Webcomics Weeder

Anders Loves Maria

2008-08-10T15:00:00.003-05:00

Anders Loves Maria
Rene Engstrom
Real Life
R

So I haven't posted in a while. I do have good excuses, of course, as I just graduated from University, moved off to an unknown city to take a job and had to deal with the general settling in. But now, I feel I can keep up with this blog without skipping weeks. (I feel as bad as a neglectful webcomic writer!)

So! Anders Loves Maria is essentially a story of a couple of twenty-somethings who are on the cusp of becoming real, live adults. I know, I know, this is a story we have all heard before. And I must admit, this comic does have its share of angst. But the approach to this theme is done so well in this comic that I can honestly admit that I was suprised when I hit the most current update. I was so swept in the flow of the story that nothing else existed for about an hour.

The story revolves around Anders, a lovable if flawed rich boy and his equally lovable if self-destructively impulsive girlfriend Maria. They are living a care-free life as a couple of Stockholm artists when, oh dear, Maria discovers that she's pregnant. And so kicks off the story.

Sometimes Anders Loves Maria is a little over-the-top with the amount of cliched (or unrealistic) situations the two main characters face. I'd go as far to say that when you discover that one of our heros's mother is a closet lesbian, my first reaction was to roll my eyes and say "of course she is." But the characters are played so well (no reaction too flamboyant, every sentence uttered feeling like what one would hear in real life...) that I forgive the cliches. While the situations may be something found on "Dawson's Creek" or "One Tree HIll", the characters are not the typical cardboard cut-outs one would find in Clicheland. And I genuinely like the characters. Every single one is flawed, and some are downright unpleasant, but they feel real.

The art is another plus, here. The flowing roundness of the artwork is nice on the eyes. The artist sticks with a cartoony style, but is not afraid to show us some of the most awkward cartoon sex I've ever seen. Not that I watch a lot of cartoon sex. *Ahem*

Anyway, this comic pleases me very much. It's nice to step away from the scads of humor and genre comics swamping the internet and read something with a little reality every now and then.

xkcd

2008-01-25T13:43:00.000-06:00

xkcd

Randall Munroe

Gag strip

PG-13 to R

xkcd is something a little different from the usual comic fare that I run across. It is not a beautiful comic in the sense that the artwork is beautiful. But it is a great comic. I have to admit, I am enamored with xkcd.

The author has a way of meshing a cynical viewpoint of the world with mathmatics, coding and a little bit of love poetry that makes it absolutely hilarious. As with most gag comics, sometimes an idea works and sometimes it doesn't. But the hits far outnumber the misses. My favorite repeating gag is the poetic, lyrical "Yo Momma" jokes.

One of the comic's strengths is something that many would think of as a weakness. The artwork is very simple. This is a stick-figure comic. But if the artwork was more complex, I think a lot of the jokes would fall flat.

The only weakness in the comic is that sometimes the author likes to get on his soapbox. When he does, the comic gets text-heavy, and the joke (and the soapbox point) plods to the end without having the same effect as staying simple. Also, some of the earlier comics don't really have a point to them. But this was when the author was just beginning and hadn't found his voice yet, so don't drop the comic if you don't get the first few months of comics.

I will mention one more thing about the comic. It is very math -- and coding -- heavy. I am a liberal arts major, and anyone else who hasn't been through years of mathmatics and CS courses may be like me: I get all of the comics not featuring math, and at least the gist of most of those that do, but sometimes the joke will fly over my head as I have no idea about mathmatic principles beyond simple trig, geometry and algebra. However, feeling stupid sometimes doesn't keep me for coming back for more.

PhD Comics

2007-12-28T03:59:00.000-06:00

PhD Comics
Jorge Cham
PG
Real Life

I found PhD Comics ("Piled Higher and Deeper" the artist calls it) completely by accident. Part of me, the part that likes comics, is happy I did. Another part, the part that is currently applying to grad school, is less sure. Before running across PhD, I spent my time being terrified that I won't be accepted into anyone's grad program. After reading PhD, I'm terrified at the prospect of being a grad student, period.

Began as a strip for the Stanford Daily long ago when the author first entered Stanford's Masters program, PhD is now featured in University papers across the nation and has quite a cult following on the web.

The comic follows four main characters, (Mike Slackenerny, Cecilia, Our Nameless Hero, and Tajel) as they travel down the path to a PhD. They battle with apathetic advisors, endless research, little social life, even less money, and a constant nagging doubt that perhaps going the extra mile to be called "Dr." isn't worth the effort.

The big theme is hopelessness. Oh, and crushed dreams with a smidge of decimated ego. Only one of the characters is a post-doc at this point, and this strip has been going strong for ten years. The characters themselves don't progress in life much, though they do age. The point of this, it seems, is to better represent the feeling of listlessness that runs rampant amongst grad students.

The humor is fairly consistant. It feels like something you'd read in the daily newspaper, only with better jokes than most dailies. The strip is probably funnier to people who have or are currently sweating it out in grad school, but it isn't "whoosh!" humor. (That is, over the head,)The art is solid at well. In fact, this comic is one of the few I've read online that didn't look scribbled in it's early years. I would be surprised that the author didn't go for art instead of engineering in school if it weren't for the huge salary difference between art majors and engineering majors.

