As someone who reads way too many webcomics and who spends way too much time on this forum, I desperately need a place to scream about them here. Here's (most of) what I read. If anyone else wants to toss other recs/links/summaries here, just tag me and I'll toss em in. nevermind nevermind nevermind oh god character limit @_@ Homestuck Yeah, you all know this one. Digger Why the hell are you still here instead of reading Digger? It's by Ursula Vernon. It's only like 750 pages and it's finished. The main character is an eminently practical wombat. One of the characters is a statue of Ganesh. It will make you feel feelings in your bloodpusher. There are skin lizards. Seriously, just go read it. Gunnerkrigg Court Right up there with Digger in terms of quality. Starts off with our main character acquiring a second shadow (who is friendly and somewhat lost) and immediately deciding that the obvious thing to do is build a robot to take it home. Got loads and loads of alchemical symbolism running around and an actually well done tech/nature dichotomy thing. Also, there's Coyote. Yeah, that Coyote. The art starts off good and gets better. Unsounded Really excellent dark fantasy. Probably the single best-paced webcomic out there. Adorable bratty protagonist and longsuffering erudite zombie duo and then a whole bunch of awesome other characters. Does a really good job of having sympathetic characters on opposite sides, and has a nice bit of fantasy fucking politics in the background. Also, the art's really fuckin pretty. Trigger warnings: all of them? but especially gore and death and body horror and child sexual abuse. Drowtales Yeah, yeah, drow, I know, but hear me out here. For starters, it's a story set in a matriarchal society that doesn't just focus on the heroic outcast men. :P The worldbuilding and fantasy fucking politics are really great here with sympathetic characters and positions for pretty much every faction, even though they all want to kill eachother. The whole demon setup is also really great and eminently steal-able for DnD or whatnot. Has "elves ruining everything for everyone" levels approaching the Silmarillion. Also has humans as the local orc-equivalent, which is not everyone's cup of tea (protip: don't mention this on the forums there) but is certainly unusual. The pacing can get a little wonky, but it's definitely worth a read. i just want someone to sperg about this with Trigger warning for body horror and death and lots and lots of abusive parents, though. Paranatural I've heard this described as "X-men meets Ghostbusters except everyone's twelve." Really excellent faces and snarky dialogue and background easter eggs. The author's been doing a lot of stuff for Paradox Space of late, including Summerteen Romance, so if you like that you should definitely read this. Honestly worth reading for the way Zack draws lighting alone. Cucumber Quest Cute JRPG parody, with really lovely, vibrant colors and cute bunny people. There is absolutely nothing untoward here going on at all. cucumber.cucumber.cucumber.cucumber.cucumber Monster Pulse Mons meets body horror! And creepy government (?) agency and impending doom. All the characters and their interactions here are really great. Body horror, obviously. xkcd I'm p sure most of you know this one too. Order of the Stick Dumb DnD jokes, and then it gets hit with the plot bat. Hard. Does a pretty good job of mixing humor and drama. Some of the early bits don't always make sense if you don't know much 3.5 DnD, but this is less and less true as the plot kicks in, and it's honestly pretty easy to pick most of it by osmosis. Probably the most ambitious art I've ever seen out of a stick figure comic. Zebra Girl Random lady gets turned into a demon by a mishaps involving a magic book a friend found in the attic. This one gets the award for "most improved." Honestly the beginning pretty much sucks ass, but it picks up majorly and goes cool places. Worth reading just for Viv (introduced here) alone. I might poke around for some other good starting places later. Also, notable for running continuously for 15 years so far. Vibe Mons loa meets voodoo! By literally beating the everloving shit out of the physical manifestations of people's problems. And there's some sort of sealed (?) evil god thing? And a missing sister? Still getting off the ground plotwise, but it looks like it's going super interesting places. Heads up for some gory stuff, though. Victory Fire Pokemon Mystery Dungeon fancomic that is really good character- and plot-wise (!) and has really excellent art done in MS Paint (!!) Lackadaisy Prohibition speakeasies and flappers and rumrunners except they're all cats. Absolutely stunning art. Updates once in a blue moon. Demon Street So streets are just straight-up disappearing into some sort of demon realm worldwide. Our plucky protagonist decides to go investigate. Really nice glowing colors. Also, while I'm always a bit leery of recommending things based on the kinds of representation they have, I can vouch for this comic being excellent on it's own merits and I thought some people here might appreciate Norn, who is a badass nonbinary person with a third eye. e. ...should i spoiler this shit? lemme know
I only follow two. Not including Homestuck, that is. And even then, it's mostly just the first one. For both, however, the art does get better. Flaky Pastry Formerly described as being about nothing in particular. Take a not-catgirl, a goblin, and a chaos-blessed high elf and see how their life as roommates goes. Sounds slice of life, but will keep you interested with the subplots and characters. Oh, the characters. Updates Fridays. Sister Claire Pregnant nuns, witches, nun-fu and even stories that detail the background. If that doesn't grab your interest, I'm not sure what will, aside from the mention of kittens and cats. Updates Mondays/Thursdays.
