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Posted this on a blog a while ago but I think people might actually read it here.
Webcomics are here to stay, and some of them are damn good. I have read a lot of webcomics, and I read them daily, there are a lot that I've stopped reading because they don't update enough, they refuse to follow up on storylines they keep cockteasing, the tone changes too much from what I was reading it for or they introduce something I just don't care for.
Some of the ones I've stopped following would be CTRL-ALT-DEL before the whole baby thing I just tired at the lack of character growth and in fact the main character just seemed to be getting even stupider. Dilbert and most other newspaper comics are just way to repetitive and don't seem to really go anywhere.I forget why I stopped reading pvp but have tried to go back a couple times and found I just don't care. Gucomics was decent but I don't play wow and he seemed to forget any other game even exists.
So here are the ones I am currently following:
There are of course the big three:
Penny Arcade (http://www.penny-arcade.com/) you've heard of it we've all heard of it. There's the odd comic I don't find funny and some I don't get (those are two different things) but honestly these guys are fun and awesome. When Professional Asshole Jack Thompson refused to followup on his promise to donate 10000 to charity they ponied up the cash and donated. They run a charity and raise tons of money each year to give toys and video games to sick kids. Their pingpong storyline is awesome, these guys are a class act. The comic itself is usually video game parodies and jokes but nothing is out fo bounds for these guys.
Something Positive (www.somethingpositive.net): revolving aournd the cynical cartoonist/playwright/gamer/call center rep who life likes to crap on Davan MacIntyre and his wide circle of friends. This comic is hilarious and is worth reading no matter what group you're a part of. There is a heavy gaming bend to some storylines but honestly you don't have to be in to those to get this. He handles some real deep issues and does not hold back on his jokes ever (read the very first comic if you don't believe me) this guy puts out quality work and is great. He once when confronted with challenges about his low updates said to his audience this is a side job I work 40 hours as well if you guys give me my yearly salary then I'll quit and do this full time. Then they did it. And he did.
Order of the stick(http://www.giantitp.com/index.html): the most fun adorable webcomic ever, the characters are great the simplistic drawing style actually shows how talented this guy is because he does some amazing stuff while sticking to this style. This is a comedy fantasy epic mocking D&D every step of the way but while he mocks it he shows he loves it. this is one to read form the start, this comic is awesome. Elan is my favourite character and Xykon has to be one fo the best villains ever.
Next in no particular order:
El Goonish Shive (http://www.egscomics.com/): a tale about a group of highschool age characters that deal with their supernatural and scifi world while going through school and growing up. the tone of this comic can change wildly from storyline to storyline. Some storylines are better than others my favourite is painted black which is the big epic storyline from a few years ago. This one can get overly silly at points but considering the setting and the fact that the one character has a gun that changes people's gender it's too be expected. It's good and there's a lot of history to go through but the characters are great and honestly I can really identify with a lot of them. Further this comic deals with bullying and homosexuality at points and I find has one fo teh absolute best examples of a teenage homosexual male and two teenage homosexual females. I really enjoy this comic and if you aren't reading it then not enough people are reading it.
Questionable Content (http://www.questionablecontent.net/index.php) ok here's the thing, this comic starts off as making fun of music and almost nothing else, so for the first couple hundred comics I honeslty did not get most of the jokes. I kept reading because the ones I did get were hilarious and the characters were interesting. This comic is not perfect, I find the main male character Marten to be a genuinely really nice doormat. The women in this comic are nice full fledged characters but Marten is treated rather poorly by them at points especially Dora. However this aside the comic has a great storyline and aside from the anthropc stuff I find it to be the most realistic comic I read. The music jokes are gone for the most part and now it's just a slice of life comic. Pintsize would be my favourite character.
Vexxarr! (http://www.vexxarr.com/Index.php): This comic is from time to time hands down the funniest thing I read. it's about an alien that originally tried to invade Earth but has since left and is just trying to survive and his crew grows by accident along the way. He starts off with three different AIs working with/against him as his crew and picks up an armless alien (that's not a typo) who writes poetry bad enough to shut down enemy robots and also gains a rock alien who doesn't understand the concept of... well anything. This comic is just funny from start to finish amd I've never notice a drop in quality.
WTF (http://www.wtfcomics.com/): comics this comic would be my favourite if it updated more than once every 3 months. the fact that I still read it with that schedule says how good it is. I believe it takes place in the world of everquest but honestly it doesn't matter, it takes place ina fantasy mmorpg and is about exploring the world and I honestly right now don't remember what the current main quest is. This is a comic with jokes but it's not a comedy it's just a good story and aside from one or two specific characters they stay away from fourth wall jokes.