I say go for this comic if you have some time to read ten years of archives. It's a funny, if slightly depressing read. (For the record author, if you ever run across this blog, I was in 7th grade when you started PhD. Not as young as the 9 year old, but still. Grad school really takes that long? *shiver*)

Dr. McNinja

2007-11-15T13:42:00.000-06:00

Dr. McNinja

Chris Hastings

Super-Hero-ish, Comedy

pg-13

You know, I'm starting to think I gravitate to the stranger comics. The next comic I post will be more "realistic."

So, Dr. McNinja is what it sounds like: a comic about a man who is both doctor AND ninja. Hilarity ensues. The challenges of a man who can both cure and kill can be pretty funny, especially when he's faced with horrible '80's ninja-movie heros, banditos riding velocoraptors, and undead zombie-ninjas.

This comic is strictly comedy. So far, the author hasn't meandered into dramedy-ville. The closest thing we get to "explored emotions" is the faux tear-jerk story of Dr. McNinja's desire to please his ninja family, who all are ashamed of his choice to become a doctor. Really, the whole comic feels like a spoof of comic-book super-heros from the 30's through the 60's. Ah, a time when anyone wearing a mask was a potential super-hero or -villain. Dr. McNinja even sounds like the name of a character who could be in DC's list of obscure heros.

As for the art, it also feels like an older comic. The lines are bold, the characters are realistic-ish, and the backgrounds can be minimal. It is a pretty neat comic, if a little odd sometimes.

The Perry Bible Fellowship

2007-11-08T21:39:00.000-06:00

The Perry Bible Fellowship

Nicholas Gurewitch

Gag Strips

This is perhaps the most graphically disturbing comic I have ever read. I laugh hard, but in that "Should I be laughing? Seriously, should I? Am I going to hell for reading this?" kinda way. Each strip is stand alone, and there are no main characters. Think The Far Side or Herman.

The humor is sometimes extreme. An example: lad says, "Boy, I'd sell my soul for a puppy." *Pop!* Puppy appears. A couple of panels with a happy lad enjoying a day with his lovely puppy follow. The last panel shows the boy being horribly tortured in Hell. If this does not make you laugh, I would highly suggest that you don't click on the link. If it does, you are a little sick. Don't worry, you are in fine company. The author is popular enough to have published a collection of PDF comics.

The first few strips kinda stumble around silly sex jokes. It doesn't really take off with humor until the artist starts playing with all those ideas we are told as children; magical creatures are real, children are innocent, beauty is pure. The most horrifying and hilarious strips of the comic feel like a children's bedtime story that took a wrong turn somewhere.

While frequently the artist just draws a couple of fleshed-out stick figures, every now and then he pulls off artwork that is impressive. Again, following the theme that childhood innocence is a crock, the artwork looks like something you'd see in a classic children's book. From Dick and Jane to Edward Gory, to the best of the Golden Books series, he can copy all sorts of styles.

I really like this one. I think that says a lot about my personality.

Copper

2007-09-14T12:02:00.000-05:00

Copper

Kazu Kibuishi

Fantastic Voyages of the Kid Kind

Copper is a visually stunning comic. Brightly colored and beautifully drawn in a cartoony style, Copper follows the adventures of the title character, Copper, and his dog Fred through a dream landscape. In the tradition of Little Nemo, Copper explores a world that he can only reach when he is asleep.

There is very little storyline in this comic, and each page is a minute story of discovery. There is a slight preachy air to the comic, usually along the lines of "enjoy every minute of life," but it doesn't taint the comic as a whole. Fred usually embodies the idea of missing out on the simple joys of life, but he faithfully follows Copper through his mental wildernesses.

My only complaint is that the artist updates far too infrequently. The updates are usually monthly, but it took over a year for the last update to be published. However, the artist has quite a few projects going on, including a number of print versions of Copper episodes, and a print comic called Amulet. If his online comic is any example of his work as a whole, I'll look into his print comics as well. Amulet certainly looks intriguing.

Roomies/Its Walky!/Joyce and Walky Three comics in One!

2007-08-31T09:58:00.000-05:00

Roomies
Its Walky
Joyce and Walky
Sci-fi/Angst
PG-13

This trio of comics is actually one huge comic, renamed when the characters most focused on were flip-flopped. And if there was only one word that I could say to describe Its Walky, it would be ANGST.

OH the angst. Every character in this comic has an issue. Should I? issues, Should I have? issues, parental issues, sexual issues, growing up issues, dating issues. If you want issues and scenes where characters have brief soliloquies about there feelings, this is the comic for you! And all of these issues are twined about major alien and shady government issues.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

The first third of this comic, Roomies, focuses on a couple of buddies (Joe and Danny) in college. There are no aliens (okay a few aliens, but not important to the over-all plot of Roomies), there is only normal college angst. Well, not too normal. I know that I've been through a few angsty times in college, but I don't know if I or any of my friends became as broody as these people. Roomies lasts for two years before shifting viewpoints to Its Walky.

Its Walky is much more up my alley. Aliens, secret government institutions, clones, and so on. There is still angst served in heaping portions, but the plot is more organized and the writing is much better than the Roomies stage. I can't really explain many of the story arcs because they are so twisty. In that respect, the comic reminds me of Sluggy Freelance (though I feel that Sluggy does a much better job at feeling "plausible", and is a better written comic). The comic often kept me guessing when I was still reading it on a regular basis. Finally, this portion of the comic has an actual ending, and one that would make most people happy.

