Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki is without a doubt the most oddly-named, and unusual variant of Norse mythology ever printed in comic form. Yet in some ways it's closer to the original Norse myths than anything Lee and Kirby ever did with Thor. With a sixteen-year-old boy who turns into a Norse battle-valkyrie, (including a change to the female gender) it is alternately exciting, action-filled, and humor-filled. Its creator, Kittyhawk, was kind enough to give us an interview.

When I was your age our webcomics didn't have pictures That's right -- they were made out of words. Words! And we liked it that way. You don't know how it is, with your 'webs' and your 'graphical user interfaces' and your 'more than 1200 baud modems.' You don't know how good you have it. We had mainframes and LISTSERV and BITNET.

BITNET.

It’s no secret that superhero comics comprise a large percent of traditional print comics. So it’s not surprising that this genre would migrate to the web as well. The superhero genre is one that we all have a familiarity with, and we like it to different degrees. The genre is also highly self-derivative, borrowing heavily from within its own ranks. Writers and artists recycle and repackage character archetypes, plots, and relationships often, with varying degrees of success.

One of causes of head-scratching among newer webcomics creators is the question of quality as it relates to popularity. Why are there popular comics that suck? Why are there great comics without much readership? (There are plenty, if you look.) If your comic's readership isn't growing much after a year (or two, or three), does it mean it isn't good enough to "make it?"