 |
| Priapus of Milet - Antechamber |
A scene from 'Antechamber' by Priapus in which a husky, red head explores a post-holocaust labyrinth
and is taken captive by robot-skeletons with a taste for tormenting human men.
and is taken captive by robot-skeletons with a taste for tormenting human men.
Here they escort him to his next experience.
See the full series at Telemachus12
~
According to my Blogger 'hit stats', out of all the mitchmen articles published to date,
~
According to my Blogger 'hit stats', out of all the mitchmen articles published to date,
those registering the most hits since publication were as shown below.
Table 1 mitchmen Articles With Most Hits Since Publication to end 2018
Posn (last yr) | Title of Post (& link) | Year of Pub'n | 2018 Hits | 2019 Hits |
1 (2) | 2012 | 23787 | 30906 | |
2 (1) | 2010 | 24020 | 26717 | |
3 (6) | 2008 | 16830 | 23837 | |
4 (5) | 2009 | 13786 | 17666 | |
5 (4) | 2010 | 14385 | 16033 | |
6 (18) | 2017 | 5817 | 15238 | |
7 (-) | 2018 | 2519 | 14184 | |
8 (6) | 2009 | 11600 | 12849 | |
9 (7) | 2010 | 9500 | 11071 | |
10 (10) | 2009 | 6878 | 9814 | |
11 (9) | 2009 | 7284 | 8676 | |
12 (8) | 2012 | 7430 | 8410 | |
13 (17) | 2015 | 5946 | 8202 | |
14 (10) | 2012 | 6878 | 8059 | |
15 (12) | 2010 | 6442 | 7569 | |
16 (-) | 2009 | 4162 | 7460 | |
17 (-) | 2009 | 5618 | 7240 | |
18 (14) | 2009 | 6098 | 7122 | |
19 (-) | 2018 | 974 | 6929 | |
20 (13) | 2011 | 6145 | 6926 |
A couple of years ago I was gloomily pondering the rather static nature of this annual survey. How different things look now! Several recent articles featuring modern art styles have raced up the rankings and there are now 4 in the top 20 shaking up the order and dislodging old favourites such as (this year), Mahoney and Michael Mitchell (no relation!).
This year Priapus of Milet – 1 which arguably started the 'new wave' revolution way back(!) in 2012 finally dislodged A-Z of Fetish Artists – Mike Carcel from the No 1 position and has already established a commanding lead. With this artist regularly producing stunning new work over at Telemachus12 (see header picture) it's hard to see anyone catching him soon.
Mike Carcel on the other hand seems to have stopped publishing. Nowadays it's getting harder to find appropriate hosts for his rather demanding subject matter and his position in this survey is in danger of being taken over by A-Z of Fetish Artists – Cavelo next year.
But both these artists are themselves under threat from behind.
But both these artists are themselves under threat from behind.
Beyond these three leaders, the main action is the arrival of 'posts of the year', The Milking Factory and IFNB – A Fantasy World of Bodybuilder Morphs at 6 & 7 respectively both having risen dramatically this year (64 places for IFNB!). A second Milking Factories – 3 article also sneaked into 19th place in an equally astonishing rise from nowhere last year, others seem to share my view that the lead image in this article (by Cupcakes666) is magnificent. These posts have yet to prove their longevity but it seems likely that one of them will be challenging the top 3 next time despite the huge gap of over 8,000 hits to be bridged. It's an exciting change to the established order.
The two arrivals at 6 & 7 have split a gaggle of A-Z artists who have juggled positions this year (as usual) but continued to maintain significant hit rates, even after 10 years on the blog. Most of them have been pushed down a place or two by the upstarts but A-Z of Fetish Artists – Jotto (up 1) and A-Z of Fetish Artists – The Hun (no change) managed to resist the tide of change better than the others with Jotto recording a significantly increased hit rate, up by a third. Not to be dismissed just yet!
In these circumstances I am delighted (as you might expect) that my own 'A Christmas Criminal' story rose a creditable 4 places to 13. Admittedly, I do advertise it continuously in the blog sidebar but it is a piece I'm proud of. If 8,000 men have read it and enjoyed it, I am highly delighted.