Joyce and Walky I have not read. Unfortunately (for me) this portion of the comic is subscription only. I'm assuming that there is still angst, because without angst it wouldn't be the same comic.

The art of the comic, like most webcomics, has evolved over time. Really, the comic now looks nothing like it did in the beginning. This is always a good thing. The angst can sometimes be sickening, and I really don't recommend it to anyone who thinks a combonation of Dawson's Creek and Buffy at its most touchy-feely is a reason to run away screaming from the TV. But if you can wade through the self-pity, the story is not too bad.

8-bit Theatre

2007-07-23T12:12:00.000-05:00

8-bit Theatre

Brian Clevinger

Fantasy/Comedy
PG/PG-13

There are many sprite comics out there (sprites being, for those that don't know, the 8-bit/16-bit characters from the old NES and SNES game systems), many of which are not fun to read. I've scanned many sprite comics, and most of what I come across involve Megaman swearing up a storm in leetspeak. 8-bit Theatre is not one of these sprite comics. I've been reading this comic on and off for years, and I always wonder why I stopped reading it when I pick it up again.

The whole comic is a parody of the first Final Fantasy game. Our four (sort of) heros, Black Mage, Fighter, Theif and Red Mage, are out to stop the bad guys. The storyline loosely follows the plot of that game (very, very loosely), however most of the jokes have nothing to do with the Final Fantasy world.

This comic is not about the art, although I am sometimes impressed with how the artist can make expressions so obvious with blurry pixels. This comic is about the writing. The jokes are nearly always spot-on, and the timing of the jokes is well done. The humor is my favorite kind of nerdy fun, the kind that can laugh about the idea of sword-chuks being an ultimate weapon. The plot doesn't move forward much, but to be honest the plot isn't as important as the punchlines.

I do have one complaint: sometimes the artist carries on a joke longer than it is funny. But that is very rare.

The comic has been around for a while, but I would recommend reading from the beginning since many of the later jokes work off the character's personalities. This isn't heavy stuff, and it should only take a week at most to get through.

Past Featured Comics

2007-07-05T18:22:00.001-05:00

My featured comic list was getting long, so I thought I'd leave up the six newest and then archive those comics I thought were worth a look. Here they are in alphabetical order:

8-bit Theatre
My Take On 8-bit Theatre

Elf Life
My Take On Elf Life

El Goonish Shive
My Take On El Goonish Shive

Fanboys
My Take on Fanboys

Funny Farm
My take on Funny farm

Inverloch
My Take on Inverloch

It's Walky/Roomies/Joyce and Walky
My Take on It's Walky et. al.

Questionable Content
My Take on Questionable Content

When I Am King
My Take On When I Am King

Funny Farm

2007-07-05T17:24:00.000-05:00

Goodness! I have been quite behind in my posts. I apologize for my absenteeism. Perhaps if I actually posted when I will update, I won't be so eager to say "I'll do it tomorrow."

Anyway, on to the comic.

Funny Farm
R. Smith
PG-ish
Suspense?

Funny Farm is about a couple of roommates, Ront (a dog) and Mewn (a cat), and the sometimes soap opera situations that they and their (many, many) other roommates get themselves into. I say soap opera, but not in the angsty sense. There are a lot of cliffhangers, and *gasp* moments.

Funny Farm is another comic I have picked up on in which most of the characters are humanimals. However, unlike Kevin and Kell there are humans in the world as well. I sometimes wonder about the logistics of a human dating, say, a cat person. I guess when I get in that mood I'm suffering from thinking too much when I should be suspending my disbelief.

The characterisation is my favorite part of Funny Farm. All of the characters grow over time, and become more interesting. And the story arcs are fun, especially those that are supposed to be suspenseful. There are a lot of "whodunit?" moments, and really wacky bad guys. But when there is a break in the big story arcs, the writing can be a little dull. Also, the punchline on many comics fall flat. In my opinion the writer would be better off avoiding one liners and focusing on the light humor that runs in the strip.

This is a long comic, an endurance comic, and the plot does take a while to pick up. But I think it is worth a read, it you're up to it.

Questionable Content

2007-06-08T13:00:00.000-05:00

Questionable Content
Jeph Jacques
Real Life, sorta
PG-13

I am not indie. Nor am I emo. As far as I can tell the whole indie/emo movement is about wearing un-ironed preppy-ish clothes picked up at a thrift store and finding the most obscure, unheard of band on the market to listen to, then saying the names of the bands during a party to establish your "indie cred."

This is not my scene.

But reading a comic about a bunch of indie kids in their mid-twenties surrounded by a cast of goths, college girls, punk rockers and general crazies is definitely my scene.

Questionable Content began as a comic about a few friends, the main cast being Faye, Marten and Dora, that go about their daily lives in Massachusetts without much fanfare or drama. Actually, this is what first attracted me to the comic. The main characters feel like people you hang with every day. There is little angst, and when "drama" does happen it is subtle. Characters may go through life changing events, but there is this air that life will go on. You wouldn't believe how rare it is to find such a down to earth attitude in webcomics.

