Webtoon announced earlier this week some leadership changes in order "to Accelerate Global Growth Strategy." Let's start with the high level stuff...

1. President Yongsoo Kim is assuming oversight and will consolidate global operations, while the previous Chief Operating Officer role will be eliminated.
2. Leah Goeun Yeon has been hired as Webtoon’s first Chief Business Officer. In the newly created role, Yeon will oversee Webtoon’s webcomic platform business (excluding Japan) "leading growth, marketing, content, and creator management."
3. Teo Taeyeong Jang has been promoted to Head of AI. He is to be build on existing AI capabilities, including content protection and anti-piracy innovations, content discovery, and their new translation program.
4. Sean Shinhyung Kim has been promoted to Head of IP Business, "strategically expanding its IP value chain in areas that can accelerate global growth." (Basically, he'll be in charge of obtaining and expanding licenses from other IP holders.)

What's notable here is what is NOT mentioned. Readers. Not even using the more cynical phrasing of "users" or "customers." There's no mention on doing anything for the people who use their service. They're not even an afterthought when it comes to leadership goals. The closest they come to referencing their readership at all is when they note that Yeon will be "leading growth." Presumably this means either more customers or getting existing customers to pay more, but even that much isn't 100% clear.

Aside from the AI angle, there's also no reference to anyone in IT. Meaning either they are putting minimal-to-no effort towards improving their apps' functionality, or they are turning any/all of that work over to AI. For a tech company in particular, both of those options sound like a phenomenally bad idea. Further, it runs very counter to the messaging they were telling everybody as recently as December. They knew back then that AI wasn't popular, which is obviously why they weren't touting it in their public statements, but they've gone ahead anyway by not only embracing it, but creating an entirely new role just to try to plug it into everything in their business.

Even from a cynical consumer perspective, there's no focus here on their customers and there's no focus here on their product. They're talking about growth and increasing value. That's an exceptionally short-sighted, investor-focused approach, and one that will almost certainly lead to problems for both creators and readers as services and support get cut, ongoing maintenance falls to the wayside, and they put more effort into extracting more money from existing customers than bringing in new ones. I've long had the sense that many people looked hopefully at Webtoons as the solution for a single, functional webcomics discovery platform. But they're very much telegraphing that isn't their intention at all; they just want to suck up as much money as they can, sell the company for as much as they can, and walk away with as much cash as possible.

I mentioned back in January how Amazon completely axed my decades-long customer account with them. I lost my history of everything I'd ever ordered from them, all the comics I had accumulated on Comixology, my Prime account (which was set to expire only a month later anyway), all of my Alexa functionality, my affiliate links (which, because they kept changing the rules on payouts, earned me exactly zero dollars over two decades)... Also, I still haven't checked to be sure, but I don't think I can add any new content to my old Kindle. (I did do some work at one point to try to jailbreak it, but it's a gen2 version, and it's only gen3 versions and later where you can seemingly do that. Or at least that anyone's bothered to figure out how.)

I originally set up my Amazon account decades ago when they literally only sold books. The slow creep of their services meant that I'd add one service here or there as they became available until I eventually realized how embedded I was with their system. With the realization, I began trying to ween myself off starting about a year and a half ago. It was good timing, in retrospect, because once they did cancel my account entirely, I found it annoying only in their complete lack of any reasonable explanation. I responded to the actual loss of services mostly with a shrug.

But that's me as a consumer. Whether or not I'm connected with any of Amazon services doesn't impact my income stream at all. (OK, technically, I expect some of my books get sold via Amazon and I would lose out on some profits from that, but annual sales of all of my books under all platforms combined is a couple dozen at most. That's barely enough for a nice dinner out once a year.) What happens if your income IS dependent on Amazon specifically?

Tom Ray recently noted that Amazon completely shut down his account as well. More notably, though, he had been selling copies of his HomeMade Cartoons and "Bobert"comics through them exclusively since 2018. Every book that he had made was specifically formatted for Amazon's platform so he could get paid on 'per page' basis instead of 'per title.' But now that income stream is just gone. He has a very similar story to mine. He was just going along, doing his thing, and then BAM! Email out of nowhere that his account had been terminated with some unconvincing and generic explanation about "violating terms." Although his comic features nothing you could label as pornographic or excessively violent or obscene in any way -- I can't even find any mild cursing in it.

