One of the most booming media formats of the "web 2.0"-era are webcomics. Everyone seems to read them these days, even if only the super popular stuff like Xkcd or C&H. But strips like those are just one side of the medium and there are some really impressive graphic novels out there published in a webcomic format and available to everyone completely for free.

And who doesn't like free stuff? Over the years my collection of webcomic RSS feeds has grown into three digits and I figured there might be some other enthusiasts or curious ones around here who'd be interested in discussing some of them. So what're y'all reading?


A long time favorite of mine is Guilded Age, a six year running, action-packed fantasy epic with a clever twist which I won't spoil. It shines with great humor and suspense, as it is usually impossible to expect where the story will go next (as demonstrated by the speculation in the often quite entertaining comment section). It is updated at an impressive three times a week.


A relatively recent addition has been Stand Still, Stay Silent, which got a lot of attention lately online for its beautiful visualization of the Indo-European language family tree. The comic itself is set in post-apocalyptic Fennoscandia and focuses on an expedition into the mutant-infested "Silent World". The art and world-building are absolutely stunning, as is the fact that there are new pages several times a week. There is another, finished comic by the same creator, A Redtail's Dream, which is just as amazing but is set in present day and focuses on Finnish folklore. Great stuff for binge-reading in a day.

http://www.minnasundberg.fi/

Haven't looked at it in ages, but one of my favorites years ago was "Turn Signals on a Land Raider." Check it out for some 40k humor.

http://tsoalr.com/?p=1

Looking back its actually pretty funny.

there are a couple i keep track of.
There is saturday morning breakfast cereal. One of the most well known webcomics and which has had steady decline in quality although i still find it enjoyable.
http://www.smbc-comics.com

I've also been keeping track of oglaf for ages. Not quite SFW.
oglaf.com

Unspeakable vault (of doom) is a lovecraft based webcomic. Not teh most active anymore i guess but i still keep track of it.
http://www.goominet.com/unspeakable-vault/

Manly guys doing manly things is the most recent one i started following but to be honest it seems to have peaked early and is now not fun anymore.
http://thepunchlineismachismo.com

optipess is a bit nerdy based comedy webcomic, quite good.
http://www.optipess.com

Business cat is another comedy webcomic.
http://www.businesscat.happyjar.com

i think thats everything

Webcomics seem to be dying as internet video has become the dominant form of internet media. This is also concurrent to the sacrificing of lamesteam comics to marvel studios. Funnies seem to be having a slight recovery because popular social sites like tumblr, instagram, and imgur favor one off jokes in image form.

I've grown very weary of all the story webcomics I've been following as all the authors stop caring or move on and neglect the work they do for free (in favor of something profitable presumably). Would be nice to hear that OOTS, Guilded Age, Prequel, etc, were doing well, but these days I only follow It Hurts regularly.

Webcomics are great! Ones that still update at least semi frequently and are more story-based that I'm enjoying are: Cucumber Quest, Octopus Pie, Unsounded(!), Ava's Demon and Blind Springs.

For more humorous ones: Hark! a Vagrant, Whomp!, MercWorks, ARG!, and Two Guys and Guy are all great. I was also a huge fan of Gunshow while it ran, but Back's been pretty enjoyable so far. Then there's Pictures for Sad Children.

Edit: Some of these are occasionally nsfw, but none of them are normally. I'll try to write up a quick description of them tommarow.

Ava's Demon is great. Hasn't updated in three weeks though. And right at one of the biggest cliffhangers.

Abandoned webcomics are the worst. Really sad if it hits outstanding ones like Daisy Owl or Achewood. Particularly Achewood. At least Goblins is back, after that breakdown its author had.

I can imagine that webcomic artists have to deal with a lot of shit though. Thankless readers demanding more updates, trolls and haters, the ever present problem of monetization... then again there are more options for it than ever, Patreon being a thing and all. Though those strategies all depend on the generosity of the fans (or on their turning off Adblock) and I'm not sure how reliable that really is, speaking as a dirty freeloader. It's not surprising some lose the will to put up with all that.

I like the webcomic Retail, it's about life working in a retail store, dealing with issues like rude customers and that sort of thing.

Before this thread goes down the drain, here's a more or less comprehensive list of webcomics I can recommend (excluding what's been brought up already), for anyone interested:

Strong Female Protagonist - Coming of age story of a superheroine who quit superheroing in order to get a college education; the comic also deals with social issues and the ethical implications of superpowers being a thing.

Spacethrawler - Hilarious Adamsesque (is that even a word? Douglas Adams-like?) sci-fi comedy; but anything by Christopher Baldwin is worth reading.

Existential Comics - Usually involves famous philosophers hyperbolically applying their philosophies to mundane situations. The jokes often require a basic understanding of their theories, but are explained in spoilers at the bottom.

Gone with the Blastwave - Comic poking fun at generic post-apocalyptic warfare scenarios. The art is pretty neat. Extremely unreliable with updates.

Subnormality - Really wordy (and tbh a bit pretentious) but beautifully detailed. Usually pondering the meaning of life and crap, seldomly updated.

Minimum Security - This used to be a neat strip about a girl trying to figure out how to properly fight capitalism, but nowadays all the author is posting is what I assume are designs for educational/propagandistic fliers.

Romantically Apocalyptic - Kinda like Blastwave but it has way fewer jokes, a lot of science=magic bombast that makes no sense and the plot moves at an excrutiatingly slow pace. The art redeems it.

Hark, a vagrant - Makes fun of historical characters and literature.

Goblins - Possibly the most impressive D&D webcomic.

Faraday the Blob - Bizarre stuff happening to an elf, a blob and a magical rabbit. Really love the drawing style.

Awful Hospital - Interactive fiction webcomic made by Bogleech, about a woman's quest to find her baby in a nightmare world filled with ridiculous monster designs inspired by 90s kids toys.

Fans! - About a bunch of nerds repeatedly saving the world in increasingly convoluted plots. Mostly notable for its complex character development. Abandoned/finished(?), and for some reason, clicking on "First" doesn't get you to the first strip and the archive currently broken.

Wizziwig - Tells the traumatic life story of a fictional young hacker who becomes hunted by state and media. The comic's website is dead but you can download a pdf of the first two volumes from the link. You may also know Ed Piskor for his retelling of Hip Hop history in his current project, Hip Hop Family Tree.

Dumm Comics - Dumm Comics features a changing lineup of 7 weekly comics. The most notable one is probably 1930 Nightmare Theatre which ran from 2008 till 2011.

Dresden Codak - I'm not even sure what this comic is about anymore (other than that it's science fiction), but the art is nice.

Abstruse Goose - A cool minimalistic science comic. The humor is more low brow than Xkcd, but also funnier. Unfortunately abandoned since last year.

These may also be worth checking out:
http://www.spaceavalanche.com
http://twistedspeedo.com
http://www.happletea.com
http://www.darklegacycomics.com
http://nedroid.com
http://www.phdcomics.com
http://nonadventures.com
http://www.dumbingofage.com
http://murderbrothers.noobtheloser.com
http://www.out-at-home.com
http://basicinstructions.net
http://www.awkwardzombie.com
http://aikoniacomic.com
http://eqcomics.com

I hadn't even realized how many of these are dead. That's RSS for you.


I dunno, I think it's still occasionally hilarious. The recent one about Mad Max' homophobia was gold.

Poorly Drawn Lines is by far my favorite webcomic. It's extremely simple but the goofy drawings are perfect and the middle fingers get me every time.

http://poorlydrawnlines.com/comic/a-message/