According to this article from eMarketer, consumers in general currently have a distinct preference for broadband access over mobile access by some noticeable margins. I'll provide their charts if you don't want to read the full article...





As you can see, the use of mobile devices (regardless of platform) for data transmission is considerably less important to people than a solid broadband connection at home. Although their research doesn't get into the reason(s) for that difference, it seems to me that usability is probably the biggest factor here. The combination of small screen sizes which don't always adapt "normal" web page layouts well, plus a typically clumsier set of input options which make navigation more difficult than it ought to be, plus inherently slower -- sometimes even intermittent -- connection speeds all point to users having a much better user experience on their desktops than on a typical mobile device. Being able to find movie listings or a restaurant's menu in the car is useful, to be sure, but the old Spider-Man cartoons look/run better from the computer sitting on your desk.

What I'm getting at here is that people seem to view their desktop computer as their "home base" when it comes to internet, and their mobile devices are still just communications tools that provide more flexible access to that base station. (Although I feel that dynamic will shift over the next decade or so. People are still thinking in terms of personal hard drives and floppy disks, but I see the trend as shifting to more decentralization, where your personal files and data -- and even applications -- are all stored on a server which has full-time broadband access to the Internet, and can be accessed and worked on from any other computer regardless of platform. More of a thin client model than a thick client one, if you want to use the IT vernacular. Indeed, much of how I personally work today is along those lines; the last column I sent in to Jack Kirby Collector was seamlessly written from three different computers in two different states, without having to transport files around on CDs or via email. Right now, in 2009, though, most people do NOT think or work in that manner, and still consider their desktop unit as their central processing computer, as opposed to simply an outlet through which they can get to their online data. But I digress...)

The upshot is that, if the recession continues through 2010 or even into 2011 as some experts predict, people will increase their reliance on broadband through their desktops and will be more likely to drop data services from their mobile devices.

Now, what does that have to do with webcomics?

What that has to do with webcomics is the manner with which they are delivered.

There are a number of sort-of-competing formats for delivering webcomics right now. Some folks use a specialized flash viewer, some rely on the CBR or CBZ format, some present JPGs on hard-coded HTML pages, some use dynamic web page/RSS feed generators, some are just sent via email... not to mention iPhone apps and other similar programs specific to certain platforms. Generally speaking, most of the options available are flexible enough to work under a variety of conditions. For example, while a PDF comic relies on the user have a PDF viewer of some sort unique to their operating system, PDF viewers are readily available for nearly every platform, so you can read a PDF file regardless of whether you're on a Mac or a PC or a Palm or...

And that, I think, is the key to webcomics at least for the next five years, if not longer. To make them as fundamentally accessible for flexible reading as possible. Unless you're comic is THE ABSOLUTE BEST THING EVER, people are not going to spend a lot of time dealing with your delivery mechanism. This is a distinct failing, I think of flash-based comics in general. They are inherently based on hitting a specific page on the internet and require the latest version of a flash player to view them at all. There's nothing wrong if someone WANTS to go to a specific web page with their flash player, but you won't be able to rely on that for delivery.

Early this year, when Diamond changed some of their policies, a lot of people went into a panic not knowing how or even whether their books would be distributed. A handful of us said, basically, that comic creators need to explore as many outlets as possible and ensure that as many people can get to/read their material as possible. There are, in essence, two ways of doing that.

First, a creator (or his/her representative) can essentially bust their butt getting their product into as many venues as possible. They have it on their web site; they've set it up with some POD service; they've made it available through Wowio and iTunes; they've posted CBR torrents... All of which would help, certainly, but it would take a considerable amount of time -- time which could be instead spent on, say, actually making the comic.

An alternative would be to have a set-up in which, once the source files are created, they could be uploaded to a server which then automatically propagates the files out to an array of venues via an XML (or equivalent) feed. This second method would essentially take the source files as they come in, automatically reformat them, and route the reformatted versions to the appropriate outlets. So, a 300 dpi page scan gets sent to a POD server, while the 72 dpi version is posted on website, whose relevant information is included in an RSS feed, which is in part read to display the pages on a web site. As a person who has NOT even attempted creating their own webcomic, I haven't looked in to whether or not this type of set-up currently exists, but it's at least conceptually do-able. Further, it could be implemented in several different ways such that a variety of companies could realistically compete in such a market. Maybe one provides really high quality paper to print the books on, while another does a better job formatting the XML, while still a third looks exclusively at making it as cheap/affordable as possible. Perhaps, then, a fourth has developed a unique iPhone app that's able to utilize the same files as well.

