2004's Best Page Turners Mouse Clickers

The Web Comics Examiner has released their selected menu of the best online comics of 2004. If anyone reading this is surprised by the innovation and wealth of genres represented by their list, including everything from psychedelic superheroes to gritty horror stories and even a full length online graphic novel, you've been missing one of the fastest developing branches of the comic family.

Chosen by a panel from the Examiner, this list presents more than a few comics that managed to escape my own attention over the last year. Scott McCloud wasn't kidding around, for those of you familiar with his book Reinventing Comics from 4 years ago when he said that there is a lot of untapped potential to be seen from the internet as a medium for comic creators. More than just "next" arrows and sequential jpeg files, these examples showcase a variety of ways readers can interact with comic narratives. One of the most gorgeous in the bunch is Vicious Souvenirs by John Barber - an interactive flash comic that actually layers its panels on top of each other in sequence with chilling results.

Personally, I was happy to see Keaner.net represented on the list. Fans of James Kochalka and Ariel Schrag will be able to appreciate this innovative webcomic that combines autobiographical comic vignettes with music to enhance the reader's experience (and mighty effectively too, I might add). At the rate comic artists like these guys keep sprouting up, webcomics may be giving flash cartoon serials like Homestarunner a run for their money in the not so distant future.