Argon Zark!
Encyclopedia
Argon Zark! is a webcomic
, created by cartoonist and web site designer Charley Parker. It is arguably the first true Web comic, i.e. the first continuing comic story created specifically to be distributed on the World Wide Web. The strip first appeared in June 1995. The strip was last updated in September 2008.
On his first test of the new protocol, he is joined by his "Personal Digital Assistant" (i.e. robot companion), Cybert, and a delivery girl named Zeta Fairlight who is accidentally caught in the action that sweeps Argon and Cybert into the computer and the Web.
The stories are a combination of science fiction (cyber without the punk), humor, Internet parody, pop-culture sci-fi and art history references, pure nonsense and surreal adventure. The situations are very Web-centric, featuring characters that inhabit "domains", search engines (that must be kick-started), a "Sea of Links", computer daemons, aliases, and references to various websites and institutions of the time, including parodies of Yahoo, Netscape, and AOL.
Webcomic
Webcomics, online comics, or Internet comics are comics published on a website. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers or often in self-published books....
, created by cartoonist and web site designer Charley Parker. It is arguably the first true Web comic, i.e. the first continuing comic story created specifically to be distributed on the World Wide Web. The strip first appeared in June 1995. The strip was last updated in September 2008.
Synopsis
Argon Zark! is about a hacker who has created a new Internet protocol, PTP, or "Personal Transport Protocol", which enables the physical transport of people or objects through the Internet.On his first test of the new protocol, he is joined by his "Personal Digital Assistant" (i.e. robot companion), Cybert, and a delivery girl named Zeta Fairlight who is accidentally caught in the action that sweeps Argon and Cybert into the computer and the Web.
The stories are a combination of science fiction (cyber without the punk), humor, Internet parody, pop-culture sci-fi and art history references, pure nonsense and surreal adventure. The situations are very Web-centric, featuring characters that inhabit "domains", search engines (that must be kick-started), a "Sea of Links", computer daemons, aliases, and references to various websites and institutions of the time, including parodies of Yahoo, Netscape, and AOL.
Notable features
- Argon Zark! was created specifically for display on a computer screen. It was drawn in a horizontal format, designed to fit a computer screen rather than a vertical printed comic book page.
- The artist deliberately used "unprintable colors", out of the color range of CMYK printing, but viewable on a computer monitor with 16 or 24-bit color.
- It was one of the first comics about the Internet (or that takes place there), and one of the early few in which a computer geek or hacker is the protagonist. The strip's motto is "I link, therefore I am!"
- It is a digital comicDigital comicsDigital comics can refer to either comics created entirely on a computer or comics released digitally ....
, drawn directly on the computer using a graphics tabletGraphics tabletA graphics tablet is a computer input device that enables a user to hand-draw images and graphics, similar to the way a person draws images with a pencil and paper. These tablets may also be used to capture data or handwritten signatures...
and computer graphicsComputer graphicsComputer graphics are graphics created using computers and, more generally, the representation and manipulation of image data by a computer with help from specialized software and hardware....
software, This is still rare - most comics, even webcomics, are drawn on board, scanned and then colored on computers.- Argon Zark! is not the first comic created on a computer; the first digital comic was ShatterShatter (digital comic)Shatter is a digital comic created by Peter B. Gillis and Mike Saenz, and published by First Comics. A dystopian science fiction fantasy somewhat in the mold of Blade Runner, Shatter was written by Gillis and illustrated on the computer by Saenz....
, by Mike Saenz and Peter Gillis, published by First ComicsFirst ComicsFirst Comics was an American comic-book publisher that was active from 1983–1991, known for titles like American Flagg!, Grimjack, Nexus, Badger, Dreadstar, and Jon Sable...
in 1986. The first few issues of Shatter were drawn with a mouse on a first-generation Mac.
- Argon Zark! is not the first comic created on a computer; the first digital comic was Shatter
- Argon Zark! was one of the first comics to add interactivityInteractivityIn the fields of information science, communication, and industrial design, there is debate over the meaning of interactivity. In the "contingency view" of interactivity, there are three levels:...
and animationAnimationAnimation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
to comic pages.- Zark was the first web comic to do this, although CD-ROM comics were using interactivity and animation around the same time. A notable example of this would be Reflux, a CD-ROM comic published in 1995 by inverse ink.
- Argon Zark! was one of the first comics to adapt to Internet technology as it changed, adding animated GIFsGIFThe Graphics Interchange Format is a bitmap image format that was introduced by CompuServe in 1987 and has since come into widespread usage on the World Wide Web due to its wide support and portability....
, JavaScript interactivityJavaScriptJavaScript is a prototype-based scripting language that is dynamic, weakly typed and has first-class functions. It is a multi-paradigm language, supporting object-oriented, imperative, and functional programming styles....
and dHTML layering shortly after each technology was introduced to the web.- There is some controversy about whether adding animation defies the definition of "comicsComicsComics denotes a hybrid medium having verbal side of its vocabulary tightly tied to its visual side in order to convey narrative or information only, the latter in case of non-fiction comics, seeking synergy by using both visual and verbal side in...
", but the strip is not an animated cartoonAnimated cartoonAn animated cartoon is a short, hand-drawn film for the cinema, television or computer screen, featuring some kind of story or plot...