That, I think, is what needs to happen for the webcomic market generally. It absolutely can continue on in the higgedly-piggeldy manner that's characterized webcomics to date (as my reading list has grown, my online comics reader has gotten almost obnoxiously cumbersome -- I'll have to post some status updates on that sometime) but I think for webcomics to be more viable as a sustainable commercial venture, it needs to be at least a little more codified.

Because, if those original numbers I cited at the start of this post are any indication at all, there's still a lot of uncertainty in preferred delivery formats. Readers (i.e. consumers, i.e. where comic creators will get their money from) are NOT married to a particular format (with the possible exception of iPhone users) and that lack of definition with regard to delivery systems can and should be exploited. Readers are not going to choose one method over another simply because YOUR comic is available (or easier to get to) -- the comic creator, if they're going to survive -- needs to make their material as widely available as possible. And, while the creators themselves likely don't have the expertise to do that, other companies do and need to step up to the plate. The "killer app" for comics isn't going to be the best CBR reader, or something for the iPhone; it's going to be the company that develops a process by which any number of people can read your comic in any number of ways.

Typically, when I come across a serialized comic, I try to find a good jumping-on point where I can begin reading, and watch the comic evolve. If it's new enough, I'll just zip back to the very beginning. If it's more of a gag-a-day strip with some serial elements to it, I just pick up wherever I happen across and assume I'll be able to figure out the rest as I go.

The trick with finding that jumping-on point, though, is... well, finding it. It's pretty rare that you just happen to start reading at such a point; more likely, you stumble into the middle of a storyline and have to backtrack at least a bit until you find the start of that chapter/episode/adventure. This is the primary reason why, back in the day, writers were told to write every issue as if it were somebody's first. And it worked. I started reading Fantastic Four smack dab in the middle of John Byrne's Negative Zone story that ran through a good chunk of 1983 and, despite not knowing how the story got to that point, I was easily able to hit the ground running without any more details of the 250-some issues that came before. (These days, writers are directed to write "for the trade" so any single pamphlet might not have sufficient information to start anywhere, but any given trade paperback will.)

Serialized webcomics have a different challenge in that regard. Any single installment of a serialized webcomic is not likely to contain everything a reader knows to start at that point. There's generally just not enough time/space in that one page/panel to convey that much of the whole story. But if it's done well, there'll be enough to entice readers -- to pique their interest enough to return regularly or shoot back to the nearest jumping-on point. (Hopefully, it's conveniently labeled as such for them by the creator(s)!)

This morning, I came across Sin Titulo for the first time. Dropped in 148 pages into the story. It had good artwork, and I was intrigued enough to want to read more. Now, I could have easily clicked back to the beginning to start reading, but instead I just click for the previous installment to see a little more about the two characters. And I clicked to the next previous installment. And the next.

Before I knew it, I found myself 50 pages into the story, having worked backwards from page 148. One page at a time. And the whole thing made complete sense.

That I was actually able to read the story backwards actually made a point of interest in and of itself. How had creator Cameron Stewart been able to successfully -- and, I believe, unintentionally -- written a comic that could be read backwards?

His first success in this regard is breaking down each installment into a relatively self-contained scene. Any one page holds its own independent of the previous and/or the next. That means readers are NOT left with portions of speeches or half-completed actions to pick up on. Each page starts a new scene, so each page effectively becomes a new jumping-on point. Additionally, the page layouts and scene shifts between pages are treated identically throughout the story, so going forward or backward does not change the reading experience. The reader goes through eight equally-sized panels to get a single scene, then reads another eight equally-sized panels to read a different scene.