The suddenness with which his and my accounts were canceled, coupled with the complete lack of any sort of appeals process, leads me to believe this is the result of Amazon turning over their account review process to AI. Amazon created an AI agent to look at every account and, instead of flagging them for any potential violations, had them canceled outright. I'm not sure what the thinking was on their part. In theory, with something like this, you would have tested the process by simply running a report before doing anything to actually impact any accounts. But if they did that, they would've gotten tons of obviously false positives like Ray and could've seen their agent was too aggressive with flagging. Which suggests one of three possibilities to me:

1. They didn't actually test the process at all. They just assumed it would work fine and pushed things into production. This is not only not a "best practice" but it would generally be considered a "worst practice."
2. They did test it, saw that it raised more flags than they had the manpower to properly investigate, but felt that whatever loss of revenue they'd incur from false positives would be less than whatever they'd stop 'losing' from shrinkage. "Shrinkage" is what retail stores call theft, but in an online environment, there is no real shrinkage. If someone is able to somehow "steal" a digital file, it's not like Amazon has lost anything -- they could sell the file an infinite number of times before and they could sell the file an infinite number of times after. At worst, they miss out on the opportunity to sell one more copy, but studies have repeatedly shown that people who pirate files digitally were never going to actually shell out money for the file in the first place. But in the interest of pursuing a "not losing any potential opportunity" they rolled things out anyway.
3. They did test it, saw that it raised more flags than they had the manpower to properly investigate, but said, "We're the 800 pound gorilla in the room here. F--- them!" and rolled the AI agent into production anyway.

Obviously, I have no particular insight into Amazon's inner workings, but I'm inclined to think it was the last of these options.

Ray is obviously frustrated and annoyed with this. He kind of had all his webcomic eggs in the Amazon basket, so to speak. From what I can gather, though, it does sound like he's at least got some other income streams that are unrelated to Amazon. In addition to cartoons, he's also a musician and he seems to do a bit of dealing with re-selling vintage toys and collectibles. So the Amazon hit is significant, but he seems to have other income streams while he reformats his comics work for other outlets.

I suspect there are a lot more incidents like this going around, and I just happened to hear about Ray's. His is interestingly both a cautionary tale as well as a best practice. Cautionary because he put all his webcomics income into a single vendor, and became subject to their whims as to whether or not they're willing to sell his work. Best practice because he has other income streams to fall back on.

Regardless, this is increasingly the world we live in. Where they make so much money from so many other people that they don't care whether you remain as an individual customer or not. Whether you're trying to sell your comics online, or whether you just want to watch the latest episode of Invincible. Realistically, I don't know how much you can completely separate yourself from Amazon and Google and Microsoft and Apple and all the other monster coporations without removing yourself from society altogether and living in an off-grid cabin somewhere. But the more you're able to bring all your services "in-house" and actually own yourself, the better off I think you'll be.

I took my first real foray into manga in 2007. Before that, I'd read the First Comics' highly Americanized versions of Lone Wolf and Cub and seen a handful of (again, largely Americanized) anime movies and shows, but that was pretty much it. Nearly two decades on now and I still know far, far less about manga than I'd like. More than I did back in 2007, certainly, but I still have a lot to learn.

I've also been trying to get more knowledgeable about European comics. I'd read a number of them as a teenager, but generally without the knowledge that they were in fact created on the other side of an ocean. Still lots to learn.

Same with Canadian comics. And Australian ones. And Indian ones. And...

One of the reasons I first looked at those Lone Wolf issues back in the day was because the covers were by Frank Miller. (Bear in mind that this was 1987, shortly after his Dark Knight Returns blew everyone's socks off.) I recall reading somewhere that Miller was happy to do the covers because he had seen some of those stories before and they were very influential on his Daredevil run.

And I think that's an interesting notion. That Miller's work on Daredevil and Dark Knight looked revolutionary to American audiences because it had a Japanese influence that most people in the States hadn't seen in any capacity at that time. When you distill that idea down even further, that's basically what creativity is: putting together two or more ideas that no one has before. Miller took elements of Japanese manga and merged them into an American superhero story.

I don't say that to diminish Miller's achievements on those works. He understood the power of Goseki Kojima's art style/storytelling, and figured out how to adapt some of those elements to what was essentially the Jack Kirby method of storytelling. Not an easy task, certainly a creative one, and Miller was able to execute on that very well.

And that's why I try to see what's going on (and has gone on) in comics beyond those created in the U.S. You never know when/where something really cool and useful will come up, or in what capacity. Different cultures approach problems (like storytelling) in different ways, and they could well have ideas and methods unique to their culture. And those might be perfectly valid and usable in my own work. Even though I don't actually write comics themselves.

