
- 2006 – Charles Brubaker (100)
- 2007 – Dawn Douglass (239)
- 2008 – Wiley Miller (390)
- 2009 – Wiley Miller (433)
- 2010 – Ted Rall (562)
- 2011 – Dave Stephens (141)
- 2012 – Rich Diesslin (101)
- 2013 – Donald Rex Jr. (134)
- 2014 – Mike Lester (42)
- 2015 – Dave Stephens (61)
- 2016 – Joel Tieg (13)
- 2018 – Kip Williams (40)
- 2019 – Kip Williams (148)
- 2020 – Kip Williams (200)
- 2021 – Kip Williams (160)
- 2022 – Andrea Denninger (137)
- 2023 – AJ 168
- 2024 – AJ (271)
- 2025 – Ben R (223)
Who Are the Top Commentators in TDC history?
And if there was an award for the individual who has been the most active contributor to The Daily Cartoonist, the award would go to…
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- Wiley Miller – 1,131
- Ted Rall – 1,025
- Rich Diesslin – 859
- Mike Lester – 829
- Garey Mckee – 803
- Darryl Heine – 772
- Dave Stephens – 756
- Charles Brubaker – 729
- Mary McNeil – 674
- AJ – 607
I appreciate those of you who take the time to contribute to the conversations here on The Daily Cartoonist. It helps build and maintain our community of practitioners, fans, and friends in the industry. Keep it up.
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