Help me find some good comics

[Godskook]

Ok, I'm running out of good comics to read, and some of the good ones I have are in a slump, one way or another. Help me find more!

Right now, my top tier comics are(I'd reread their archives for no reason):

Bob and George - ended, but it deserved mentioning
OotS
Goblins: Life through their eyes
Schlock Mercenary
Erfworld
Girl Genius
Dominic Deegan
Control Alt Delete
8-bit
LFG
LICD
XKCD

Other good ones I've kept up on:

Partially Clips
Anti-heroes
Wapsi Square
The Noob comic
Shortpacked
Help Desk

Good ones I'm considering adding to my home window(16 tabs of comics and growing!):

Yet another fantasy gamer comic
Darths and Droids
DM of the Ring(if it wasn't for the fact it ended before I started reading it)

Finally, comics I've liked but didn't exactly strike a chord with me:

Penny Arcade
VG cats
Stolen Pixels
Black Tapestries
Brickworld Saga
Dc McNinja

Anything to give me more things to read, ideally 100+ comics(but really, good is good, first).

[Lord Seth]

Dinosaur Comics (http://www.qwantz.com/), possibly?

[primarch359]

Digger (http://www.diggercomic.com) is great

[LurkerInPlayground]

CAD strikes a cord with you but not Penny Arcade? CAD is not good by any stretch of the imagination.

You sir, have questionable tastes and are vile behind reproach.

At any rate here are all comics you have not mentioned that I have followed or am still following at this time:


http://www.junglestudio.com/roza/?date=2007-05-01
Updates are infrequent, but the art is good enough to keep my attention and the promise of a story is there for me. I'm waiting to see where it leads.


http://marsh-rocket.com/
The art feels a little *off* to me. I can't place my finger on it. It nonetheless merits my attention for not having an intolerably bad. One might even call it passably good.


http://girlyyy.com/
It's quirky and humorous. That's all that can be said for it. If you didn't like Dr. McNinja, there's no way you'd ever like this.


http://www.drunkduck.com/The_Gods_of_ArrKelaan/
D&D nerd writes a webcomic. The interesting twist is that it's about mortal humans from Earth who become gods. I'm a sucker for stories about pantheons. (e.g. Greek mythology) The art is functional.


http://www.thepaincomics.com/
Technically a political cartoon. Except Timothy Kreider hates political cartoonists and good at drawing in such a way that you'd almost swear he was being mean-spirited to his subject matter. He's unsparing and vicious and tries very hard not to preach.


http://www.evildivacomics.com/
It's a silly little comic. It's chosen setting and objectives make it such that there's only so much you can get out of the story. The artist clearly cares about the strength of her illustrations.

Nonetheless, the story isn't particularly deep. Imagine the Disgaea video games, but a lot more sanitized and less subtle at poking fun at the notion of cosmic card-carrying villains (i.e. demons). It's about as edgy as your average WB sitcom used to be.


http://dresdencodak.com/
He's a transhumanist and there's at least one arc where it shows in a fanfic-ish level nerdery. The bad kind. If that pisses you off, well, hopefully his other work will portray him as a quirky, humorous and well-read all at once. He's clearly better at little vignettes and side pieces than he is at extended plotlines.

Also, he has a thing for cybernetic Japanese chicks, which I find somewhat egregarious. He's also glacially slow even though he does this for a living. Still he's worth a look, because his nerd cred with philosophy and popular science is undisputed and he's actually a pretty good artist.


http://www.webcomicsnation.com/shaenongarrity/narbonic/series.php
Art steadily improves over the lifespan of the comic. Currently completed. I never bothered finishing it for whatever reason. The story is a humorous look at the life of a mad scientist and her computer tech guy.


http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/index2.php
Good art and good story. I think. Tom may be one of those artists with great capacity at implying ideas and concepts within his setting and story but is incapable of cohesive plotting.

Nonetheless, a very good comic and Tom's art has improved leaps-and-bounds.


http://www.rice-boy.com/see/
Okay, remember what I just said about artists who are incapable of extended plotlines? This is that guy. His comic is a medium for pure artistic expression. The problem is that the plot really makes zero sense when it comes down to it. Evan Dahm clearly loves to embellish his setting with little vignettes and details, but when it comes down to it, his story makes no coherent sense at all.