The more you know, the more you're able to make those connections no one else is making.

Here are this week's links to what I've had published recently...

Kleefeld on Comics: The Secret Stories of the Marvel Universe
https://ift.tt/m7Udu40

Kleefeld on Comics: Ethics of the Fantastic Four Review
https://ift.tt/3LJXx0k

Kleefeld on Comics: The Centaurs
https://ift.tt/5JDyA1F

Kleefeld on Comics: Secrets of Jack Kirby Review
https://ift.tt/qLntKCj

Kleefeld on Comics: Was I Right?
https://ift.tt/ZqfAsCn

Back in December, Heidi MacDonald asked a bunch of comic creators to offer some reflections on the comics news of 2025 and what they might expect in 2026. In particular, she asked what they thought the biggest news story would be. And while MacDonald didn't solicit my input in any capacity, I offered up my thoughts on this very blog. Here's what I had to say...

2025 was insanely turbulent just in general. Not only was distribution radically disrupted, but publishers has to figure out on-again-off-again tariff issues repeatedly as many of their vendors and suppliers had radical shifts in how much they had to charge thanks to that walking shitstain in the White House. On top of which, we're in a Jenga-style economy where a single nervous brick can spell disaster. All of this means a great deal of business uncertainty. To mitigate that, I think publishers are going to lean into known quantities and we will see a large number of licensed and cross-licensed material. We're going to see more Batman/Deadpool type books. I recall seeing an announcement about a Fantastic Four/Planet of the Apes crossover for early in the year already. We're going to see more publishers farm out previously licensed material to other publishers as well -- Titan just announced they're going to put out an omnibus edition of some of Marvel's Conan comics. There's going to be a lot more blurring of lines of who's allowed to print what characters because publishers are looking for more known quantities that have an inherent fanbase built in from another IP holder.

I was reminded of this when I saw this week's release of Romeo & Juliet and Godzilla and I received my copy of The Rocketeer: The Island #1 (which features the Rocketeer in a fight against King Kong) in addition to seeing the announcement of It's Jeff/Aquaman and Supergirl/Blade crossovers. Of course, four books hardly makes a trend, so I went to see what's actually in the current solicitations list. A casual perusal turns up the following (in no particular order)...

Avengers JLA Facsimile Edition #2
The Justice League and the Avengers battle one another across two Earths for possession of the 12 weapons that will determine the fate of both universes! While their teammates put everything they've got toward winning this most desperate game, Batman and Captain America join forces to investigate those who've set up the board... and determine if there isn't yet another game in play.

DC X Sonic The Hedgehog The Metal Legion #1
The worlds of DC Comics' Justice League and SEGA's Sonic the Hedgehog collide once more in another thrilling crossover filled with action, adventure, laughs, and perils! Mysterious mechanical rings have appeared on both worlds, linking them together and leading to all things wonderful, worrisome, and weird! The heroes are happily reunited, but little do they suspect there's a sinister origin to their reunions.

Jay and Silent Bob: Jays of Future Past #1
DOOM DECREES "THE DIM-WITTED DUO MUST DIE!" Capped, tan American Jay and friendly neighborhood wider-man Silent Bob make a quick stop in the Marvel Universe! But when Doctor Doom decrees these Jersey guys must die, the Fantastic Four, the Avengers, the X-Men and and a whole hoary host of heroes must team up on a joint mission to save the dim-witted duo from a lethal case of super-hero fatigue! "From the moment in Mallrats when they made the very first reference to Wolverine in cinema history, I've always wanted Jay and Silent Bob to meet their Marvel heroes in a comic book crossover - so much so that I pitched it to Stan the Man himself the day he shot his cameo in the movie way back in 1995. Thirty years later, Jays of Future Past represents both a love letter to the magic and mayhem of Marvel as well as giggle-inducing proof that our childhood dreams can still come true, even at age 55." - Kevin Smith

The Rocketeer: The Island #4
Kong has kidnapped Betty, but he must protect her from the only beast on the island scarier than him—a giant T. rex named King Bloodscale! And all the Rocketeer can do is try to keep up! Will there be a new king of the island? Or will Beauty kill the Beast? John Layman and Jacob Edgar bring you a final fight you never saw coming!

