Posted By Dan Greenfield on Oct 13, 2026 | 31 comments

Celebrating Oct. 13, 2013 — and the 13 years that have followed…

It’s 13th Dimension‘s 13th anniversary, and I have to tell you I considered a lot of different ways to celebrate, but all of them seemed self-aggrandizing. At the same time, this was not a milestone I was going to ignore.

So, I figured the best way to show just how damn grateful I am to keep doing this is to thank those who’ve made this amazing, wild, unexpected ride possible. (And yeah, it’ll still come off as self-aggrandizing, but that’s what happens with these things.)

The list below is in alphabetical order, except for the first two entries. You’ll see why.

Let’s get right to it, then. Here are 13 THINGS I’M THANKFUL FOR on 13th DIMENSION’s 13th ANNIVERSARY:

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Wendy Greenfield and Sam Greenfield. Wendy, my wife, and Sam, my son, have been eternally patient and selfless when it comes to 13th Dimension. Some people think this is a full-time gig and it’s far from it. It’s a labor of love and the effort it takes to put together comes from my personal time. Without Wendy and Sam’s support — and ideas — there is no website. Period. Sam was 14 when I started and now he’s 27. That really puts things into perspective: The three of us have been able to maintain an extremely strong bond but it was their sacrifices that have made this work. (Then again, I imagine it’s nice when I get out of their hair, too!)

Above: Me, age 6. Below: Sam, age 3.

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Cliff Galbraith. Cliff is the co-founder of 13th Dimension, as well as an artist, writer and entrepreneur. 13th Dimension came about when I called him in 2013 from the corner of 45th and Lex in Manhattan and asked him, “Have you ever wanted to do a website?” And he immediately answered, “Yeah!” And off we went, with virtually no resources and barely an idea in place.

The initial concept was that the site would help promote Cliff’s comic-book conventions in New Jersey and vice versa. Thing is, after about two years, Cliff realized he didn’t really want to be in publishing and I realized that I didn’t want to be a convention promoter. So, we had the most amicable divorce ever. He paid the bills originally, and I’ve paid them ever since. I cannot thank him enough for launching this with me. I could not have done it by myself.

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Neal Adams and His Family. As I’ve written many times, Adam West made me fall in love with Batman and Neal Adams made me fall in love with comics. I was already in deep on the comics front but seeing Adams’ art as a young kid (maybe 4 or 5), sent a jolt of adrenaline through me that still hasn’t abated. Everyone can make their argument for the greatest ever — Jack Kirby will get the most votes — but I still say it’s Neal.

Pete Stone

And I can say “Neal” because — and I still pinch myself over this — I became friendly with him over the course of the website’s run. That I got to sit in his studio and watch him work, that I commissioned a piece from him that has since become a meme, that I got to publish many guest columns by him — including his appreciation of Denny O’Neil when his former collaborator died — remain among my proudest moments. His daughter, Kris, and son-in-law, Pete Stone, have been wonderful supporters of 13th Dimension, as well. And they certainly haven’t had to be. (A hello to Marilyn, Zeea and Josh, too!)

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Batman. I’m guessing an analysis of the site’s contents would show that Batman’s been in a majority of 13th Dimension stories, or at the very least, a substantial plurality. The reason is simple: Batman is far and away my favorite character in all of fiction and I never cease to be entertained by his exploits, whether from the Golden Age, Silver Age, Bronze Age, or today, across all media. Writing about him brings me great joy and it’s weird to be considered an expert beyond the confines of my home.

Walt Grogan

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The Creators. From the very beginning, I’ve wanted 13th Dimension to be a place where the creators themselves can be themselves, and share their favorites. Their voices are more compelling than my own, and, from the jump, I’ve been surprised by how many have been willing to write, or be interviewed at length, for the site. Mark Waid was the first. He wrote a column that we published the week we launched, and I still don’t know why he agreed to do it for a site that had zero following.

