Spreading the love of Mad Science.

So you may have heard the news - Narbonic is going to be free again.

Good news for me - I can finally get all my friend to read the comic now.

Of course, Scott Kurtz raised an interesting question - is it actually worth going to the effort of reading it, with it scheduled to end within half a year?

Fortunately the answer is easy: Well duh. Of course it's worth it.

I read books, I watch movies, I engage in all manner of activities with a definite ending. Sure, it's a slightly difference experience to read a work that is complete vs one that has the promise of many on-going years - but that doesn't directly impact on the quality itself.

And rest assured, Narbonic is quality. No question about that.

Of course, Kurtz brought up another question, too: "Has the subscription model failed Shaenon Garrity?"

That's harder to answer. I've given my thoughts on Modern Tales before.

Since then, we've been promised that big changes are coming. Changes that they've been in need of for a long time, and become even more pressing with the departure of Narbonic.

We haven't seen too much of those changes yet. Graphic Smash has admittedly been adding more stuff to it's already solid roster. Girlamatic has had a few nice additions, and some comics have returned from hiatus.

Modern Tales itself, though... I dunno, man. I dunno. I'm still waiting to see what's to come. I mean, they've got Eric freaking Burns as the editor - that's a man who cares about comics! But half a year since the announcement, and Modern Tales hasn't shaped up yet. The change may be coming, but it is taking it's time.

Still, anyway, this isn't anything I haven't said before. It is simply that things are growing a tad more pressing with this latest bit of news.

So, Kurtz asks, has the subscription model failed Shaenon Garrity?

Well, I can't answer that question - I imagine only Shaenon can. But I have the feeling that if there was a failure at hand, it wasn't the subscription model itself... it was this specific implementation of it.

Anyway, enough of the duldrums. Narbonic will be free.

Let me say that one more time:

Narbonic will be free.

So on July 1st, if you aren't reading it already... well, I don't think anymore needs to be said.