Daniel Merlin Goodbrey is a comic creator and new media lecturer based out of St Albans, England. In E-merl.com Daniel catalogues many of his experiments in fiction, comics, and hypercomics.In reference to the concept of hypertextfiction, where narrative is non-linear and non-hierarchical, hypercomics are a variation of comics that has truly embraced its digital medium, allowing multiple changeable paths within a fractured rhizomatic environment. Hypercomics reiterate the arguments of Marshall McLuhan who argued that new media can become so dominant in public culture that it effectively creates a paradigm shift, as people shift their perceptions and ways of interacting with the world, in relation to new technologies and medias. We are not sure yet of the effect of hypercomics in the future consumption of comics, but it's certainly producing a great variety of alternative methods.A great example of hypercomics is a piece by Daniel Merlin Goodbrey entitled PoCom-UK-001. This was a massive collaborative hypercomic that was originally created for the wall of the ICA as part of the Comica festival. This web adaptation marked the debut of Daniel's Tarquin Engine, a flash-based zooming infinite canvas delivery system, which allows other authors to easily explore the concept of hypercomics.
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