Sam Greenfield

Years later, Steve Englehart sat for a three-hour interview conducted over two nights in which we analyzed every issue of his seminal Detective Comics run with Marshall Rogers and Terry Austin (plus, Walt Simonson and Al Milgrom), sometimes line by line. The interview became a lengthy weekly series — INSIDE THE BATMAN — that was eventually published in full in TwoMorrows’ illustrated bio Marshall Rogers: Brightest Days and Darkest Knights, by Jeff Messer and Dewey Cassell. Other creators who’ve been there for us in one way or another — and this is by no means a comprehensive list — include: Mike Allred, Dave Gibbons, Dan Jurgens, Joe Jusko, Kelley Jones, Kevin Nowlan, the late Denny O’Neil, Jerry Ordway, Chris Samnee, Matt Wagner, the late Len Wein. There are so many more that if I didn’t list you, please forgive me.

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Paul Levitz. Among all the creators besides Neal Adams, Paul deserves his own entry. Like Mark, Paul, the former head of DC Comics, was remarkably generous with his time and advice in our earliest days. I still don’t know why he bothered at the beginning; perhaps he has a soft spot for guys who want to self-publish their love of comics. I’ve never asked. But ever since, Paul has been an amazing and reliable resource, both in print — he’s written quite a few pieces for us — and behind the scenes. Professor Levitz, it has been an honor.

Paul and I collaborated on the Eisner-nominated DC Comics Style Guide

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Mom. My Mom, Bette Greenfield, died a few years ago, and they broke the mold with her. She was smart, funny, deeply complicated, and not always easy to get along with. But of everything she gave me, other than her love, the most important was drive. She was the one who taught me how to claw and scratch and beat the odds, no matter what, and no matter what subject. Mom desperately wanted me to write a book, because that was what she was like. It was a thing with her. I always replied, “Mom, I’ll write a book when I have something to say.” I’ve contributed to a number of books over the last 13 years, but when it comes down to it, 13th Dimension is my book. A living, breathing, always publishing, 13-year-old book. How I’ll preserve it down the line, Lord only knows. But for now, “Made it ma! Top of the world!” Or something like that.

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The Name. Here’s the short version of how Cliff and I came up with the name: I wanted it to have “comics” in it, but he insisted that was too limiting and that it was more important to have a name that meant nothing yet said everything. Something retro-futurish. I was all, “What, like, ‘Tales from the 8th Dimension’?” And he was all, “Exactly!” (I’ve never seen Buckaroo Banzai, so, looking back, it must have been lurking in my subconscious.) I also wanted the name to reflect the idea of a Multiverse, because I knew we’d be covering different media.

Cliff Galbraith

Anyway, as we went back and forth, the “Dimension” idea stuck, so we sat on the phone, looking up what URLs were available, by number, rejecting some, like “5th Dimension,” because they were famously taken elsewhere. As we were going down the list, it hit me: What about 13? 13 is a memorable number, and “13th Dimension” kinda sounds weird and Space Age. Cliff agreed — and it was available! 13th Dimension it was!

But before we made it final, I wanted to look up the term “13th Dimension” because who knew whether it had some alternate meaning we weren’t aware of. Y’know, like some kinky sex act or subculture or whatever. And I found out it does have a meaning in some New Agey circles:

Cliff Galbraith

“The thirteenth dimension is the gateway to the universes beyond our own universe. This is the level of cosmic consciousness, the Cosmic Logos, and the source of all the other universes in the multiverse. It is through the thirteenth dimension that we are able to access other universes. Many see the thirteenth dimension as a new universe that humanity is ascending to, as mastery of the thirteenth dimension allows you to travel between universes.”

In other words, the gateway to the Multiverse!

So much for focus groups and market research.

Reader and cover artist James Biggie

Oh, and you know what’s funny? The whole TOP 13 list idea came well after we launched. It was staring us in the face, but if you dig deeply enough you’ll find lists from the early days with other numbers that I like to forget ever happened. Doing TOP 13s, like almost everything with the site, began with, “Hey, why don’t we…”

Also, October 13 isn’t really our launch date. We seeded the site with stories in September 2013 as sort of a soft launch, then posted a Welcome to the 13th Dimension on October 14 (again because this was so seat-of-the-pants that we didn’t even consider October 13. Hell, we stopped using “the” 13th Dimension almost immediately.). But there’s no way on Earth we weren’t going to celebrate our 13th anniversary on the 13th day of the month, so we officially and forevermore declare, retroactively, that Oct. 13, 2013, is the full, official, notarized and Congressionally approved founding date of 13th Dimension. Oh, hooray!

