Well, since Matt brought up Penny Arcade in another post, I thought we could use this one to share any random webcomics that we read regularly. I'm just going to list the ones that are on my current Favorites list, although I've read lots of others in the past that I don't read any more. If you go to one of these sites and it interests you, I would highly suggest you stop reading and head for the archives to get caught up on the storyline and any "
in-jokes"
.
General Comics:
Sluggy Freelance: one of the best webcomics ever, Sluggy has been going strong for over 5 years and has a quite devout following. It is more or less a worthy successor to Bloom County, although it has a more sci-fi bent, and can do things that newspaper comics can't. Highly recommended (which is why I put it first)!
Absurd Notions: a very intelligently written comic. Covers a large variety of topics, but the longest story arcs are mostly about RPGs (not just fantasy ones, either). The author has self-motivation issues, so it is updated sporadically.
Video Game Comics:
Penny Arcade: usually pretty much focused on the newest video games, Gabe (artist) and Tycho (writer) also delve into other strange subjects. Updated MWF. Tycho also writes the newspost every day there is a comic update, and he has an excellent prose style. Sometimes I like his posts more than the comics. But not often.
PvP: a comic about the staff of a video game magazine, this is one of the few webcomics to successfully branch out into print, although in comic book form only (not in newspapers). The focus is more on how the people interact rather than only on video games, but it still has that background.
Real Life Comics: by a guy named Greg Dean, this comic is about him and his friends, basically. He is a funny guy, so it isn't as boring as other comics like this are, but since he is also a big geek it ends up being about video games more often than not (but lots of other stuff too).
Sprite-based Comics
These are comics which are created by taking sprites from old 8-bit or 16-bit video games. There are a lot out there, but these two are the best, in my opinion.
8-bit Theater: using Final Fantasy 1 sprites, that story is retold. Absolutely hilarious, and I haven't even played that game (although I have played all the SNES and Playstation sequels). He is another amazing writer, like Tycho from Penny Arcade, and actually has a prose book in the professional editing stages.
Bob and George: Mega Man sprites, from almost every system he was on, are used to very, very loosely go through all the games. Worth reading if you want something different, but it barely made it onto my favorites. The site has been down for a little while now, but it will probably be back up in a few weeks.
Diesel Sweeties: the sprites in this comic are "
home-made"
, and it isn't really about video games, but I didn't know where else to put this one. The two main characters are a robot and his retired porn star girlfriend. Also has "
Indie Rock Pete"
and some other amusing characters.
Grad School/Science Comics:
Nukees: written by a Nuclear Engineering grad student (or former, since he just got this Ph.D.), this comic takes place at UC Berkeley. At first is just made fun of science and grad students, but it evolved into a life of its own and jumped from the school newspaper to the web. This is one of the founding comics of Keenspot.
Piled Higher and Deeper (PHD): pretty much a really cynical look at graduate school. I love it. It hasn't been updated in 2 months, but it has 4 years or so of archives. Originally published in the Stanford newspaper.
Newspaper Comics:
These can be found syndicated in certain newspapers, but since I don't get them in mine, I have to get them online. Unfortunately, these only have a month of archives online.
Get Fuzzy: a comic about pets that is actually funny. If you haven't seen this strip, you really need to.
Monty: if you ever saw the comic "
Robotman"
in the papers several years ago, this is basically what it evolved into. Covers all sorts of dorky topics.
Disturbing Comics:
Red Meat: what can I say, this is one strange comic. It doesn't have nudity or violence or bad language, but it is damn scary sometimes all the same. Not a Stephen King scary, but a "
wax museum after the air conditioner breaks during a heat wave"
scary. But not visually either (well, sometimes)...you just have to see for yourself...if you dare!
Well, that's all I have on my Favorites list. There are others that I check every so often, like Nodwick (fantasy) and Dork Tower (general dorkiness), and ones which I don't check any more like Sinfest and You Damn Kid, and ones that are no longer published like No Outlet (which was too intelligent for its own good, and if you are lucky the archives are still online). But I would love to see other people's favorites, if you read them.
Game on,
____________________________
"
He who is certain he knows the ending of things when he is only beginning them is either extremely wise or extremely foolish; no matter which is true, he is certainly an
unhappy man, for he has put a knife in the heart of wonder."
-- Tad Williams
, enemy of doc Pretorius, see her and instantly falls in love. It's pretty wacky, and drawn in a style similar to 30's cartoons - later on speech bubbles disappear and is replaced by text under the panels, which add to the "silent animation with speech" effect. Great artwork, and it only gets better as it moves along.