The other thing working in Stewart's favor with regards to reading his comic backwards is that the story inherently revolves around a series of small mysteries. The puzzle pieces are being revealed through the story slowly. The thing that Alex (the hero) thinks he sees in the 147th episode didn't really make sense until I got up to page 22 and even then, it's still unclear what exactly it is. Who exactly is Vacek? I think the story, if read forwards, would bear some similarities to one of those "accidental spy" stories where the protagonist becomes involved in some plot by a freak coincidence and is forced into a unique situation with no foreknowledge, just like the audience. And, like the best of those accidental spy stories, the pieces only put together the whole picture slowly. Whether going forwards or backwards, we're given the pieces (albeit in a different order) but not enough of them to see a complete picture either way. But it's enough to show the reader that Stewart knows what he's doing, giving the audience enough reassurances that the ultimate conclusion will result in a satisfying payoff.

I wouldn't necessarily recommend reading Sin Titulo, or any other comic, backwards but it's a fascinating experiment in storytelling, and an enlightening examination of good techniques. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the tale forwards, and don't doubt that it'll be an even better read that way!

From now through August 9, the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, CA will be hosting two comic-related exhibits. First is the unfortunately titled "ZAP! POW! BAM! The Superhero: The Golden Age of Comic Books, 1938–1950" which "examines the creative processes and influences that drove young Jewish artists to express their talents through the storylines and art of comic books." The show features GA comics and original art from the period. Jerry Robinson is a guest curator. The companion exhibit, "Lights, Camera, Action: Comic Book Heroes of Film and Television", unsuprisingly looks at the cultural connections between comics and film/television. Included in the show are the Batcycle from the 1966 TV show and one of Christopher Reeve's Superman costumes.

It's raining outside. It started around lunchtime, and there's been a constant heavy drizzle since then. Just enough keep people from their parades and picnics.

I talked with Mom on the phone earlier today. It was the first time she'd talked about my brother without mentioning that, "Oh, by the way, he still doesn't have a job," in a couple months. Though she did point out he could be using money they spent on paint for the living room to buy a couple more meals.

Mom also casually mentioned that Dad had just turned 60. Somehow, I managed to completely forget his birthday this year; I didn't even remember to call him. I also didn't do much for Mom's birthday back in February. Or Mother's Day. Or Father's Day.

It's still raining.

I came home from work Thursday to see a house just up the street with its entire contents on the front lawn. A U-Haul appeared an hour later, and most of it was taken away. The fourteen-year-old daughter remained sitting on a couch in the yard, guarding what remained until the U-Haul reappeared a couple hours later. The house's contents have been replaced with a sign citing a foreclosure auction later this month.

I'd planned on taking my dog for an early walk today. He isn't too bothered by firecrackers and fireworks if he's inside, but he gets pretty anxious if he's outside while they're going off. I figured going earlier in the day would mean there wouldn't be as many people shooting stuff off. Doesn't look like we'll get our walk in today at this point.

It's still raining.

But you know, I'm inside my own house. I have a secure job, but I don't have anywhere I have to be this weekend. I was sitting by the window earlier, reading Palestine. I can spend time logging comics into my database. My dog is comfortable. And while she's not here right now, I've got a beautiful girlfriend out there who loves me.

I had intended to write some diatribe today on how I don't fully understand patriotism and, as a consequence, I don't really understand patriotic comic book heroes like Captain America or the Shield. But it would have inevitably pissed somebody off, and there's too much crap going on in the world today to intentionally rain on someone else's parade.

It's still raining.

But I can hear people enjoying their picnics indoors with their doors and windows open. I can hear people lighting firecrackers, presumably from in their garages or under umbrellas. Presumably, they spent less money this year on fireworks and grilling supplies, thanks to the economy. (My girlfriend cited that the U.S. savings rate has gone from negative numbers to 6% in less than a year!) The country is in too lousy a shape to not let people celebrate whatever they can. There are enough forces trying to dampen their spirits, and who am I to add to that? Just because I can't afford to celebrate and don't feel the emotional need to doesn't mean I should spit on others' emotional releases.

Happy Independence Day, Americans.

Weighing in on the Harvey Awards...

All awards are bunk. Yes, recognition for a job well done is always a nice ego-boost and, potentially, provides additional attention (i.e. revenue) to whatever person or project they're celebrating. But ultimately they're pretty meaningless, I think. Doesn't matter if you're talking Harveys or Eisners or Oscars or Emmys or Grammys or some trinket award that's only relevant in any capacity to the dozen or two people in your department at work. Awards don't mark achievement; they only mark recognition.