But if you just like wallowing in his little creative flourishes, without expectation of coherent plotting, then he's not a bad read.


http://www.kiwisbybeat.com/minus.html
Basically Calvin and Hobbes. Well. Sort of. It's about a little girl and her imagination.


http://www.boltcity.com/copper/
I'm getting tired of typing. Besides, it's best if you just experience Copper for yourself.

[chiasaur11]

Dinosaur Comics (http://www.qwantz.com/), possibly?

Seconded.

Also seconded:

The comments RE: Liking CAD. Let alone liking it more than Penny Arcade and Dr. Mcninja.

For SHAME good sir.

[T-O-E]

Okay, remember what I just said about artists who are incapable of extended plotlines? This is that guy. His comic is a medium for pure artistic expression. The problem is that the plot really makes zero sense when it comes down to it. Evan Dahm clearly loves to embellish his setting with little vignettes and details, but when it comes down to it, his story makes no coherent sense at all.

Yeah, but it's still good.
I remember reading the entire archives (450 comics) in two hours.

Dialogue's definitely his strong point, all the characters have distinct voices.

I don't really see how anyone can like CAD.

[LurkerInPlayground]

Seriously man.

A protagonist who heals with one hand and takes life with the other? One who is torn between the compulsion to save and to kill?

How is that not made of awesome?

[chiasaur11]

Seriously man.

A protagonist who heals with one hand and takes life with the other? One who is torn between the compulsion to save and to kill?

How is that not made of awesome?

I dunno. Maybe where he fights dinosaurs?

No, wait. That's awesome. As is...

Every single comic. Dr. McNinja is a sign there is a good God who wants us to be happy. Who is also a big fan of ninjas.

[Lord Seth]

Regarding Dresden Codak and Minus, I'd say that Minus is pretty much a Dresden Codak that knew what it was. Minus knows it's a silly comic. None of the characters have any personality whatsoever; I don't even know what the personality of the main character is. Heck, one-shot characters have the most personality, like "Angry Guy" or "Sad Girl". But hey, it works, because it's just a silly comic that doesn't ask you to take it seriously. The ending proves that.

Dresden Codak was like that, but then the author decided that even though the characters have no personality whatsoever, and I have no reason to care about them, it would be a smart idea to make a story arc about them. Even though the story arc was confusing as heck and I couldn't even figure out what was going on. Now, if the characters are interesting enough and I care about them, I'll go along with even a weak plot, but Dresden Codak didn't even have that. I'll say it again: None of the characters have any personality. At all. Many times, people complain about Ctrl+Alt+Del having characters with little personality, but at least they have personality. Dresden Codak doesn't even have that.

Dresden Codak worked okay when it was just one-shot strips that were silly (though I still wasn't a particularly large fan of it), but you can't make me care about it when 1) The characters have zero personality, 2) The plot is uninteresting and confusing, and 3) You update on an average of once every three weeks.

Whoops, I lapsed into yet another Dresden Codak rant...anyway, that's why Minus is better than Dresden Codak. It never asked you to take it seriously because it wasn't meant to be. Dresden Codak made the mistake of asking you to take it seriously.

[Godskook]

Wow, what's with the CAD hate? His characters are well fleshed out and develop over time in a way that is both enjoyable to watch and doesn't change who they essentially are. At present, Ethan is walking into responsibility in a way that proves he is both growing as a person and still Ethan. I like that. Better still, when I went 6 months without internet, CAD was something I could figure out where I left off and pick it back up. That 6 month hiatus killed Penny Arcade for me(I used to follow it devotedly) because there just wasn't anything in it to give me an idea where I used to be(I'm not talking about date tags, I'm talking about the comic design). If I had to pick, I'd say CAD was better, but only by an amount that was smaller than what estimates place my personal bias at.

While PA may be fine, Dinosaurs Comics needs to be killed. With fire. This is a public service announcement.

