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)

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.

I’m sure most of you have already seen both, but just in case, this and this are not to be missed (and are very different kinds of wonderful).

[via nearly Everybody]

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.

Darryl Cunningham continues his comics crusade to untangle lies, myths, and misconceptions with a new comic defending the science that’s grown from Darwin’s theory of natural selection. As usual, he does so with wit, charm, and quiet persistence.

I’ve considered doing something similar, maybe even a book length project, but these days I have trouble even thinking about this issue without getting pissed off and just wanting to smash my head against a wall. The idea that there are so many millions of people in this country who still believe the Earth is less than 10,000 years old is a national disgrace.

But a book filled with that wouldn’t convince anyone.

So thank you, Darryl Cunningham, for suffering fools gladly. You’re a better man than I am.

[Edit to add: Scott Dubois in comments points to this recent comics explanation of Evolution by the capable team of Hosler, Cannon, and Cannon. Looks good!]

Our Bloodstained Roof is a new comic by Ryan A. It’s a substantial read, so wait until your coffee break or something, but it’s definitely worth your time.

Some of you might remember Ryan’s story “Nothing is Forgotten” which I plugged in January. I liked that story, but I think I like this one even more.

Here’s a cool-looking new webcomic: Decrypting Rita by Egypt Urnash.

According to my old pal Thomas Blue (a visually striking artist in his own right), Egypt has an animation background, did some work at Spumco, and she might include some NSFW scenes later so be warned […or maybe not; see correction in comments].

I like the fact that Egypt does all her artwork in Adobe Illustrator. Haven’t seen many artists do that since Demian5’s legendary When I Am King.

I also appreciate the screen-shaped pages, but, y’know… We won’t go into that rant right now.

Just wondering, those of you who watch these things like me: Have we passed the point where new interesting cartoonists are now more likely to be women than men?

If the ranks of comics pros ever get to 50% is there any chance we might just keep going?

I, for one, wouldn’t mind a bit.

Update: Found Egypt’s personal site and at least one of her biographical details sheds an interesting new light on my crossing-fifty-percent comment above. Needless to say, Egypt’s case is not typical, though not unique either.

Jordan Crane’s site What Things Do continues to post some real gems. Among them, Kevin Huizenga’s The Body of Work, originally commissioned for the Cartoon Polymaths show at Parsons.

Huizenga is a cartoonist’s cartoonist. If you haven’t had the pleasure, do yourself a favor and hunt down some more of his strange and wonderful comics.

Meanwhile, I really like Crane’s own long serialized comic Keeping Two (link goes to the new installment but it’s all in one big scroll). Crane’s been gradually assembling some amazing long works, mostly aimed at print editions. Can’t wait until they’re all together on my bookshelf.

[via Spurge]