Updates!

More strips to add to my reading list. I'll catch up with you someday, Burns!
Melonpool (Ok, I've only finished reading three out of the five collected volumes, then I have to catch up on the internet strips past volume 5, but still, it's on the list now.)
The Pet Professional
Argon Zark (Yeah, yeah, send your complaints about my being behind the times elsewhere, ok?)

Melonpool and Argon Zark are both from the old guard of webcomics, while Pet Professional is a new rising star. I've got to say, Argon Zark is a different experience for me because it has a very "Scott McCloudian" view of webcomics: innovation in both layout and navigation, clever hidden "easter eggs", and really striving to take advantage of the medium of the internet as opposed to simply using it as a vehicle to post the strip. It comes off kind of artsy-fartsy to me, which isn't really my style, but at least Zark doesn't seem to take itself too seriously, which is a good thing.

And by the way, everyone should buy Steve Troop's collected volumes. At 7 bucks a pop they have provided me with more interesting content than any other comic book collection aside from The Prehistory of the Far Side (a Far Side tenth anniversary collection with annotations by Gary Larson). Steve Troop liberally includes liner notes and behind the scenes looks along with the comics, as well as providing a trove of extra material, especially in the first volume where he goes back and shows us everything that has been Melonpool from its conception when he was SIX. If you've just been reading the internet archives, you've missed out on a lot of good stuff. Interestingly enough, in the Blank Label Podcast with Steve Troop, Troop mentions that Prehistory of the Far Side book, and I think he draws a lot of his inspiration in compiling his books from that volume. He couldn't have picked a better book to emulate.

As for Pet Professional, maybe I'll give you guys a full review of that one at some point. If not, just read the archives. They're only like 50-60 strips long.

Oh, and I changed the little tagline at the top of my blog, replacing the quote claiming that people on the internet are as dumb as monkeys. I thought it was funny when I read it, but sitting at the top of the blog it just looked kind of cynical. I replaced it with a line that I find myself typing quite a bit when I post to this blog...