[LurkerInPlayground]

Rant.
Oh, don't worry about going on too long. The reason I wrote more about Dresden Codak than most of the others on that list is because I have similarly strong views. And I do appreciate you articulating my position for me.

Nonetheless, I feel Aaron is making a "return to form" if you would, with his Kimiko really being more a semi-permanent mascot, which I can live with. He has a thing for nerdy Japanese cyborgs and clearly invests too much of himself in her, but I'm willing to grant him his Mary Sue so long as he keeps to what he does best.

Of course, I could be utterly wrong and he's just in between major story arcs about Kimiko, the John Galt of Transhumanism. (Prometheus Shrugged)


Wow, what's with the CAD hate? His characters are well fleshed out and develop over time in a way that is both enjoyable to watch and doesn't change who they essentially are.
I disagree.

Nathan is an annoying jackass who runs around and acts like an idiot and receives unconditional love. His girlfriend is just a girl who plays game.

Basically, he follows the stereotypical gaming comic formula: Wacky guy. Straight man. Girl gamer. Thing/mascot.

When the miscarriage happens to Nathan's girlfriend, this doesn't cause him to consider his larger responsibilities as a potential father. Nope. He goes right back to being a wacky jackass who acts like an idiot that receives attention. Any kind of attention.

Then if we were to say . . . accuse Nathan of being a Mary Sue for Tim Buckley, the implications of how bad CAD is taken to an entirely new level.

Penny Arcade knows what it is. It's a comic about two guys who can have any personality they need to in order to make a joke operate. They're not about character development or ongoing stories. They're caricatures. Which ironically, often have more personality that Buckley's characters. If for some reason, Mike or Jerry wanted to do deep drama, they'd make one without using their Penny Arcade franchise.

Speaking of which, Buckley doesn't know how to tell a joke. He explains the joke to you rather than implying it. He also chases gaming fads that you could pick up on by following the hype on review sites. He doesn't actually have any insight into the gaming industry or meaningful opinions about what he thinks about this or that game. His art never improves. He uses templates to draw. His community is composed of synchophants that Buckley lives off of the adoration off.

He's exactly opposite of everything that makes Penny Arcade good. (Yes, Mike and Jerry literally ignore their forum and avoid going into it.)

[Lord Seth]

Wow, what's with the CAD hate? His characters are well fleshed outNo.

I don't hate Ctrl+Alt+Del, and actually did have some fun reading through the archives (there were enough strips I found funny to keep me going), up until the infamous miscarriage, but that's another rant. I think a lot of the attacks on it are exaggerations. However, the fact remains that his characters have very little personality. I simply do not see any way that can be disputed. Lack of personality does not make a comic bad, but don't try to defend a comic by saying it has something it doesn't.


While PA may be fine, Dinosaurs Comics needs to be killed. With fire. This is a public service announcement.Why? It's a funny enough comic.

[T-O-E]

Wow, what's with the CAD hate? His characters are well fleshed out and develop over time in a way that is both enjoyable to watch and doesn't change who they essentially are. At present, Ethan is walking into responsibility in a way that proves he is both growing as a person and still Ethan. I like that. Better still, when I went 6 months without internet, CAD was something I could figure out where I left off and pick it back up. That 6 month hiatus killed Penny Arcade for me(I used to follow it devotedly) because there just wasn't anything in it to give me an idea where I used to be(I'm not talking about date tags, I'm talking about the comic design). If I had to pick, I'd say CAD was better, but only by an amount that was smaller than what estimates place my personal bias at.

While PA may be fine, Dinosaurs Comics needs to be killed. With fire. This is a public service announcement.

You like CAD and hate Dinosaur Comics?

You have like my exact opposite taste in webcomics.

[EENick]

If you like fantasy and don't mind some mild adult content Errant Story (http://www.errantstory.com) is pretty good.

Zebra Girl (http://zebragirl.keenspot.com) is one I read but it updates slower then molassis in January. Starts off kind of goofy but the characters are developed pretty well and its a fun ride.

It is kind of out of left field but I also like The Super Fogeys (http://www.th3rdworld.com/web-comic/The-SuperFogeys) if you think super hero parody sound good but I admite sometimes it is hit and miss with me sometimes.

