What is "serializer"

n. 1 An electronic device that converts a parallel stream of data into serial format. 2 (context computing English) A software component that serializes data.

serializer.net was an online artist collective that was active from 2002 to 2012. Serializer included many well-known award-winning alternative artists like Tom Hart ( Xeric Award winner), Eric Millikin ( Pulitzer Prize winner), Shaenon K. Garrity ( Lulu Award winner), James Kochalka ( Eisner Award winner), Dean Haspiel ( Emmy Award winner), Howard Cruse ( Prix de la critique winner), Chris Onstad ( Ignatz Award winner), Nick Bertozzi ( Harvey Award winner), and Jen Sorenson ( Herblock Prize winner). Each artist created, and sometimes collaborated on, serialized webcomics.

The Sunday Times described Serializer as "high-art." The Sydney Morning Herald considered Serializer to be the " avant-garde." Publishers Weekly described Serializer's artists as "critical darlings" and "art comics favorites." The New York Times called their comics "well drawn and funny."

The Serializer website was launched in October 2002 with Tom Hart as editor and with approximately 20 other contributing artists. After being offline due to a server crash in April, 2005, Serializer relaunched in October, 2006 under the editorship of Eric Millikin. The site was published by Joey Manley, who had previously published the subscription webcomics site Modern Tales, starting in March 2002. Serializer was one of the first sites to sell digital subscriptions, using a freemium model, with each artist offering some of their series for free, but with the majority behind a paywall. Artists also sold content through micropayments, including through BitPass.

After a decade of publishing art comics on the web, Serializer ended in 2012, saying "Thank you to all the editors, creators, subscribers, and free readers who made serializer.net such a fantastic experiment over the years. Our time has come and gone, but we carry on ... elsewhere!"