By now, you'll have read the comic that appeared late yesterday announcing Google Chrome, but who wrote it, and what's he all about?
Born in Boston in 1960, Scott McCloud's first success in the comics world was with his series Zot!, which ran from 1984-1991, and told the story of Zachary T Paleozogt – a resident of the "far-flung future of 1965", a utopian Earth of world peace, flying cars and robot butlers, and his contact with Jenny Weaver; resident of the imperfect, disappointing present.
McCloud says he'd usually describe Zot! as "a cross between Peter Pan, Buck Rogers and Marshall McLuhan."
His other comics work includes superhero parody Destroy!! in 1986, scripts for various Superman comics and self-confessed "noble failure", the rather bizarre The New Adventures of Abraham Lincoln in 1998.
Books on comics, webcomics, comics on comics
In the '90s, McCloud saw early the potential of webcomics, and has penned various titles up to the present.
Aside from his comics work, McCloud has written various books about comics, development and storytelling, and even a comic about the medium of comics.
He invented the 24 Hour comic concept, producing a 24 page title in just one day in 1990, an idea that quickly caught on with other artists, and paved the way for comics and tech writer Nat Gertler's annual 24 Hour Comics Day, which has run every year since 2004.
McCloud has provided a FAQ on his website to further explain the appearance of his Google Chrome comic, which was initially going to be sent out to bloggers and journalists before it was leaked online.
