Farewell, Joel Johnson

Joel Johnson, who led the launch of Boing Boing Gadgets and Offworld, is moving on to work on other projects. We're grateful for all of Joel's hard work and passion and we're eager to see what he does next. He is truly a unique signal worth paying attention to in a very noisy space.

Thanks for everything, Joel. We'll miss you.

- The Boingers

• [Talia]

  I too was under the momentary unpleasant illusion that Mr. Johnson had met some terrible fate.

  I am relieved to hear he hasn’t been eaten by Bigfoot or something and I wish him luck in his endeavors.

• [rAMPANTiDIOCY]

  wow it took me months to notice this and now i understand why BBG has been so boring as of late.
  sad indeed.

• [Anonymous]

  Bummer, I really enjoyed both Joel’s and Brownlee’s BBG posts. Hope Joel has big things planned. Whatever happened to Brownlee anyway? He seemed to have just disappeared unless I missed a farewell post.

• [devophill]

  Aw, crap. Let us know where you’re going, Joel, and keep in touch!

• [ianm]

  So sorry to hear that! Joel was probably my favorite part of BB over the last months! Well done doing irreverent gadgets coverage that was fun to read even if you didn’t care about the particular product, you will be missed.

• [erzatsen]

  well, i hope at the New Plant, they make him get a proper haircut.
  and either finish shaving, or finish growing the beard.

  good luck with your new Overlords.

• [GuabaMan]

  Good Luck!

• [Oudein]

  No! Like others, I am glad he’s not dead, but… No! First Brownlee now Joel? Although, to be fair, I suspected this when Lisa Katayama and Stephen were brought on. I can’t think of anyone whose posts I don’t enjoy, but Joel alway brings a warmth and familiarity to his equally smart work. Well, good luck to him, but I am sorry I won’t be seeing him on the pages I frequent most throughout the day.

• [Anonymous]

  good luck joel
  always liked the recreational videos

• [Secret_Life_of_Plants]

  Oh Sad! Be well and good luck!

• [theawesomerobot]

  I think we’ll all miss Joel’s Johnson.

• [zikman]

  noooo. I remember when bbg first started and joel was the only guy (I think) and nobody really read the site but he kept at it and now there’s dudes posting tweets that I’ve never heard of but joel was always there… and now, well I just don’t know what I’m gonna do!

  anyway, good luck with future endeavors sir.

• [David Pescovitz]

  ZIKMAN @1, Yes, Joel was the only one at BBG for a while there. His voice will definitely be missed but the folks he has brought into the asylum, Rob, Steven, and Lisa, are really brilliant, smart, and funny.

• [Anonymous]

  Jooooeeelll….

  Noooooooooooo….

  *sobs*

  *sobs some more*

• [tros]

  What? No! I will miss the strange video reviews :(.

• [Clumpy]

  Ha – put me in the “I thought he died” camp too! I’m glad he still walks this earth but let’s hope he also drops in from time to time.

• [uchideshi]

  Had me scared for a moment…

  I just saw the headline and the black & white pic and immediately thought the man was dead!

  Glad that’s not true but sorry to see him go. All the best!

• [galaxyglue]

  I’ll miss the prose (by turns absurdist and turgid, often both, but always gigglesnort inducing), and the occasional budgie cameo.
  Fair winds, sailor!

• [skramble]

  nooo way. I protest. I thought Joels posts were always great. sadness.

• [Hexatron]

  oh noes!
  joel is good, you have to have some pretty badass plans to move on from BB. excited to see what’s next.

• [dculberson]

  I hope I don’t see his name in the paper
  In the obituaries, cause that would mean he’s dead

  The Joel is not dead
  I’m so glad The Joel is not dead

• [Tdawwg]

  Whom now must we swear at least as well as if we are going to swear?

• [Doran]

  OH NOES!! He better be moving on to do something even more awesomer than what he’s done here. Otherwise I’m gonna be pissed.

• [Anonymous]

  Eek, black and white pictures with farewell messages scare me. Please change it to a color photo, more appropriate for the occasion!

  Also, Good luck Joel! We’ll miss you!

• [kinetix]

  Goodbye, sweet prince.

• [Anonymous]

  oh phew… i thought it was saying he died.

  i can handle the death of mj, but the world is not ready to lose joel yet!

• [minTphresh]

  best of luck in you future endeavours, JJ, u will be missed here, but to grow as an artist, one must sometimes move on from the everyday. godspeed, my good man!

• [Anonymous]

  I thought he had died then!

• [ryane]

  any chance you can get Mike Nelson to replace Joel?

• [lolbrandon]

  With all the people dying recently, this post had me scared for a minute. But still sad to learn Joel’s leaving BBG, he’s got a great voice for that site. But I’m looking forward to what he has planned. Bye Joel! Thanks for all the posts!

• [Anonymous]

  @ #4

  Agreed. “Farewell, (insert name)” + austere b/w photo = dead person in my book.

• [Powerphail]

  Nooo!

  Such a shame to lose Joel, I loved his weird video reviews and odd haircut. But hey, at least he isn’t dead :D

  Good luck with your next project and take care. I’m glad you’re not dead!

• [franko]

  NOOOOOOOOOooooooooooO!1!

  i will miss you, joel. i hope we’ll be able to look you up elsewhere on the interwebs.

  at least we’ll (hopefully) always have our lolcat-based censored videos to remember you buy.
  : )

• [franko]

  holy crap, i meant “BY” – BY, BY, BY – i swear it!

  unless you are making the uncensored version a purchasable item, ahem.

• [salcan]

  That’s too bad for BBG. It’s been a lot of fun reading since the whole thing got started. The remaining writers have a their work cut out for them, but I’m sure they’re up to the challenge.

  Best of luck in the future Joel.