I got a fair distance through Gunnerkrigg Court and need to get back to it. I've worked out that I cannot stand waiting for the update drip-feed with comics, so I prefer periodic binging.
Doooooo eeeeeeeet. Gunnerkrigg's got plenty of archive to binge through at this point haha. Personally, I don't mind the dripfeed as much, but then I only get to read webcomics when they update and that's not enough webcomics, so I go binge more. :V
hmm... my list aside from homestuck, lackadaisy and xkcd, theres a couple more but i can't think of them right now: Questionable Content (questionablecontent.net NOT .COM, I REPEAT NOT .COM, that leads to a pornsite)- you like indie music, robots and drama? This is it. The art changes extensively over time, so if you've never read this one, please don't be put off by the first page. By Jeph Jaques Roomies/Its Walky/Joyce and Walky/Shortpacked Verse- Long series, started in the nineties, ended sometime in february? By David "Damn You!" Willis, involves everything from aliens to hanky panky and towards the end, tansformers and soggies may rule. Dumbing of Age- Alternate universe of the Roomies-Shortpacked verse where nobody was kidnapped by aliens and thus have a "normal college life" The Adventures of Wiglaf and Mordred- By Lilliy, if you like ho-yay/ foe-yay or pretty boys, this is a pretty awesome comic. Wilde Life- By Lepas, the creator of Zap Comic, who started this one after finishing Zap (Zap was pretty good too) Goblins- DnD inspired webcomic by Thunt, may tear out your heartstrings. Minor Acts of Heroism- I forgot the names of the authors but its an amazing series and after a long hiatus, they will be updating next wednesday, good to time to archive binge! Literally about tiny superheroes being adorkable for the most part. Romantically Apocolyptic- If you like the mindscrew of homestuck, you might just like this one, a lot of temporal shennanigans and mindfuckery abound, but absolutely wonderful art and story telling about trying to survive boredom via apocolypse. By Alexius S. Vitaly SATW- By Humon, shows stereoptypes as seen by a Scandanavian, cute chibi artwork and an animated series in the works! I am horrible at synopses
I used to follow like sixty, but I stopped when I went a week without them and then there was too much to catch up on. I currently follow a few fantasy ones, but there are still some good ones I haven't read but plan to, so I don't want to make a list until I've read them all. I'm currently reading through Kid Radd, which is kind of like Wreck It Ralph, but it came first and is way better. It starts off with annoying humor and a slow pace, but as it goes on it gets better and better.