As the years have gone by, many other characters have been thrown into the mix. (My favorite is Hennalore, the OCD girl). The plot has also added a few elements of light sci-fi. No aliens or the like. More technological advances that we haven't seen yet, like talking PCs and combat robots. But the story is still about people and their interactions with each other.

There is only one complaint that I have with the comic. It takes a long time for the plot to move because almost every action of the characters is described (including bathroom breaks). And there is one warning for folks who are as musically inept as I am: there are quite a few jokes about indie bands that went right over my head, especially in the earlier comics. Other than that, the comic is a mellow, nifty read.

F@nboy$

2007-06-04T19:00:00.000-05:00

Fanboys

Scott Dewitt

Gamer

Fanboys is a solid comic. It really is. The writing is fun, and the art is a cartoony-manga style. The story centers around three friends who each lust after a particular console; Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo.

I like this comic. But I think that Fanboys suffers from a fate that comes upon many writings that fit into a genre: sameness. It is a typical gamer comic. There are the two friends, Lemmy and Paul, who mock each other and their preferred console. There are the girls, Sylvia and Kirstin, who proudly proclaim their gaming cred while shooing away men who would dare ogle at the rare specimen of female gamer. There is continuity in the storyline, and of course it centers around the main characters and their obsession with gaming. Every now and then the continuity is interrupted by a comic commenting on a particular game.

This structure is not old yet, at least I don't think so. But so many gaming comics run through these bases that I wish I could simply mash A and get the essential pl0t outline over-with.

HOWEVER, Fanboys is not a poor comic. Though it suffers from the sameness, it is nifty and cute. The writer is focusing a lot of his time on developing the characters and the plot continuity. Since the comic is quite new, it certainly has time to grow. Also, it is one of the few gamer comics I know of that does its best to stay clean. No swearing, no sexual innuendo.

Finally, the fact that Lemmy becomes a bloodthirsty kungfu master whenever he is told that his consol of choice is for kids makes me giggle. I know people like that.

Inverloch

2007-06-01T12:50:00.000-05:00

Hello, hello!

France was fantastic. I had a wonderful time, and I wish I was still there. My current home town isn't so thrilling anymore.

But enough about me, on to the comics.

Inverloch

Sarah Ellerton
Fantasy

Inverloch is the first webcomic that I found in a bookstore before I found it online. While perusing the comic-book shelves of BAM, I ran across the first two books of the series. I finished them quickly, and was suprised to find a URL on the back of the books. Lo and behold, the URL was the comic's home. I have seen the big guys on bookshelves, (Scott Kurtz of PvP, Penny Arcade, Megatokyo...) but I have not seen a webcomic that is not incredibly well known published offline before. This is pretty neat stuff, a sign that webcomics are being taken seriously by publishers.

The comic itself is standard fantasy fare. Young Acheron falls for an elf maiden who, in turn, is in love with an elf that disappeared many years ago. Out of love for the maiden Acheron promises to find the missing elf. What is a little different is that Acheron is a da'kor, a race of half-wolf, half-goat beings. Da'kor are generally hated by everyone who isn't da'kor. So he finds distain wherever he goes.

At the same time, the elves are suffering from a loss of power and culture. They must find a way to remedy their problems or they will slowly disappear.

There are a few bugs in the comic. The story is strong, but it feels like reading an RPG. I expect messages like "The thief has joined your party" or "the mage has learned firefight" to pop up from time to time. However, the writer says on her site that one of her greatest wishes is that one of her stories will become a video game. So perhaps she is being formulaic on purpose.

In the beginning, especially in the first two books, the transitions from scene to scene are very choppy. One minute I'm seeing two children running through a forest, the next I'm in a village. This gets better as the comic progresses, but is is very noticable.

The art is pretty, almost Disneyish, and the coloring is fantastic. But the characters never seem to move. Even during an action scene it looks like the characters are freeze-framing. This feels strange to the eyes.

Other than these fairly minor complaints, I think the comic is well done. The story twists in all the right places, and like any good fantasy it leaves you wanting more after each new post. I like that the auther created a completely new species rather than sticking with the usual fantasy suspects (i.e. ogre, halfling, and so on). The characters are slowly leaving the realms of two dimentionalness and becoming their own people. Inverloch is worth a read.

Intermission

2007-05-05T15:47:00.000-05:00

Hello, loyal reader! (Mom...)

This blog was created as an assignment for my Professional Writing class. My professor feels it is necessary to be comfortable writing for internet audiences if one wants to write for a living. The assignment was to create an informative blog that targets a specific audience.

I chose webcomics. Comics I love in general, as a medium that meshes words and pictures to create a startlingly fluent way to absorb information. Webcomics I adore, as my first real introduction to what comics can be and how varied the genres and art really are. I thought, what is better than a blog that can help out readers new to the medium? And so, Webcomics Weeder is here.

Because I was only allowed to update after a grading cycle, and only with the Prof's permission, I did not update regularly. Then I became bogged down with assignments. Now I am in Finals Week, and have no time for anything but studying and writing. After Finals, I'll be off to France for two weeks, and will not return until the end of May. My blog has been forced to simmer on a back burner.

But I will not let it simmer there forever. Beginning June 2, I will be posting reviews twice a week: Mondays and Fridays. In between, if I find interesting news pertaining to webcomics I'll make a post.

I would love to get suggestions for comics to read. I've read quite a few, but I'm always looking for something new.

