New! Bigger! Brighter! Bayeuxer!

Yes folks, this is the first HD posting of Smith. All you have to do is click on the image and you'll be able to see the cartoon at a resolution of 1,200 pixels wide - that's twice as many pixels across as GoComics' system will allow. Twice the width, twice the height, four times the pixels! You can actually count the threads in the Bayeux tapestry here.

The anniversary of the battle of Hastings (which conveniently took place in a town called Battle a few miles inland) falls on Sunday, hence today's tribute. That and I bought a book of scenes from the Bayeux tapestry to scan for the gallery cartoon last week, and I wanted to get my money's worth out of it. Hastings will be celebrating with a big torchlight procession and a fireworks display. This seemed much more cat-friendly.

Unpicking the Bayeux Tapestry

The Bayeux Tapestry, so called because it is an embroidery made in Canterbury, doesn't actually reside in Hastings - it's in Bayeux - but I've given it to the Jedwood on loan for a day.

The tapestry is possibly one of the world's first comic strips - it tells the story of the Norman invasion of England and the battle of Hastings in sequential art form, complete with captions. All that's missing is speech balloons and panels separating the episodes in the story.