Today's comic strip is about CSS combinators (and the universal selector). But, what are they?
A CSS combinator is something that, combined with the selectors, gives them a relationship.
There are five CSS combinators (but one is at risk of not making the cut to the standard):
Descendant combinator (): indicates that the second element is a descendant (at any level) of the first one.
Child combinator (>): indicates that the second element is a direct descendant (first level only) of the first one.
Adjacent sibling combinator (+): indicates that the second element follows the first one directly in the code (first sibling).
General sibling combinator (~): indicates that the second element follows the first one in the code (any sibling as long as it's after the first element).
Column combinator (||): indicates that the second element is in the same column specified as the first element (this combinator is experimental and at risk of being removed)
The universal selector (*) selects everything (and that's why everyone in the bar cheers when the next round is on the universal selector.)
This was just a simple introduction to the CSS combinators. For more information, check the following MDN resources:
There is a classic Mafalda comic strip (by
Argentinian cartoonist Quino):
Image copyright by Quino
"Soup is to Childhood what Communism is to Democracy!" is a political message (cartoons can/should be
political at times) that could have different interpretations depending on the perspective.
Based on it, I drew something simple. And because it uses CSS variables (custom
properties), it is easy to change the colors to something different:
A little homage to Mafalda and Quino
But I liked the black-and-white version betters, so I published that one. Also, I added more details
before publishing it on Monday (the table and t-shirt could use some extras).
Here is a video of how this cartoon was drawn from scratch to its (almost) final form:
Accent Color
Today's comicstrip is about accent-color,
so let's talk about it on today's blog post.
As the comic strip indicates, accent-color has nothing to do with the ability to write colors in
different languages. What it does, when supported —and it is widely supported now—, is allowing
setting up the "primary color" for some HTML elements and form controls.
This CSS property allows for a little standardization of the styles. In the past, each browser would style the HTML elements
differently (they still do); but now, developers have some control over how they will be displayed (at least,
on the color.)
Browsers allow to set up an accent-color in the following HTML elements:
Checkboxes (<input type="checkbox" />)
Radio buttons (<input type="radio" />)
Range inputs (<input type="range" />)
Progress bars (<progress />)
...So it begins
I've been doing CSS art for a while already. So it was a matter of time that I combined the CSS art hobby with something I
also enjoy, like graphic novels, comic books, or comic strips.
This website is my first attempt at building a place to put all the CSS cartoons I came up with and create an actual series.
Hopefully, the comic strips will come weekly, but that will depend on many factors.
I have to thank Temani Afif for
the encouragement to put this site together... and for coming up with the name comiCSS.
I probably would have delayed the creation of this website until I got a good name, and he came up with a great one in no time.
