Comic Links
I've finally done it! I've created a page for my comics. It is
nigh time. As you can see by looking below, I like comics and have
a ton of favorites. I've tried to give them some kind of
organization, to make it easier to find them. I could have easily
done other categories, like "humorous" and "graphic
novels," or "character driven" and "adventure."
The following will do for now.
Web comic strippers are usually hard-working folk who do it for
the love of the art and a couple of words of praise. Few of them
make it big, although those that do are an inspiration for all.
I have been reading comics for a long time, and like many current
artists, I started with Charles Schultz and Peanuts. Not the watered
down version of later years, but the truly funny stuff he wrote
in the early days. I recall checking out compilations of his humor
in grade school and reading for hours. The stuff I saw in the papers
when I was a paper deliverer (late 80's, early 90's) were merely
a shadow of his former work. Nonetheless, I was saddened when Schultz
died a few years ago, and salute him for what he did to bring comics
into the mainstream.
Newspaper comics fascinated me for a long time, and I especially
enjoyed Beetle Bailey, The Far Side, Bloom County, Calvin and Hobbes,
and when I got a little older, I began to understand the humor in
Doonesbury (it helped that I read many of the old comic anthologies
when I first went off the college). Several of the artists in this
list have retired from the business (although Berke
Breathed has recently restarted). The newspaper comics page
became a barren place
Enter the internet. I found several online comics in the early
days (around 1997) that captivated some of my early wonder. Strips
like Sluggy Freelance, Elflife,
The
Afterlife of Bob (now defunct; this link is to a graphic-less
web archive copy of his site) and Freefall
had depth of character, insanity and topics that wouldn't dare darken
the pages of a newspaper. Early on, I befriended Ian McDonald, of
Bruno the Bandit fame,
back when we were both on Geocities. Ah, good times. We lost touch
with one another, and I suspect he has forgotten my existence. Back
then, I wrote web poetry, a genre never to gain the popularity and
respect that web comics have received. We encouraged one another
and had a good time sharing our work. As his comic has become better
known, his fame exceeded mine by a large margin; this is the closest
I have come to a web celebrity.
There are many pioneers in the comic world today, pushing the limits
of what digital medium can offer. I hope I can share some of the
great works I have found. These are all freely shared works, although
donations, book and t-shirt sales go a long way toward helping the
artists out. Tell me if you have found any good web comics not on
the list that should be included here.
Some of these are relatively new. Some have long, long archives,
going back to 1996 or earlier. All are worth a good read. The categories
I place these in do not reflect how good these are. Some of these,
I have written a brief review. I include a small icon next to those,
in the off chance you want to read the review.
One final note- the comics are rated by the following dots:
- Safe for everyone
- Safe for 13 and up
- 17 years and up. By the way, in some cases, this is probably not
work-safe, either.
My rating system is all my own. You may not agree. Convince me and
I'll change it. Otherwise, use your own judgement, please!
Last updated 4/01/07
Newest items marked with a *
Regularly updated comics
Abby's Agency
Achewood
Alien Loves
Predator
Andie Wear
Bad Blood
Basketcase
Comics
Bob the Angry Flower
Bored and Evil*
- Chronicles the tale of a young man who sells his
soul to live at an apartment with monsters. Twice. He's a
loser and is insulted, abused, killed and more on a regular
basis by his roommates, a bog monster, a werewolf, a sentient
tentacle and a killer in a hockey mask. Oh, and Jesus sometimes
appears (Mohammed made a guest appearance, once). Sounds strange
(and it is!), but very entertaining.
Butternut Squash
Ces't La Vie
Checkerboard
Nightmare
Chugworth Academy
- Not sure how to explain this one. There's this school,
and it has a bunch of teens who sometimes turn into manga.
The stories involve a lot of adult themes, risque artwork,
comedic violence, and there's a lot of surreal scenes that
don't quite make sense to me, but it's somehow addicting.
College Roomies from Hell
Control Alt Delete (Ctrl
Alt Del)
- A gamer comic with a great storyline, some laugh
-out-loud moments and memorable characters. Has some naughty
language, but nothing to bad. Unlike some gaming comics, this
one is not a bunch of one-off jokes, although occasionally,
there are some. In fact, sometimes, the real world melts away
and you are inside a game with "what-if" scenerios.
Then there is the surreal chef who spouts out nonsense.
