Looking back at 2018

2018 has been an incredible year for me and my blogging career. Not only have I seen incredible growth, made some incredible friends and followers, I have also got to do some pretty amazing things. All because I started this blog and started sharing my geekiness with you. Well, let’s re-cap what this year has brought, and I’ll let you in on a little snippet as to what you can expect next year.

From the beginning to the end of the year, here are the memories I have made:

I rebranded my blog.
When I first started up the blog, I had a boring black and white logo with a T in a Superman logo. It wasn’t very eye catching and didn’t really represent me. So, I forked out a bit of money to get a revamp from an incredible artist – Geek Imprint. It was the best decision I ever made.

I got my first business cards.
Well, if I wanted to start taking this whole blogging thing seriously, it was time. I’m really pleased with how they came out and it’s a great way to remind people of who I am. I may even have to order some more in 2019!

I attended my first ever blogging event – The DC Exhibition
This was my first event as a blogger, so I was on TOP FORM – or trying to be! I was a little unprepared and didn’t know what to expect, but I have since learnt from that. It was incredible there, and I just wish I had gone more than once. They had displays for DC’s iconic characters which included their costumes, concept art, comic book covers and more. I truly hope it returns! That event for me was the turn around event, where I thought – wow I can really do this, and it gave me a HEAP of motivation too!

I did a little interview with the BBC to showcase my love for Superman and my collection which BLEW UP!

This was completely unexpected! Two trainee reporters from the BBC came to do a piece on my collection as part of their learning. They said if it’s any good they might put it on the Facebook page, and that they did! I thought I would come out of it looking like a psycho, but it turned out great! Then the support I got from it was immense, that again was really what gave me a heap of motivation to continue what I was doing. Admittedly I checked it to see the comments and how many views it had, and every time I checked there were more and more! I think the last time I checked it was standing at around 250K! It was an absolute pleasure to do, and it really got my page noticed around the world from it, which was an incredible help.

I was on Channel 5 News to talk about Superman!

Yup, on TV! Not long after the BBC interview, it was coming up to Superman’s 80^th Anniversary. Channel 5 News were doing a piece on it and wanted a Superman fan to talk about what he means to people, and I was that person! They came all the way from London to speak to me, and that was surreal! I asked my mum to watch it before I did because I was too scared to watch it first!

I freelanced for Hero Within on a few blog posts

Hero Within, the incredible geek clothing company were looking for some bloggers to write for their site! I applied and was successful. I wrote a few posts for them, and it was good experience for me as a writer. Usually I write about Superman and that’s pretty much it, but this opened my writing up to other characters and fandoms – Wonder Woman and Marvel. So thank you to them for having me!

Here is the work that I did for them;

How is Steve Trevor Alive? https://herowithinstore.com/blogs/news/how-is-steve-trevor-alive

Infinity Stones: What and Where Are They? https://herowithinstore.com/blogs/news/infinity-stones-what-and-where-are-they

I was featured in The Daily Star

Crazy how word travels right? I had a call and they were asking me lots of questions to get a story out of it, but I’ll admit they exaggerated it a little. I am not moving house to accommodate my Superman collection, but I do hope to move in with my boyfriend as soon as I can! A photographer came round and pretty much rearranged my room, but was nice enough. There’s only so long you can pose with comics…

I was on the Radio twice to talk about my Superman collection

The first one was on BBC Georgey Tonight, where I went head to head with Marco Zorzin (current world record holder for largest Superman collection) on a Superman trivia quiz. Unfortunately for me, he won, but I had some really tough questions! This was a call in recording, I was pretty much out on hold until they were ready for me.

The second was on BBC Hereford and Worcester. It was when the first issue of Superman was due to go up for auction and they wanted someone to come in and talk comics – they found me. I brought in my rarest comic for them to see, but of course, I didn’t let them touch it! You can hear the full recording here:

I got featured on several websites following my BBC Interview

Some of them I was asked for permission or for an interview,and one was following the Daily Star conversation, but some of them just posted.It was a case of people either tagging me in them, or me just stumbling acrossthem! I didn’t mind at all, it was just very surreal. Here are a few selections,there are many more and some even internationally!

No Mans Land: https://nomansland.blog/2018/06/20/superman-super-fan-showcases-powerful-collection/

Superman Homepage: https://www.supermanhomepage.com/superman-fan-spotlight-tasmin-humphries/

Newsflare: https://www.newsflare.com/video/201379/entertainment-arts/britains-biggest-superman-fan

BBC News: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-hereford-worcester-43669720/superman-super-fan-obsessed-with-buying-memorabilia

DC World: https://www.dcworld.org.uk/breaking/2018/04/15/confessions-dc-geek-8-tasmin-humphries/

New Zealand Mint and The Westminster Collection shared my post about their Superman products

Even though you write a post and pretty much give a company free advertisement, it doesn’t always mean they read it and see it, let alone share it! So when that does happen, you get butterflies – well I did anyway! They shared it on their Facebook page, which was very nice of them. Thank you New Zealand Mint and Westminster Collection.

My review of Krypton was featured on the promotional material.

I was just tweeting as I was watching the series as I LOVED IT! Like many others did. Then when they started to advertise it for people to watch and to stay tuned for series 2, they started to use those tweets! I had two different tweets featured in total which alone was amazing. It was featured on their Instagram and Twitter, AND THEN Paul from DC World tagged me in something else. A teaser trailer to advertise and announce series 2. And it wasn’t just a video – IT WAS THE TRAILER THEY USED AT SAN DIEGO COMIC CON DURING THE KRYPTON PANEL! I was completely unaware, but so thrilled when I found out!