XKCD (http://xkcd.com/): this is one oddball comic, it is honestly about whatever the write and artist thought about at three in the morning. There are a lot of I don't get its but honestly when he's funny he's hilarious but more than anything this comic is something neat to look at or just makes you think.
Retail (http://retailcomic.com/): being a retail monkey myself I really relate to this comic, and its' about the the only newspaper comic that actually has a plot that moves forward and is actually funny. it really shows just how stupid customers are and just stupid the people who run the company without ever setting fut in a store are too.
Khaos Komix (http://www.khaoskomix.com/): this comic is not safe for work. it's hard to describe the comic itself changes focus on which character you are following several times. how it works is there are currently 8 different parts to this the first being Steve's story. This story tells about a major part of Steve's life and experience but has a point where it ends (it's been a while and the stories blur together a bit) the next story starts somewhere during Steve's story and focuses on another character in his group and continues going past Steve's story carrying the overall story further. This overlapping progression continues through all 8 stories, it's a neat way to continue the story and honestly read this one in order it's just better if you read one story entirely and then the next story. All of the main characters are gay or transgendered or dealling with related issues, the most recent character's story is one I've been waiting on for a while. this comic deals with so many issues and brings up stuff that will make you uncomfortable. Honestly though it should make you uncomfortable and make you think. everybody needs to read this comic, this is not a funny comic, this is a drama. There are funny points but this is one of the few true drama comics out there.
Tj and Amal (http://tjandamal.com/): gay road trip. everybody just raised their eyebrows at me. Seriously though that's what this comic is. Amal comes out to his family, breaks off his arranged marriage and takes off across country to come hell or high water make it to his little sister's graduation. Along the way he hooks up with TJ a fellow homosexual who needs to make it to the other coast as well and offers to pay for everything as long as Amal drives. Then the epic begins. This comic is just a road trip story, like those old buddy movies. I love it. If this comic updated every day it would still not be enough. The art is amazing, especially the single panel pages. there are a couple not safe for work moments but honestly this comic is pretty clean most of the time unless you're offended by two guys being friends.
Now there is one more comic I follow. OGLAF (http://oglaf.com/) This comic is the epitomy of not safe for work. It originally started as porn but then turned into a really funny webcomic. I find it honestly to be about 50/50 whether I find the comic funny or gross, but when it's funny you will almost shit your pants from laughing so hard. Fantasy based dirty jokes with frequent bondage and sex jokes.
I'll mention three more comics two are completed the other is unfortunately defunct.
Queen of wands (http://queenofwands.net/): the best damn slice of life comic I've ever read funny, clever, and extremely touching. it's honestly just about people. the ending to this comic will almost make you cry at points and you will really honestly care about the people in this. Now this comic has two sequels, the main character is currently appearing in Something Postive, and another character stars in punch and pie, a webcomic I lost interest in because they never dealt with the issue from the beginning of the series (cockteasing storylines). The artist reposted the entire series with commentary on her website.
Home on the strange (http://www.homeonthestrange.com/): the comic for nerds, by nerds. Written by TheFerrett, read his rather insightful blog. This comic is nerd, nerd, nerd all the way. The best part is the nerds are people, not nerds. One is a lonely millionaire, another is a biker who works as a bouncer, two are office workers and the last is a web designer I believe. These people all game together. I love this comic. It is hilarious. Further these people are flawed, they are not perfect they are just people. We get buffy jokes, battlestar jokes, lost jokes and more. I think the comic that shows what this thing is about the best is the one where a theory on why so many female scifi characters get raped or pregnant is presented. I'm not spoiling it for you just go read it.
Venus Envy (http://www.venusenvycomic.com/). I have never seen more accurate title to a webcomic ever. this is about a teenage boy who is transgendered and living as a girl full time in highschool. it shows every single issue that someone in this situation comes across. Yes every issue, YES THAT SPECIFIC ISSUE. this comic is so good unfortunately it has not been updated in months, and before that not for a couple years. I think the comic is probably done. It really stinks that it's done though. part of it is the artist was injured at one point but that was a few years ago. Venus envy if you ever update again you will have at least one reader.
You may have noticed a theme to what I read. yes a lot of the webcomics I read involve homosexuality or transgender issues. There are a few reason for this. First is these comics actually tend to be about something and tend to be focused on the characters and they are good characters. Next is this isn't something that's going away and the more readers comics about this stuff get the better. Third is I can identify with these characters, not about being gay or transgendered but about being abused, I really identify with them and it helps me stay invested. I recommend each and every one of these comics
Webcomics are here to stay, and some of them are damn good. I have read a lot of webcomics, and I read them daily, there are a lot that I've stopped reading because they don't update enough, they refuse to follow up on storylines they keep cockteasing, the tone changes too much from what I was reading it for or they introduce something I just don't care for.