Conan and Dragonero #1
Two worlds collide in a savage crossover years in the making! CONAN OF CIMMERIA and DRAGONERO meet for the first time in an epic clash of steel, sorcery, and survival. Pulled to the mysterious land of Erondár by dark forces, Conan comes face to face with the famed dragon slayer, Dragonero, and the two warriors must set aside suspicion to stand back-to-back against a supernatural force poised to doom both their worlds. Published for the first time outside of Italy, this landmark crossover brings together two legendary heroes in a story that honors classic sword-and-sorcery while forging something bold and unforgettable. The barbarian and the dragon hunter draw their swords together!

Thundercats/The Powerpuff Girls
In the greatest crossover since peanut butter met jelly, The Powerpuff Girls travel from Townsville to Third Earth and discover the world of the ThunderCats! After being trapped in a runaway rocket by Mojo Jojo, the Townsville Trio find themselves on a strange planet where their super-powers don’t work. Luckily, someone named Snarf is there to provide a situation report — and wouldn’t you know it, there’s evil that needs defeating! But without their Chemical X-enhanced abilities, what can Bubbles, Blossom, and Buttercup do against a foe like Mumm-Ra? Find out as writer PAULINA GANUCHEAU and artist COLEMAN ENGLE open up the Treasures of Thundera in ThunderCats/The Powerpuff Girls!

Thundercats X Silverhawks #3
The greatest crossover event in the galaxy continues! Cheetara and Tygra are overwhelmed by invading Darkbird forces, and the SilverHawks are desperate for interplanetary backup to arrive. But everything on Third Earth stops when there’s a massive explosion in the sky...

Iron Man Super Smash
(published by Abrams)
In this action-packed and heartfelt second original graphic novel in the Iron Man: Mighty Marvel Team-Up series, Iron Man must work with the Incredible Hulk to save a group of innocent monsters from being used for destructionIt’s monster mayhem! When Iron Man looks to connect with the Hulk outside of super heroing, Tony Stark creates a new suit big enough to keep up with Hulk’s desire to smash! But when a group of monsters are unleashed across the world, Stark realizes that all of that smashing might be doing more harm than good. And when it seems like there is more to these monsters attacking at random, Hulk and Iron Man must put their heads together and find out who is really behind these monster attacks and calm the monsters at large!

Marvel Dimensions
(published by Abrams)
Alex Ross, the award-winning and bestselling creator of Marvels, Kingdom Come, and Fantastic Four: Full Circle, takes readers through the Marvel Universe—but all is not as it seems Marvel Dimensions is legendary artist Alex Ross’ second book in the Marvel Arts series, following the national bestselling, critically acclaimed, and award-winning Fantastic Four: Full Circle. The story opens with a sweeping tour through the classic origins of Marvel’s most iconic characters. Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Wolverine, and many others appear in dramatic, fully painted spreads that echo their earliest stories. A narrator describes each moment with confidence, guiding the reader through these touchstones of Marvel’s history. But as the story moves forward, the tone begins to shift. The voice behind the narration is not who the readers expect and carries a motive that slowly pushes the narrative somewhere darker and far more unpredictable. Once this change becomes clear, the book expands into something larger and more surprising. Storylines twist in on themselves, characters behave in unexpected ways, and events ripple across the Marvel Universe with growing tensions. Ross uses the structure of the book to create anticipation and pull the reader deeper into a mystery that keeps widening. Every new sequence reveals another layer, building toward a final act that reframes everything that came before it. A bonus 32-page comic book is included that is pivotal to the storyline. With Marvel Dimensions, Ross approaches the Marvel Universe from a new angle with new character invention that invites readers to question what they think and what they know. Marvel Dimensions may be the latest title in the Marvel Arts line . . . but it is only the beginning.

X-Men Elsewhen Vol 01
(published by Abrams)
Legendary comic book creator John Byrne returns to the title he first drew 50 years ago, Uncanny X-Men, with this one-of-a-kind new graphic novel series, X-Men: Elsewhen. This three-volume graphic novel series picks up the story from Byrne's original run, taking the characters in new and unexpected directions. In Volume 1 of X-Men: Elsewhen, the Dark Phoenix Saga is over and Phoenix is . . . alive?!Diverging from the epic finale of the original storyline from 1984, X-Men: Elsewhen presents a universe where Jean Grey's powers and intellect have been greatly reduced, and from there, everything you thought you know about the X-Men is forever changed.John Byrne's monumental return to the X-Men heads in entirely new and surprising directions, as the X-Men head back to the Savage Land, face their climactic adventure with the Sentinels, and contend with special guest–stars such as the Avengers and the Fantastic Four along the way. X-Men: Elsewhen is a three-volume graphic novel series in the Marvel Arts line that sees the return of acclaimed X-Men artist Byrne decades after his last work on the series. Byrne has written and penciled every page and inked multiple chapters, all of which pick up the story from where his first go–round ended, taking this beloved lineup of characters—and his fans—in exciting new directions.

