WATCH PIGEONS TO SLEEP from john campbell on Vimeo.

The story of Steve Jobs and Apple is more complicated than most news outlets would lead you to believe, and there were plenty of great minds that led to the original Mac and that contributed to all that followed.

But anyone who thinks that Jobs’ contributions to society can somehow be reduced to “marketing” or “fashion” betrays a complete ignorance of the power and importance of great design.

Great design can and does change the world. Poor design can and does ruin lives.

To Steve Jobs, and to everyone trying every day to put their own dent in the universe, thank you.

What a great little story by Dylan Meconis of Family Man fame. Also out since my last post is the beginnings of a new Emily Carroll story, so don’t miss that either.

Oh, and I hope you’ve all bought Craig Thompson’s monumental Habibi by now. If not, what are you waiting for?! (Yes, it’s as beautiful and moving as everyone says).

And of course, congratulations to everyone who made it through 24-Hour Comics Day 2011 this year!

Still working furiously on the graphic novel, so I won’t be posting too much to the blog until further notice, but if anything important comes along, I’ll let you know.

Best wishes to everyone who’ll be attempting to scale The Mount Everest of Comics this weekend!

This year’s 24-Hour Comics Day is coming up fast!

Check out the many locations around the U.S. and in seventeen countries this year.

Thanks, as always, to ComicsPRO for coordinating the events, and to Nat Gertler for beginning the tradition in 2004.

More info the original comic and challenge here.

For minute to minute news, follow the hashtag #24hcd on Twitter.

The full 2-Day Workshop returns to the Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art February 4-5.

16 hours of everything I can teach you through lectures and hands-on exercises. An intense look at the art of telling stories visually.

Here’s the link to SIGN UP. As always, availability is limited. See you in February!

Join me tonight (Wednesday, September 7) here in Laramie, Wyoming for a lecture at the University of Wyoming’s Arts and Sciences Auditorium.

Be there or be square!

I like this interactive series by Vincent Morisset a lot. Makes me feel like a kid again.

A weird, lonely, kid.

In space.

It has some of that same haunting atmosphere that made Welcome to Pine Point so memorable for me (another recent offering from Canada’s legendary NFB). I’d love to see more work along these lines.

[via Lori Matsumoto]

Al Davison is making a Graphic Novel. Let’s help him do it, shall we? Al is an extraordinary artist, with an extraordinary story to tell, and I look forward to whatever he has in store.

Also asking for a helping hand this week is the very promising documentary Stripped by Dave Kellett and Fred Schroeder. It’s a great cause (and I’m delighted that a goofy quote of mine got to be the punchline for the excellent trailer), but after such an explosive start to their fundraising campaign, I can’t imagine they won’t make their goal. So if you can only give to one (if either—I know times are tough), please consider Al this round.

Also this week, Faith Erin Hicks has begun online serialization of her new graphic novel Friends with Boys. Look great so far. Check it out.

Meanwhile, Darryl Cunningham is going after Chiropractic Therapy. Can’t miss that.

Finally, want to be a Google Doodler? Our old pal Tom Galloway reports that they’re hiring.
[Link corrected! Earlier link was to a “Doodle engineer” which is a little different.]

Off to NYC this weekend. I’m actually flying a bit early to, um, be in New York City in time for Hurricane Irene(?). Okay, not really. Just so that the hurricane doesn’t screw up my travel plans for my talk at NYU this Tuesday (not open to the public, sorry; just for freshmen in the Liberal Studies and Global Liberal Studies departments).

Have a great weekend.

When was the last time a comic surprised you? Really surprised you?

If you’re using a javascript enabled modern browser, give this link a click and scroll down to read.

Neat trick, hunh?

This is one of those interesting cases where the insertion of motion (or the illusion of it by hijacking the scrollbar) doesn’t automatically tear at the fabric of the medium. It still feels like comics, because that static juxtaposition is maintained (a bit like comics that use looped motion).

Hope others will give it a try. Adding the ingredient of reader presence to the mix could open up a lot of interesting possibilities, especially for genres like horror which thrive on keeping the reader at least partially in the dark.

[via reader Noah Easterly, reddit, and others]