Though I'm not an ambitious blogger, I hope this blog does help out people who are slopping through piles of webcomics. Happy reading, and I'll be back in June!

When I Am King

2007-03-28T17:30:00.000-05:00

When I Am King

Demian.5

Fantasy?

R (And I Mean That!)

When I Am King is a webcomic classic. It has been noted by some of the greats of comics, including Mr. Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud.

The art is an enhanced stick-figure theme, and it is "silent." But the whole site is slick. This is the first comic I had ever encountered that used the computer format to its advantage. Flash is used in some places, as are computer-illustrated scenes. For the most part, though, the frames are static. This doesn't keep the comic from being interactive. To read the comic, you must scroll frame by frame. Sometimes you must scroll up, sometimes forward, sometimes down, sometimes a combination of all three. The anticipation created simply by scrolling is almost rediculous.

As for the story, an Egyptian king goes out for a walk, loses his loincloth, and must find a new one so that his guards will recognize him. It sounds simple, but the artist managed to shove in full-on nudity, sex, beastiality, drug use and child abuse. You won't believe how graphic stick people can be.

The comic is finished, and takes maybe an hour to read. I have no complaints to add, but I want to reiterate: SEX! NUDITY! DRUGS! BEASTIALITY! If you have a problem with any of these, don't read this comic!

A Couple of Resources

2007-03-15T18:08:00.001-05:00

Here are a couple of excellent resources for those who want to go beyond simply searching for webcomics to read: Comixpedia and The Webcomics Examiner.

Comixpedia is a large website began in 2003 that features webcomics in blogs, news features, reviews, forums, and a large, Wikipedia-style index. The site is a little difficult to navigate, but there is a lot of content to see. The news and reviews are nifty, but in my opinion it is the index that is the crown jewel of Comixpedia.

As of this post, Comixpedia boasts 2114 pages of “legitimate content” in its index. Content can include a summary of the comic’s plot, character descriptions, and details of specific storylines. The downside of this content, just as on Wikipedia, is that any information on any given webcomic can be edited by anyone who joins Comixpedia. However, Comixpedia is much fussier than Wikipedia about who is allowed to be an editor on their site. And I am impressed with the obsessive details that some of the pages contain. Fanboys and girls do have a tendency to double check their facts when discussing their favorite entertainments.

If I was new to webcomics I would take a few hours to peruse Comixpedia and its index, if only to prove how pervasive the webcomics following is.

The Webcomics Examiner is an online literary magazine about webcomics. Articles include reviews of webcomics and webcomic genres, roundtables featuring webcomic authors, and interviews with creators of webcomics. The Examiner does its best to highlight the artistic side of webcomics, pushing the idea that webcomics are a legitimate art form and not simply an online pastime. I like that the magazine stresses that “we are in the midst of a new golden age of comics.” As a webcomic enthusiast, that message makes me giddy.

There are a few nifty features on the website. There is a glossary of commonly used terms in the webcomic world that a newcomer may find useful. Anyone can submit content to the site, much like any other literary review. Specific articles are easy to find by content or by publication date. The only downside of this site is that articles are not published often. As of this post the latest article was published November, 2006. But the articles are intriguing, and the content is useful. I highly recommend The Webcomics Examiner to anyone who enjoys webcomics and craves literary critique.

Tips to Finding Good Webcomics

2007-03-15T18:03:00.000-05:00

There are quite a few sites that feature lists of webcomics. Wikipedia has one, and The Webcomic List is one of the most thorough. But lists take time to sift through. The easiest way to find good comics is to look through the links of a webcomic artist you enjoy. Good artists know good art. Also, if a comic artist has a particular style that you enjoy, chances are high that the artist also enjoys that style and will feature comics of a similar vein in his or her links list.

If you find a webcomic, don't read two or three of the first posts and then decide it isn't worth reading. Remember: for most webcomic artists, the comic is or began as a hobby. Most comics that I read were started with little or no idea how the story would develop, and little practice drawing the characters. The first few months of most comics aren't impressive. Bad art and weak dialogue abound. Try to read through a year's worth of the archives. If the comic still doesn't appeal to you, then maybe it is worth dropping.

El Goonish Shive

2007-03-07T15:33:00.000-06:00

El Goonish Shive
Dan Shive
Pg-13
Fantasy

I’m reviewing another Keenspot comic this week, and then I will move on to another domain.

I picked out El Goonish Shive because the name sounded interesting. Boy, was I right when I thought of the word “interesting.” I have read some strange comics, but this one almost takes the cake.

I’m unsure if I can even describe the comic without giving a lot of the plot away. Elliot, Tedd, Nanase, Susan, Sara and Justin (and eventually Ellen and Grace) are a group of high school students who live in a universe filled with magic, aliens, elves, shape-shifters, government conspiracies and angst. The angst isn’t as bad as I’ve seen in other comics of a similar vein (I’m thinking It’s Walky here, a comic I will review soon) but it is a group of high school students who are the main characters. Somehow angst follows when high school students are involved.

Now here are the interesting parts. The furry-frenzy of the internet is very visible in this comic. There is a lot of shape-shifting into animal forms. Sexuality is played with. There are a few gay or bi characters. Gender shifting (transgender-ing?) is also played with. One of the characters enjoys shifting from boy to girl, and one storyline had all of the characters switching gender for an evening. If you have problems with any of this, don’t read the comic. But I think it is fun. Shive has made anything possible in his comic.