Further down, two more 10 year old articles, A-Z of Fetish Artists – Julius and A-Z of Fetish Artists – Kalabro entered the top 20 for the first time. Julius' cause has probably been helped by my comprehensive revision of his original A-Z article and my occasional posts of 'doctored' frames from his stories, although I haven't done one for a while to give him more impetus. Kalabro has been hovering just outside the top 20 for a while and I have no doubt that the runaway success of the Milking Factory has given him added impetus. That first article was based on a group of pictures by him and it was they which inspired the whole series. So take a bow Kalabro!
For comparison, my 'Index of Artists' page reached 40807 hits at the end of 2019 (up from 26846) which would have earned top spot in this ranking if I counted it as a post. It shows the tremendous interest in artists who work in our field.
Years not presently represented in the survey
- 2013 – The top contender is still my 2nd article on Mike Carcel but it slid again to 38 (33),
- 2014 - Bound & Gagged Magazine - 4 which rose from 24 to 22
- 2016 - A-Z of Fetish Artists - WoodunArt at 63 (69)
- 2019 – Milking Factories-4 entered the table at 93 (-)
Average hit rates
The total cumulative hits method of assessing popularity is obviously biased towards older articles so it's interesting to compare average hits per year since publication - see table below. In this list, multi-part articles are represented by the highest scoring individual post only and I have left out 2019 posts which don't even have a full year yet and are covered by a separate table. (If I had included them they would have bagged many of the top 10 spots!) I've included 5 extra articles as well, to counterbalance the preponderance of 2017-18 articles
Table 2 Articles with the Highest Average Hits per year Since Publication
Article | Published | Hits per year | Position (& last year) | 'Total Hits' position |
2018 | 7820 | 1 (-) | 7 | |
2017 | 5317 | 2 (2) | 6 | |
2012 | 4010 | 3 (1) | 1 | |
2018 | 3871 | 4 (-) | 35 | |
2010 | 2810 | 5 (3) | 2 | |
2008 | 2507 | 6 (4) | 3 | |
2017 | 2103 | 7 (7) | 43 | |
2015 | 2038 | 8 (5) | 13 | |
2017 | 1954 | 9 (6) | 14 | |
2009 | 1858 | 10 (9) | 4 | |
2018 | 1776 | 11 (-) | 88 | |
2010 | 1686 | 12 (8) | 5 | |
2009 | 1352 | 13 (10) | 8 | |
2018 | 1223 | 14 (-) | 111 | |
2014 | 1189 | 15 (12) | 22 |
Last year the usual suspects still bagged most of the top spots, but this year the challenge from the newcomers, two of whom are already in the top echelons, is clear.
This method tends to benefit popular, newer articles in the short term and there are some other interesting beneficiaries this year just outside the top 10 - The Art of Sparkieshock and Tentacles in action. Historically these articles disappear just as quickly as they appeared if they do not keep up their high initial hit rates (remember Woodunart?). However there are signs of 2 'middle aged' posts consolidating a more permanent position in the top group as their average gradually becomes 'less dilutable' by the passing years, namely A Christmas Criminal at 8 and Bound & Gagged Magazine – 4 at 15. I suspect Chirenon's A New Life For Our Air Force Boys which has remained in 7th place despite the influx above it may also fall into this category.
I'm gradually revising and extending my oldest A-Z entries, the main beneficiaries this year were (with latest and previous positions) Brick 71 (83), RJ Blake 121 (-), Turquine 59 (59), Hasegawa 195 (-), plus late in the year I did Kaarlo who is presently not qualified for the table (887 hits). Also in December, the articles on Manflesh 27 (22) and Facchini 79 (89) were augmented by the transfer of galleries from the old Yahoo! Group but too late to affect this years figures.
The articles I post to this blog are very much based on my own interests and fancies but the results of this survey do help me plan future offerings. My readers preferences doesn't always match my own (where are Les, JoeT and Link?). Nevertheless it's gratifying to see such interest in the great artists who often have a fairly low visibility on the web.
Remember, this comparison is only made for entertainment, since I don't really know how accurate Google's stats are, I suspect they don't even count people who just browse through the blog roll.
Thanks to all of you for your continuing interest and support.