An all-digital "virtual comic book" created entirely on the computer
February 5, 2022 12:47 PM Subscribe
Argon Zark! was not the first webcomic, but it was the first comic designed explicitly for the web. Boasting computer coloring, 3D models, page-specific background images, animations, and bonus features (all the pages in book 2 are clickable), it's perhaps most notable for how much later webcomics did not follow its example. While WEBTOON engages with smartphones by providing background music and very tall comics designed for scrolling, similar to Scott McCloud's experiments, and notable exceptions like Homestuck delved even farther into multimedia than Argon Zark! did, almost all webcomics are static images with the same dimensions strip after strip, often resembling either newspaper strips or graphic novels in their content and design.
Argon Zark!'s first strip was published in June 1995 and its most recent in June 2019. Debuting not long into the Eternal September, it's also interesting to see how focused Argon Zark! is on computers and the world wide web itself as its subject matter, with major plot points including hyperlinks, graphics editing tools, Microsoft, search engines, web crawlers, and the push-and-pull between personal and commercial websites. Fittingly, the author recently had to deal with yet another way the internet has evolved, converting many pages from Flash to HTML5.
Argon Zark!'s first strip was published in June 1995 and its most recent in June 2019. Debuting not long into the Eternal September, it's also interesting to see how focused Argon Zark! is on computers and the world wide web itself as its subject matter, with major plot points including hyperlinks, graphics editing tools, Microsoft, search engines, web crawlers, and the push-and-pull between personal and commercial websites. Fittingly, the author recently had to deal with yet another way the internet has evolved, converting many pages from Flash to HTML5.
...and is wearing a Brittney Spears crop top under the jacket she takes off because "it's hot in here", and later thinks "he's cute for a hypergeek!" He's leading her by the hand in a lot of scenes. She's either following behind/looking up at him or is framed full body front and center. Holy Windows 95, Batman, that sure is a lot of male gaze and power fantasy.
But if you can get beyond that, this is... well, not a good comic, but a great example of 90s web graphic design. I flipped through it just for that. Ah, I remember creating amateurish geometric landscapes in Bryce 3D.
posted by AlSweigart at 7:05 AM on February 6, 2022 [2 favorites]
But if you can get beyond that, this is... well, not a good comic, but a great example of 90s web graphic design. I flipped through it just for that. Ah, I remember creating amateurish geometric landscapes in Bryce 3D.
posted by AlSweigart at 7:05 AM on February 6, 2022 [2 favorites]
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...and an attractive woman character who accompanies the nerd-genius hero only because she showed up to deliver a package at exactly the wrong moment. Oh, nineties.
posted by Halloween Jack at 1:43 PM on February 5, 2022 [4 favorites]