Are any of the Harvey nominees the unqualified, absolute best in their respective categories? No.

But NOT because they're not great works, but because it's a false question. There's no such thing as an unqualified best when it comes to art. You can't measure quality in a quantitative fashion, so any measurement that IS done is inherently subjective. Basically meaning that what I think is the best isn't necessarily what you think is best. We can both be right and completely disagree. It's all just opinion. The Harveys (and any other awards) are just a way of providing a nice "thanks for making something a number of us liked" to the creators.

Those receiving a Harvey should only imbue as much worth in it as they would imbue on somebody telling them they did a good job.

Me? I clearly don't care about awards or wide-spread recognition. I do what I do for one of two reasons: 1) for my own creative expression, and 2) for the money. In the case of the former, a job well done is its own reward and my pride stems from what I did, not what other people tell me they think of what I did.

Which isn't to say that a "nice job" isn't welcome. Definitely a pleasant ego-boost. But if I feel the work I'm being congratulated on is sub-standard, then no amount of praise is going to make me feel better about it. If I'm praised for lackluster work, I'll just assume that the person(s) providing the praise clearly doesn't know what the hell they're talking about, making their opinion valueless. But if I do like the work, and I'm praised by an individual (not some un-named collection of people) whose opinion I do consider valid, then sure, I'll take the kudos. But because of the connection I made with the individual.

I've actually tried to make a point over the years of telling people how/when/where their thoughts and expressions mattered and made an impact on me. I've written letters to old school-teachers, and sent emails to old friends I haven't talked to in 20 years. I can't speak to them, certainly, but I know I'd prefer that kind of response than a trophy or plaque with no emotion attached to it.

On the subject or art versus Art, anyone making the argument that the Harveys are clearly worthless because Nascar Heroes #5 is a nominee, their arguments are bunk. I haven't read Nascar Heroes but it's every bit as valid as anything else that was nominated. Regardless of how much of a forced commercial endeavor it may have been, it still took some measure of creativity to produce. Art is no less art when it's specifically being requested from an outside source. Michelangelo was paid to paint the Sistine Chapel, you know, and there are anecdotal reports that state he even argued with the Pope about receiving payments in a timely manner. The Sistine Chapel is NOT a work of divine inspiration, it's a piece of commercial art.

Just like Nascar Heroes.

You can argue that Michelangelo's work transcended his commission, or that his mastery of the craft marks his creations worthy of the title Capital-A Art, or whatever you want. But the bottom line is that the Pope came to Michelangelo and paid him to paint his ceiling. His success, relative to Nascar Heroes, can be debated but, as before, it's wholly subjective and neither can rightly be defined as necessarily better than the other.

Should the Harveys be changed or discontinued entirely? If someone wants to keep running them, more power to them. If no one cares about them, and they fade into oblivion, so be it. If I or anyone I know ever wins, that's just peachy. But if I and everyone I know NEVER wins, it's no skin off my nose. I know the quality of work I'm doing, and I know the quality of work others are doing. If I think you're doing a good job, I'll tell you myself and not hide behind a collection of ballots.

I haven't read all of the works nominated for this year's Harveys. The ones I have read are certainly praise-worthy, and I wish their creators good luck on all their current and future endeavors.

For the past couple weeks, I've been playing Vikings, Pirates, Ninjas online. It's kind of amusing, and it's definitely got some charm to it.

Anyway, I recently decided that, even though I was playing a pirate, I could still check out the Viking-ware. And wouldn't you know that up for sale was the Thunder God's Tunic...
Somehow, I don't think you get the ability to hurl thunderbolts by wearing it, but it was a random bit of amusement for me in the game.

One of the portal gadgets I have set up monitors tweets that mention the word "Wowio" (since Twitter has proven to the be the primary source of information about the company). A few hours ago, the following tweet popped up from Plantinum president and COO Brian Altounian...

1.0 gets the ball rolling, 2.0 shifts into high gear, but 3.0 blows it into outer space. Welcome to July 1, the launch of WOWIO 3.0!

