I just popped in to check on Tokyopop’s Manga Pilots, which caused an uproar in the blogosphere a few months ago. Despite all the arguing, nobody really seemed to read the comics, and I wanted to do that, so I took a look at a few. When I got to The God Shop, I noticed something interesting: The creators must think this is Zuda, because they have a blog of their own and are promoting the comic on it. They even have a link to the comic, which is good because there is no indication on the Tokyopop home page that the Manga Pilots even exist. Anyway, on this standard Tokyopop page you get the same web interface that has been there from the beginning: Click on the cover image and Tokyopop’s manga viewer, which is not bad but a bit small for my eyes, opens up in a separate window.

But Tokyopop has been looking to improve their website, and it turns out the webcomic interface in their beta version is a lot different. Take a look at The God Shop here. Does that remind you of anything? Hmmm?

That beta site still needs help; it has way too many scroll bars, for one thing. But my biggest criticism would be the webcomic itself, which is too small to be legible when it is embedded in the page. Problem is, their “full screen” version isn’t really full-screen—it’s the same size as their existing manga viewer, just set on a black background that fills the rest of the screen.

I would say more tinkering is in order.