I'd recommend making a comic as thin as possible while still making the text and details readable. Somewhere around 600 or 650 px wide should be perfect.
It's true, scrolling sideways is a pain. Maybe I'm just saying that because I'm so used to using a mousewheel (or whatever they're called) so when I actually have to drag my mouse to get somewhere and see something I get annoyed.
Another reason could be that we read left to right, top to bottom. So it's okay not to be able to see the end, but it's annoying if you can't see the whole "line" you're "reading".
Did that make sense?
450x660 - I use this because at 1024x768 resolution you can get the whole page on your screen in Firefox even with the tabs bar there. I just like not having to scroll down to read~
i think 600 X 5,000 is a pretty nice dimensions although i don't always make it to that extreem on the verticle ! i think the longest i ever went with a page is around 7,000p ,
and the absolute minimum is 240p wide for cell phones and 480 for older TV displays
Keep in mind too that if you ever want to print your comic on paper, most of these pixel dimensions won't be that useful unless your resolution is set to at least 200 or 300 dots (pixels) per inch (dpi). You can set this number in your scanning software as you scan your image. Most web images are fine at 72 dpi though. If you don't plan on printing anything, you don't need to worry about any of this.
Mine are about 550x700. I normally just scan in a 8.5x11, color it, and shrink it down so it's 700 tall. Int erms of strips, I have no idea. I think it depends on the number of panels.
I'm not sure if there is an ideal size- but making them small enough for people with 800x600 screens is a good idea.