Leisuretown

Below is a link to one of the real treasures of the internet:

Leisuretown (adult themes and language, blah, blah, blah)

Leisuretown is basically a web comic, although it is applicable to this class because of the techniques used in its production. I won't go too deeply into it here (although I'll be happy to wax on and on if you're curious), but basically the author takes real snapshots of areas around San Francisco and then overlays shots of the bendable figurines that constitute the cast. Then he adds props and text. Obviously, this method takes exceedingly long and requires considerable digital photoediting skills. Or at least it did. The site has been offline for a few years now. What you're looking at is an archive.

Think about how tricky things like shadows are using this method, and look at how well they are pulled off. Also, notice that the characters have only one facial expression, and none of them has a name, so the artist has to find other ways to communicate emotion.

The pick of the litter, and one of the most dense works I have seen in a long time (and I spend most of my hours trolling the internet looking), is Q.A. Confidential. The work has an almost Joyceian amount of cultural reference in it, but you needn't know the whole rhizome to enjoy the misanthropy. Take some time looking at the panels, not just ripping through them. They are dense with detail and reference. You want new media? This is it.

Yes, they are chock full o' curious sexuality, homophobia, racism, and such and such. You can detach yourself and have a discussion about the obligation of art to be moral and hurf burf useful liberal arts degree, or you could just experience them. Here are some reviews:

Bob's Comic Reviews (bottom of the page)
USS Catastrophe

And here's an interview with the elusive and suicidal creator Tristan A. Farnon:

The Comics Journal

It includes jems like these: "Didn't Dan Clowes talk about how we live in a society where nothing is considered 'real' until it's turned into a movie? If your images are dancing around or making noise, you're not doing comics. You're involved in some kind of techno-riffic multimedia nonsense. [. . .] Don't yank my focus away from the narrative and onto your dopey cleverness. Why not just do a fucking Terry Gilliam deal and make your character's mouth flap open and shut next to a word balloon? Enough already, just stop it. [. . .] I've worked at Apple, Adobe, Netscape, Macromedia - each at a time when Internet content tools were empowering young people to focus their energy into hideous, noisy creations that went nowhere. Dumb animation, or glorified movie credits. [. . .] In many ways, I'm ashamed to have been part of these companies. I feel like a Nazi doctor hiding his past."