Now there are a number of different ways in which fans can buy and read comics online - on their iPads, on their mobile phones, and on the web - as much like the rest of the publishing industry, comic publishing is undergoing a digital revolution. One major nod to this upheaval was the announcement last week by DC Comics that it would be distributing digital versions of comics the same day that the print issues arrive on store shelves.

But back to the iPad for a minute: while the future of comics is clearly digital, is it necessarily via a native app?

And to that end the digital comics platform Graphicly says it's "doubled down on HTML5," revamping its Web interface to greatly improve the reading experience. Graphicly says that it's worked closely with Google's Chrome team to build a site that not only makes the most of HTML5 but that also uses Chrome's offline file API and in-app payments system.

Furthermore, Graphicly's comics are now embeddable anywhere that you could put a YouTube video - on blogs or on Facebook, for example.

Fostering the Comic Community - Fans and Creators Alike

This social element has always been one of the strongest elements of Graphicly's appeal as the company understands that what makes comics so great isn't just the reading; it's the sharing. It's the discussion. It's the community.

Graphicly says that it sees a substantial amount of engagement with its members. Its user base has doubled in the first half of this year, and it's seeing more than one book downloaded every minute across its network. Furthermore, each comic is read 3.8 times.

The Graphicly community involves readers and fans of comics, to be sure. Graphicly has always provided a great platform by which people can note what they've purchased and what they're reading and leave comments around comic series, characters, and creators.

But Graphicly also recognizes the importance of comic creators, and the website revamp today highlights that as well. Graphicly is unveiling some new tools to help publishers - from the newest to the best known - to tell their story. These will be reviewed by Graphicly and curated by the community, with more tools on the way to help make sure comic creators can distribute their content across any platform.

The Future of Comics - Web or Native Apps?

Such is the power of HTML5 that it will open up this content outside the native app marketplace - making content accessible across devices but also giving more money to creators and not to app store marketplaces... um, Apple.

Some comics publishers are betting on Apple. Or, at least DC Comics (whose catalog isn't carried by Graphicly) is. When DC announced its big reboot last week, David Uzumeri at the Comics Alliance quipped that the publisher had "supplanted the Jell-O hand of the Comics Code Authority with the actual iron hand of Apple's content restrictions." It's a great line. But it's a troubling vision for the future of comics publishing.

Graphicly's vision seems much different. It's about the Web and multiple platforms, not just one app store for one thing. But it's also a vision that is very in tune with the comics community, something that has been just as important as the content of the comics themselves.

Bitstrips is an online tool for quickly and simply creating web comics, and the company has just launched a new product custom-tailored for the classroom. Kids get to be creative; teachers get a new, interactive tool to reinforce learning; and everyone goes home smarter and happier.

While the service has remained relatively under-the-radar, Bitstrips has managed to suss out their revenue streams and remains 100 percent bootstrapped, according to an email we received from co-founder Jesse Brown today. With Bitstrips for Schools, the company is offering a subscription-based service, adding even more revenue to their budget.

"We sold a license to the Ontario Ministry of Education," he wrote. "It just launched six days ago, and over 15,000 students have already signed up. They've been making over 1,000 comic strips a day."

Basic accounts give users (a.k.a. teachers) one private and secure virtual classroom; space for up to 40 students in each class; unlimited saved activities, comic strips, and characters; and unlimited use of the Shared Activities Library. They're also remarkably affordable at a $.9.95 monthly subscription rate. For $29.95 a month, users (a.k.a. schools) can purchase a package that includes up to six classrooms with space for 40 students each.

Now for the fun part: the comics! Check out this promo/demo video showing the software hard at work in a real classroom environment:

Students, individually or as collaborators, create characters and choose from a variety of scenes and props to create comic strips, which they can then share, print, and comment on. Teachers can review comics as they are created.

We can see kids having a ton of fun with this tool and learning a lot about design, content creation, and media while they're at it. The site also points out that comics could be an especially good tool for students of foreign languages.

Finally, we had to take the app for a test drive. We had a lot of fun - the interface is extremely intuitive and works well for kids of all ages. We'll be showing it to the kids in our lives, and we recommend that teachers give the 14-day free trial a shot, as well!

For those of you who are not teachers, we suggest taking a look at classic Bitstrips, where you can create your very own tech scene-themed versions of Family Circus. Or something less nerdy/ironic, if you prefer.

As Fortune's Jon Fortt, who also first wrote about this book in the iTunes store, points out, Gibson (who was last featured in Transformer's 2) wasn't alone in creating this iTunes LP - Apple actually helped Gibson out by allowing Sam Herz, a user interface engineer for the iTunes store, and Barry Munstersetiger to work on this project. According to Fortt, the two also created a number of tools that could now make creating similar projects a lot easier.

Are There Multimedia eBooks in Apple's Future?

Maybe the future that Apple sees for eBooks isn't just the static books we are used to today on eReaders like the Kindle or Sony's Readers, but multimedia eBooks that combine text, audio, and video just like Gibson's comic book. With the iTunes LP format, Apple has already developed the right format and delivery method for this - the company would just have to change the name a bit. One restriction of the current breed of iTunes LP albums is that the extras don't work on the iPhone, so it definitely takes a device with a larger display (the Apple tablet?) to really make the most out of these multimedia eBooks.

Here's the comic the Bitstrip editors did for us:

Bitstrip is rolling out a major upgrade tonight, in preparation for tomorrow's "pre-launch" at SXSW - where they will send beta invites to hundreds of SXSWers. They also plan to "comic blog" the SXSW event.

What do you think? Will Bitstrip be the Breakout App we're all looking for?

There's lots of sites on the web where you can create your own comic strips but few of them let you build your own characters. On Toonlet there are seven collections of resizable body parts you can mix and match, including one contributed by comic rock-star Peter Bagge, author of the 90's best seller Hate.

Each character you build can have multiple versions, depending on the mood they are in in a particular panel. The variation of characters and moods makes the site a lot of fun to click through.

The most interesting part of Toonlet is the ability to leave strips as replies. The site's news section is a good place to see this feature in action.

Toonlet is a simple site but one that you, or your kids, might really like. It's technically still unlaunched but some recommendations I'd offer for the future would include the ability to get embed code and to subscribe to RSS feeds. I bet a lot of parents would enjoy subscribing to a feed of toons from their kids.

If you give it a try and create comics as comments on this review (or anything), post the URL here so we can all go read them and laugh.