Bone No. 1 by Jeff Smith, 15-minute read, free, comiXology
It’s the perfect time to dip into Jeff Smith’s epic adventure comic, “Bone”: The first issue is up for free via comiXology. Originally released in the ’90s as a young adult title, “Bone” is now considered a comics classic. In issue No. 1, Fone Bone and his cousins Smiley and Phoney get lost in the wilderness outside Boneville. (Bones are goofy-looking white creatures with big, protruding noses.) Separated from his cousins, Fone Bone makes his way into the mountains, where he meets clumsy monsters and a cigarette-smoking dragon. These days, most digital comics display in a panel-by-panel view, which lets readers take in all the detail but distracts from the visual narrative of a whole page. Simple, vivid “Bone” displays in full-page view, which lends itself perfectly to the plot’s action and adventure. Issue No. 1 is just a brief hint of the quest to come; if you like what you read, there are 54 more issues to go.
Sequential app, available for iPad, free
Comics fans can move past standard superhero fare with Sequential, an iPad app with its eye on indie comics. As opposed to comiXology, which works primarily with comics giants DC and Marvel, Sequential works with publishers such as Top Shelf, Koyama, IDW and Dark Horse. It’s a great way to keep up with newer titles (like recently added “Seconds,” Bryan Lee O’Malley’s follow-up to his Scott Pilgrim series) or delve into classic works (“Love and Rockets” by Los Bros. Hernandez is available in its decades-spanning entirety). Comics can be viewed in full-page or panel mode, with some titles also offering “Sequential” mode for a smoother transition from image to image. There’s just one downside: Sequential is only available for iPad, with no promises for other platforms in the near future.
The Bloody Footprint by Lilli Carré, 10-minute read, The New York Times, free
Lilli Carré’s stunning animated essay “The Bloody Footprint” delves into the nature of memory. Carré recalls slicing her bare foot open as she ran through an unfinished house more than 15 years ago. A childhood friend shares the memory — but remembers her own foot bleeding on the kitchen floor. “Why would either of us remember this odd moment if it had not happened to her own body?” Carré wonders. The accompanying images play out in shades of gray, diverging only for two animations of red blood seeping from a charcoal foot. Her moving pictures are subtle and haunting, matching the way memories flit through a human brain: a jumble of words and images repeating and overlapping in different patterns. It’s a beautiful partnership between writing and art, and a real testament to how storytellers can stretch in the digital landscape.