I'm very bias of course but I also highly recomend my own comic which you can find in my signature.

[LurkerInPlayground]

Zebra Girl (http://zebragirl.keenspot.com) is one I read but it updates slower then molassis in January. Starts off kind of goofy but the characters are developed pretty well and its a fun ride.
Yes. I totally forgot that one. Jack is faraway my favorite character in Zebra Girl (forget Sandra and her emo-angst).

The Magi-Net story is easily my favorite, since it marks a significant turning point in Zebra Girl's strengths as a webcomic but also because it has one of the best damned depictions of magic in fiction I've seen. It reminds me a bit of Mage: The Ascension, Sandman and Planescape: Torment. And that's a good thing.

[Lord Seth]

Nathan is an annoying jackass who runs around and acts like an idiot and receives unconditional love. His girlfriend is just a girl who plays game.

Basically, he follows the stereotypical gaming comic formula: Wacky guy. Straight man. Girl gamer. Thing/mascot.

When the miscarriage happens to Nathan's girlfriend, this doesn't cause him to consider his larger responsibilities as a potential father. Nope. He goes right back to being a wacky jackass who acts like an idiot that receives attention. Any kind of attention.

Then if we were to say . . . accuse Nathan of being a Mary Sue for Tim Buckley, the implications of how bad CAD is taken to an entirely new level.

Penny Arcade knows what it is. It's a comic about two guys who can have any personality they need to in order to make a joke operate. They're not about character development or ongoing stories. They're caricatures. Which ironically, often have more personality that Buckley's characters. If for some reason, Mike or Jerry wanted to do deep drama, they'd make one without using their Penny Arcade franchise.You know, while I agree with you and I think your points are correct, it makes you look rather ignorant if you can't even get the main character's name right.

[EENick]

Yea I agree about Zebra Girl and the Magi-Net story being the high point of the series at least thus far. They really need to get out of the current story arc and get on to something else or at least update more often.

[Tempest Fennac]

Ozy and Millie, http://www.ozyandmillie.org/d/19980429.html , finished last year, but it's my most favourite webcomic ever. Newshounds 1, http://www.newshounds.com/nh1/19971101.html , is great, as is Funny Farm, http://www.funnyfarmcomics.com/ (FF finished last August, but the authour has started posting all the comics from the first one while putting some prequel comics in as well).

[Sholos]

Sluggy Freelance (www.sluggy.com)
link to the beginning (http://sluggy.com/daily.php?date=970825)

Don't let the length scare you off. It's definitely worth the time it takes to read it.

Also, let's try to keep the thread concentrated on recommending good comics, alright?

[Ravens_cry]

I super enjoy Misfile (http://www.misfile.com/), a stroy of a pothead angel who screws up the cosmic paperwork, and has one guys gender changed, and a gals life rewound 4 years. Also about car racing.
The Whiteboard (http://www.the-whiteboard.com/index.html). I know nothing about paintball, yet I still enjoy this furry romp of misadventure and caffeine. Drama, and hilarity, ensue.
The many furry comics of RHJunior (http://www.rhjunior.com/)
Yes, he is rather political. But when he gets off his stump, he can tell a great story, both with drama and humour.

[Rockphed]

Art steadily improves over the lifespan of the comic. Currently completed. I never bothered finishing it for whatever reason. The story is a humorous look at the life of a mad scientist and her computer tech guy.
Narbonic is currently being replayed with artistic commentary. She is also running another comic (http://www.webcomicsnation.com/shaenongarrity/skinhorse/series.php) with writing by some other guy. The end of Narbonic is pretty good, so finishing the whole thing is enjoyable. The arcs just tend to take between 6 months and a year.


Good art and good story. I think. Tom may be one of those artists with great capacity at implying ideas and concepts within his setting and story but is incapable of cohesive plotting.

I'm not so sure that Gunnarkrigg court is as incohesive as you say. Yes, there is very little connection between the chapters, but each chapter has a full plot of its own. Either way, the whole thing just sucks people in. One important thing to remember is that the art improves by leaps and bounds over the course of the strip. You can still see the original artwork in the current artwork, but, for instance, the main character started out with a head like a football. It is now pretty normal looking.

