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I love webcomics, I must read 20-25 a day, and have to prevent myself from adding more to my list. I really do need to actually get some work done so I have to limit what I read. I get almost all of them through RSS feeds, making them an easy read with my morning coffee. And because I live in a timezone that is ahead of the producers of most of them, my morning is happily spruced up by a steady trickle as they come alive in my reader.
So what exactly do I mean by "webcomic"? Well, obviously it's a comic that is read on the web. It is more than this, though. Most webcomics are non-syndicated, meaning that they are not reproduced in hundreds of newspapers around the world. The authors do not typically make much, if any, money off their creations. This labour of love means that they can be edgier - there is no danger of the syndication dropping the comic because of something said or drawn. In fact, some are not edgy but downright crude or offensive. The internet has given an outlet to anyone who can draw (and some who can not), and when this happens then everyone wants a go. If you're looking for a comic on a particular topic, or of a particular sort, there is at least one out there for you. I wonder if there is an equivalent of rule 34 for webcomics?
A webcomic is a comic that started on the internet, and still derives most of it's readership that way. Some authors do produce collections for sale as books, but this is secondary. Some syndicated comics are available online, such as Dilbert (which I love), but they are not truly webcomics, and are not what I am writing about here.
The great thing about webcomics is, once you've found one that you like you can go to the very beginning of the entire series and catch up on every one that was ever produced. Some of them have literally been running for years, so there is a lot of reading to be done. And the authors very often have a real relationship with their readers, writing a bit on every strip to explain what they were thinking, what it's about, how it fits into their lives. Most have comment streams too, allowing the readers to interact directly with the author and other readers.
Typically I am not too big on overtly political pieces. However, I love a touch of satire and as such a great many of my favourites get some political flavour. This is fine, in fact I love it, but it must not be every day, or the general theme.
So, without much further ado, here is a limited list of some of my favourites:
An angel accidentally changes a boy into a girl, misplaces two years of someone else's life, and then must help them cope. Ok, that might sound a little lame, but give it a go and you might just enjoy it as much as I do.
A seriously, ridiculously strong bunny and his friend (a dog) get into various fights and scrapes. The language is foul, so keep it away from the little ones, but I get a good chuckle from some of them, especially when the mother duck tries to keep her foul-mouthed children from hearing Chippy and Lupus swearing.
A cock and a bull live on a farm, and have some interesting three-panel discussions. Also foul-mouthed, but distinctly funny. I love Cock's dead son, the egg-angel.
A webcomic institution of it's own, C&H has no holy cows and no idea where the PC line is drawn. If you don't like being offended then don't read it, because at some point you will be offended. But it is incredibly funny, gross and true.
An owl has to bring up two children - space babies who arrived on his lawn one day. Very cute, completely different to the last three, but still one of my favourites.
A group of futuristic, space-faring animals and cyborgs work for the Inquisition, battling the forces of darkness. Adult-oriented in places, but nothing as strong as some of the others up there. The artwork is great, and compliments the story-style wonderfully.
This one is quite hard to describe, so here is something I lifted off the site: An online fantasy manga/comic by Brion Foulke, following the adventure and relationship of two women: Maytag, a nymphomaniac jester with split personalities; and Bernadette, a deadly-cool swordswoman. This is a comic about relationships and comprimise.
Yes Mo, as in Mohammad. They live together, drink at the local pub, sometimes chat to Moses, and generally discuss current affairs in religion. Very well done, it puts it all in focus for me. One of my very favourites.
Now this is a fantastic strip. There are a lot of characters, from sexy girls to self-doubting guys, a stoner pig, God, Satan, a massive Japanese dragon, and many more. They all interact to tell the story of the day, the air thick with satire. Stylistically it is quite beautiful, and some of the concepts are brilliantly explored. This is a gem.
Another web institution. Often referring heavily to science, physics, maths, technology, computer programming and human relationships, I just love what he does. Most IT firms will have an xkcd strip pasted somewhere on a wall.
Unfortunately, this strip is no longer being produced, but because it's a webcomic it is still available in it's entirety online. I include it here because it was one of the first I really got into, first reading 2 or 3 years worth of strips and then catching up with new updates as they came out. It follows two science boffins who (for some never-explained reason) can never quite be killed completely, which is lucky given how often they die. They meet Satan (one even dates her) and various other characters, and much hilarity ensues. Just for the hell of it, the strip ends on number 666. The central characters are based on the author and his boyhood (and university-hood) friend.
As you can see, there is a science / technology / fantasy / religion flavour to a great many of them. I think these topics probably lend themselves most to the imaginative format of the webcomic, but they are also excellent genres in which to explore some of society's excesses and weirdnesses. And really, that's what I am looking for in much of the literature I consume, with webcomics often doing it better than other formats. They are certainly succinct!
If you are trying to subscribe to RSS feeds for your favourite webcomics you might notice that some don't have a feed. Never fear! For these use the Dark Gate Comic Slurper.
