The online review journal for comics on the web, The Web Comics Examiner, has made it’s quarterly update recently, but the content update comes with an announcement that it is going on hiatus. The Examiner is the first online publication to have treated web comics as a viable source of creative expression and legitimacy. It sought to explore the most experimental and creatively forward thinking comics available on the web.

The staff and contributors on the Examiner wrote some very detailed and informative critiques while introducing the reader to “the boldest new works in the medium”. Unfortunately, many if not all of them were comics writers and creators themselves which meant their time was split between writing for their own works and for the examiner.

Soon after launch the update schedule changed from monthly to quarterly. Personally, I don’t see how quarterly updates can retain an audience on the web, but even this wide berth of time proved too little for the contributors and they have decided to re-focus their individual efforts on their own projects. A more detailed explanation of why the Examiner is coming to a close can be found in this blog post.

The explosion of creativity in the web comics world begs for attention. News and review sites are needed to give the creators much deserved recognition. As more sites grow to cover the field of web comics the Examiner will be remembered as one of the first sources of intelligent commentary on a brand new art form.