The story itself is a bit contrived. The storylines can last a long time, but actual lead-ins to what is and is not possible in the comic universe are sometimes nonexistent. People and powers pop out of nowhere. There is a lot of “and by the way, I just happen to be an incredible sorcerer” and “you didn’t know that I had the power of flight? Gee, I’m sure I told you.” This was especially true in the past, but Shive has gotten a lot better at writing his comic. He takes more time developing his characters.

Really, this is a high school fantasy/drama. It reminds me of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the way the characters are going through adolescence while being bombarded by the supernatural. It isn’t high literature, but it really works as a comic. I may not put it in my favorites list, but I’ll admit that I couldn’t stop reading it. It is a fun read, if only to see what else Shive will put his characters through.

Elf Life

2007-03-01T21:26:00.000-06:00

Elf Life
Carson Fire
Fantasy
PG-13 (Because of partial nudity)

Elf Life is a comic that I have wanted to read through for years. I’ve run into the comic more than once, and have heard good things about it. Now that I have read through the archives, I honestly don’t know why I haven’t attached this comic to my favorites sooner. It might be because I’ve never really thought much of Keenspot comics. But that might be snobbery on my part.

Elf Life is about Baughb the elf, a hero of his people who was set adrift in time and managed to find home…about 1000 years in his future. He decides to stay in this time and make it his home. But his world is in danger and it is up to him, and the elves Filis and Airick, to save his people from extinction.

The comic is comedic for the most part. The first couple of storylines are downright silly. However, over time a fantasy epic has evolved with enough adventure and angst to please any fantasy buff. The world features fairies, trolls, goblins, ogres, well-endowed mermaids and humans. Fire has pulled from many elements of fantasy, picking up lore from Lord of the Rings, Dungeons and Dragons, various mythologies, a few modern epic poems, and I believe the Discworld books by Terry Pratchett. (I saw that stone troll police officer!)

Fire’s artwork has not really changed over the seven years he has published his comic, but he does waffle about the best way to present the comic; sometimes it is inked, sometimes there is soft shading, sometimes there is color. But the cross between the manga chibi art and the cartoony art works well, no matter how it is presented.

There are a few problems with the comic.

Sometimes Fire switches to text, either because of technical difficulties, or to move the story along. After having to absorb text and images for pages and pages, the switch to only text can disorient the senses a little. And Fire is a much better comic writer than prose writer.

The archives are a mess. Don’t even attempt to use them as a guide to where you left off. It is better to save the current page you are on to your favorites until you can come back later. Or write down the url if you aren’t using a home computer. I’m not sure why the author hasn’t made the switch to a calendar archive, like most Keenspot comics.

The last update of the comic was December 18, 2006. This doesn’t look good. The story is unfinished, and I am unsure when the next post will be. The plot is definitely dangling.

But the comic is a good enough fantasy read that I am willing to suspend my rules about archives and frequent posts for a while. I’ll check up on the comic in a few months and see if Fire has resumed posting. Until further notice, consider this comic worth reading.

The Downside of Reading Webcomics

2007-02-23T09:08:00.000-06:00

Sudden Stops

When reading comics online, there is one big rule you must remember: online publishing is a hobby for most webcomic artists. Don't be suprised if a comic that you really like suddenly stops being updated.The artist may have started a comic in school for a class, or just for fun. Maybe it was started as an attempt to make a little extra money, or just to put the work out there. Sometimes life gets in the way of the comic. Sometimes the artist simply loses interest in his or her project. A polite artist will leave a message that explains why they will no longer be posting. A less polite artist will let their comic die with no warning to the readers. Either way, the comic will be lost. Mourn it, and move on.

Pay Sites

A debate has been going on for years now about whether or not webcomic artists should charge for the product they produce. Believe it or not, there are artists who are adamantly opposed to charging their audience a monthly fee to view their comic. These artists put up ads on their site, and usually have a link for people who wish to make a donation to support the comic. But the donation is voluntary, and the comic is free to view. Then there are artists who claim that payment is necessary or correct. They provide a service and a product, and the audience should pay. Modern Tales is an example of a pay site.

In my opinion, if an artist wishes to charge, then that is their right. But I don't read pay comics. I can't afford monthly fees, and I hate starting a comic without knowing the whole story. I wish I could afford to read these comics, because there are some really good comics out there that require a fee to read.

Wherever you stand on the issue, payment can be an obstacle to reading webcomics. Sometimes a comic starts out as free, then becomes a pay site. So a comic you enjoy might suddenly have a fee to view. Usually an artist will make the latest post available for free, but charge to view the archives. So you can read the comic for free. However, backstory isn't available and you cannot go back and re-read a section if you forget part of the plot.

Sometimes you are poor, like me, and can't afford to pay monthly for a good comic. I would suggest avoiding pay sites altogether if you cannot afford it, because it is too much of a hassle to keep track of the story. If you are in my situation and a comic becomes a pay site, mourn it like a no longer updated comic. It can be frustrating, but remember there are plenty of comics that do not require payment and are just as good as the type with a fee.

How I Define a Good Webcomic

2007-02-23T09:04:00.000-06:00

Story and Art

The comics should have a good story, obviously, or else there is no point in reading the comic. Characters must be interesting, dialogue must be well-written, the plot must be intriguing, and the story should have few (if any) continuity issues. If the comic is supposed to be funny, then I should laugh. Cheese is okay, if not overdone. Art is a little tricker to judge. I stand by Bill Waterson's observation: good writing saves bad art more than good art saves bad writing. There are beautifully illustrated comics online that I have abandoned because the story is ridiculous. And there are poorly illustrated comics that I read because the writing is lovely. A beautifully illustrated comic that is also well-written is a thing to be cherished, because it is rare to find both elements done well online.

The Comic Has an Archive

This is a big must. All the back story and character development that I missed should be available somewhere on the artist's website so that I can jump into a story with little hassle.

The Artist Posts Regularly

A comic doesn't have to be posted every day or every other day to make me happy. Weekly, monthly or quarterly postings are okay as long as the posts are consistent. But if posts are sporadic or nonexistent for six months, I drop the comic. How can I follow a storyline or keep characters fresh if the story isn't updated regularly?

A Beginning: The Comics I Have Linked

2007-02-09T13:56:00.000-06:00

There are a lot of Webcomics. Which ones are enjoyable?

I thought I'd start this blog by giving a short explanation of each of the comics I have linked. These are not all of the comics that I read, but a sampling of some on my favorites list. I have comics linked for all tastes, from the cute and comical to the more graphic. I've rated the comics for content (G through R). Here are the comics that I read. Enjoy!

Cascadia
Clio Chang
Fantasy
PG

It is fitting that Cascadia is the first comic on my list, because it is the first webcomic that I ever read. I stumbled upon it five years ago while looking for Harry Potter fan art. (I am blushing.) I thought it was a nifty, novel thing; a free comic online. Then I clicked on Chang’s link list and was enlightened.

Cascadia is standard fantasy fare. An evil force that was trapped, in this case an incarnation of the moon, is on the loose and must be stopped. Our heroes Jacob, Aron, Connor, and later Karah and Coulomb, are off on an adventure to find the items that will ensnare the evil force.

The dialogue is not bad, though there are a lot of over-dramatic moments. And the art is beautiful, almost reminiscent of Disney. The story feels rushed in some places, as if Chang wants to get to the next chapter as quickly as possible. And the transitions explaining the characters’ movement through their world can be clunky. But over all Cascadia a pretty good fantasy comic that represents some of the best artwork available online.

Ctrl+Alt+Del
Tim Buckley
Gamer/Humor
Pg-13

Ctrl+Alt+Del is a gaming comic that brings in elements of real life, with a twist. The characters, Lucas, Lila, Ethan and a robotic X-box named Zeke, are consumed by games. Gaming is their whole life, from their jobs to their recreational activities.

The comic it is hilarious. The humor is wacky and slapstick, like a Warner Brothers cartoon on paper. The comic does have continuity, but the stories never get deeper than the humorous. The characters are definitely flat. There is no angst in this comic, and no soul searching. But the humor does not grow stale, and it is a fun comic to read.

Kevin & Kell
Bill Holbrook
Humor/Life with a Twist
G

Imagine a world where animals are sentient and eating your neighbor isn’t taboo, if you are hungry enough. This is the world of Kevin (a rabbit) and Kell (a wolf), a predator and a prey species that defied conventions and married. Along with their children from previous marriages Lindesfarne, Kevin’s adopted hedgehog daughter and Rudy, Kell’s son, and their baby Coney, Kevin and Kell live out their lives in the town of Domain.

The comic is a little bizarre, but once you get past the fact that intelligent animals are hunting other intelligent animals, you see that the comic is about family. There is a big umbrella theme of acceptance of differences. The comic does have a storyline, but single punch-line strips make up much of the comic. The humor is cutesy, and the story can be a little syrupy. But it is a clean comic, and professionally done. I’d expect to find this comic in a newspaper.

Megatokyo
Fred Gallagher
Fantasy/Real Life
PG-13

If you don’t know about Megatokyo, then you have not been reading webcomics for long. Megatokyo is one of the most popular comics online. Piro and Largo, two guys from the US, make a pilgrimage to Tokyo. After wasting their money on games and Japanese technology, they are stuck in Japan with no money and no way home.

The fantasy in this comic is subtle; monsters attack Tokyo so often that a unit of the police specialize in clean-up; magic exists, and is somehow affected by, or affects, video games. Angst is prevalent throughout the comic, and the girls Piro and Largo meet are all depressed. In fact, everyone in the comic seems to suffer from depression.

The story moves slowly, which a hindrance since important plot points can be forgotten. But Gallagher’s sketchy manga look is fun to look at, and the story is interesting even if it is moving at glacier speed.

Penny Arcade
Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins
Gamer/Humor
R

If you don’t know Penny Arcade, then you have never read webcomics, and you probably aren’t a big gamer, either. Penny Arcade is one of the most successful comics online. It began as a gag strip commenting on recently released games and hardware, a formula that the creators haven’t wavered from much. Tycho and Gabe, The alter egos of Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins, live within the comic universe and comment about games, politics, and life.

Penny Arcade has grown to include the charity Child’s Play, dedicated to providing children’s hospitals with playthings, and PAX, a gaming expo that has gotten a lot of press in the gaming world since the death of E³.

The comic’s early years aren’t bad, but it is not until around 2000 that it became laugh out loud funny. Though a lot of the jokes are about games and gaming culture, you don’t need extreme knowledge of the subject to get the jokes. The humor is crude, unforgiving and sometimes distasteful. I love it.

Rob and Elliot
Clay and Hampton Yount
Humor
PG-13

Rob and Elliot is wacky. There is no other way to describe it. Rob and Elliot, the two main characters, are a couple of roommates that have crazy situations happen to them. That is the whole premise of the comic, as far as I can tell. There is no real story, though the Younts try to push one from time to time. However, those little blurbs of continuity are bland compared to the self-contained strips. The comic works great as a gag strip, and the humor is off the wall.

Sacred Pie
Phil Shaw
Sci-Fi
PG-13

Three friends, Sid, Roonas and Bob, zap themselves to the future after a mysterious man dies on their carpet. Lots of explody adventuring ensues.

Like many sci-fi heroes, the boys are fighting a force that could destroy the universe. In this case, it is Lucifer who hunts the boys for the Sacred Objects that they are protecting. If the objects fall into his hands, he can escape from hell.

The artist only posts one or two comics once a week, so I tend to let them pile up for a month before I read them. Without doing that, the story doesn’t flow well, since every page of the comic needs the support of previous and following pages.

I would call this comic “epic.” The story is very involved, with twists that can give you a headache. There are so many elements to the story that the creator has made a map, an index of races of aliens, and side stories to help enhance and explain the main story. It is fun to read, and one of the few that I enjoy that has lots of fighting, gun-slinging and explosions.

Sluggy Freelance
Pete Abrams
Fantasy/Humor
PG to PG-13

Sluggy Freelance is a comic that many other webcomic artists look up to. The main story is about four friends, Torg, Riff, Zoe and Gwynn, the homicidal rabbit Bun-Bun, the ADD ferret Kiki, the alien Aylee, and the insane situations that find them. I’m not kidding when I say insane. There are more plotlines in this story than you can count on two hands. A lot of these are “dangling,” or unfinished.

The story has elements of fantasy, sci-fi, real life, adventure and horror. All of this is a little tongue in cheek, and angst is rare in the comic.

The archives are huge, since Abrams has been posting daily for almost a decade. It would take two weeks to get through the whole thing without coffee and insomnia. The first six months of the comic are bland, and the art is awful. But it is a page turner by mid-1998, and the art becomes much better over time. There are a couple of storylines that detract from the main characters: "Gofotron", and "Oceans Unmoving" (a storyline that went on for more than a year that had little to do with the main characters). For the most part though, the story is excellent.

Something Positive
R K Milholland
Dark Humor/Real Life
R

Sarcasm and cynicism are Something Positive’s themes. Every post of this comic has a dose of one or the other (or both) and the comic’s main character, Davan, is the epitome of the jaded late-twenty-something guy.

The comic is about Davan and his friends living out their lives in Boston. Though the strip is humorous, it is a very dry humor; the kind said with a straight face that makes people cringe. The story is a little twisted, like life from a pessimist’s point of view; only bad things happen, rarely good, and even the good things have a catch.

The only problem that I have with this comic is that sometimes the writer doesn’t proofread his work. Sentence structure sometimes comes out garbled, and there are quite a few typos throughout the archives. But the story is sound, and sometimes can be quite touching.

I wouldn’t recommend this comic to anyone with sensitive views on anything. Almost every religion, political view and sexual desire has been dragged through the mud. But it is an excellent commentary on the meanness of people, and how having friends that genuinely care about you is the only way to prevent depression.

VG Cats
Scott Ramsoomair
Humor/Gaming
R

VG Cats takes a different approach to gaming. Cats Leo and Aeris, the two main characters, enter the games they are playing and parody them. The comics are each self-contained jokes; there is no continuity to the strip. Also, this comic takes a considerable knowledge of games to get the jokes. But if you’re a gamer, the humor is spot on.

Sometimes the comic is graphic. I say even more so than Penny Arcade. If you are squeamish about a joke involving a couple of characters from Super Mario engaging in homosexual acts of love, then this comic is not for you. But if you don’t mind that kind of humor, and you have knowledge of the gaming culture, then I suggest visiting this site.

Demonology 101
Faith Hicks
Fantasy/Horror
PG-13

Demonology 101 is the longest completed story-based comic online. At least, that is what the author says on her main site for this comic. It is a huge comic, standing at 711 pages. The story revolves around a half demon girl, Raven, who is attempting to survive the Powers That Be while attending high school. Not an easy task.

The art is nice, a charcoal effect. And the story is fast-paced and easy to follow. And there is enough angst to fill a teenager’s diary; everything from dead or uncaring parents to evil beings trying to win people’s souls. Demons and humans interact with each other, each trying to pull a fast one on the other. My only complaint with this comic is that the artist’s attempts at humor usually fall flat. Other than that, it is a good read and one available in full.

Smile
Raina Telgemeier
Real Life
G

Smile is the true story of Raina Telgemeier’s dental adventures as a child and the events that were happening at the same time in her life during her ordeals with her teeth. It is an honest portrayal of childhood and of the worries children have.

The comic is still relatively new, and since it only updates once a week it has not gone very far into the plot. But what has been written is lovely, both in art and in story. I have no complaints about this comic. It is polished, interesting, and cute.