If you’ve come to the site looking for a new page you may find instead some things have changed a little. Most notably there is a new design on display. It was time to ditch the old header and freshen up the overall look but more importantly there was a need to update things under the hood so I’ve managed to tackle both tasks over the past few weeks.

Like most webcomics, this one runs on WordPress using the Comicpress plugin but when I initially set up this site I was still kind of new to both and really hacked the whole thing together. A couple of years later I’m much more proficient in creating WordPress themes and for the first time am using Child Themes which is the optimal way to use Comicpress. This is all very insider-webcomics so I won’t bore you with any more details but I’ll just say this process has given me newfound respect for Comicpress and its architect Phil Hofer (AKA Frumph).

In setting up the new site, I can now attach my page notes directly to the page rather than just in the blog so hopefully I will be better about doing those going forward. I’ve also integrated the Bookmark feature which will let you save where you are in the story so you can come back later.

Also, though it may not be noticeable to anyone but me, I’ve actually updated every single page of the comic. This has been something I’ve slowly been working on for even longer than the site update and am glad to finally have it off my plate. What I’ve done is basically reformatted the pages so that the word balloons are a little tighter and are laid out in a more readable fashion. I also adjusted the color and dots so that all looks a little cleaner and I redid all the chapter pages so they are a little slicker. Oh and I even completely redrew two of the earlier pages: Page 1 and Page 6. I resisted going backwards like this for a long time but these two pages really needed some help and I’m glad that I did it.

Page 67 will be up in the next couple of days. Plus issue #2 should be available on Graphic.ly in the next week or two. Look for an announcement here.

I’m very excited to announce that Nathan Sorry has officially made the move into the digital comics space. Issue number 1 is now available through Graphic.ly for 99¢ and can be read on the iPhone, iPad, Windows 7 and soon Android – not to mention Graphic.ly’s Adobe Air powered Desktop application. You can get the Graphic.ly app for free and then sign up for an account to browse their store. Just search for “Rich Barrett” or “Nathan Sorry” and you should find issue number one pretty easily.

Graphic.ly is one of the top 3 digital comics distributors and they have made a big splash in the short time they have been on the scene. While they are not the biggest distributor they may be the most friendly towards small, independent publishers and creators like myself. They’re open to webcomics and small press and they sell those releases right alongside books from Marvel and Top Cow. Probably the most interesting thing about Graphic.ly though is the way they embrace social media and the social aspect of comic book reading. Not only can you review the comics you read and share them on Twitter and Facebook but you can actually comment right within the comic itself. Actual conversations about a specific panel can happen between readers and I find that very intriguing. That’s an important existing aspect of webcomics and Graphic.ly is smart about trying to port that over to digital comics.

This is a move that I’ve been working on for a while. I think digital comics are the future of comics (although not the death of printed comics) and I’ve been wanting to get in on the ground floor as soon as I could. What does this mean for this webcomic? It’s not going anywhere and will always be free. It will also always be at least somewhat ahead of the digital version and new content will always appear here first.

So you might wonder why I’m charging 99¢ for something that is available for free on this site. Why would anyone pay for it? The same reason people have paid for the printed versions in the past. The webcomic edition will always be the most inconvenient reading experience of any format this book appears in. With the Graphic.ly version not only is it formatted to be read properly on mobile devices but you can stop and start much more easily at any point. Come back to where you left off without having to bookmark it in a browser. Read it on the couch, in bed, on the subway, wherever. Plus, 99¢ is about a dollar cheaper than most digital comics. From a consumer’s standpoint I think it’s the perfect price for a comic but I have to reserve the judgment for now on whether future issues will need to be priced higher. I wrestled with the idea of giving the first issue away for free. That would definitely be a better way to gain new readers but since I’m already giving it away for free here I don’t think there would be as much for me to learn about digital pricepoints and how well this books sells unless I charged for it.

This is an exciting time for comics. I think we’re going to see a lot of transition from “webcomics” to “digital comics” in the coming year or two and there’s going to be a lot to learn over that time. I’ll try to share as much of what I learn as possible here.

In the meantime, please go on over to Graphic.ly and drop 99¢ on the first issue (It’s the price of a song). It’s got a new color cover and I even redrew a couple of the earlier pages (they will appear here on the website as soon as I can transition them over). Tell your friends, tweet it, share it on Facebook, help me get the word out. I’d love to see Nathan Sorry do well which will only help other webcomics like mine get recognized by companies like Graphic.ly, Comixology and the rest.

UPDATE: Someone pointed out to me that the Graphic.ly site has a direct link to the comic where you can preview and buy it right from that page. Here is the link: http://chrome.graphicly.com/series/nathan-sorry

UPDATE 2: It was pointed out to me that you actually can not purchase the comic directly via the iPhone or iPad apps just yet because it needs to go through the lengthy approval process with Apple. But, there’s a pretty simple workaround. The link I posted above and right here - http://chrome.graphicly.com/series/nathan-sorry – will allow you to purchase the comic via PayPal and the next time you open the Graphic.ly iPhone or iPad app it will ask if you want to download it.

- I’m constantly trying to hone my sense of pacing as I work on this. It’s probably the biggest thing that I have to improve. Part of my issue is the need to keep each page as a significant read on its own. That sometimes causes me to cram plot stuff into a page in order to give it more substance. The way I work on the book – focusing so much on one page at a time – also affects the pacing. When I go back and read what I’ve done so far I can see how I lost the big picture a little here and there by focusing so much on what I was doing in a particular page. This has got me thinking about moving from a page-based release schedule to a chapter- or scene-based release schedule.

But that’s a conversation for another time. I mention it here because this page originally had about three more panels crammed into it but I stepped back and cut it down to keep the pace smoother. And yet I still manage to end on a panel that should leave you wanting more so it all worked out fine. But if I really slowed down I could have easily stretched this page into at least two but that would be a better book pace than a webcomic pace.

- Panel 4 might be my favorite Nathan drawing I’ve done in a while.