Okay, I have more, so when I have a few hours I'll dredge up my old bookmarks but Dominic Deegan: Completed, starts out as short panel gags, not great art, but jesus does it improve. Dominic's a seer. Shit goes downhill from there. ...Hm, it's a fantasy world, and I know there's some body horror as series progresses, and some injuries, but I haven't reread it in a while.
ah I knew there was one I was forgetting! Mookie also has a new (relatively new i mean) comic that he does does the art for now, its called star power and its all aliens. EDIT: I was wrong, he's the author, not the artist *facepalm*
hahaha, "comics" is this first folder on my bookmarks bar, I have a problem (links are to the first page unless otherwise noted) something*positive - THRIVES on offensive humor, is basically a walking trigger warning, but also (eventually) develops some really touching characters and stories (and then rips them out from under your feet, dammit millholland) Also, the art very very VERY eventually improves. Manly Guys Doing Manly Things - a Space Marine from the vague spacefuture runs a temp agency for all the burly brawny video game characters that have no place in society since their games ended. Mostly video game humor, occasional smatterings of backstory for the Commander. (Also, Mr. Fish.) A Girl and her Fed - ....this one is really hard to explain. UM. The Girl can see ghosts, mainly of U.S. historical figures. Ben Franklin in particular has taken a shine to her. She gets a Fed(eral agent) tailing her thanks to a particularly loud opinion piece she wrote for the paper. Then cyborgs and talking koalas. The link is to the About page, okay, trust it over me. Awkward Zombie - starts out as a Smash Brothers comic, eventually edges into straight video game humor (with occasional revisits to the Smash Bros. apartments). El Goonish Shive - very very long-runner. Adventures with aliens and genderswap technology and magic, oh my. Both art and writing drastically improve from the start to the current strips. (I personally, when I picked it back up, started about here - he's really good about posting links to relevant/referenced pages below the newer pages.) Namesake - all the famous fairytale heroes - Dorothy, Alice, Wendy - are actually inherited titles, the stories played out over and over by Namesakes, led by their Writers. Large focus on Wizard of Oz (and the following books; actually prompted me to want to read the rest of them, good thing they're free on Kindle). Boumeries - journal comic, about her weird dreams, weird boyfriend, weird life stories, and (somewhat recently) her weird child. Available in both English and French. Let's Speak English - 4koma about an American teaching English in Japan. (I dig stuff like this, ever since Gaijin Smash was still a thing.) (I really miss Gaijin Smash.) Love Me Nice - reminiscent of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, with a little bit of a harsher outlook.
Leftover Soup - slice of life comic involving many mostly-friendly philosophical debates, interpersonal drama, and a murder mystery (although oddly enough that's not the main focus). Updates M/W/F. One Over Zero - earlier work by the author of the above. Concerns webcomic characters who are aware that they are webcomic characters and who interact with their creator. As above, there are philosophical debates (often revolving around the experience of being webcomic characters) and interpersonal drama. Finished. Strong Female Protagonist - different author this time! Superhero deconstruction, dealing with questions of how to do meaningful good in the world and the limitations of traditional superheroing. Updates Tuesdays and Fridays.
Remembered a couple more! Two Guys and Guy- Two guys, one's a forever walking fail and the other well... lets just say Frank's not normal. And of course Guy, who is actually a girl with some issues concerning the world. Between Failures- Thomas Blackwell works at the megatainment store, stuck well... between failures. There is some homestuck shoutouts after the author started reading homestuck himself XD.
I don't really have time to write up descriptions of these but I'm rather fond of Looking For Group and Prague Race, among some others not mentioned here. When I get home I'll try to find my list.
8D Do I love webcomics?! Yes I love Webcomics!! Here are some of my favorites that weren't already listed. (I am terrible at summaries, sorry!) Charby the Vampirate - Fantasy drama with adorable monster kids! Can get pretty dark at times. Jack - Dark furry comic. All about life/death and heaven/hell. All the warnings for this one. All of them. Strays - Fantasy action with animal people. Starring a mute guy and and an adorable orphan girl. Beautiful art. Ava's Demon - Fantasy about girl with her own demon. Can be pretty dark at times. Beautiful art. Soul to Call - Horror. Fairly new one. Reminds me of zombie survival comics, but no zombies. Just creepy spirit monsters. And because these are awesome and for some reason not listed already: Kagerou - @Vast Derp 's comic Dark fantasy with the crazies. Beatiful art. On hiatus atm Metanoia - @jacktrash 's comic Dark modern fantasy(actually need to reread because I'm having a really hard time summarizing) Also on hiatus If anyone has better summaries, just let me know!