DC Silver Age Covers and Stories Artists Edition
(published by Image Comics)
A COLLECTION OF DC SILVER AGE ART UNLIKE ANY OTHER! A one-of-a-kind look at artwork from DC Comics’ Silver Age that redefined The Flash, Green Lantern, The Atom, and more in this gorgeous, oversized Artist’s Edition! Dive into some of DC Comics’ finest stories and covers from the Silver Age in this massive Artist’s Edition, featuring all the interior pages from beloved comics like the 1960s Green Lantern #1, complete stories from CARMINE INFANTINO’s run on The Flash and SHELDON MAYER’s run of Sugar and Spike, and even more Silver Age treasures. With a unique look into an era that changed comics forever, DC Silver Age Covers and Stories Artist’s Edition also features over 75 classic covers from a Who’s-Who of iconic artists like JOE KUBERT, CARMINE INFANTINO, GIL KANE, and more. Although appearing to be in black and white, all the art is scanned in color, enabling the reader to see the work as close to the original as possible—ink gradients, blue pencil, and all the unique nuances that make original art so special—are all clearly visible and printed at the same size as drawn. The Artist’s Edition featuring comics and covers from DC Comics’ Silver Age is an art book disguised as a comic collection. The only better way to see these pages is by looking over the artist's shoulder at their drawing board!

King Conan The Original Comics Omnibus Vol 03
(published by Titan Comics)
This mammoth volume includes one of the more rarely collected stories from the conclusion of John Buscema’s first long tenure on the Conan line of books as presented here and in the Conan of the Isles graphic novel. The rest of this collection includes the remaining run of issues of Conan the King as penned by Don Kraar and then Jim Owsley (aka Christopher Priest) with notable artistic runs by Mike Docherty and Geoff Isherwood. Collecting: Conan the King (1984) #36-55 and Conan of the Isles graphic novel (1988) Marvel Graphic Novel #42

I'll also note that, although I'm not 100% sure on the current status of the Star Wars license, I'm also seeing Star Wars comics being published by Marvel, Dark Horse, Titan Comics, and VIZ. And let me iterate again that this is just a casual perusal of the April previews for me to find all this.

This is not just Marvel and DC playing the game; this is most of the major publishers/IP holders getting involved. These are people saying, "Can we sell enough to justify a Thundercats comic? Maybe, maybe not. But we'll definitely get extra customers from Powerpuff Girls fans that will help make it profitable!" Publishers who are putting out other publishers' work because they decided they don't have enough original material themselves that will sell, so they borrow on the IPs of other companies.

It's obviously way too early into 2026 to say if this indeed a trend, much less a notable story for all of 2026. But I certainly wasn't wrong in predicting we were going to see an increase in this type of thing! Expect to see more of this throughout the year.

If you're a regular reader of mine, you know I'm a sucker for anything related to Jack Kirby. So when I saw the solicitation for Mike Hoffman's Secrets of Jack Kirby: Methods and Techniques, it was a no-brainer to put my order in.

Now, let's get a couple things straight right up front. I've been reading Jack's work since I became interested in comics as a kid. And I've been professionally studying his art in particular for over twenty years. The odds of a 72-page book talking about Jack's art telling me something I didn't already know are about nil. That's not why I got this. Jack's body of work has been studied more than virtually any other comics creator ever; everyone who's ever worked on it or with Jack has been interviewed repeeatedly. There are no "secrets" in what Jack did; he used regular ol' comics storytelling ideas, but he just implemented them very, very well. My interest here is in seeing how someone else looks at Jack's art and how they might use/interpret what he's doing differently. Where they feel more emphasis should be in studying his work.

Second, the solicitation copy for the book reads, "A fascinating and insightful examination of the actual working methods of Jack Kirby's famed comics work, profusely illustrated." So this not a how-to-draw-like-Jack instruction book. And again, at 72 pages, there's only going to be so much of Jack's decades of comics work it will be able to cover.

