Ronald Algebra wrote in asking why it is that most webcomics have their archives in sequential order. That's a good question, and the answer is closer than you may think.

As the well-educated reader will already be aware, Scott McCloud famously defined comics as "juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence." Given that the medium is already sequence-based, it's no surprise that the most popular archive structure is one that reflects this. You could think of the archives of a webcomic as being a sequence of sequences. It's almost as if they form a second-level comic, with webpages as the panels. At least, that's what we were going for when we designed the Terror Island site navigation system. Thanks for writing in!

Many of you are probably wondering who this helpful and inquisitive new character is. Right now, all you get to know is that the game piece is from Cranium. Rest assured, though, more information will be forthcoming.

My birthday is next Friday. I mention this as a service to you, my readers, who are probably wondering how you can give me a birthday gift. Well, friends, the answer is simple. Nothing says "happy birthday" like word of mouth advertising for this webcomic. That can be your way of saying, "Hey Lewis, this dusty rock we call home completed another orbit with you alive, have some extra traffic for your site."

Increased forum activity is another potential gift. Since those things have a combined cost of "free", consider giving both this holiday season.

Note: Ben pointed out that my birthday isn't "really" a holiday. To that I say: It sounds like somebody has a diet rich in "sour grapes."