Thanks for the comment. While I think the “current strip on the front page” model works well for newspaper style gag strips, those with a story aren’t served well this way. The problem with this approach is that the empahsis is placed on convenience for current readers at the expense of new readers, leaving them to “catch up”.

The current readers are more likely to be willing to make a second click to get to the current strip (or bookmark a separate page). The home page should be devoted to introductions for new, potential readers, who are more likely to go away if they feel disconcerted at walking into the middle of the story.

I don’t hold my self up as a a paragon of how things should be done, but here is one way it could be handled: http://www.zark.com

One question, though: you stated that you don’t like how webcomic home pages generally open to the latest comic. I’m curious, what would be a better way to do it? Most properly coded sites have a “First” button (Zip and Li’l Bit included) to allow new readers to catch up.