So what does this look like in practice? What Hoffman does is take pages of Jack's art -- mostly interior comics pages, mostly just the black and white line art -- and explain one artistic technique that is used on each page. For example, there's one page discussing "circular composition" and it showcases a page of Jack's art that utilizes a circular composition. There's another page discussing "left/right balance" and it showcases a page of Jack's that utilizes a strong left/right balance. The book goes through about 40 different artistic ideas this way, mostly devoting one page for each topic; although a few get multiple pages. Then there's a three-page comic sequence by Hoffman in which he conspicuously uses many of those techniques, followed by a few Kirby-related text pieces he'd originally done for other outlets.

The good thing about using Jack's work to showcase examples of different artistic ideas is that he produced a LOT of work over his career, so it's not hard to find excellent examples. This is especially beneficial in Hoffman's book because his explanations/decriptions are generally limited to only two or three sentences. For example, the description accompanying "functional flatness" reads in its entirety: "The large figure in panel 3 is mainly shown 'flat on' to the viewer -- though the arms are folded back -- this is a [sic] intentional contrast against a highly dimensional background using radical perspective." If "functional flatness" were a phrase in comics, that might be sufficient but it's not a phrase I've heard before. And just to make sure I'm not just letting whatever personal limitations in my education get in the way, a Google search on "functional flatness" turns up mostly a lot of engineering related results and even by adding "comics" to my search query, most of the results are discussing the physical flatness of comics and how to get rid of spine roll. If Hoffman wants to push the idea of "functional flatness" in comics art as a thing, that's fine of course, but his descriptor here is a bit lacking for what's effectively a new term.

The book has a fair amount of that. There's not a page on "foreshortening" but there are ones for "balanced exaggeration" and "perspective manipulation," and another on "no foreshortening." So it's a little challenging if you want to look for a specific technique Jack used -- you have to know what Hoffman decided to call it, which may or may not be related to whatever terms you learned in any art classes. Further, the book doesn't have any of the concepts organized by any artistic principle (like everything related to layout together or everything related to linework together) but it's just all alphabetical based on whatever terms Hoffman is using. That page on "no foreshortening" is listed under "N" for example.

The additional text pieces are fine for what they are, but they do strike me as basically filler. Half of them don't really speak to Jack's art in any way, and the other half are more on his overall approach to comics broadly, not anything relating to the techniques showcased in the book.

I find myself struggling to think of an audience this book would be good for. The core (I think) idea of explaining artistic concepts through Kirby examples would be useful to younger/less experienced artists is solid enough and the Kirby examples are great, but the explanations/descriptions are not descriptive enough for that audience. And for people who are familiar enough with the concepts that they don't need longer explanations, there aren't enough examples that they wouldn't be able to find just thumbing through their own collections. This book seems to be a middle-ground that wouldn't serve either potential audience very well. But with a retail price of only $14.95 US for the paperback version, I can't complain too much about getting to look at Jack Kirby artwork. (A hardcover version is also available for $24.95 US.)

Usually when I'm talking about Winsor McCay, I'm talking about one of his brilliant comics. Probably Little Nemo in Slumberland. But he was a beast of an artist and cranked out tons and tons of work, including several experimental animated films, which he drew (and sometimes colored!) by hand. He even took Gertie the Dinosaur on tour and presented it as part of a Vaudeville-style act, with McCay himself seemingly interacting with the animated Gertie.

However, I recently came across one of the films he was working on in 1921 that was -- as far as anyone can tell -- was never completed and/or presented publicly: The Centaurs. It was produced by Rialto Productions -- basically McCay's own production house. There was about three minutes' worth of animation completed, but because it had been stored poorly, about half of it didn't survive when it was discovered to be in the possession of long-time McCay associated Irving Mendelsohn in 1947. (My understanding is that the actual film strip itself was literally crumbling to dust.) What we have left is then radically incomplete, offering little in the way of actual story. What we do have suggests something of a love story -- with a male and female centaur expressly affection for one another and meeting with (presumably) his parents before a child centaur is introduced. There's also a seemingly unconnected scene where the male centaur throws a rock at a passing bird for no apparent reason.

Because McCay had been passed away for over a decade before any of the footage surfaced, it's unclear why he seemed to have left it abandoned. I've seen speculation that the partial nudity proved too risque for the times, that McCay ran out of funding, and that he was simply getting too old/infirm to continue work on it. Given the other circumstances of his life at that time, I'm disinclined to believe all of those ideas, but I am at a loss to offer any other reasonable explanations.

In any event, as I only recently discovered this footage myself, I thought I might offer it up here as something of a tangental interest to those who might only know McCay from his comic strip work...