Some of the ones I've stopped following would be CTRL-ALT-DEL before the whole baby thing I just tired at the lack of character growth and in fact the main character just seemed to be getting even stupider. Dilbert and most other newspaper comics are just way to repetitive and don't seem to really go anywhere.I forget why I stopped reading pvp but have tried to go back a couple times and found I just don't care. Gucomics was decent but I don't play wow and he seemed to forget any other game even exists.
So here are the ones I am currently following:
There are of course the big three:
Penny Arcade (http://www.penny-arcade.com/) you've heard of it we've all heard of it. There's the odd comic I don't find funny and some I don't get (those are two different things) but honestly these guys are fun and awesome. When Professional Asshole Jack Thompson refused to followup on his promise to donate 10000 to charity they ponied up the cash and donated. They run a charity and raise tons of money each year to give toys and video games to sick kids. Their pingpong storyline is awesome, these guys are a class act. The comic itself is usually video game parodies and jokes but nothing is out fo bounds for these guys.
Something Positive (www.somethingpositive.net): revolving aournd the cynical cartoonist/playwright/gamer/call center rep who life likes to crap on Davan MacIntyre and his wide circle of friends. This comic is hilarious and is worth reading no matter what group you're a part of. There is a heavy gaming bend to some storylines but honestly you don't have to be in to those to get this. He handles some real deep issues and does not hold back on his jokes ever (read the very first comic if you don't believe me) this guy puts out quality work and is great. He once when confronted with challenges about his low updates said to his audience this is a side job I work 40 hours as well if you guys give me my yearly salary then I'll quit and do this full time. Then they did it. And he did.
Order of the stick(http://www.giantitp.com/index.html): the most fun adorable webcomic ever, the characters are great the simplistic drawing style actually shows how talented this guy is because he does some amazing stuff while sticking to this style. This is a comedy fantasy epic mocking D&D every step of the way but while he mocks it he shows he loves it. this is one to read form the start, this comic is awesome. Elan is my favourite character and Xykon has to be one fo the best villains ever.
Next in no particular order:
El Goonish Shive (http://www.egscomics.com/): a tale about a group of highschool age characters that deal with their supernatural and scifi world while going through school and growing up. the tone of this comic can change wildly from storyline to storyline. Some storylines are better than others my favourite is painted black which is the big epic storyline from a few years ago. This one can get overly silly at points but considering the setting and the fact that the one character has a gun that changes people's gender it's too be expected. It's good and there's a lot of history to go through but the characters are great and honestly I can really identify with a lot of them. Further this comic deals with bullying and homosexuality at points and I find has one fo teh absolute best examples of a teenage homosexual male and two teenage homosexual females. I really enjoy this comic and if you aren't reading it then not enough people are reading it.
Questionable Content (http://www.questionablecontent.net/index.php) ok here's the thing, this comic starts off as making fun of music and almost nothing else, so for the first couple hundred comics I honeslty did not get most of the jokes. I kept reading because the ones I did get were hilarious and the characters were interesting. This comic is not perfect, I find the main male character Marten to be a genuinely really nice doormat. The women in this comic are nice full fledged characters but Marten is treated rather poorly by them at points especially Dora. However this aside the comic has a great storyline and aside from the anthropc stuff I find it to be the most realistic comic I read. The music jokes are gone for the most part and now it's just a slice of life comic. Pintsize would be my favourite character.
Vexxarr! (http://www.vexxarr.com/Index.php): This comic is from time to time hands down the funniest thing I read. it's about an alien that originally tried to invade Earth but has since left and is just trying to survive and his crew grows by accident along the way. He starts off with three different AIs working with/against him as his crew and picks up an armless alien (that's not a typo) who writes poetry bad enough to shut down enemy robots and also gains a rock alien who doesn't understand the concept of... well anything. This comic is just funny from start to finish amd I've never notice a drop in quality.
WTF (http://www.wtfcomics.com/): comics this comic would be my favourite if it updated more than once every 3 months. the fact that I still read it with that schedule says how good it is. I believe it takes place in the world of everquest but honestly it doesn't matter, it takes place ina fantasy mmorpg and is about exploring the world and I honestly right now don't remember what the current main quest is. This is a comic with jokes but it's not a comedy it's just a good story and aside from one or two specific characters they stay away from fourth wall jokes.
XKCD (http://xkcd.com/): this is one oddball comic, it is honestly about whatever the write and artist thought about at three in the morning. There are a lot of I don't get its but honestly when he's funny he's hilarious but more than anything this comic is something neat to look at or just makes you think.