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The Publishers and Publicists. You’re not supposed to show how the sausage is made but running a site like this requires a network of sources, connections and good relationships with publishers and publicists. Most of these folks prefer to remain nameless, so I’m not going to call them all out individually, but folks at DC, Marvel, Archie and TwoMorrows (John Morrow and Michael Eury!), in particular, have been outstanding partners across our 13 years. I do want to highlight one person, however: David Hyde, who has his own shingle, Superfan Promotions. David is my oldest friend in the business, our relationship predating 13th Dimension by a few years. David is an absolute pro and a dogged and — just as important — creative advocate for his clients, who include some of the biggest names in the comics.

Des Taylor

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Readers Like You. Without readers, 13th Dimension is a journal, and while that might be nice, that’s not the point of this particular exercise. From the start, I’ve wanted this to be a platform and a place where people could come to enjoy comics without fear of ridicule over what they love, or the ever-insidious Fan Rage. To engage with optimism and respect. My biggest mistakes here have been when I have not adhered to that code myself and had to set myself straight.

Reader Tyrone Biljan

I’m very competitive, so early on, I used to get angry that we didn’t have the resources or reach to compete with larger sites. Wendy helped talk me down by saying we’re like an indie studio, not a Universal or Disney. A friend said I should approach the site like it’s a club. (Speaking of clubs, thank you too to the Facebook comic-book group admins who graciously allow us to post our stories there.)

Once all that clicked, 13th Dimension really began to have a distinct identity and the readers came. Publishers big and small struggle with maintaining an audience, but somehow, we’ve actually managed to get bigger and bigger every year, to the point where our annual audience is measured in millions. That blows my mind. Without you readers, we are nothing, and so I cannot thank you enough for coming day after day. I hope you’re enjoying yourself.

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Retro Hot Picks. Not that you asked, but this is by far my favorite feature at 13th Dimension. Feature that I write, anyway. It started during COVID. When comics stopped shipping, I was considering options for replacing the weekly HOT PICKS, which I do with Scott Tipton. I had the idea for doing RETRO HOT PICKS but thought maybe it was a cliche, so I asked Wendy when we were out for a walk, “What do you think I should do to replace Hot Picks, and she said, ‘Why don’t you pick comics for the same week but a different year?” And that sealed it.

Walt Grogan

Then, when new comics started coming back, I wanted to continue but wasn’t sure if Scott did — until he emailed me, “Hey, can we keep doing Retro Hot Picks anyway?” And that’s how it really took hold. As time went on, I kept expanding the intro section because I found I had a lot of other itches to scratch: getting to write about 20th century history, movies, TV, music and sports every week. The things that go beyond comics but inform who we were and are. The “you are there” element has added a whole other, pardon the pun, dimension to the feature and I love putting it all together. And the readers dig it, so wins all around.

Even better, every time I wonder whether the intros are too long, I get comments from people who say they love them, so I keep on keeping on. (I came up with BRONZE AGE BONANZA a couple months before COVID, but I consider them sister features.)

Walt Grogan

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Adam West, Julie Newmar, Burt Ward and William Shatner. I’ve interviewed a lot of celebrities, but these four stand head and shoulders above the rest. Shatner — who called me “Danny Boy” — was thoughtful and insightful both times we talked. I’ll never forget calling Burt with the news that Batman ’66 was finally coming to home video. He didn’t believe me and I had to convince him it was finally true. I was at home and he was in his car, so in classic California fashion, I interviewed him about it as he drove.

