Mon Oct 29, 2007 5:58PM31 comments ›
Mon Oct 29, 2007 — by Glenn Hauman
Wanted: your feedback!
Your big chance to be heard -- well, read...
It's been four weeks since the rollout of ComicMix: Phase II. You've seen the first four installments of GrimJack, EZ Street, Black Ice, Munden's Bar, Simone & Ajax, and Fishhead. You've used our comic reader, you've listened to the podcasts, you've played with the site, and we've still had the same great columnists.
In that time, our site traffic has spiked and the number of page views have grown by leaps and bounds.
But we're still not satisfied. So we're asking you: What do you think?
How can we improve ComicMix? What would you like to see? What have you seen enough of?
Consider this an open thread. Feel free to tell us what's not working for you, what we should add to the site, what we should improve. Do you want more columnists? More news? More previews from other publishers? More comics?
Inquiring minds want to know. And while we try to read what other folks are saying elsewhere on the net, we don't catch everything. So please, take the time and tell us here, so that we can continue to make this a better site for you.
Jump to comments (31) 
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Comments (31)
Lee Houston, Junior (11:07 PM on Mon Oct 29, 2007)
I really like the new format thus far.
In regards to the comics section, I freely admit that I am still trying to get into EZ Street and Black Ice while for better or worse Fishhead just isn't my cup of tea.
But are these comics exclusively just to Comicmix, or is there a publishing imprint in the future?
If the latter, I would love to see The Maze Agency join the line-up, and if there is a chance for a budding writer to contribute...
Elayne Riggs (1:24 PM on Tue Oct 30, 2007)
I'd like to see at least one female-written or female-drawn comic. I'd also like that 40-hour day now, please, so I can have more time to spend here.
Neil (3:20 PM on Tue Oct 30, 2007)
I preferred having links to all installments at the top of the page rather than just the first and a "new" for that day's comic. I guess having all of them there was crowded, but maybe you could have the first and latest one there - so two links per comic. GrimJack and Munden's Bar are my favorites so far. So far Fishhead just isn't my cup of tea either. Simone & Ajax is fun. I am interested in how EZ Street and Black Ice develop. I like all the different ways of reading the comics - single page, double page, zoom in and so forth.
Marilee J. Layman (3:57 PM on Tue Oct 30, 2007)
Somebody had to tell me this, so I'll pass it on. Look at the top of the page -- there's a line under the ComicMix logo. Follow it to the right and you'll see three tabs. Click on Comics to find the links to all the issues.
Linda Gold (7:43 PM on Tue Oct 30, 2007)
Also next to the tabs is a link that says"view all issues"
Marilee J. Layman (8:25 PM on Tue Oct 30, 2007)
Not on my screen, and I just did a forced reload to be sure.
Marilee J. Layman (8:28 PM on Tue Oct 30, 2007)
Ah, on the front screen! I think that might be useful on all screens
Neil (8:56 AM on Wed Oct 31, 2007)
I might have actually been the one to mention the Comics Tab, but you still need to scroll down through all the comic listings to find the one you want. Having a convenient link at the top of every page is preferable.
Marilee J. Layman (3:52 PM on Tue Oct 30, 2007)
I like Simone and Ajax a lot. I'm reading EZ Street and seeing how I like it. I love the reader. I'd like the columns edited for typos and punctuation. I don't listen to the podcasts because I start daydreaming about three seconds after audio stuff starts. I see there's Google ads now, which appear to be more appropriate.
I think you'd better make bigger buttons or brighter tabs for the Comics since Neil up there had the same problem I did with finding the intermediate issues.
Adriane Nash (5:11 PM on Tue Oct 30, 2007)
I too would like to have better access to the previous installments of the comics. Also I second the bigger buttons for the comics (maybe pull down menus so you can go to a certain installment or the like?)
Also better searchablility of past articles. The reults have seemed rather random. For example: a search of my name results in articles where my name is mentioned but not any articles I have written (or commented on). And the bigger mystery is why half of the results are given at all: I haven't been mentioned, authored or commented on the pieces.
And the biggie on layout: I'd like to see more than just one news piece on the front page. I liked having a few articles to scroll through. Having just the headlines in the 'latest news pieces' doesn't always pique my interest.
Marilee J. Layman (8:31 PM on Tue Oct 30, 2007)
In that news section between the article and the comments, if you click on Read more news, you get the old format.
Adriane Nash (7:41 PM on Wed Oct 31, 2007)
Right, but what I'm saying is I'd like to not have to click anything. I'd like more article content on the front page
Adriane Nash (7:44 PM on Wed Oct 31, 2007)
And now I'd like to say that I'd like to post a comment and not have what just happened to me happen: the comment went up and the screen I got looked upon my first and brief look as if the posting had failed. The comment box still had what I typed and so I hit add you comments thus posting twice. How abotu a 'comment posted succesfully!' rather than just getting sent back to the comments box?
Marilee J. Layman (8:04 PM on Wed Oct 31, 2007)
Brian knows about this bug and will be fixing it.
Anonymous (1:34 PM on Tue Oct 30, 2007)
Very much enjoying the new format. GrimJack, Munden's Bar and Black Ice are terrific. EZ Street has kept my interest throughout. The others I can take or leave, but all told it's been a great few weeks. I'd be most interested in getting a print version of the Manx Cat to add to my collection, either in pamphlet or preferably trade format depending on the length of the story.
Anonymous (8:01 AM on Tue Oct 30, 2007)
I'm enjoying the issues, but I'm frustrated by the navigation. I'm not sure why people (not just you) keep trying to recreate a paper experience on a computer monitor. Right off bat, I have to zoom in so the panels are large enough to read and then there's the endless scrolling. I hope at some point you think of a way of making web comics seem like they're actually native to the Internet.
