Here are the posts archiving hypercomics that have been salvaged so far.
The posts here appear in the order they were resurrected, not originally published. Use the Chronology page to see them in the order they were made, or use tags to look at posts by theme or formal presentation.
- 10:30 to 12 – (2003)
This was a standalone 4 part series with a slightly different tone than what I’d done before. It started with a blend of illustration and photography, trying to find new ways to use the more conventional techniques that had been developed in webcomics, such as trails and the metapanel. I … - Paradigm Flux (2000)
Paradigm Flux was my first foray into interactive comics online. Written by Steve Casares with the idea of interactivity in mind, the story was a sci-fi adventure/espionage story with branching narrative threads. In his 2001 paper “An examination of webcomics using McLuhan’s four laws of media” comic scholar Daniel merlin … - Where the balloons end up – (2015)
For the last year or so I’ve been writing a newsletter. This Sorry Spacesuit it’s called, and it’s been a great way for me to figure out some things about myself and my goals as an artist, my process and my values. I’ve made some great friends with it and … - The Halcyon Years – “The Interaction” (2001)
It took a while to find all the loose files that make up this comic, originally published at the end of 2001. But now this quirky little parable is back online. I remember being influenced by Scott McCloud’s “trails,” used to great visual effect in his early comic Porphyria’s Lover. Many of the Halycon … - The Halcyon Years – “Dead Baby Army” (2002)
There was a subset of The Halcyon Years which tried to blend music and webomics. It was called “The Synesthesia Drive-In” and was a collaboration between myself and close friend Nichlaus Von Hulsebus, who is now the front man for our own Hang Dog Expression. “Dead Baby Army” was the last of these, and draws … - The Halcyon Years – “Sand Dollar Collar” (2002)
There was a subset of The Halcyon Years which tried to blend music and webomics. It was called “The Synesthesia Drive-In” and was a collaboration between myself and close friend Nichlaus Von Hulsebus, who is now the front man for our own Hang Dog Expression. The first collaboration was “Sleeping Dark Things“. Nich came up … - Directions “Up” – (2003)
“Up” is the final piece in Directions. Trying to get a webpage to scroll up is difficult, so I went the route of having the viewer position themselves on the page. Kind of a cheap trick when you think about it. But back then, I was no html expert! Funnily enough, the … - Directions “Right” – (2003)
Probably the most absurdist Directions installment. I’m pretty sure I smashed together a dream and a joke my father in law once told me. And although the joke is great and the dream is unsettling, the narrative wasn’t the point. From a formal perspective, if you access all 3 of the interactive … - Directions “Down” – (2003)
“Down” was the most straightforward installment in Directions. It’s a regular vertical scroller dealing with artistic frustration. I think the real interest lies in the metapanel, an open composition of photo collage that bleeds into the background. I enjoy the palette, the sickly mustard which rolls into warm oranges, and balances out the complimentary blue … - Directions “Left” – (2003)
“Left” was the most problematic of the Directions installments. The biggest difficulty was in making a comic that reads from right to left. It’s counter intuitive because pretty much all of the internet—from code-writing to browser rendering—is based on top-right orientation. So I employed a few tricks back then to … - Directions – (2003)
So there used to be this thing called Bitpass. When it was originally launched, it focused pretty heavily on monetizing webcomics. I was invited to be a beta tester of their system and create content for sale. This was 2003 and although it seems somewhat silly now, there was very little movement … - The Halcyon Years “No-Man’s Land” – (2001)
The Halcyon Years was a series of short infinite canvas comics, some of which included early experiments with interactive elements. This piece was the third installment in the series, from 2001. Some of the early Halcyons were based on dreams, this one included. You can read the comic here. - The Halcyon Years “Sleeping Dark Things” – (2001)
The Halcyon Years was a series of short infinite canvas comics, some of which included early experiments with interactive elements. This installment was a typical vertical scroller, but it was constructed in reverse like the previous HY installment “Go Figure”. I came across some lovely photos at abandoned-places.com and started to …Read more “The Halcyon Years “Sleeping Dark Things” – (2001)”
- The Halcyon Years “Go Figure” – (2001)
The Halcyon Years was a series of short infinite canvas comics, some of which included early experiments with interactive elements. This particular episode was a straight forward comic, though it was produced backwards. I began by drawing random pictures of clowns, then created a narrative structure to tie the images … - A Short Fiction Using 8 Webcomics Titles – (2004)
For a time I was involved in writing for and publishing The Webcomics Examiner, a webcomic review site dedicated to long-form webcomics and hypercomics. For some reason, it’s publication seemed to be somewhat divisive at the time. If memory serves, there was some balking regarding “serious criticism” of webcomics. Seems pretty funny now, …Read more “A Short Fiction Using 8 Webcomics Titles – (2004)”
- Underhunt: week 5 – (2005)
Underhunt was my only attempt at a weekly webstrip. Every week I would create a new wordless set of panels and each day fill it up with often sad and un-funny text. Week 5 was titled “Chat” - Underhunt: week 4 – (2005)
Underhunt was my only attempt at a weekly webstrip. Every week I would create a new wordless set of panels and each day fill it up with often sad and un-funny text. Week 4 was titled “Baby” - Underhunt: week 3 – (2005)
Underhunt was my only attempt at a weekly webstrip. Every week I would create a new wordless set of panels and each day fill it up with often sad and un-funny text. Week 3 was titled “Ladies Room” - Underhunt: week 2 – (2005)
Underhunt was my only attempt at a weekly webstrip. Every week I would create a new wordless set of panels and each day fill it up with often sad and un-funny text. Week 2 was titled “Election Results” - Underhunt: week 1 – (2005)
Underhunt was my only attempt at a weekly webstrip. Every week I would create a new wordless set of panels and each day fill it up with often sad and un-funny text. Week 1 was titled “Man and guitar player” - The Jerk – (2001)
This comic was first published sometime at the end of 2001. It gained some popularity at the time it was published and was the most ambitious hypercomic I had attempted. It’s an Infinite Canvas style scrolling narration with embedded interactive flash files that add depth to the narrative. The horizontal … - Redress of Grievances – (2003)
George W. Bush’s Iraq war began in March of 2003, and this comic was published some time in April. Remember, this was long before Obama, long before all the hope and change stuff. Long before political quotes were pasted on a stoic image of Thomas Jefferson and passed around on … - Set-up, (Beat), Punchline – (2004)
According to the internet wayback machine, this horizontal scroller was made sometime in 2004. There are many in-jokes and references to mid 2000’s webcomics in here. At the time, web-publishing meant that you could instantly comment on trends and work. Although the idea is ubiquitous now, it was a fairly new idea … - While we work on the updated site…
One of this site’s incarnations was as a group blog focused on webcomics. Hypercomic practitioners and pioneers banded together to highlight some great experiments. While we work on rebuilding this site, you can find the old hypercomics here. - Five Ways to Love A Cockroach (2005)
(Note: this comic was built utilizing Adobe Flash technology, which is now not supported by most browsers. When I can modernize this comic in a way that stays true to the original version, we will update this page. In the meantime, the Flash version is still accessible here, in case …
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