Julie is an incorrigible flirt. Having a rapport with a celebrity is not the same as being friends and it’s important to remind yourself of that. But I’d certainly say we’ve been friendly over the years, chatting about things well beyond the world of entertainment. Few things have tickled me more than having my phone ring and seeing the name “Julie Newmar” on the caller ID. Unexpectedly, I was in the position of calling Julie with the news that Adam West had died, and completely unprofessionally, I broke down, thoroughly caught off guard by the emotional impact it had on me. Julie actually counseled me through it and I was able to eke out a few questions for an interview I wrote immediately after the call. Thank you, Julie, for your everlasting grace.

But Adam West was Adam West. The first time I interviewed Adam, I told him that he and my Mom shared a birthday, and he said that if he met her he’d do the Batusi with her. The second time, though, was something else entirely: When you interview a celeb who has been around for decades, who has been asked the same questions ad nauseum, the trick is to come up with something unique, something that will break their well-rehearsed shtick and get them to actually talk. This was a particular challenge with West, who seemed to treat every interview as if it were another performance.

At a 2016 New York Comic Con roundtable promoting the animated movie Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders, I said to Adam: “The Batman TV show was known for its guest stars. Are there any guest stars you would have loved to work with but never got the chance?” I didn’t think the question was particularly special, but I did think it was something that readers would be interested in. As soon as I finished the question, he stopped, took a beat, considered for a moment, and said, “You know, nobody has ever asked me that question before.” And he started clapping. The other journalists at the table leaned back and went, “Oooooooooooo,” and Adam began listing actors like Henry Fonda and Kim Novak.

It’s still one of the highlights of my 13th Dimension “career.”

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The 13th Dimensioneers. I’ve saved these folks for last, because they are, indeed, the best. After Cliff and I went our separate ways, I was pretty much chief cook and bottle washer for a long time, a solo act with plenty of guest stars, but a solo act nonetheless. And then, again, during COVID, I started picking up compadres like an oddball version of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. People had nothing to do, so writing for a scrappy website was as good an outlet as any.

From there, we built a crew and 13th Dimension evolved from a making-it-up-on-the-fly operation into a website with structure and credibility. Daily columns by a set rotation of professionals, superfans, and historians. An improved visual identity. Most importantly, less a soapbox for one person, and more a place where insightful and informed people can share their perspectives, whether or not they dovetail with my own. An actual, bona fide website with diverse opinions and points of view.

Des Taylor

This is what I wanted 13th Dimension to be from the very beginning, and I’m incredibly humbled and overjoyed by what we’ve accomplished — with no advertising, marketing budget, or donation program.

These are the superstars I work with every day, in (mostly) alphabetical order:

— Paul Kupperberg. Paul was one of those COVID joiners. He wrote a couple of guest columns to promote something he was doing and just never stopped. With his decades of experience at many levels of the comics field, Paul is not only a first-rate storyteller, he gave 13th Dimension a much-needed shot of credibility, making it more than just a fan site. I list him first because he is the Dean.

Walt Grogan

— Dakota Alexander. Dakota’s lovely, Bronze Age-imbued fan art caught my eye on Facebook and I knew it was a perfect fit for 13th Dimension. His weekly HOPE YOU LIKE IT feature on Thursdays is always bright and colorful.

Dakota Alexander

— Jim Beard. Jim, a historian and novelist, was surprised when I told him that he was one of the inspirations for 13th Dimension. I’d read his Gotham City: 14 Miles on an airplane, and thought to myself, “I could do something like this. But I wonder what.” And then a website flew through my open window, and I blurted out, “A website! That’s it! It’s an omen… I shall become a WEBSITE PUBLISHER!”‘

Jim’s trio of Batman ’66 episode guides

— Peter Bosch. Peter is a historian who is able to take the most obscure subject and make it endlessly interesting. I have probably learned more from Peter’s articles than anyone else’s, because of their incredibly broad subject matter: Golden Age, Silver Age, TV, movies, comic strips, radio. You name it, Peter can write about it. I don’t call him Prolific Peter Bosch for nothing. Check out his FOUR COLOR RADIO, which is just a small sampling of his reportage.

Walt Grogan

— Kerry Callen. I was a fan of Kerry’s long before he joined the site and I always look forward to his weekly SUNDAY FUNNIES feature. His gentle — though often deeply subversive — wit is a perfect match for 13th Dimension and I’m really gratified to bring his artwork to an larger audience. He is perfect for a warm Sunday morning laugh.