Courting Disaster
Cox & Forkum Editorial
Cartoons
Crimson
Dark
- Beautifully rendered comic/space opera/graphic novel,
made completely by software such as Poser and Photoshop and
such. The artist is also a writer, and it shows. The story
is engaging and the characters are fun to watch. The artist
also keeps his audience informed of his progress and trials.
The story is only in the third chapter (as of my posting this),
and has a long way to go, but shows so much promise already.
A little dark, but not dirty or overly violent, so far. Still,
it's a little too much for the youngest kiddies.
Deuling Analogs
- Fun little gaming comic strip. Most of it is just one gag
after another, with little continuity and few regular characters.
However, the topics range from retro and classic gaming to
the very current games. Always interesting, and just a little
bit on the racy side (some days, a little more than that).
Great artwork, and I enjoy the artist's news bites where he
explains (without making it unfunny) the strip of the day.
Dinosaur Comics
Dog Complex
Down to Earth
El Goonish Shive
- Funny name, great comic. The topic is a little bit
strange, with furries, transformations and transgendered experiences,
not to mention duplicate opposite selves and living goo. Honestly,
my description doesn't do justice to the comic. Why? Because
it is about characters. One storyline can take months, but
you stick with it because you care what happens to these characters.
Well worth the read.
The Epilogue
Evil Inc.
Extra Life
- Fun little comic about geek life. Features gaming humor,
cyberculture, technology, movies and more. No ongoing story,
just one or two-shot gags. Pretty funny, with decent artwork.
Foxtrot
Freefall
The Front
Funny Farm
General Protection Fault
Goats
Greystone Inn
Hackneyed Productions
I Am Geek
- A newer strip about a couple of friends, male and female,
who live together and who are geeks trying to spread the word
about what a be a geek. Has blocky, fun artwork.
Idiot Box
- Political comics in the vein of Red Meat. Has a liberal
slant. Good writing, very topical.
Incubus
Instant Classic
Jason Love's Dailies
Kristy Vs.
the Zombie Army
The License
Least
I Could Do
- Sex comedy done comic style. The main character is highly
insensitive and selfish and mysogynist, but somehow, this
comic is still appealing reading. Three different artists
render this strip (during three different eras). However,
the writing is what has impressed me most. It has remained
dirty throughout the life of the strip, but the character
development seems to have taken off and become more important
in the last two or so years.
Lore Brand Comics
Loserz
Make with the Funny
Man-man Comics
Martin's Misdirection
Melonpool
Minions
Newshounds
Nowhere Girl
Ornery Boy
The Outer Circle
Overcompensating
Partially Clips
Penny and Aggie
A Perfect World
Phables
- by Brad Guigar, same author that writes Greystone
Inn, Evil Inc., Courting Disaster and Everything Cartooning.
Brad has a gentle style and in this biweekly comic, he tells
stories of living in Philidelphia.
Piled Higher and Deeper
- Follows the adventures of students stuck in university
earning their PhD (hence the title). Nice art and characterizations.
Player Versus Player
Pointless
Questionable
Content
- I recently reread the archives of this comic and remembered
why I liked it so much. It's the characters and their interactions.
Yes, there is funny, and sometimes, a lot of it, especially
in the form of obscure music and literature references and
indie-music snobbery, but the characters are what I care about
in this comic. The short version: a young man makes friends
with several females but cannot seem to hook up with any of
them. Plenty of sexual tension (worthy of X-Files before that
got lame) to keep the interests high. Some drama, some weirdness,
and even anthro-PC. The author keeps coming up with fantastic
T-shirt designs, as well. These shirts keep him afloat, as
this is what he does, full time. Great stuff.
Sam and Fuzzy
Scary Go Round
Sev Cartoon Archives
Schlock Mercenary
The Seraph Inn
Sluggy Freelance
Soap on a Rope
Something Positive
Spamusement
Striptease comic
Stuff Sucks
Superosity
Surliness
Ugly Hill
Zap in Space
Zortic
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Irregularly updated, dead or ended comics
Absurd
notions
Avalon
Basil Flint
Calvin and Hobbes
Fireside - Informative site, has a lot of little
goodies, like character descriptions, trivia, fan art and more.
Calvin and
Hobbes: Magic on paper - Gone, but not forgotten.
Calvin and Hobbes is one of the greatest comics ever. This tribute
page tries to convey the greatness of all C & H were.