"That's interesting," I thought. "I haven't looked at the site in several months; I'll go check out what exactly is going on with this re-launch." The last I'd really checked in at all was back in January when some creators were complaining that they still hadn't been paid from early 2008.

So I swang by Wowio.com but didn't see anything appreciably different. I logged in, thinking maybe their updates were more on the back end. It seemed like there were some more content than six months ago, but about what you might expect to accrue over that time. Other than that, I wasn't really seeing anything different. The interface hadn't changed, the pricing structure was about the same, I still had books in my download queue left over from a year ago...

So I checked their news area. There's one note from two weeks ago about a new book about Iranians using new media to tell stories that can't be told by journalists. The next most recent entry is from April, announcing some downloadable books that are available for free. Not exactly 3.0 material.

So I checked Plantinum's site. Sure enough, there's something on the home page about Wowio announcing a global relaunch and details can be found on their blog. Which, it turned out, hadn't been updated at all this year. The noted relaunch was from August 2008.

There's got to be something, right?

I called up everything Altounian has tweeted. There's a tweet from around midnight noting a "new non-profit initiative" and one from Monday that cites "Completed paperwork on a new non-profit initiative for WOWIO, helping groups raise funds and promote literacy at same time. July 1 start!" OK, so this literacy promotion thing must be the 3.0 that "blows it into outer space" I suppose.

Going back to Wowio.com, I did notice that some of the ad space on the home page plugging donations for the Hero Initiative. Evidently, consumers can now elect to donate to one of three charities when they purchase one of Wowio's ebooks as a gift for someone else. Ads for each of the three organizations (Hero Initative, YWCA Santa Monica and LIFT) circulate on the home page -- which is why I hadn't noticed the Hero Initiative ad earlier: it wasn't on the page at the time.

I'm left a little confused. I certainly think all three organizations are worthy causes, and kudos to Altounian/Wowio for giving them some attention. I think the only complaint anyone could possibly lodge there would just be that other causes are more worthwhile -- but that's a decidedly qualitative judgement and not really valid accordingly. That's not what confuses me.

I'm not confused by the Whys and Wherefores either. I can rattle off half a dozen reasons why they're choosing to do this, ranging from the absurdly cynical to the optimisitcally altruistic. I'm sure there were any number of rationales used, all of which make sense to me. And since the end result of supporting laudable organizations is the same, regardless of the motives, I'm not going to explore all those reasons here.

I guess I'm confused mostly around the promotion of the change. I grew up on Marvel comics, so I'm used to Stan Lee style hyperbole, but I think "3.0 blows it into outer space" is a bit much by any account. Especially in comparison to the 1.0 and 2.0 already cited. Furthermore, if it were really that momentous a change, why announce it ONLY through one Twitter account? True, there is the ad space on Wowio's home page, but the ads are taking up the same space that ads have always taken up on Wowio, effectively becoming a kind of visual white noise. The ads themselves are fine, but they just look like any other ads on Wowio's home page which I've learned to ignore. Just like I've learned to ignore all those banner ads with someone dancing because of low interest rates.

On June 11, Altounian tweeted about "an exploding initiative!" which I have to presume was this. A week later, he tweeted about 10 deals he was working on. Even if one assumes this counts as three separate deals, I think it's safe to presume he's still got several in some form of development. So this launch seems to be something less than what they intend to roll out.

I get the impression that Altounian is genuinely and honestly excited about this, and really does think it's a huge deal. Now I'll be the first to admit that I'm not omniscient, so it's likely I'm not seeing the whole picture here. But I'm at a loss on how this is anything more than kind of a "hey, that's nice" addition. It might provide a few tax breaks and increase the goodwill of the company a bit, but I don't see this moving the needle very much on either of those. I don't see people getting drawn TO the site in order to donate to any of those causes (those likely to do just that are going to go to the organization's own web sites). Not to mention that it only tangentially (at best) ties into their core mission.

Maybe I'm completely off-base here. Maybe the 3.0 is something I've altogether missed in some kind of mental myopia. Maybe there are some really huge implications for the company that I'm just not seeing, regardless of how blatant they are. Maybe I'm missing some really critical piece of information.

Insights/comments/reactions from any Wowio employees, or those more in the know on the subject, would be appreciated.