Avalon,
my favorite webcomic. It's a romantic comedy about
Canadian high-school kids. The early strips are a bit
rough, but it's worth it. The mixture of adolescent
angst, convoluted love triangles, and occasional violence
are hilarious and sometimes touching, without being
saccharine. I stress, the first strips are rough, and
Avalon is worth the effort. Hasn't updated regularly in
months.
Megatokyo, manga
style, gone horribly... right? 'Two video-game-playing
dorks end up stranded in Japan.' Most elaborately-drawn
webcomic I've actually enjoyed reading, probably because
the creative team is so working to join two very
different perspectives (art first vs. story first). I was
convinced the artists had an amazing story to tell. After
an amicable split, the remaining guy is hard at work, but
the strip seems to have floundered recently, in spite of
finally bringing male and female characters into direct
interaction with each other. A faster connection will
prevent frustration.
Penny Arcade,
episodic and sight-gag driven, this comic skewers the
video game industry. If mature language or surrealism
offends you, this is not your comic. Bold, 'cartoony'
artwork is easy to love. Every three out of four comics
is hilarious.
Webcomics that are worth trying
Real
Life, understated yet amusing. 'Computer game nerds
lead a mundane lifestyle.' When it dips into week-long
parodies, it manages to subtly gloss and make explicit
the crucial details that support the punchline.
Recommended.
College Roommates From
Hell!, weird comic held together by its' own internal
logic. 'Three guys and three girls live next door, then
the guys get mutant powers.' Romantic and bizarre by
turns, CRFH! is strangely compelling. (Exception:
anything related to any type of crossover with other
webcomics, and the storyline about the Devil.)
Suburban Jungle,
funny animals, serious storyline. 'A story about life in
the big city, if everyone was a jungle animal.' Engaging.
All elements of romantic involvement are discussed. Has a
certain sitcom-like feel, in a good way.
Cigarro and Cerveja,
abusive and funny. 'A rabbit and a goose do weird things.'
That's as good a summary as I can create. They do weird
things, and it is funny.
Sinfest, clearly a
labor of love with clean art. 'A large cast of characters
are self-indulgent.' Other than an obsession with beat
poetry and the word "ho," this comic is
brilliant, well-drawn, and almost always funny. The cast
of characters is drawn in an inviting and engaging
manner, and their personalities are made immediately
obvious. Sexism, strong language, and anything involving
religion aside, Sinfest is an homage to several old
newspaper comic greats.
Sluggy Freelance, long-running
webcomic. 'A hapless guy and his homicidal rabbit are
involved in wacky hijinks.' If you cannot stomach
extended parodies, time travel storylines, or occasional
witchcraft, avoid this comic. The female characters in
Sluggy Freelance suffer stomach-churning levels of
degrading events, displaying an undercurrent of subtle
antagonism towards women. On the other hand, the
homicidal rabbit is funny... most of the time.
The Mr. Chuck Show,
abusive and occasionally funny. 'A foul-mouthed dog is
vulgar.' Meandering.
Nukees, long-running
serial about PhD. engineering students. 'A comic about
computer and engineering nerds, for computer and
engineering nerds.' Also contains really, really inane
segments about a giant robotic ant. Not for everyone, but
better than I am making it sound.
Okashina
Okashi, devoted to parodying manga themes. Those not
familiar with manga or appreciative of the fact that the
title means "Strange Candy" in Japanese are
probably not going to get it. The cast of characters is
unwieldy, the art is mediocre, and the characterization
is paper-thin.
Exploitation
Now [now ended, but archive is still up], not for the
easily offended. The female protagonist's full name is
Bimbo Moneymaker, for starters. Arresting and unusual art
combined with anime and manga references are often
overshadowed by cartoon semi-nudity.
General Protection
Fault, a long-running romantic comedy about computer
geeks. Occasionally surreal (talking slime mold), but the
complexity of budding romances is captured perfectly.
When I Grow Up,
bizarre comedy about a group of slacker friends. 'A
female t.v. news reporter lives in a hostile world.'
