Here are some of the Webcomics I'm reading these days, or have read in the past. If your tastes are anything like mine (heaven help you), I'd recommend any of these without hesitation. Goest thou forth and read!
Please know that a Webcomic missing from this list doesn't mean it's not worthwhile. I only read a tiny fraction of what's out there. And besides, what's my opinion worth anyway, really? I just enjoy these for various reasons and think you might, too.
|
Daily Comics
|
 |
| College Roomies from Hell is at the top of this list because it's the first comic I read each day. Martiza Campos has created a wild, wacky world where practically anything can happen... except for what you'd expect! I mean, somehow a tentacle arm, laser vision, and an eye in one's hand really makes sense here. This is a long-running story with evolving relationships and feelings. Highly recommended. |
| |
 |
| Crimson Latex is a new BDSM/latex/fetish Webcomic by "our own" Wolfe (aka Latex Acolyte). Great manga-style art and clever jokes. And he likes pie. I have no clue where the storyline is going (isn't that the mark of a good writer?) but I like what I've seen so far. Please support Wolfe in his efforts, and let him know you enjoy his Webcomic!
|
| |
|
|
El Goonish Shive is really three strips in one. The main story updates three days a week, "EGS:NP" updates on the days inbetween, and creator Dan Shive always gives us a filler of one sort or another on Sundays. Regardless of which story you're following, Elliot, Tedd and friends get into some seriously weird plots. A quick sample: Both Elliot and Tedd had to deal with temporary sex changes. When Elliot's looked like it was going to be permanent, the pair tried a magical approach that -- instead of being the solution to the problem -- split Elliot into his original male self and a female counterpart, Ellen. I think it was about then we began to learn of the alternate-universe plot to wipe out anyone that stood in the way of... ah well, just read the strip already! (And hey, where else can you possibly find a weresquirrel?)
|
| |
|
|
Geez, what can I say about Sluggy Freelance that hasn't already been said? As one Web site puts it, "Everyone and their dog links to Sluggy Freelance"... and with good reason. Sluggy is one of the longest-running Webcomics, and in my opinion one of the best parody strips, as well. It also has history and relationships. (Will Torg and Zoë ever get together?) This was the first Webcomic I ever found (I didn't even know they existed before Sluggy), and Zoë and Min even served as facial models for Savvie and Lacey when my strip first started.
|
| |
| |
|
More-Than-Weekly Comics |
| |
|
|
When I first stumbled across Elf Only Inn I thought, "Okay, this is cool... here's someone who either can't draw or is too lazy or doesn't have the time, so he (ab)uses copy and paste to the max" (something I've been guilty of on many occasions). Yet cartoonist Josh Sortelli was doing it brilliantly, because EOI is about a fantasy role playing chat room... and the characters are the avatars. By pasting them over and over, the artist was recreating some of the "feel" of an avatar-based chat room. But several months after I started reading the strip I realized that there was more talent here than I thought: The style changed, and suddenly characters were being drawn instead of simply being pasted in. The avatar style had a certain charm, but it's very nice to see Sortelli display his undeniable talent. It's also pretty clear that he's spent a lot of time in chat rooms. If you have too, you'll recognize the personality types, the silly arguments, the hurt feelings, the horrid typing, the detached system operators... all of it. Funny even if you don't chat a lot, as long as you keep the context in mind.
|
| |
|
|
Freefall ought to be in every newspaper. Really, it's that good. Cartoonist Mark Stanley's humor hits consistently, the art is excellent, and the characters are loveable. (Yes, even Sam!) Follow the adventures of an underhanded but often-naive starship captain, his genetically engineered wolf-hybrid engineer, and his robotic sidekick on a romp across the galaxy. (Well, if they ever get clear of the planet's atmosphere.) And oh yes, about halfway through the story, the one regular female character starts wearing a collar. Heh.
|
| |
|
|
I avoided Megatokyo for a long time, for bogus reasons. I heard it described as manga, which just isn't my thing. I read it was a gamer's comic, and I don't play enough video games to get most of the "in" jokes. And... well, it was popular. Wildly popular. Sluggy Freelance and CRFH and the like are flukes for me; I tend to avoid mainstream stuff and go for the underdogs, the undiscovered gems. So, I thought I simply wasn't interested in an insanely popular manga video gamer's comic. Boy howdy, was I wrong! When I finally wound up at the Megatokyo site, what I found there knocked my socks off. You want to talk artistic talent? You want an example of good story telling? This is it. It's the tale of two geeky American friends stuck in Tokyo. One is a manga fan and talented artist who is totally insecure, both about his talent and around girls. The other is a "1337" video gamer whose fantasy world almost intersects with reality once in a while. Throw a few girls into the mix along with some mystery and a little insanity, and stand back! Skip it if you don't like angst, deep emotional reflection, or Amerimanga; otherwise, give it a go.
|
| |
|
|
Zap! is the story of Zap Vexler, a young man with incredible psychic powers that he can't remember, but which cause a sentient space ship to select him as its captain. Follow his bumbling adventures as Zap tries to reassemble his past, while simultaneously annoying and winning over Reona Lightstar... and just annoying Grontar and Robot. Oh, and possibly saving the entire universe in the process.
|
| |
| |
|
Not Currently Updating
|
|
|
Okay, they tell me you can't be a REAL geek unless you read User Friendly. Honestly, it's a fun comic and I read it for quite a while, but it eventually lost its sparkle for me. Maybe it's just because I tend to like the different, the non-mainstream, the underdog... but for my nerd fix I prefer Geek Salad. Instead of an intelligent fluff ball and an AI, Geek Salad has two sentient coffee machines - one analog, one digital. If you don't want to be just another UFie sheep, give this one a read; you won't be disappointed.
|
| |
|
|
Melonpool has been around since 1996, with roots going back even farther. And it deserves its ripe old age; this is one that really ought to be in newspapers everywhere. Follow Captain Kirk-wannabe Mayberry Melonpool and his crew through one galactic disaster after another... and be prepared to laugh most of the way. Fair warning, though: If all the back and forth of the "Back to the Future" movies confused you, you do NOT want to read Melonpool. Creator Steve Troop has engineered a tangled web of interwoven timetravel plots that will boggle your mind (hey, who needs a Delorian when you have a VW Bug?) Point a flakey "Dup-O-Matic" at a crew member or two, fold the resulting not-quite-duplicates into the story, toss in a Star Wars droid retrofitted to be a teeny-pop singer, and you wind up with one of the better spoof strips out there. They've taken on Star Trek, Back to the Future, Star Wars, Gilligan's Island... Read it from the beginning or you'll miss a lot of the "inside" jokes.
|
| |
|
|
You'll laugh. You'll cry. You'll probably pee your pants. Queen of Wands is the often hysterical yet touching story of a woman who has worse luck with love than anyone, her ex-boyfriend, his wife, and an assortment of other characters. Bi-, poly-, CD-, Pagan-, and insanity-friendly. This is a completed story (the final episode was in 2005).
|
| |
|
|
RPG World relates the adventures of characters living inside a video role-playing game. To most of them, changing clothes by selecting items off the "equip" menu makes perfect sense and is simply the way it's done... which seems to frustrate poor Cherry Blossomfeather (one of the few who look at things more from our viewpoint) no end... though that's nothing compared to the frustration she feels over the naive denseness of The Hero, her love interest. Throw in occasional story arcs from OUR world, a bad guy bent on world domination, a miniature dragon, a raft of NPCs, and more subplots than you can shake a sword at, and you begin to get the idea. Excellent stuff. Read it from the beginning.
|
