Charmed this morning by To Be Continued, a collaboration between Italian writer/artist Lorenzo Ghetti of delebile and German web designer Carlo Trimarchi.

After all these years, I guess we’re still in the early stages of test-driving different navigational modes for webcomics. I like how this one plays with different modes from chapter to chapter. Probably confusing for new viewers, but the thing feels so crisp and user friendly, and the storytelling is so sharp, I could see readers staying on board for the long haul.

I took a really long break from webcomics to work on The Book. Fun stuff like this makes me want to dive back in.

[Thanks to gio for the heads-up]

This blog is going to be pretty quiet this year while I continue work on the graphic novel, but wanted to pass along a couple of links.

Congratulations to Spike and Diana Nock for a successful Kickstarter for Poorcraft, and to Jeff Parker and Erika Moen for the recently completed Bucko, both of which will be out soon in book form.

Also recently completed is Kane Lynch’s The Relics and if you have an Android phone, be sure to put some Merlin in it.

Two artists in trouble this month: S. Clay Wilson and Tony DeZuniga. Help if you can.

Two recent passings that struck a chord: The great Moebius, who had a huge influence on me (and most of my generation probably). Also very sad to hear of the loss of Peter Bergman of Firesign Theatre fame. I had the pleasure of spending time with Peter at a conference in Colorado about 15 years ago and was able to tell him how much his work had shaped my teen years. Moebius, I met only once (at Comic-Con). I told him he changed my life and he just laughed and said “I’m so sorry!”

That’s all for now. Back to the Cintiq. Many pages yet to draw, so you won’t hear from me much for a while, but I hope it’ll be worth the wait.

You can also find me on both Twitter and Google+ (where I pop-up a little more often than here).

[Image from the cool webcomic Poppa Bears found via Spurge]

A new comic from Patrick Farley, and boy, is it a stunner. (NSFW)

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]

Hans Rickheit just began serializing a new comic called Cochlea and Eustachia. Looks weird and fascinating. No surprise there!

He also recently contributed his distinctive line art to Paul Slade’s Attenborough-inspired story of insect horror Mother’s Day. Rickheit’s intricate art always seemed a bit insectoid to me, style-wise, so it’s a good match.

Rickheit had some financial problems lately and could always use a little help. It’s never been easy to push the boundaries of your chosen art form, but we should be grateful for those willing to do so.

The premiere mad scientist of webcomics Daniel Merlin Goodbrey has released a new comic for the Android Market called Jack’s Abstraction.

I’m in the iOS walled garden for now, so I can’t comment much beyond that, but if you’ve got an Android device, I’m sure it’ll be worth it (and hey, it’s free).

And for those of you who do read comics on Android devices, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the market’s potential.

Oh! And sort of on topic: It occurs to me that though I tweeted it while in Norway at EuroVis, I don’t think I linked from the blog to Google’s latest comics adventure, a fun little explanation of Google Correlate.

This looks kinda cool. And weird.

I also like the look of two relatively-recent Portland-based diary comics (both of which could benefit from a dedicated website): Natalie Nourigat’s Between Gears and Emi Lenox’s EmiTown.

Meanwhile, blog entries have been popping up about last weekend’s Comics and Medicine conference. Check out accounts by John P, Brian F, and Sarah L, plus Phoebe G’s Facebook page. Not surprisingly, I look like a dork in all the pictures.

Stewart K. Moore sends word of a new experiment, via Twitter, to create 100 parallel interpretations of the same story.

He has plenty of info in his blog entry today. The action starts at the comic’s brand new Twitter feed.

In related news: Are hash-bangs really necessary, The Internet? I’ve stripped one out of the above Twitter url, and it still… kinda works, but I just don’t understand why any new innovation (cool javascript tricks) should be allowed to reduce the functionality of a really useful old one (easily shared urls).

[Mom: You can ignore that last paragraph.]

Speaking of experimental comics, Hobo Lobo of Hamelin is a cleverly designed multi-plane side-scroller by Stevan Živadinović that most of you can probably view without any technical hiccups.

I like the multi-plane effect. Full-out 3D could also work for scrollers like this of course. The key is in maintaining the work’s identity as a still life; even though navigating through it might be filled with dynamic motion.

[link suggested both on Twitter and in yesterday’s comments]

Meanwhile, Dylan Horrocks has details on Darkest Day, a benefit book for the victims of the Christchurch, New Zealand earthquake which can be purchased here.

That’s it for this week. See you all Monday!

…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.