Calvin and Hobbes Unplugged
- This site tries to be a little different, and has some
interesting and unique features. Has Calvin and Hobbes tributes,
a collection of Watterson essays, speeches and interviews, and
an encyclopedia of Calvin and Hobbes.
Darwin's Complex
- Not just one comic, but actually several different
comic styles and storylines, an old high school acquaintance
of mine draws this. It appears to be currently on hiatus.
Elflife
Elf Only
Inn Fluble
Gleaners
Her - Girl
Vs. Pig
It's
Walky
Kids in
the Street
Lowbright
Mad
about U
The
Perry Bible Fellowship
- One-off comic strip with outrageous sight-gags and visual
puns, as well as witty commentary on society (oh, don't forget
the random stuff that is just plain funny). The artwork is different
for every comic, but generally is very good.
Pupkin
Queen
of Wands
Return to
Sender
Roommates
with Cookies
Saturday
Morning Breakfast Cereal
Scarecrow
Scott
McCloud's Comics
Shiga Books
Silly Cone
V
Simply Calvin
and Hobbes - Another Calvin and Hobbes site. Has
various themed areas, such as a sample comic section, animated
pictures, weird bits of information about the characters and
where to find them in the comics, and more.
Skirting
Danger
Star Bored
Untitled
Again
Vern &
Dern
Vir
Bonus
Zombie
Jesus
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Comic collectives, comic lists
and cooperative stuff Buzz
Comics
Comics
Genesis - Free hosting for webcomics. Hosts over
6000 comics and was launched by Keenspot. Drunk
Duck
Dumbrella
Online Comics
The Nice
Global Comics Jam
Sketch Battle
Smack Jeeves-
Free webhost for webcomics. Hosts over 5000 comics and has some
nifty tools for the budding artist.
The
Webcomics List* - This site helps you keep track
of your favorite online comics, telling you when they have been
updated. They boast of monitoring over 8500 webcomics. Pretty
impressive.
Web Cartoonists'
Choice Awards - Every year since 2001, several cartoonists
have gotten together and did their best to honor the outstanding
web comics they come across. Kind of like the Screen Actors'
Guild Awards or some such. They even present the "ceremonies"
online.
Webcomics
Nation - Another free host for webcomics. Offers
peer reviews of hosted comics, among other things. |
Comic commentary and news
Bill
Watterson and the Cheapening of Comics - Watterson
talks about what is wrong with the world of comics in newspapers.
This was written before the internet made it possible for artists
to have their strips on the web.
Bill
Watterson on Licensing Calvin and Hobbes - Classic
essay on why Watterson did not want to license his creations
on every mug and greeting card out there. Not every comic stripper
agrees, but I suspect they all respect his decision.
Bill
Watterson Interviewed by his fans - At the release
of The Complete Calvin and Hobbes, Watterson relented and answered
several questions submitted by fans around the world.
Bill
Watterson and Some Thoughts on the Real World by one Who Glimpsed
it and Fled - Early in his career, Watterson gave
this speech about finding a career that you love and living
life to its fullest.
Comics
I don't Understand
The Comics Journal
Comics should be Good
Comic Strip Fan
Comic Thrash
Comixpedia
Digital Strips
History
of Web Comics
Journey Into History
Modern Humor
Authority
Nightgig - Small
but vibrant community of web comics.
Talk about Comics
Web
Cartoonist Choice Awards
Web
Comic Examiner
Webcomic Finds
Web
Comics Review
Web Snark - Influential
comic commentators/reviewers that troll through the masses of
comics and post insightful "snarks" about what they
have found. Covers more than just web comics, but that's the
primary focus. I've made many discoveries of comics new to me
through these guys. |
Unique Art (sometimes with text)
Creatures in my
Head
Stefan G. Bucher's Daily
Monster - Every day, this artist blows some ink on
a piece of paper and whatever random blob results is turned
into a picture of a monster, while you watch. Then, viewers
like you can post their comments and backstories to these monsters.
Fun diversion.
E-Sheep
Exploding Dog
H. R. Giger
Low Morale
Mark Ryden
Xiao
Xiao Animated Stick Figure Kung Fu
Weebl's Stuff |
Disappeared or status unsure EEight.com
Inktank
It's
About the Girls |
Comics I'm currently checking out (not
rated yet) |
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