Webcomics

Webcomics are fun, free, and don't take up too much of your time. But although everyone loves free stuff, a lot of webcomics can be really ugly art-wise.

I mean even if this thing were the funniest, best-storied comic ever, I still wouldn't want to read it. The art actually hurts my eyes. And the editing is terrible.

Then again, I started years ago on Mechagical girl Lisa A.N.T., and the art is pretty terrible there, too. Okay, it's not that bad. It's just not that good, either. And sometimes it doesn't update for months at a time. In fact, it hasn't updated since 2008. But hey. Nothing beats SPARKLING PRINCESS SUGARPUFF SYMPHONY! The whole thing is absolutely hilarious. I bet it could be really good, with a decent art team.

There are of course comics that are done entirely with stick-figures, like XKCD. ZKCD can be a decent comic, of course, and the stick-figures are in fact a deliberate choice. But it's also very math-ey, which leads us to the second problem.

Webcomics don't need to appeal to a broad audience, or in fact any audience at all to be published. As a result, webcomics often aren't very interesting to anyone but the select few who know what the authors are trying to refer to. For example, this comic would make absolutely no sense to someone who doesn't know the pokemon in the last panel is called a Clefairy.

But then of course, there's comics like the one on the right. Gems, if you will. This one is called Sandra and Woo. Here's a link to click. It reads a little bit like your average newspaper comic strip, only with in general better art and certainly better colour (notice the amazing over there), and perhaps a few more references to disney and other material that might be under some kind of copyright.

The story begins about a girl named Sandra and her pet racoon, Woo, who it is soon discovered can talk.

But it then drifts over all sorts of subjects, including everything from animal abuse to high art and some truly adorable romance.  But enough about all that. It isn't sitting there to the right any more! which means we need a new picture. Oh, look! That looks like a cute little black-and-white ad for Girl Genius!


Girl Genius is a webcomic that has won quite a few awards, and it's hilarious. The coloring job at the beginning is nonexistent, and gets way too bright in the middle before settling down to something a little bit closer to normal. But forget the coloring job. Because the rest makes up for it.

The coolest thing about the comic is the backgrounds in some panels. You'll notice on the very first page a giant stuffed alligator labelled 'weird but harmless'. Later on, you'll find other cool stuff hiding in the background. Tip: alway, always, always read the labels. If you don't think you can handle the whole thing just yet, try reading one of the short stories. And yes, it's all very funny. I like funny.

But if you like stuff that's a little bit less cutesy and a little bit more serious, try Artifice. (warning- there are gay guys. I shouldn't have to make a warning about that, but people are jerks.) That's a bit of a panel over there to the right. Now, Artifice may not be everyone's cup of tea because of the content, but it's actually a really good story. And unlike some webcomics that are just there for the laughs, it's a really neat exploration of what artificial intelligence might mean for the future. It also keeps you on your toes without being completely action-packed. And the art is pretty glorious. Of all the webcomics I've read, this one is the closest to published superhero comic art- but it's a bit smoother than that. And Deacon's hair must take ages! You might also want to check out the other comic hosted at the site, it's good

If you're looking for sheer oddity, you might enjoy Gunnerkrigg Court. The main character's name is Antimony (arsenic aluminum selenium). That should give you an idea of it. It's also really cool, and it has an almost steampunkish quality to it. There are robots and talking shadows and gods and magic and technology and lots of other cool things.

On the other hand, it can also get really confusing if (like me) you leave it alone for too long and have to go back. That's one issue I get fairly often- I leave for a few months and then I don't remember what happened and nothing makes sense but I don't want to go back to the beginning because even though I don't remember it anymore it's still pretty boring on the second read.


And then, of course, there's earthsong. The art on this thing is simply breathtaking. That's it to the right. I'm impressed it's kept updating this long- I found it around the same time I found Mechagical Girl Lisa.

Earthsong has a pretty imaginative world to it- basically, the idea is that all inhabited planets have gods that created 'adam's and 'eve's. Earth has one called Gaia, but that's not where the story is set. Only one character is human, and she isn't the lead. This world is somewhere else entirely. It's a special world, though. One where the people are all from different planets, brought there because of soulstones... it'll make more sense if you read the comic.

Speaking of older webcomics, Twokinds has been around a while! (pictures are on either side). It got pretty confusing for me after a while, though, so I haven't read it in a long time. As I recall, though, there being topless girls. Sometimes they were furry. *shrugs* Sometimes strange is good, I guess.

As for the art, Twokinds is pretty simple, but the anatomy is decent and while the colour job is nothing spectacular, it's consistently good.

Worth mentioning- Twokinds is one of the more popular webcomics. It headed up the TWC list when I checked- about a minute before I wrote this. Then again, the TWC list might be a bit out of date. Or it might not. Who knows?

And still under things I haven't read in a long time... the dreamland chronicles came up in my search for webcomics to mention. They're entirely CGI, which is kind of cool. On the other hand, that makes them look a bit like plastic. Actually, a lot like plastic. Sometimes I wonder if the whole thing is actually done with special toys instead of on computer. On a really intricate set. The story is pretty decent, though. At least, it was three or four years ago when I actually read the thing. And you just have to love the rock boy. He's just adorable!

In contrast to all this nostalgia, there's Olympus Overdrive, which I just found out about. That's Hades to the left. In this comic, Hades is a four-foot-tall purple person. With a gap tooth. And when he's seen by anyone else, he looks like a private-school uniformed kid.

Olympus Overdrive features a lot of cool stuff, including musical, semi-animated segments. The first page is vaguely reminiscent of Kuroshitsuji's Ciel on a throne, but of course that's quite likely a coincidence. Anyhow, that's what first got me interested. I love the character designs. I tend to prefer the old gods. They make more sense, story-wise, and there's a lot more room for interpretation.

Of course, since I've come all this way about comics without an actual comic strip (at least, not an entire one with dialogue,) here's Louis Despatis causing a little havoc.  It's not really a webcomic, but it's a comic I found on the web. And it's funny. Thanks for the laughs, Sak! To everyone else, have a very nice day.