And it also lead to a lot of questions: Why another browser? What's the point? Do we really need this? Why is it better?

To answer those questions, Google used a variety of media. They posted videos to youTube, both of the features themselves and their developers, posted a short FAQ, but they did something I haven't seen another web company do, ever: they posted a comic book.

At 38 pages the book is a little long, but it's an excellent example of information design. The book's graphics do a great job of visually portraying the concepts discussed, from multi-threading to garbage collection, and do a lot to describe in very simple-yet-detailed terms why they built the browser. The book also describes the project's goals, where Google wants it to go, and the importance of making it open-source.

The book was written by Scott McCloud - a comic book artist who takes his medium very seriously as a form of creative expression and information distribution. Scott's written a lot about the value and importance of comics on his website, and I'd strongly encourage anyone interested in information design to spend some time reading through his thoughts. He's been praised and the inspiration for a huge variety of better-known comic book and cartoon names, including Matt Groening (The Simpson), author Neil Gaiman (Sandman, others), Frank Miller (300, Batman: Year 1, others), Alan Moore (Watchmen) and Jim Lee (everything.)

Yesterday morning I was one of the skeptics, but after reading through Scott's book I'm among the faithful. Or at least I will be as soon as that Mac version comes out.