MARK WHEATLEY (10:17 PM on Tue Oct 30, 2007)
Yes. I get this from a few of my friends as well. But it just serves to let me know that some people are still on systems that are not yet taking full advantage of what the internet can be. So - do we aim for the past of the internet - or do we aim of r the future of the internet. Tough choice.
When I look at the ComicMix comics they appear as full pages in HD - easy to read and when I want to indulge in a closer look at the art I can zoom in. But the basic page looks just fine - all because I'm running fairly high-end monitors. Frankly - looking at EZ STREET on ComicMix is like looking at the "original art" - I create the art on the computer and that's pretty much exactly what it looks like. Which has been a very rare experience with my comics in print.
Marilee J. Layman (4:18 PM on Wed Oct 31, 2007)
Mark, that sounds a little patronizing. "I can afford expensive computer systems. Nyah nyah!" I know part of my problem with fonts is that I'm getting old but at the same time, I'm not able to keep up with the front wave of technology financially. Why not aim for the present? By the time we have the future, technology is likely to be different and the reader would have to be changed or discarded anyway.
MARK WHEATLEY (4:39 PM on Wed Oct 31, 2007)
Sorry - it was not my intent to be patronizing. I'm just saying - it is always a hard choice about where to build your platform. And in this case - broadband and HD monitors ARE the present. And really - if you have a computer from the past year or so - it most likely has a monitor that can do the job. Not that I'm saying you have to have a new computer - but my software doesn't like anything more than three years old to run on.
BTW - I just got a very basic DELL system for the house and the monitor it came with is better than the one I'm running for art (smaller but better quality) - because it is about a year newer. And it cost a lot less.
I also have an older system that I use mostly for my internet surfing. And it shows the comic pages quite well - certainly well enough to read. But tat that rez it is indeed only possible to see two thirds of a page while you read.
Glenn, Craig, Brian - any thoughts on this?
Marilee J. Layman (6:01 PM on Wed Oct 31, 2007)
I think you're wrong. Almost half of Americans have broadband, so that's not the present. I'm reasonably sure that I don't know anybody who has a high-def monitor. I don't even know that many people who have high-def TVs. The newest part of my computer system is a 3-year-old LCD monitor set to 1280x1024, its highest resolution. I have friends who are envious.
Mike Gold (11:50 AM on Thu Nov 1, 2007)
HDTV is growing by leaps and bounds, but it'll probably slow down a bit as home sales (how do I politely put this) continue to blow huge bloody chunks. But the standards change on February 17, 2009 when the broadcast of traditional analog signals comes to an end -- as a matter of law.
When it comes to computers, history has shown us the medium grows (or at least evolves) on an hourly basis. Predicting the future of the medium is like working out internal consistency on the Bizarro World -- maybe people will be using trade paperback sized PDA type computers, maybe we'll have President's Analyst type cerebral implants. Our reason for maintaining the traditional comic book format will become clear... well, I believe later today! Damn!
Marilee J. Layman (5:18 PM on Thu Nov 1, 2007)
Sure, the TV standards change, but I have cable, so I won't need to do anything about my analog TV. People with analog TVs who get over the air broadcasts will have to buy a converter. I already know some folks who use paperback-sized PDA-type computers, but they don't have high-def moinitors or TVs.
Mike Gold (5:28 PM on Thu Nov 1, 2007)
Is your cable digital?
Before too long, virtually every new teevee purchase, be it replacement or original, will be digital. Not necessarily high-end, certainly not 1080 dpi plasma, but digital.
the
I'm not adovating that, I'm just predicting it. Personally, I'd rather have cerebral implant. It's a lot harder to lose the remote.
Marilee J. Layman (5:39 PM on Thu Nov 1, 2007)
Yes, the cable is digital. They keep trying to make me pay more money to get the digital channels, which would be silly with an analog TV.
I'm sure I'll get a digital TV when the current one dies, but I'm a big believer in using things as long as you can. As to the cerebral implant, I do have a lot of dead brain cells up there to make room for it....
Anonymous (2:21 PM on Wed Oct 31, 2007)
No snark intended, but I think iPhone is closer to the future of the Internet than HD monitors.
Marilee J. Layman (3:51 PM on Wed Oct 31, 2007)
I need to zoom in on one, but after that, all I have to do is Page Down to see the lower half of the comics and then move to the next page, etc.
Brian Alvey (2:52 PM on Thu Nov 1, 2007)
@anonymous said "I'm not sure why people (not just you) keep trying to recreate a paper experience on a computer monitor."
One reason why we made a reader that handles print sized comics well because we'll be printing our titles -- plus we're putting already printed comics online. When we have web only properties or strip-sized web comics we won't be using our big multi-page comic reader to publish them.
Jeff Cuscutis (11:15 PM on Tue Oct 30, 2007)
Like the redesign, but there is still no valid podcast rss feed that iTunes will recognize.
Tony Collett (10:29 PM on Wed Oct 31, 2007)
I would be interested in trade collections of some of the comics. I assume that's where the money comes in. And I'd be interested in some merchandising, GrimJack and Munden's Bar in particular.
As for the comics, I zoom in twice to read it. Sometimes the panels in the middle of the page are cut off and have to move up or down a little bit to read it.
Jens H. Altmann (11:16 AM on Tue Nov 6, 2007)
Something else entirely: I'd spend money on Grimjack and Sable action figures, and might buy other related merchandise. Are there any plans in those direction?