Retail (http://retailcomic.com/): being a retail monkey myself I really relate to this comic, and its' about the the only newspaper comic that actually has a plot that moves forward and is actually funny. it really shows just how stupid customers are and just stupid the people who run the company without ever setting fut in a store are too.
Khaos Komix (http://www.khaoskomix.com/): this comic is not safe for work. it's hard to describe the comic itself changes focus on which character you are following several times. how it works is there are currently 8 different parts to this the first being Steve's story. This story tells about a major part of Steve's life and experience but has a point where it ends (it's been a while and the stories blur together a bit) the next story starts somewhere during Steve's story and focuses on another character in his group and continues going past Steve's story carrying the overall story further. This overlapping progression continues through all 8 stories, it's a neat way to continue the story and honestly read this one in order it's just better if you read one story entirely and then the next story. All of the main characters are gay or transgendered or dealling with related issues, the most recent character's story is one I've been waiting on for a while. this comic deals with so many issues and brings up stuff that will make you uncomfortable. Honestly though it should make you uncomfortable and make you think. everybody needs to read this comic, this is not a funny comic, this is a drama. There are funny points but this is one of the few true drama comics out there.
Tj and Amal (http://tjandamal.com/): gay road trip. everybody just raised their eyebrows at me. Seriously though that's what this comic is. Amal comes out to his family, breaks off his arranged marriage and takes off across country to come hell or high water make it to his little sister's graduation. Along the way he hooks up with TJ a fellow homosexual who needs to make it to the other coast as well and offers to pay for everything as long as Amal drives. Then the epic begins. This comic is just a road trip story, like those old buddy movies. I love it. If this comic updated every day it would still not be enough. The art is amazing, especially the single panel pages. there are a couple not safe for work moments but honestly this comic is pretty clean most of the time unless you're offended by two guys being friends.
Now there is one more comic I follow. OGLAF (http://oglaf.com/) This comic is the epitomy of not safe for work. It originally started as porn but then turned into a really funny webcomic. I find it honestly to be about 50/50 whether I find the comic funny or gross, but when it's funny you will almost shit your pants from laughing so hard. Fantasy based dirty jokes with frequent bondage and sex jokes.
I'll mention three more comics two are completed the other is unfortunately defunct.
Queen of wands (http://queenofwands.net/): the best damn slice of life comic I've ever read funny, clever, and extremely touching. it's honestly just about people. the ending to this comic will almost make you cry at points and you will really honestly care about the people in this. Now this comic has two sequels, the main character is currently appearing in Something Postive, and another character stars in punch and pie, a webcomic I lost interest in because they never dealt with the issue from the beginning of the series (cockteasing storylines). The artist reposted the entire series with commentary on her website.
Home on the strange (http://www.homeonthestrange.com/): the comic for nerds, by nerds. Written by TheFerrett, read his rather insightful blog. This comic is nerd, nerd, nerd all the way. The best part is the nerds are people, not nerds. One is a lonely millionaire, another is a biker who works as a bouncer, two are office workers and the last is a web designer I believe. These people all game together. I love this comic. It is hilarious. Further these people are flawed, they are not perfect they are just people. We get buffy jokes, battlestar jokes, lost jokes and more. I think the comic that shows what this thing is about the best is the one where a theory on why so many female scifi characters get raped or pregnant is presented. I'm not spoiling it for you just go read it.
Venus Envy (http://www.venusenvycomic.com/). I have never seen more accurate title to a webcomic ever. this is about a teenage boy who is transgendered and living as a girl full time in highschool. it shows every single issue that someone in this situation comes across. Yes every issue, YES THAT SPECIFIC ISSUE. this comic is so good unfortunately it has not been updated in months, and before that not for a couple years. I think the comic is probably done. It really stinks that it's done though. part of it is the artist was injured at one point but that was a few years ago. Venus envy if you ever update again you will have at least one reader.
You may have noticed a theme to what I read. yes a lot of the webcomics I read involve homosexuality or transgender issues. There are a few reason for this. First is these comics actually tend to be about something and tend to be focused on the characters and they are good characters. Next is this isn't something that's going away and the more readers comics about this stuff get the better. Third is I can identify with these characters, not about being gay or transgendered but about being abused, I really identify with them and it helps me stay invested. I recommend each and every one of these comics
. So in a nutshell as wiki suggested, comments on gender roles, sometimes about religion, sometimes about adult behaviors, sometimes about the artists' cat and dog, and always kinda interesting. although my favorite might be the fact that a minor character bookworm ended up with a demon-girl for a girlfriend. although i haven't read this in a while - need to catch up.
Tara and Wendy are friends of mine. I've know Aria and Fusella since well before the comic came out, and I've got an autographed copy of Book 1 at home.
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