I follow a lot of webcomics, most of which seem to be already mentioned, but here's a few that isn't: A Redtail's Dream by Minna Sundberg: Based on Finnish mythology. A young fox accidentally moves an entire village of humans into a sort of dream realm, and can't bring them back on his own. It falls upon a local boy and his dog (who can talk, because dream realm) to get them all back. (This is not a very great explanation). The main character is misanthropic and lazy and has a headache, while his dog is sweet and positive and loves everyone. Their interactions are beautiful. And so is the art. It's completed Stand Still, Stay Silent: The next project from the same creator. A group of soldiers and mages re-explore the abandoned parts of the world a hundred years after a monster (not quite zombie) apocalypse. It hasn't been going on for that long, but I already love the main cast. The art is super gorgeous, and from what we've seen of the monsters so far they're going to be sooooooo great (and sort of body-horror-y) Sandra and woo: Cute, calvin and hobbes-ish comic about a middle school girl and her pet raccoon
Got another one for archive bingers Ensign Sue Must Die- By Kevin Bolk, a fantastic trilogy inspired by the reboot star trek, lampshades a lot of TOS and is hysterical to boot.
Ah! Forgot about about Darken - Which is a RP based fantasy comic, complete And Widdershins - Same creator, still awesome
I second the one for Manly Guys Doing Manly Things. And I can add a couple maybe? Sequential Art - Well, the first strip is the old 'pencils need a ctrl-z function' joke and the latest one involves a squirrel-girl who is simultaneously incredibly intelligent and really stupid in a bizarre Narnia-esque world. The art's pretty good, and I find it tells a story remarkably well for not having more than four panels a strip. Also good jokes. Narbonic- (link is to the 'director's cut' archives) Long since completed, ended in 2006, but SO GOOD. About a computer programmer and a mad scientist, at its core. Very funny. Scary Go Round/Bad Machinery - Scary Go Round is the first one, the art changes a TON from the start, it's modern-day 'weird fantasy stuff happens in the real world' humour. Bad Machinery is set three years later and is about two gangs of schoolchild investigators whose cases tend to involve the paranormal. ...Also funny. I like funny webcomics. Hark! A Vagrant - Why is this not here already (probably because everyone already knows it?). History and literature jokes. SUCH GOOD HISTORY AND LITERATURE JOKES.
Well, most of mine were said, but here's one that hasn't! Schlock Mercenary -- A space opera in comic form, updates daily without fail(y), author greatly progresses over time. One of the few times were I've seen a guy go "Huh, I don't have enough female characters or do enough with the ones I have, I need to fix that" and then proceed to do so. There's two places you can start, at the very beginning (when the art was awful and the story... eh) or the old quick-start location or the new recommendded quick-start location when things have gotten really good (but you'll be missing a good chunk of the history of the characters). Probably my most frequent webcomic rec, fun setting, neat aliens, lots of good humor, occasionally actual serious depth.
I adore these SO MUCH. Minna Sundberg's art is breathtaking (these landscapes, holy shit. And the colors. And lore. AND EVERYTHING).
Going to rec the sequel. http://skin-horse.com/ - Skin Horse - if Narbonic is about mad scientists, Skin Horse is about their creations trying to fit in with a world not made for them, where many people have a literal mental block keeping them from from noticing the existance of nonhuman sapients. It follows Project Skin Horse, a Black Ops Secret Government Social Services office providing governmental care to all the nonhuman sapients in the United States... with only 5 overworked and underpaid employees. Strong minority rights and social justice themes, hilarious jokes, and often quite thought provoking. You don't need to read Narbonic to understand Skin Horse. Seriously, I can't recommend Skin Horse enough. There's plently of queer characters, it's socially conscious, it's smart, it's funny, it's got a great absurdist bent to many of the plots...
