Virtuality and enhancement in Richard McGuire’s Here(s)

Abstract The reading process of comics involves a significant virtual component, arising from the often complex ways in which readers navigate space and time. In few instances is the depiction of space and time as radical as in Richard McGuire’s Here, which uses inset panels to jump between various points in time within a single space. The 2014 book version of Here was followed by an eBook containing specifically digital features, such as subtle animation, and the untethering of inset panels from their original host panels. These features led to the eBook being titled Here (Enhanced edition). This article challenges the use of the term ‘enhanced’ with reference to the eBook, regarding an enhancement as an increase in number rather than an improvement. Borrowing from a conception of enhancement from the field of user interface (UI) design, it is suggested that the digital version of Here cannot be considered enhanced in terms of navigation because of a lack of core functionality between platforms. Use of the term is also questionable in terms of content, as despite additional combinations of panels, the potential connections between elements in the eBook are available in the print version if the reader is prepared to make them.