…or has there been an increase in the number of extended canvas webcomics by young artists lately?

Maybe it’s just wishful thinking on my part (they laughed at me at the academy, the fools!) but yesterday alone, I got two emails from relative newcomers, both consciously exploring webcomics’ unique spatial opportunities.

Check out the lovely art in Ada Starfield (above) by “Darcie” and Shira-chan’s playful The Ketchup Conundrum; two very different comics, but both ditching the page metaphor in their own way.

Maybe all we needed was a few spatially sophisticated popular stories like Emily Carroll’s His Face All Red or Daniel Lieske’s Wormworld to kick off a new round of digital exploration. Maybe it’s just a temporary blip. But hey, it’s nice to see experimentation on the rise again for as long as it lasts.

I mentioned Dash Shaw’s film project last summer when a teaser trailer went up. Now’s our opportunity to help support the film via Kickstarter.

The Ruined Cast is co-produced by John Cameron Mitchell who used Shaw’s artwork to great effect when directing the recent feature Rabbit Hole (which I liked A LOT, by the way, and highly recommend along with Mitchell’s other great films).

Congratulations to all the Eisner Nominees this year. It was especially gratifying to see our old friend Barry Deutsch snag a nomination in the “Best Publication for Teens” category for his wonderful Hereville.

That it’s a tough category (Smile alone would make it one) is even more gratifying. Wouldn’t have a been a tough category at all just a few short years ago.

In other news, here’s an endearingly nerdy article on Mathematical Equivalence in Comics that was pretty much tailor-made for guys like me—and presumably some of you if you’re reading this blog.

Just found out that tomorrow is Mini-Comics Day! (love the small logo).

Part Two of Jessica Abel’s Helsinki report is up.

A few people on Twitter have suggested that, based on Belfast’s Build Conference website, Erik Spiekermann and I better than most at holding a pose.

And finally, here are some David Lasky Disaster preparedness comics, ’cause um, y’know, just in case.

Hm. Guess I’m in a random mood today…

ANYWAY, have a great weekend. See you Monday!

Jumbo Deluxe by Portland-based Adrian J. Wallace features some lively stories and engaging characters. It’s a hard strip not to like.

It’s also drawn in an attractive clear-line style. I’m surprised I don’t see more comics sporting this look on the Web since it works well on the screen (Les McClaine’s Johnny Crossbones is the only other one that comes to mind at the moment).

[Update: Other clear-line comics online, pointed out in comments, include Rainbow Orchid and Tozo]

Wallace’s work also falls into the growing roster of kid-friendly strips that might catch on outside of nerd-dom with the right approach.

He’s only posting once a week right now. Maybe, with luck, he’ll find reasons to update more often. Fingers crossed.

[link via David Chelsea’s cool perspective blog]

Hats off to the tireless Jessica Abel who has a great report on last month’s teaching comics seminar in Helsinki. She’s much better than me at recording what’s going on around her and I’m grateful for the record.

Also online are some of the excellent Webstock talks from February’s trip to Wellington, New Zealand. As usual, I had to decline to have my talk filmed (see Monday’s comments), but there’s lots of other great stuff up.

Spring is always a busy time for travel. Check out some of my recently-posted upcoming engagements in the travel sidebar at right.

This article by Austin Kleon offers some good solid advice. I don’t agree with everything, but it’s an inspiring list he offers, and almost anyone with creative aspirations will find something useful. [link via Cat Garza]

Meanwhile, thanks to writer Matt Cohen for an unexpected shoutout in HuffPost Business earlier this week (and hey, while we’re at it, thanks to another Huffington Post Writer, Kate Kelly, for another shoutout at the beginning of the month). Comics readers are everywhere!

Some of you may have seen the Newsarama report that I helped design the six variant covers for Marvel’s limited series X-Men: First Class adaptation this fall. That was obviously a typo. As anyone who knows me can tell you, I hardly needed help.

And finally, THESE KIDS are clearly ten kinds of wonderful, as are their teacher and her very cool site. Consider swinging by their Kickstarter page and lending your support to make their dream of a printed collection a reality.

Off to Maryland in a couple of days (check out the travel sidebar at right for the updated list of my busy spring schedule). Enjoy the weekend!

Here’s site curator Daniel Leonard’s note from the 3eanuts site:

“Charles Schulz’s Peanuts comics often conceal the existential despair of their world with a closing joke at the characters’ expense. With the last panel omitted, despair pervades all.”

A lot of people are comparing 3eanuts to Garfield minus Garfield, but this one has its own charms.

Its own bleak, fatalistic, existential charms.

[via Tom Hart]

Connor Willumsen is coming from a strange place, but there’s method to his madness.

His experimental webcomic Everett includes some very solid drawing—somewhere between early Moebius, and a young Chester Brown—and his layouts and storytelling are really interesting.

Regarding yesterday’s discussion, Willumsen’s story might fall less into the what-happens-next category and more into the what-just-happened category, but it’s still compelling stuff.

Everett also features some interesting expanded canvas pacing, something I’ve been seeing more of lately, which, predictably enough, makes me happy.

Image from Willumsen’s Blackhold. Thanks to Zach H for the pointer.

The Lay of the Lacrymer by Molly Hayden does a very simple thing that I’m surprised (and a little sad) that more comics don’t do.

It makes me wonder, on nearly every page, what’s going to happen next.

Simple as that. A little thing, really. And yet, in the end, it’s everything.

[Thanks to @geminica]

Hit full screen on your browsers. BLUE by Australian cartoonist Pat Grant is an impressive debut with rich designs and an intriguing narrative style.

Just a few installments online so far, but each one is its own little world and worth setting aside a few minutes to let it all soak in. Grant plans to print the final result, but I think it looks great on the screen as well.

Thanks to Melbourne-based Rebecca Clements of KinokoFry fame for the link. Grant’s guest strip for KinokoFry is up this week.