I attended San Diego Comic Con as a writer for Hero Within

I think was one of the ultimate highlights of my year. I had been trying to YEARS to get tickets to comic con, when an opportunity arose with Hero Within. They were looking for a staff writer to cover the con for them, and I was that lucky person. They really made me feel welcome, and I had a blast writing for them. They showed me how to “con” the right way and even helped me get into my first ever Hall H whilst I was there. I genuinely cannot thank Tony and Abby enough for giving me that opportunity, and I truly hope I can pay that thanks back to them in some way! Hey, maybe I can write for them again in 2019… *hint*!

While I was there I got to meet some of the comic GREATS: Alex Sinclair, Artgerm, Marv Wolfman and Neal Adams.

Not to mention Brandon Routh, Caity Loitz, Matt Ryan, and Tara Ashe.

At the end of each day I wrote a post recapping the day. This was pretty much my first attempt at covering an event, so I learnt a lot. Especially for an event of this size – it was so hard to keep track of everything that was going on, but I think I did well! It was truly an incredible experience, and I hope it was the first of many more.

I attended London Film & Comic Con

This event was the following week from SDCC, I was exhausted but it was so incredibly worth it! I only went for one day, but managed to fit a hell of a lot in. I met some incredible people there and managed to get a few things signed, including Jorge Jimenez, Jack O’Halloran, Zach Levi, Ray Fisher and Jason Momoa! It was incredible, and I am so happy to have met some of my idols.

Not only did I manage to meet some incredible comic artists and superheroes, I also met up with some readers who have since become friends. This has encouraged me to go to more events to be with and meet others who have similar interests, blogs and social media pages.

I got to interview some of my IDOLS.

Although I posted a lot about people I idolise and admire, I never really interacted them. So I took a chance and it has been incredible so far and I hope there will be many more to come! I love interviewing people, I love finding more out about that, what their thoughts are of the different eras of Superman and just getting to know them that little bit more. So far, I have interviewed Jerry Ordway, Jimmy Palmiotti and Dean Cain and I already have one more up my sleeve for you… It has been an honour to do this and even get the chance to interview these legends, so thank you to them for allowing me to pick their brains!I

I hit 100 subscribers on YouTube

I only started my YouTube channel earlier this year, and I was really cautious about doing it. I don’t really know why, but I’m glad I took the plunge. I know, I have a lot of things to learn about YouTube and I have a lot of improvement that needs to be done, but that comes with time. This month I celebrated my 100th subscriber! Small numbers to some, but they go a long way to me!

Aquaman Premiere

This is another one of my ULTIMATE highlights and I feel that I will never top this! As soon as I got the invite I RSVP’ed YES! It was definitely an ultimate highlight. I will go into it briefly here, but I did write a whole lot more on my post about the evening! When I got there I felt so out of place, but I just held my head up and carried on! To me it was the start of something special, and gave me so much validation as a blogger and motivation as well. The evening started with meeting fellow bloggers, and getting to know each other, some I had met before and others I hadn’t. They really helped shape the evening and it was a pleasure to make these memories with them.

Then ever so casually, James Wan walked in. Yep, the director of the film himself. I had a great little chat with him, and it was so nice to see him so genuinely excited for people to see the film and world that he had created.

Then, we jumped in a taxi (not with James Wan, but my fellow bloggers and boyfriend) and headed over to the premiere. We were dropped off at the start of the blue carpet, yes the same carpet that all of the stars had just walked! As we walked down we saw Amber Heard and Dolph Lundgren, it was incredible, but so, so surreal!

We then watched the film, which was incredible! We got to see it two weeks before it came out! You can read my full review here. We were held under embargo for around a week, but I was allowed to give my initial reactions, which I did. Those very reactions were then used to help promote the film! Check it out! That was a really proud moment for me!

I cannot thank Warner Bros UK for giving me these memories and this opportunity, I had a fantastic time and I can’t wait for the next one…

Alita: Battle Angel Preview Screening

Not long after that I was on another adventure to London… this time to see a 30 minute preview of Alita: Battle Angel, in conjunction with Sony Pictures. Luke – The Geek of Steel invited me along with him, and I had a great time! The film looked incredible, and I felt so unbelievably lucky to have the chance to go. We saw the bit of the film and then we also got to witness a Q&A with the director and producer – Robert Rodriguez and Jon Landau. I am huge fans of both of their work, and this film is no exception. After the Q&A we walked out ready to leave, and who were there waiting to greet the fans…. both of them! Of course we took advantage of the opportunity to meet such legends!

In 2019…

More giveaways and donations.

This year I did a few giveaways to followers and I want to do that more often in 2019. It’s a great way for me to say thank you to those who read and follow my blog. Not only that but I want to do more charity work, this year I took part in Operation Gratitude, where I donated unwanted comic books to Army Veterans in the US. Next year, I hope to do the same, but I also want to find some other ways that I can help those in need.

More events

I have a few ideas of events that I want to attend a few big events this year. Unfortunately I didn’t get tickets for SDCC 2019, but there are still plenty of other events that I can go to… Don’t worry – I will take you all with me.

More adventures

I have a few things planned and up my sleeve already, BUT I can’t tell you about them just yet. Stay tuned for some exciting announcements!

Looking back on 2018, I have done so much and it has been a whirlwind of a year. But, truthfully none of it would have been possible without this blog as a platform, and of course you guys. Thank you to all those that read the blog, and follow my social media pages. Thank you for your support, and I hope I can pay it back somehow in 2019.