And now... the fourth annual People Of Webcomics list! I'll be the first to admit that this list gets harder and harder to compile as the lines between "webcomics" and just plain "comics" blurs harder than a greasy windshield in the middle of a West Texas downpour. Plus as publishing comics on the web and other digital formats becomes more commonplace it gets harder and harder to find those "firsts" that take comics in new directions whether artistic, technical or businesss-oriented.

Nevertheless webcomics still has a center of gravity distinct from comic books and newspaper comic strips. And the potential of webcomics remains unfettered. Webcomics remain well-positioned as a concept, as an attitude, as a means of distribution, as a medium and as an ethos to overcome any limitation previous forms of comics have imposed on themselves or been trapped in by the expectations of the general public.

As always let's stipulate right up front that most of you are going to disagree with some or most of the list. In listing 25 "people of webcomics" we attempt to highlight the people, who through art, innovation, business, or just plain presence have cast a big shadow on the webcomics landscape this year. We tried as much as possible to focus on 2007 which helps to explain why some otherwise very influential people are not on this year's list.

No matter why they're on the list, we think all of them, in their own ways, were just plain cool to watch this year. So without further fanfare, check out The POW List for 2007 (and be sure to heck out previous editions for comparison: the 2004 list; the 2005 list; and the 2006 list).

Things were quiet in the world of web manga this year, but there’s plenty brewing beneath the surface.

There weren’t any Big Events, a la Marvel DCU or Zuda, just the established channels chugging along: Netcomics selling chapters of manga online for a quarter a pop, publishers giving it away to build buzz for their print editions, scanlators posting their favorite titles in closed circles, and artists working out new projects online.

But behind the scenes, several publishers are preparing to launch web manga in one form or another.

Michael Rouse-Deane blogs regularly at Webcomics In Print and has organized several charity efforts involving webcomic creators. Last year he covered his top ten webcomics-to-books of 2006.

This year he presents 5 webcomics-to-books from 2007 that you ought to take a look at. Sort of a gift guide to deadtrees, even if you just get it for yourself!

Think xkcd is the most popular stick figure webcomic around? Don't be so sure - Cyanide and Happiness consistently pulls in similarly large numbers on publicly available sources of data such as Alexa and Compete.

C&H resides on the website explosm.net which features work from creators Matt Melvin, Kris Wilson, Dave McElfatrick and Rob Denbleyker. We recently interviewed one of the four: Matt Melvin about the webcomic, the website and what's next.

Our third annual virtual round table on the year in webcomics features comments from Gary Tyrrell, Dirk Deppey, Tom Spurgeon, Heidi MacDonald, Brigid Alverson, Derik A Badman, Reinder Dijkhuis, and JT Shea and Scott Gallatin.

For the last five years Neal Von Flue has taught comic illustration to kids. Maybe you can too!

In this feature, he writes about the importance of teaching comics to kids -- how it's in our best interest to get young people aware and interested in comics as a medium while they have a passing interest in it as a genre.

In this episode, Dr. Haus takes a look at the webcomic The Prime of Ambition. Watch as he tries to help an androgynous black elf and white elf couple come together to realize that they both want the same things. Will Dr. Haus succeed in bringing the two sides together, or will this be as futile as trying to solve the Israeli-Palestinian crisis? Read on and find out.

This is Dr. Haus' second review for ComixTalk; last month he reviewed the webcomic Slackerz.

In years past (2004, 2005) we undertook the monumental chore of picking out the biggest headlines of the year. This year, I took another swing at it. So without further adu, here's the biggest webcomic headlines of 2007.

If I missed a story you think was key to this year, please post it in the comments to this article.

"A Road Less Traveled" is a series of articles by Tim Broderick detailing the path to publication of his graphic novel, "Cash & Carry" (based on his webcomic Odd Jobs, featured at Moderntales and Timbroderick.net). In this month's article, he discusses crafting the synopis for a graphic novel.

In previous installments, Tim reviewed how he signed with a traditional publisher for his graphic novel and how he constructed his ultimately successful query letter.

In my first column, I took a look at the various previous attempts to define what exactly is a comic. The fact that so many people have struggled to define comics demonstrates that we have yet to do so successfully. Well, if everyone else is trying, why not me?

In order to answer the question “Is this a comic?” we need to apply four criteria: Intent of Creator; Audience Experience; Closure & Synthesis; and Use of Visual Language.  Only if a work meets all four of these criteria can it be considered a comic.