January 16, 2004

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The Right Number

Scott McCloud, probably the only comics author to whom the word “guru” is routinely attached, has released part two of his innovative story, The Right Number. It’s $0.25; so is part one.

The Right Number uses a technique Scott theorized about in his book “Reinventing Comics,” back in, I think, 2000: Each panel is embedded in the panel before it, so instead of tracing across a page of panels, you zoom through them. That might sound a little strange, but it turns out to be very effective.

The story, which hinges on the discovery of a completely (and perhaps intentionally) implausible pattern in modern human society, grates a little on the economics-major part of my brain. But the art is sharp and clean, and the overall experience is — I think — engrossing.

I’d love to see about 10,000 percent more of this kind of creativity on the web. The only other comics author I know of doing anything nearly as inventive is Patrick Farley. We don’t need another series of four-panel cartoons; we do need new formats and new voices. (Oh yeah — The Right Number is also distinguished by the fact that it features no superheroes, elves, or robots.)

Scott McCloud’s site is very regularly updated and a good source for comics experiments by him and others.