WHY - Not The Library is a different approach to graphic novels on the web.
The idea is simple: let people browse books before buying.

WHAT - We provide brief reviews of book-length "comics" and a chance to page through them. The featured books are anywhere from 80 pages up to 500-plus, and include not just superheroes and comedy, but horror, science fiction, biography, fantasy, and more are being added. For obvious reasons we can't put the entire books online. Instead, our goal is to tell you enough about each book - and let you read enough of it - to decide whether you want to read the book itself. At the end of each online excerpt, you'll have an opportunity to order the book from an online bookseller; "Not The Library" gets a commission on each sale, which is how we pay for this service.

HOW - Reading comics online is an exercise in compromise. We've devised an interface that carefully straddles the fences: speed vs. quality, and convenience vs. preserving the original format. The site works with any standard web browser with the Flash/Shockwave plug-in (version 4 or later). Because of the substantial visual content, it requires either a high-speed internet connection or a good deal of patience. Likewise, the larger and higher-resolution your display, the better (1024x768/16-bit or better recommended).