Kerry Callen

— Franco. Franco is our wild card. I have no idea what he’s going to do every week for FRANCO’s FREE-FOR-ALL FRIDAYS, but it doesn’t matter: It’s always kind and sweet and something that will bring you cheer at the end of a long week. (Franco also is co-owner of my local comic shop — Aw Yeah Comics in Harrison, N.Y. — along with Marc Hammond and Mike Pellerito. All three of these guys have been great sounding boards.)

Franco

— Chris Franklin. I don’t have a brother but if I did, I’d like to imagine he’d be something like Chris. Chris is a little younger than I am, so his point of view is often different from my own, but our interests so frequently dovetail that it’s great to have a fellow traveler along for the ride. Plus, like Rob Kelly said, there’s nothing like reading Chris write about toys.

Chris Franklin

— Walt Grogan. Walt is the house colorist and banner maker (see his latest up top, as well as many throughout this post). A man of good humor and eternal patience (I can be a real pain in the ass), we’ll be launching his new WALT WEDNESDAYS feature soon. He’s another one who’s great to shoot the breeze with online. (Most of us have never met in person, by the way.)

Walt Grogan

— Bill Morrison. I Marvel at Bill’s incredible talent as an artist and a storyteller, and so wish I had the ability and discipline to draw like he does. Bill is also a great one to bounce ideas off of and when he’s enthusiastic about a project, nobody throws themselves into it more than he does. His MORRISON MONDAYS are a great way to start the week.

Bill Morrison

— Peter Stone. I met Pete through Neal Adams’ family, and his tales of working with Neal never get old. His BURIED TREASURE column is a sleeper hit, so don’t sleep on it!

Pete Stone

— Des Taylor. Des is the first person I bought original art from, long before he became a regular here. He’s a remarkable talent, with an uncanny feel for the mid-20th century aesthetic. Des’ work oozes sophistication and he’s one cat who gets really fired up doing what he does. He probably has 1,000,006 ideas of what more we could do with 13th Dimension — except I’d have to clone myself twice over to get all of them done. Never miss DESPOP TUESDAYS.

Des Taylor

— Scott Tipton. Scott’s the longest-tenured 13th Dimensioneer. He’s been here since almost the beginning as my partner-in-crime in HOT PICKS, and then RETRO HOT PICKS. As a veteran writer of Star Trek comics, he’s also one of my go-tos for all things Trek.

Walt Grogan

— Rob Kelly. Rob’s not so much a regular as he is that favorite recurring character from that show you love. He shows up with his long-running REEL RETRO CINEMA column and it’s time to pop the popcorn. But I also want to thank Rob for having me as a similarly recurring guest on his many Fire and Water Network podcasts, most notably MASHCast and TreasuryCast. It’s never hard for me to gas on about a topic I’m passionate about, and so I greatly appreciate Rob for handing me the mic. I’m a frustrated podcaster and would do one on the regular if I had the time, so visIting with Rob is the next best thing. (Similar shout-outs to John S. Drew of the late, lamented The Batcave Podcast and Anthony Desiato of Digging for Kryptonite and his new Batman show. (Hey, Anthony! When are you going to invite me on? Was it something I said?)

Rob Kelly

— Fred Van Lente. Fred is the Man With No Name of 13th Dimension. He comes and goes as he pleases, usually with his hilarious COMIC BOOK DEATH MATCH columns. If you’ve never read them, do yourself a favor and catch up. The whole X vs. Y is such a stupid and pointless comics fan trope and Fred skewers the idea with his well-informed and eyes wateringly funny showdowns.

Sam Greenfield

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Again, my deepest apologies to anyone I may have left out. Across 13 years and 11,095 posts, it’s hard to remember everything and everyone, but there have been a lot of you. Just know that your contributions have meant the world to me and those of us who produce 13th Dimension day in and day out.

Right on. Dig it. Far out.

To the next 13 years!

— Dan

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— WELCOME TO THE 13th DIMENSION! Click here.