Today I logged in and was shocked and pleasantly surprised to see not just a little redesign but a full-on makeover. Embracing the best of Web 2.0 without stuffing every last widget in every corner of the homepage, the Newsarama gang has really done a bang-up job I’ve gotta say. Broken out nicely by categories such as comics, film, TV and games, the news bites and interviews are now actual articles, rather then message board posts. And like most interactive sites these days, readers can leave comments on each post. In essence, it’s still the same style that Newsarama always had (article with comments included), but it’s in a much more digestible and attractive package.

There’s also a nice Comic Preview Viewer. I hate reading comics online, mainly cause they never fit on a full screen and there’s lots of scrolling, plus it takes forever to load. This one is super fast, you can switch pages easily and it’s real straight forward to use. Yeah, it still goes beyond my screen, so maybe I’ll just by a 50″ monitor and be done with the whole problem.

Toss in lots of blogs, plenty of videos (movie trailers, interviews, you name it), that don’t slow down your browser at all, save for a slight delay on initial load), a pretty fast-loading site all around, and this new newsarama is something to really celebrate. For the curmudgeons out there that hate it, yes there’s still a forums to discuss topics, but you can also still access the old archives via a “Newsarama v.1.0″ link in the header to go back to the old style. I’ve always popped in to Newsarama every once in a while just to keep up on comic news… but with this new site, I may just become a regular.

“Because everyone deserves a Golden Age.” That’s the motto plastered on the top of HERO’s website, and with good reason. The not for profit group (formerly known as A.C.T.O.R., A Commitment To Our Roots) is dedicated to helping comic creators in need. Since its inception in late 2000, HERO has disbursed over $250,000 to over 40 creators and their families.

Reaction to HERO within the industry has been extremely positive, says HERO’s Jim McLauchlin. “I think we’re in a very ‘affinity-based’ business. People who work in comics generally like comics, and I think their natural reaction is to want to lend a helping hand.”

Comic fans can make donations directly to the organization through their website, but various fundraisers can really help bring in the funds, as well as offer creators a chance to donate their talent. Various sketchbooks, collections, hardcovers and more are available for purchase at various conventions and through their Website. With Marvel Comics, HERO recently completed its Ultimate Spider-Man 100 Project, a collection of 100 cover sketches by today’s top talent including Mark Bagley, J. Scott Campbell, Frank Cho, Neil Gaiman, Adam and Andy Kubert, George Perez, Joe Quesada and more. The original art sold for over $6,500, and now through Dynamic Forces, HERO is offering trade3 Minute Sketchbook paperback and hardcover collections of all 100 covers. Expect 1 of these types of projects every year with Marvel, according to McLauchlin.

With San Diego Comic-Con starting this week and convention season hitting full steam, expect a ton of fundraisers. “At San Diego, we have no fewer than 26 creators rotatng thru the booth to do sigings and sketches,” adds McLauchlin. “Also, the Marvel vs. DC softball game, where you can win a spot on the team of your choice. Wizard World Chicago is the debut of the Ultimate Spider-Man #100 Project book, and we’ll have signings with the creators there who contributed: Arthur Suydam, Joe Quesada, Michael Golden, Jim Valentino, Scott Campbell, Francis Manapul, Joe Benitez, Jim Starlin and Matt Wagner. Also, Paul Jenkins will be there doing bizarre stuff. Bizarre.”

Later in the Summer, look for another huge “secret” project from HERO. “The 3-minute Sketchbook event will be at Secret Headquarters on August 31. Secret Headquarters is an art gallery/comic store hybrid in L.A. where we’ll be debuting over 100 sketches done by artists in thee minutes or less, launching The 3-minute Sketchbook.”

If you’re looking to volunteer for HERO and offer your talents to a good cause, you can start by contacting volunteer coordinator Kevin Brogan at kbrogan@heroinitiative.org for more information.

I used to read the series back when it was in print, and while I’m not really a fan of Web Comics (You just can’t store them nicely on your bookshelf, y’know?), I’m glad to see that Lethargic Lad is still alive and kicking.

Greg’s done a great job of throwing all sorts of things at the no-attention-span user with his Lethargic Lad website. Besides the weekly LL Web Comics, he keeps a regular news blog updating users about his work and offers one of the most entertaining Links section on any website I’ve ever seen. Dubbed the “Lethargic World of Internet Fun,” users get more than just a quick list of links. They get commentary along the way! There’s the “Lethargic Links” which are just some of Hyland’s favorite sites out there across the board, a What’s What in the Lethargic Universe section that gives a rundown on the main characters from his title series, some shockwave animation and more. All in all, just reading Greg’s comments about each section and link is worth the click. The only real negative I have to throw out about the site is the use of frames on the top of the page. Boo! Okay, on with the good stuff…

Some neat things I’ve been pleasantly surprised about is that Greg’s been doing comics for Lego’s packaging, such as on the Lego Batman and Lego SpongeBob SquarePants products. How adorable is that widdle Lego Bane? Next time I hit Toys R Us I am definitely checking them out! And according to his site, Greg’s working on comics for 3 different lines coming out in 2008. And he worked on a Lego project for them called AFOLS “A humorous look at the adult fan of Lego Universe”. This free one-shot comic is “essentially Dork Tower for Lego fans.” Even cooler, though, Lego asked him to create a Star Wars mural that was turned into an actual Lego mural! Take a look.

Greg’s original art:

Final Lego piece on display. Yes, those are over 80,000 pieces of Legos:

So yeah, if you’re a Lego fan, a funny comics fan, or just a fan of fun and entertaining sites, you should definitely give LethargicLad.com a visit. Umm… yeah.

Thanks to Brian for the heads up. (And no, like I told you earlier, I still won’t use it…)

While still a little slow, there are a bunch of user options to make reading easier, including viewing the issue as a single or double-page spread. If you have a giant monitor you won’t need to zoom at all to read any of it. But with the zoom buttons you can go in and out fairly easily. The “Smart Panels” mode is what really impressed me (though I did find the minor lag to be a little annoying). You read a panel, click on it and the screen shifts automatically to the next panel. No need for scrollbars. Navigation to go back and forth through the issue is relatively simple and straightforward. And yes, you do need to be registered with the site (which is free) to access the entire issue; though you can read a few pages of each issue without even logging in.

But what good is an digital comic reader if the available titles are lame, limited or outdated? No good at all. Which is what I expected when I saw a mere four titles available, none of which interested me. But then I clicked on the View All link and saw the full library of dozens of titles ranging from way back in the ’60s to today. And it’s a great mix of good and bad like Avengers #51! Devil Dinosaur #1! Champions #1! Captain America#247! Ultimate Spider-Man #72! Sure there’s a lot more recent books, but that’s not such a bad thing, as readers can get a feel for a series they may be considering picking up.

The only real downside that definitely needs improvement is the “searchability” of the comics library. There is none. Yes, you can kind of arrange the list in order of the different columns’ headers (title, family, year first published, etc.), but upon trying these, it didn’t seem to really work 100%. I’d get half the recent titles alphabetized, but then it’d start again halfway down. A simple search box for keywords would be great too. I couldn’t figure out a way, say, to find solely the Captain America issues available. Instead, I just had to eyeball it myself, or look at all titles in the Avengers family until I found them all. But if that’s the worst of the Digital Comics problems, then I’m looking forward to a new era of online comics, that’ll hopefully keep the current fans happy and bring in a bunch of new readers.

One minor suggestion (which is a bit counter to the entire concept)… I’d love to see an option for users to either download or print out PDF versions of each issue. Perhaps Marvel can create some sort of subscription base where you pay per issue or for a set number of downloads a month, and each file can be encrypted or watermarked or something with the user’s info so you don’t get people downloading and selling these things on ebay… Or it’d be neat to have a virtual comic collection on Marvel’s site, so I can add issues from their digital library into my own for easy reading later on.

What do you guys (and gals) think? Do you like digital comics? Hate ‘em? Impressed like I am with Marvel’s Digital Library, or is it too little too late?