Hobo Lobo of Hamelin

This comic strip narrative in prose and verse reinvents the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, but with a character called “Hobo Lobo.” Reimagining the comic strip using Scott McCloud’s notion of the “infinite canvas” the comic goes beyond the traditional implementation of a two-dimensional strip. The innovative aspect is that he uses layers to produce a three dimensional parallax effect when the reader scrolls and rethinks the panel by centering layers on adjacent segments on the strip, as he explains in his Parallaxer tutorial. The effect of these layers and panel transitions enhances narrative continuity in panel transitions by replacing the comics gutter with the more cinematic mise-en-scène. (Source: Leonardo Flores, I ♥ E-Poetry) This digital broadside adapts the story and setting of the medieval Pied Piper. A mixture of European folktale, political satire, and internet snark, Stevan Živadinović’s Hobo Lobo of Hamelin is one of the first examples of digital sequential art to make use of parallax and limited animation. The result is a side-scrolling comic that takes the form of what Scott McCloud has called the “infinite canvas.” A wolf turned Renaissance journeyman travels to the town of Hamelin where the local mayor refuses to pay him for ridding the town of “coked-up rats.” The story unfolds by playing with static and kinetic imagery, blending the logic of 2D and 3D space together in hybrid ways. Rather than using the “gutters” and page breaks of traditional comics, Hobo Lobo’s polylinear timeline proceeds unbroken as the reader scrolls through the episodes. (Source: Editorial statement, ELC vol. 3)