The table below lists the top 20. Commentary notes follow.
(Titles have links to the original posts ).
(Stats collected on 31st December 2024)
1
Since this table covers all 2000 posts at mitchmen, you would expect it to be quite volatile with new visitors bringing different interests to the fore, but in recent years it has been remarkably stable. In 2024 the 3 most visited posts were exactly the same as last year, with the first two well ahead of everyone else.
The rest of the top 10 were also the same but shuffled positions, except for 'Homoeros - Art of Crucifixion' which entered the top 10, rising six places to No 6. It replaced
The Art of 'Muscle' Matt -1 which dramatically dropped out of the top 20 altogether after a run of popularity in the last couple of years.
Amazingly, two of the top 10 articles date from as far back as 2008 and none are more recent than 2020. This blog is retrospective in character but it's remarkable that so many of the classic fetish artists, like Brick, Cavelo and Mike Carcel, remain more popular than the many accomplished, newer ones. They share the same characteristic of being 'old-fashioned' art created by hand, not a keyboard. Computer techniques but don't seem able yet to capture that elusive element of authenticity and personality that creates lasting appeal. At the same time the repetition is a little depressing, I don't want this blog to become stale and fossilised!
2
As usual, I have hived off 2024's new posts into a table of their own (
MPP1) because their initial flush of visits can mask the wider picture. I have shown where they would
have appeared, however, with entries in orange. Onlt two qualified, 'Ain Postolos - Milking Factory Recruits' would have taken 9th position leaving 'IFNB Newsletter' to share a revised 17th spot with Chirenon's enslaved Air Force Boys. It's hits in the second year and onwards that separate the new wheat from the chaff but, encouragingly, last year's winner of the new post category - '
Slave Training 11 – Cockaphobia' did well again, finishing just outside the top 20. The 2022 winner '
Brick's Slave Academy' also finished in the top 30.
3
In this sea of tranquillity, Shenguanlin managed to make a splash with two new entries at 11 and 18. His articles from 2023 were the only ones in the top 20 more recent than 2020. The first of his them probably got an extra boost from being part of the popular milking factory series (see 5 below). His art is high fetish and hits the button in the earthiest way imaginable. His brand of domination might not be everyone's cup of tea (if I may use that expression) but it's welcome here.
4
The other 3 'new' entries were actually returning to former glories. 'Etienne's Article Index' at 17 dates from 2016 and was unexpectedly top of this chart in 2020. It's resurgence is probably attributable to the flurry of articles at the blog related to his 'Sailor Beware' story, notably
Planet Gay's re-interpretation of the desert trek inflicted on the captive, Navy boys.
Planet Gay's article also helped to pull Chirenon's Air Force boys back into the top 20 for the first time since 2020 (at 16). I used his image to promote the subject of desert abductions on 'X' and it seems to have drawn some new admirers. More about 'X' in the summary at the end of this post.
Homoeros' crucifixion images have an enduring popularity but his more vanilla work in the 'Beefcake Boys' post was last in this chart in 2020. It's the lead article for my series about him so it will tend to attract readers with an general interest in his work, they were prompted this year by the sexy '
Ross in Trouble' images that I featured in January.
5
The 'Milking Factory' series has been hugely popular at this blog for several years now, so much so that it's hard to find something new to say about it! No 1 in the series finished in top spot again this year. It benefits from being the entry point for the whole series, but other MF articles claimed 4 more positions in their own right and together they made up 25% of the table. That's not even counting the new article (featuring AI images for the first time) by Ain Postolos.
The IFNB series is smaller, only 3 articles, so claiming 2 places in the chart (again not counting the newest one) is arguably an even greater achievement. It's in the nature of this field for talented artists to disappear without trace (having shot their load you might say), but this one, with his dry, witty commentaries is particularly missed. I attempted to emulate his style in IFNB3, but it's not the same.
Amalaric shouldn't be forgotten either with 2 articles steady in the top 10 reflecting the continued popularity of his photo manipulations.
6
The table is completed by a trio of talented artists with very different styles. Priapus of Milet is a familiar name here, a long time champion in the 'all time' table. He has moved with the times and it's hard to credit that his very modern style originated back in 2012. He's probably the greatest story-teller since Tagame, but with a more sophisticated, almost cosy line in threat and sexuality.
Brosfate at one time was the great rival to Amalaric in this table. He has slipped behind a little this year but his art too has evolved considerably and it's continued, deep-rooted popularity is well attested by 2 entries in the separate
New Post category (MPP1).
Black Prof is a relative new boy but his cartoon-based bondage imagery is a visual delight. He exploits the medium to add drama and clarity. It's not really 'gay' art at all but he has the clever knack of making it seem so.
~
9 different years are represented in this year's table. There are no
photographic entries this year, but 5 are by photo-manipulators. 6 are by renderers, 7 by traditional artists (I have included Shenguanlin here) and 2 cartoonists. Together they represent the usual, eclectic range of interests.
The
mitchmen 'Index of Artists' page recorded 11710 hits in 2024, up 16% on
2023,but in line with the long term average. It would have easily taken
top place in the top 20 table. I'm glad visitors are still finding
the index useful and hope it will lead many more newcomers to a
fantastic heritage of gay art they didn't know about. Perhaps reflecting
that phenomenon, the 77 individual articles which registered increased hits reads like a revival of all the old classics:- Naomichi (+283%),
Manflesh, Etienne (Sailor Beware), Nath66, Ehrlich, Rex, Homoeros,
Quaintance, Teddy of Paris, Tom of Finland, Tagame, Sabian and Ulf. They were
interspersed with a gaggle of my own captioned images.
Overall hit counts at the blog, however, declined further this year by 20%. I believe this is mainly due to Google imposing sign-in barriers and also perhaps to the rising popularity of other outlets. I suppose my opening comments might also be taken as implying that recent articles may not as interesting or original as they used to be.
The decline prompted me to engage in some promotional activity by starting to post 'tasters' regularly on 'X', which has become a haven for fetish artists of late. I was surprised by the traffic levels there and initial results gave me much food for thought. The captioned image, 'After The Parade', which I posted on both platforms in December has presently attracted 85 hits on blogger and 1,300 on 'X'. An image from 'Cowboy folio No 8' has 136 hits on blogger and 403 (plus 4 'likes') on 'X'.
Posting at X requires a lot less effort and it's a good exercise in brevity for me, but it's format is not suitable for in-depth articles like this, so I don't envisage defecting there completely. There is some evidence that my posting there has improved footfall at this blog where visitors face exactly the same entry barriers as X. Hopefully the superior image display of blogger will keep them interested once they find me. Only time will tell. There's now a growing trend now, for artists to move on from 'X' to BSky Social which is a similar platform without the uninvited political views. I'll wait and see in that department.
~
Next time I will reveal the most popular mitchmen post of all time, based on cumulative hits,
To look at other charts for earlier years just click on the MPP label at the foot of this post.
Thanks to all of you for your continuing interest and support of mitchmen blog.
Keep the restraint tight in 2024!
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