Statistical Nibble: What Was Popular Here In January

I do keep meaning to do my usual review of the past month’s readership figures here. I also keep running into this problem where it’s suddenly ike midnight and I have to go to bed. So let me get a bit of it out and maybe we’ll finish up the rest of the pieces later.

Comic strip plot recaps are always the most popular thing I publish in any month. Here’s the five things published in January 2023 that got the most page views. See if you can see what they have in common:

Why is everyone mad at _Funky Winkerbean_ this week? (December 31, 2022)
What’s Going On In Eye Lie Popeye? Also, what is Eye Lie Popeye? October – December 2022
What’s Going On In Alley Oop? Why do Alley Oop and Ooola have a daughter? October 2022 – January 2023
Statistics December: I Give In And See How People Like Being Mad At Funky Winkerbean
What’s Going On In The Phantom (weekdays)? Where did the Bandar cavalry come from? October 2022 – January 2023

That’s right: a couple of these got retweeted by the Son of Stuck Funky twitter panel on the side of the page. (My Twitter account is defunct, but it still posts announcements of my articles here, so far as I know.) With Funky Winkerbean ended, though, I am going to be in so much trouble if the story comics start including weekly recaps so my job is unnecessary. Still, the next-most-popular thing was chapter eight of The Tale of Grumpy Weasel. I’m glad to see that getting some traction. As I get deeper into the book I’m coming to more like the protagonist, even if Arthur Scott Bailey does not. He’s done such a good job at making Grumpy despicable that he’s falling over the other side to become adorable again.

My plans for story comics the next couple weeks — I haven’t decided whether to add Olive and Popeye to the rotation — is as follows: