Webcomics

Here’s a big list of webcomics, tagged for convenience.

Why you might browse this list instead of another:

• Seriousness and escapism are the prevalent themes here. This means that most characters must have an appreciable rationality quotient, and settings must provide similar plausibility, allowing immersion for the reader. That’s what appeals to my little clockwork brain, and it’s what I’ll attempt to present to fit a variety of likings and moods. Example: silly comedy is allowed, provided it is SERIOUSLY silly comedy.
• No non-porn comic that presents gratuitous, self-serious fanservice will ever make this list. It’s a worse practice than canned laughter, and both are the equivalent of me posting a 10-page essay on the mythologies of beans in the middle of this page. [Seriously, it’s a fascinating topic, but IT DOES NOT BELONG THERE.]
• There also won’t be any porn comics [I’m counting Oglaf as comedy]. Sorry. Try Curvy, it could stand on its mockery of reality alone.
• You already know about SMBC, PBF, XKCD, and etc. Odds these days are you’re less likely to know about Peanuts. The focus here is on stranger and lesser-known things… to the best of my ability to find them, that is.
• Here’s a list of all the tags on this page common to two or more comics, with brief descriptions: comedy, drama, fantasy, young adult, avant-garde, sci-fi, horror, furry, satire, societal, shock, various, philosophical. Happy searching.
• No spoilers. Some comics won’t even have a synopsis, though I’m trying to remedy that without giving readers preconceptions beyond the genre tags.

[A] = adult oriented in an obvious way, and/or particularly offensive. Don’t assume anything here is kid-friendly.

In mixed or gag strip entries, I’ve often linked directly to a single comic that I feel represents the strip best, to give you a quick idea of if it’s the one you’re looking for. Serial comic links go to the first entry or main portal.

http://www.casualvillain.com/Unsounded/ [middle fantasy, drama]

I don’t usually pick favorites, but I’m making an exception for Unsounded. It’s among the most detailed and expansive worlds I’ve seen in works of fiction. Every element is woven with mathematical precision, from the characters’ curses to the mechanics of the magics used. The beginning feels a bit hasty, but after the Wandering Root and the Red Berry Boys’ introduction, you’ll either be hooked, or I might not be the one you should take recommendations from.

 

http://curtailedcomic.com/2013/04/07/flavors/ [comedy, furry]

While attempting to write a synopsis for Curtailed, I ran a search of this page to see if I had already used the phrases “most funny” or “funniest.” I guess that says everything, aside from the terrific wit of it all, and how Curtailed is the best study I’ve ever seen in expressions and body language. Not recommended for the pregnant and people with heart conditions due to extreme adorableness.

 

http://www.oglaf.com [A] [comedy, sex]

Oglaf is a parade of all the ways fantasy concepts could go brilliantly and hilariously wrong.

http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20021104 [fantasy, drama, Studio Foglio, almost all ages]

Girl Genius incorporates a rash of mad scientists, robots, monsters, and powerful ancient entities into one of the deepest, most intricate constructions in fiction. There’s enough lore here for a dozen comics to share.  If Hollywood ever gets a deal on this piece, they’d better do it right.

http://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/48 [drama, comedy, superpowers, spicy food]

Ordinarily I would dig a hole with my fingernails to hide from a superpowers comic featuring skimpy impractical outfits, but the spectrum of characters and complex world rules, and the momentum that’s derived from them, is amazing. There’s a high degree of absurdity, but it somehow feels appropriate here. See the first few pages.

http://www.sdamned.com/2004/03/03142004/ [high fantasy, drama, young adult, epic — yes; I used the word “epic.”]

Thanks to interesting characters and impressive storyboarding, Slightly Damned could take every kitten picture on the internet in an cuteness fight, and probably still have energy left over for some sort of interplanar war.

http://fightthecuteness.comicgenesis.com/d/20030105.html [avant-garde, other]

Dark and galvanizing, Fight the Cuteness is the perfect comic for a bad mood.

http://www.eyeeighty.us/index.html [fantasy, horror, drama]

Eye-Eighty is a gripping story, but I couldn’t tell you what it’s about if I wanted to… and only partly because it wasn’t finished back when I first found it. Imagine Lovecraft with a penchant for surrealism and character-centric graphic novels. If the thought appeals to you, give it a try.

http://dresdencodak.com [comedy, drama, various]

Stick it out through the varied early comics, or skip them until later. Dresden Codak is possibly the most intellectually and aesthetically stimulating entry on this list.

http://templaraz.com/2005/05/26/chapter-1-the-great-outdoors-cover/ [drama, alternate universe?]

Cover page of Chapter 1 of Templar, Arizona. Say goodbye to your friends and family, because writing this great won’t let you go back without a fight.

http://www.housepetscomic.com/ [low fantasy, drama, comedy, furry]

Housepets is an uplifting and complex serial strip of multiple entwined storylines with all of Peanuts’  microcosmically isolated normality plus the mystery, interpersonal depth, and character evolution of some good animes… Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, perhaps. This one’s almost all ages appropriate, which is certainly not to say it’s simple or limited in scope.

http://www.erfworld.com/ [fantasy, drama, possibly satire or philosophical]

“Smart and funny” would be insulting understatements. I don’t think Erfworld can be read without a great deal of reflection on real world culture, but somehow it never breaks its pace. Expect laughter, tears, and to compulsively check for updates.

http://www.stringtheorycomic.com/comics/chapterone/chapterone/ [dark drama, medium-hard sci-fi]

String Theory is so personable, so warm,  so gritty and so bleak. I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes.

http://www.poisonedminds.com/ [unknown, other, hard to classify]

This is Alan Foreman’s front page, which will give you an idea of the talent and dedication behind the strip I mean to link, which begins in humble black and white comedy.

http://www.drunkduck.com/Modest_Medusa/ [comedy, drama]

Modest Medusa is an effective mixture of adventure and humor.

http://gingerhaze.com/nimona/comic/page-1 [drama, fantasy]

Nimona is a young comic about a titular young shapeshifter and the antihero she plagues. Mad science and sharks with breasts!

http://miamaska.tidalcomics.com/?strip_id=0 [drama, sci-fi]

A rare and proper mix of horrific and calming visuals make Miamaska another new comic worth checking in on. Given that the art is excellent and the story is complex right from the start, I hope it meets whatever goals were set.

http://www.plasticbrickautomaton.com/?id=99 [comedy, various, A]

I’m not the biggest fan, but anyone who can drop something like this on the world from out of the blue deserves everlasting respect.

http://www.cubis.ca/index.php?counter=22&a=1 [comedy]

Can You Believe I’m Single is a somewhat lengthy, somewhat broken archive of short, sweet strips.

http://ydoffice.blogspot.com/2010/12/tiny-seeds.html [horror, short]

I don’t know what exactly counts as a webcomic, but this is making the list regardless of taxonomy.

http://catandgirl.com/?p=2003 [comedy, black comedy, societal critique, philosophical, very large archive]

Cat and Girl is a strange comic that crosses a lot of genre lines with a handful of characters.

http://aclownaftermidnight.com/ [horror, drama]

I don’t know quite what to say about this one, or why it’s made my list. It’s a chaotic medley of the serious, the bizarre, and the cliche. It comes together like an elegant patchwork quilt, but with one side longer than the others, and only the deceptive semblance of any comprehensive  pattern. From the way the comic reads, I think it was planned to be just that.

http://www.hackcanada.com/canadian/zines/spacemoose/ [A][comedy, shock]

An old university newspaper strip full of inside jokes, deliberate antagonism, and enthusiastic, witty comic violation of all  available boundaries. You’re almost guaranteed to be offended, so if that isn’t your thing, move along. Otherwise, start at “Calvin and Slobbes.” Or maybe the Toilet Man one.

http://www.bunicomic.com [comedy]

Quiet, cheerful, and fast-paced, with off-beat formulas of depression and irony, Buni is a singular phenomenon.

http://www.earthexplodes.com/comics/058/ [comedy, avant garde]

If you like Buni and Fight the Cuteness, this is your next stop.

http://www.rockpapercynic.com/index.php?date=2012-08-06 [comedy: progressive political, entertainment]

RPC isn’t as well known as it should be. If you enjoy SMBC, TheOatmeal, XKCD and so on…

http://www.hejibits.com/comics/roommate-comics-13/ [comedy]

http://satwcomic.com/america-has-spoken [comedy, world political satire]

http://theoctopusdance.tumblr.com/ [various, comedy, blog-comic]

http://chainsawsuit.com/2009/03/26/strip-182/ [comedy]

http://www.asofterworld.com/index.php?id=46 [black comedy]

Like SATW, A Softer World was almost too well known to list, but there’s still a chance someone hasn’t seen it yet.

http://www.knoxenstein.com/2012/02/10/comic-012/ [dark drama, sci-fi]

It’s been a while since I read Knoxenstein, but if I recall right, it was a rarity; this comic is too disturbing to be done so very, very well.

http://pitchblack.thecomicseries.com/comics/152 [black comedy, avant-garde, various]

Pitch Black is chaotic. It plucks at nerves indiscriminately, inappropriately, or elegantly. It’s an important addition to this list.

http://www.eraoferrors.com/first/ [drama, hard sci-fi, character driven?]

No tentacle monsters spouting pop culture references. No clouds of spaceships full of aliens with ridiculously-proportioned and inexplicable mammaries. This is a hardish, smartish sci-fi already reminiscent of Code Geass’s brighter moments, and though only eighteen pages had been published when the comic was added to this list, it’s worth a bookmark. Jan ’14: link fixed. EoE seems to be doing well!

http://beyondtheveilcomic.com/?p=105 [drama, sci-fi, fantasy, furry]

Beyond the Veil is a well-planned, hard-boiled comic, somehow free of both dry exposition and shameless fanservice… okay, there’s plenty of eye candy, but it isn’t one-sided, irrelevant, or boring.

http://www.sisterclaire.com/index.php?id=1 [drama, comedy, fantasy, zany]

Sister Claire belongs to that strange breed that knows just how much silliness can be put into a serious storyline. It’s like if Monty Python did a webcomic with Claymore’s writers, and you won’t have to read more than a page or two to get a feel for it.

http://www.thepocalypse.com/comics/welcome-to-the-pocalypse [comedy, drama, somewhat defiant of classification]

There’s nothing else like The Pocalypse. I’m not sure it’s even a webcomic; it’s more like a Flash movie series with heavy serial comic elements. It’s about superpowers, mechs, post-apocalyptic survival, mutants, vampires [and not in some numbingly romanticized capacity], zombies, video game elements, antiheroes, possibly aliens, etc, and it’s brilliant.

http://datachasers.thecomicseries.com/comics/first/ [drama, hard sci-fi]

Survive a bit of heavy exposition and backstory, and you’ll be rewarded with the only 3D CG modeled webcomic to make this list. Androids [why isn’t “anthroids” the gender-neutral term?], godlike artificial intelligences, and other vividly imagined and highly detailed elements of speculative futurism await. Just one warning: despite the well-rounded characters and emotional depth, this comic is dry and deadpan. If, unlike me, you don’t need that sort of subtlety to make the funny bits funnier, this may not be your destination. [I’m not so fond of serious-styled fantasy, but if you are, the other comic by DataChasers’ creators is probably also excellent.]

http://www.thenoobcomic.com/index.php?pos=79 [comedy, MMORPG satire, fantasy]

Note the scarcity of video game satire comics in this list [count as of 2014: three] before you evaluate my recommendation for The Noob: I don’t generally like them. This is a hilarious comic that picks up crazy themes from grind games, runs with them, and even makes them funny. The Noob will be of extra interest to Runescape players [both current players and especially those now disillusioned and bitter] or ex/players of any other similar game, but only a scant history with MMORPGs is required. Also see: Elf & Warrior.

http://concessioncomic.com/index.php?pid=20061124 [comedy, drama, occasional shock, low fantasy, anthropomorphic, A]

This is one of the strangest, most varied entries on the list. Its themes range from the lightest to the heaviest, forming a memorable experience to say the least. With so many untied ends at the completion of the comic, it’s bound to be confusing, but strictly hetero guys are likely to find it extra confusing… if you know what I mean. For a few arcs and unrelated entries, this is one of the most disturbing comics on this list, despite how frequently it’s adorable and innocuous. Anyone who can enjoy a furry comic with varied sexual themes shouldn’t miss this story.

http://sarahzero.com/sz_intro.html [avant-garde, freeform poetry, drama, societal critique, philosophical, mindscrew]

Sarah Zero is a fast-paced visual feast which plays by its own rules. This is not an easy storyline to follow — it doesn’t chew anyone’s steak for them — and for that, it’s won a special place in my mind. Don’t walk into this comic with a list of assumptions; if you can give it time, you’ll see something new.

http://www.goblinscomic.com/11092009/ [drama, fantasy, D&D/RPG themes, RPG satire, comedy]

My attempted genre tags fail me again here. Goblins is a strange and glorious mutant. I can’t tell if it began as a gag strip, or if it was a meticulously planned elaborate build-up right from the start. Soundproof your walls, because the later jokes are massive and land nat 20 laughs like they’re playing with loaded dice. Extreme violence warning [or recommendation?].

http://twokinds.keenspot.com/archive.php?p=1 [fantasy, drama, furry, young adult]

I’m dusting off my “young adult” tag for Twokinds: an endearing, slightly dystopian fantasy comic with a focus on ambiance, visual immersion, and the trials of youthful miscommunication. Don’t let that spoil the plotting and wars for you. Also see Slightly Damned.

http://derelictcomic.com/ [horror, sci-fi, drama]

It’s been a while since I’ve added an entry here, but Derelict is entirely deserving of it. It’s exactly what I wanted to find today: a comic with smart and unpretentious characters, unreal with gritty realism, and unafraid to induct its readers through fantastic and detailed scenery instead of dessicated exposition and tired plot devices. Also, monsters.

http://www.feywinds.com/comic.html [drama, comedy, fantasy, freckles]

What the hell’s going on? I thought I didn’t like comedy. Maybe most comedy is just cliche and predictable hackwork, I don’t know. I know that Fey Winds is a great story though. It has a red-haired, freckled protagonist with fox ears and a matching tail, fangs, freckles, and fox ears. What was I talking about? Uh… right. It also has a bright and refreshing sci-fa plot, outstanding characters who are silly only when it’s funny, and delicious squirrels.

[drama, fantasy]

I’d call Strays a best-of compilation of high fantasy tropes. People with tails who can turn into animals are the rule and not the exception, magic isn’t unheard of, and there are possibly demons lurking about.  The story is tidy and well balanced, the characters are full and consistent, and the artwork is meticulous, as you can see from my choice of the fifteen conveniently available banners.

http://www.flightofthebinturong.com/comic/cover [drama, sci-fi]

FotB’s realism, pace, and elaborate setting are exactly what this list was meant to distribute. It’s still a young comic, but  I like the direction it’s taking.

http://noobtheloser.tumblr.com/ [situational comedy, various, DnD]

The comic is Elf & Warrior, but the other sections of the site are also hilarious. The comic follows a destitute and generic pair of fantasy would-be heroes as they diverge further and further from the intentions of their DnD campaign. Also see  Some knowledge of DnD helps, but I’m sure you can pick it up as you go along. Also see: The Noob [artist unrelated, as far as I know].

http://www.bgreco.net/kidradd/comic549.htm#title [drama, situational comedy, retro gaming, entertainment satire, various]

Kid Radd is a serial drama with a storyline that quickly moves from simple comedy to a captivating plot. It’s somewhat Toy Story-styled, and involves the secret lives of old video game characters. The extras and asides, though — like the famous comic which I’ve directly linked — are an exceptional highlight. Note that the link goes to a spot very near the chronological end of the comic. If you continue pressing the “Next” button beyond the Go Your Own Way chapter title, you’ll read the ending before anything else. Also see Oldskooled.

http://oldskooled.comicgenesis.com/ [situational comedy, retro video gaming parody, snazzy typefaces]

Oldskooled is another gag strip inventive and absurd enough to make the list. With powerful, surprising humor and classic characters, it’s sure to amuse 80s and 90s gamers. Don’t miss Pit’s Pet.

 

http://www.bogleech.com/comics/comic46-unmasked.htm [comedy, shock, surreal]

Bogleech is my new go-to source for hilarious body horror.

 

http://maroonedcomic.com/ [sci-fi, drama, comedy]

Marooned is a rapid-fire parade of adventure humor bundled in an unconstrained yet principally sensible sci-fi storyline. One of the brilliant points here is the skill with which the humor and plot advancement stays in beat with the intuitive and regular page layouts [page 63!]. Also see Tom Dell’Aringa’s other comic, Rock and Tin.

 http://destructocon.com/?comic=ten-comics-about-the-last-gas-station-on-earth [comedy, avant-garde]

I had so much trouble picking one exemplary entry from Destructocon that I decided to simply hotlink my bookmark for you. This is comedy, pure and bizarre; it breaks the barriers of rationality and expectation.