. It is a series of static comic pages into which occasional animated panels have been inserted using GIF animations, or over which hidden dHTML layers have been placed which reveal small GIF animations when triggered by JavaScript links. In recent years the author has switched to providing animated layers by embedding the comic pages in Flash files.
- There is some controversy about whether adding animation defies the definition of "comics
- It featured pages in which image mapImage mapIn HTML and XHTML , an image map is a list of coordinates relating to a specific image, created in order to hyperlink areas of the image to various destinations . For example, a map of the world may have each country hyperlinked to further information about that country...
s overlayed the images so that objects in the images were links leading to other sites on the Web (notably several panels in which the characters find themselves adrift in a "Sea of Links").
- It was one of the first comics (web or print) to make extensive use of image editing software for "special effects", by utilizing filters and compositing techniques in Adobe PhotoshopAdobe PhotoshopAdobe Photoshop is a graphics editing program developed and published by Adobe Systems Incorporated.Adobe's 2003 "Creative Suite" rebranding led to Adobe Photoshop 8's renaming to Adobe Photoshop CS. Thus, Adobe Photoshop CS5 is the 12th major release of Adobe Photoshop...
and Fractal PainterCorel PainterCorel Painter is a raster-based digital art application created to simulate as accurately as possible the appearance and behavior of traditional media associated with drawing, painting, and printmaking. It is intended to be used in real-time by professional digital artists as a functional creative...
, and filter suites like Kai's Power ToolsKai KrauseKai Krause is a software and graphical user interface designer, best known for founding MetaCreations Corp., his Kai's Power Tools series of products, and for his contributions to graphical user interface design.-Biography:...
. It also takes advantage of the fact that there is no separation of the line art from the color plates for printing, as in traditional comics, so parts of the "finished" art can be dramatically manipulated in the software. The author uses the graphics software to manipulate, tile, distort, blur, repeat and rearrange the images in ways difficult or impossible in traditional comics, giving the settings and action a unique digital-only character.
- It was one of the first comics to mix hand-drawn illustrations with 3-D generated backgrounds (created in KPT BryceBryce (software)Bryce is a 3D modeling, rendering and animation program specializing in fractal landscapes. The name is taken from Bryce Canyon—a rugged region with many of the same landscapes that were first simulated with the software.- History :...
).
- It is one of the first comics to explore interactivity in terms of adding supplementary information and subplots to the story using hyperlinks, as opposed to the more common practice of offering multiple storylines.
- After the introduction of NetscapeNetscapeNetscape Communications is a US computer services company, best known for Netscape Navigator, its web browser. When it was an independent company, its headquarters were in Mountain View, California...
2.0 (early 1996), the strip began to feature "hidden pages", not apparent to the casual reader, but linked from images within the visible comic page. With the introduction of dHTML in the 4.0 browsers, some pages began to include dHTML layers that contained bits of animation, shown and hidden by JavaScript rollovers. e.g. a page in which the overt story line features references to the "Headscape Hesitator" web browser is linked to a "hidden page" that is a parody of the Netscape download page. Again, there was no overt notice of this to casual readers, the animations and additional content were treated more like "Easter Eggs".
- After the introduction of Netscape
- The first 50 or so Web pages were collected and published in a "Dead Tree Souvenir Edition" in 1997 (obviously minus the interactive and animated bits). This may also be one of the earliest instances of Web-based entertainment migrating to print.
- The strip is still going. making it not only the first, but longest running true web comic. Updates in recent years have become more infrequent, but the strip is continuing.
- Argon Zark! received a good deal of press in the years before online comics became common, both in electronic and traditional media, and may have introduced a number of people to comics who would otherwise have been disinclined to pick up a printed comic book.
Books
- Parker, Charley (1997). Argon Zark!, Arclight Publishing
- Iuppa, Nicholas V. (1998). Designing Digital Media, page 149 plus CD-ROM content, Focal Press
- Alspach, Jennifer (1998). Photoshop and Illustrator Studio Secrets, pp. 223–229 IDG Books
- McCloud, Scott (2000). Reinventing Comics, pp. 165, 214, Paradox Press
- Withrow, Stephen (2003). Toon Art: The art of Digital Cartooning, pp. 45 118-119 ,184 Watson-Guptill
- Hartas. Leo (2004). How to Draw and Sell Digital Cartoons, pp. 17, 60, 72, Barron's ISBN 978-0764126628
Newspapers
- Sunday Tech section (August 25, 1996). The Houston Chronicle
- Macklin, William H. (June 5, 1997). "Cyber Hero to the Rescue", The Philadelphia Inquirer, pp. F1, F3, Knight Ridder Wire Services
- Carrington, Penelope M. (June 6, 1997). "Argon's World", Richmond Times-Dispatch, pp. E1, E6-7, E11
Web Sites
- Parker, Charley (2004). Interview
- The Internet Archive: zark.com - Nov, 1996 - ..
- '"Webcomics" Lambiek.net Comiclopedia
- '"Comic Creator: Charley Parker" Lambiek.net Comiclopedia
External links
- Argon Zark!
- The adventures of Argon Zark, young cyber hero for the digital age - reprint of Philadelphia Inquirer article from June 5, 1997 as retitled for distribution by Knight-Ridder wire service
- Dinosaur Cartoons by Argon Zark! creator Charley Parker