Let Me Tell You About Webcomics: A New Postmodern Genre
by Paige Gelsimino
In Olympus Overdrive it sets up dialogs between characters very similar to RPG video games, with each talking character standing on opposite sides and with the text box at the bottom of the screen. For some of these dialogs, like the one with Alex and Hermes speaking to each other, the reader can even choose what Alex responds.
This lets the reader see each of the characters reacting to what the other says, usually using some animation, so that the characters are moving as they “say” something. These games set up in webcomics leave behind and expand from what print comics can do.
Olympus Overdrive also utilizes sound effects. Sometimes, to start off a new chapter, it will give the reader a children’s book to look through, telling the story of one of the gods or goddesses. The first one is a story about Hades and Persephone. While the reader is going through the story they can click on the edge of the “book” to turn the “page.” The sound of a page turning also accompanies it, which is another way to immerse the reader into the webcomics reality. Please click on the button below to view "The Rapt of Persephone" as it is better shown on the Olympus Overdrive website.
This allows webcomics to even imitate print comics, but instead of being trapped in the print medium, webcomics can imitate print for it's purposes and change to something else. Webcomics do not need to stick with one way of doing things.