Excelsior!

So, as requested, here's that Stan Lee Awards video as an embed. Thanks to Ben for pointing it out - and for the nice words about Mirabilis. But I think my brain would go into meltdown if I won an award with Stan Lee's name on it, he's so totally the guy who fired up my interest in storytelling as a kid.

I just have to add that, hugely as I admire Bryan Talbot, for my money Mezolith should've won it hands down. Everybody always talks about whether comics can stand up as both entertainment and as serious literature that says something profound, and Mezolith is the perfect example of both. But anyway, congrats to the top two and to all the rest of the creators on the short-list. You're all winners!

Digital take-off

I know there was some other big news this week... wasn't there? ;) but didn't want to miss out on telling everybody about us launching on Graphic.ly. Got an iPhone? Or an iPad? Or an Android mobile? Want to sample the cool streamlined viewing of Adobe AIR for PC/Mac? Or even just plain ol' web? There's an app to fit your device of choice, and Mirabilis #1 and #2 are hanging ripe 'n' luscious on those digital branches just waiting to be picked right now for free, with six more issues coming up on Graphic.ly and Comics+ too over the next six weeks.

What I really like about digital comics is that it's like coming down off the stage and mingling with the audience. Traditional publishing is thud, there's your comic, and unless you really want to plunge in to a life of fandom, the stream of community tends to pass you by. But digital platforms like Graphic.ly and Comics+ are really making comics collecting and reading into an easy participatory experience. Nothing very new in this (it's what Stan Lee did with Marvel, ably imitated in this country by Alf & Cos and later, of course, the Mighty Tharg) but digital comics make it so sweet. More on this here.