There is a talking donkey named "Donkey."
Mature situations are played for laughs. Strong language
abounds. The best week so far is this
one.
Acid Reflux,
parody of fantasy role-playing games. 'A junior deity is
stuck in her pet universe.' The Dungeons & Dragons
riffs are fairly amusing, and there's an extended take-off
of Fight Club where a magical squirrel accidentally
inspires "Bite Club." The less you expect, the
more you'll get, i.e. lame in spots, storylines need
tightening. Strong and capable female characters make the
average art more enjoyable.
Warp 9 to
Hell, foul-mouthed and vile. 'Two punks abuse people.'
Every fourth or fifth comic has a laugh-out-loud
punchline, but it may not be worth it. Suggested for
immature mature readers who have strong stomachs and are
not easily offended.
It's Walky!,
horribly conflicted. It wants to be two comics, one a
grim tale about alien invasion, the other a moralistic
tale about college life. Warning: A major character dies.
Not in a dream, not rejuvenated by aliens or just badly
hurt. Croaks for good, permanently. Fantastic elements
merely raise the stakes for characters to sustain greater
injuries, both physical and psychic. I can't think of
another comic that better portrays the fickleness of
fate, and I found reading it to be depressing, yet
cathartic.
Japanese for
Crustaceans [spun off into another comic, mostly
anthropomorphic animals this time, also changes art
styles every month or so, still reading it], weirder
every minute. 'Two bachelors, one of whom is an
anthropomorphic lobster, the other of whom wears a Burger
King crown everywhere (q.v. Nukees' King Luca),
fall in love with the same girl.' I had been thinking of
it as a romantic comedy until the current body-switching
storyline. Now I don't know what to think, but I'm
definitely going to keep reading.
The New
Adventures of Bobbin, lightweight and addictive. 'Two
sarcastic girls are sarcastic.' Occasional PMS jokes and
strong language.
Life
of Riley, combining vampire, Dragonball Z, and
Microsoft certification humor. I enjoyed the art, and
occasional strips have musical accompaniment (fight
scenes, idyllic background music, etc.). The main
storyline is about a love triangle between angel,
vampire, and succubus. Recommended for fans of Ninja High
School. After spending several months in a retarded
storyline, I finally 'get it': many of the supporting
characters are real-life members of some first-person-shooter
clan, and so they get cameos. Have to say, I don't know
those people; I also don't care (I was going to say
"...to know" but no, I simply don't care at all).
Unlike
Minerva, anothropomorphic theater of the absurd, a.k.a.
funny animals do wacky stuff. You're either going to love
this or hate it. Light romance, heavy on wackiness for
wackiness' sake. The art style in old strips changes from
day to day, which is distracting at first, but grew on me.
Has a certain Saturday-morning-cartoon feel. Recommended
for Animaniacs fans.
Project Fanboy,
short archive of a self-referential parody of anime,
manga, and webcomics. Taking a three-month-and-counting
vacation is not a way to win the hearts and minds of
webcomic readers.
Microcosm,
bugs sit around in a bar. 'Cheers if everyone were
insects.' Contains some sphincter humor, other mature
situations. Okay but not great.
Webcomics that sell poisoned milk to
schoolchildren
Stars
Overdose, pointless. Imagine a poorly-drawn, poorly-thought-out
Penny Arcade strip, devoted entirely to hockey. Now
reduce the art quality another 30% or so, and you have
Stars Overdose.
Scum,
formerly Questionable Tales, a monument to filth. Drug
references, extreme language, and not a trace of humor to
be found.
Spork,
pointless. Words fail me. Pictures fail the artist. I
guess we're even. No, we're not. I lost the minutes of
life I wasted on this strip. Of course, I did put the
comic in this section. Now we're even.
Bob the Angry
Flower, poorly archived. The artist spent more time
commenting about the inspiration behind the strips than
making them legible when scanned. A couple of funny
strips, along with many, many, many unfunny ones, are
ruined by the format in which they are presented.
Bored? Well, you can send me email, or go back to
the main page.