[eee]

GUNNERKRIGG COURT

Good art and good story. I think. Tom may be one of those artists with great capacity at implying ideas and concepts within his setting and story but is incapable of cohesive plotting.

Not sure about the lack of cohesive plotting part. Everything seems to hang together, and Mr. Siddell has said he knows where he's going with this and how to get there. But maybe you're right. We'll see.




Nonetheless, a very good comic and Tom's art has improved leaps-and-bounds.

(nod, nod) Annie's head no longer looks like a football.

Now, some of mine. And synopsises (synopsi?)

http://www.sisterclaire.com/ Sister Claire Claire is a young novice in an a monastery of sisters... and a perpetual screwup who inadvertantly causes trouble where-ever she goes. One night as she's in the bathroom tearfully wondering why she's such a failure, she begs God to send her a sign. In response the toliet she's on blows up in a rush of cloud (?) sending Claire flying across the room; and out steps a beautiful, blue skinned, business suited female angel. Who tells Claire the world is going to Hell in a handbasket, and needs a savior. Which is where she comes in. Claire explains she doesn't think she's up to the task of saving the world... whereupon the amused angel tells her she doesn't have to be the savior, just give birth to him. And after that, things get REALLY weird. Serio-comic (but mainly comic), with good but cartoony color art that you have to watch closely; the artist loves including oddities and jokes in the background (in one scene set in a crypt, in the numerous alcoves cut into the walls, we see not only deceased nuns, but also various Muppets, all layng in state)

http://www.pholph.com/ Jack It's furry. It's often x-rated, violent, and horrific, as befits Hell and the things that can get you sent there. It's also suprisingly absorbing and thought provoking. And if you're still reading this... the title character is deceased and in Hell, not only damned but even made into the embodiment of Wrath, one of the seven Deadly Sins (who in the Jackverse function as Princes of Hell, only one step down from Satan). What Jack did to 'earn' this, he doesn't know, he has no memories of his earthly existance. And he considers himself blessed in this; only the absolute worst of the worst of the worst becomes a Sin and Jack, who comes across as a suprising decent sort, compassionate and just, has no wish to know what sort of monster he once was. Besides, he's in enough torment as is. As part of his damnation he doubles as the Grim Reaper, and is constantly having his nose rubbed in the grief and pain that death - especially violent death - causes. Then, something unexpected happens, and Jack's memories begin very very slowly coming back. And the question becomes, as he remembers more and more, can he - even with the help of a concerned angel - overcome the internal demons that made him what he was before and maybe even find redemption; or is he doomed to be an even worse monster than ever? And while that's going on, he still has to deal with mortals, their stories and deaths; handle the machinations and misdeeds of his fellow Sins, almost all of whom hate him for trying to enforce the rules; and try to prevent unneccesary suffering on the part of the damned souls around him. Extremely serious comic, with art that started off rough but has improved greatly. Mainly B&W, but occasionally color

http://www.pawn.se/index.html Pawn This is CUTE! And SWEET! And has lots and LOTS (Baalah never wears clothes, and Ayanah's skirt is WAY too short) of female nudity! Although it's not very graphic. And the strip is updated on the order of maybe once a year. But still... On a dungeon crawl, the cute and very very clever scholar Ayanah enters the main treasure room of the lowest level of a really massive dungeon... and is immediately confronted by the room's guardian, the gigantic and intimidating (but not very evil, and pretty darn attractive herself) demoness, Baalah. In short order, through a variety of tricks (told you she was clever), Ayanah makes the at first perplexed, then furious, and ultimately accepting but resentful Baalah her slave, shrinks her to human size, links their souls, and breaks the magical bonds that have kept Baalah locked in the room for thousands of years (Ayanah knew Baalah was stuck down there; rescuing her from loneliness and isolation was her goal). And, if she and Baalah can leave the dungeon and reach the surface in time, she's got another pleasant suprise up her sleeve for the demoness. But time is short, they are days worth of walking and stair climbing from the exit, there's the risk that the blackness in Baalah's soul might overwhelm Ayanah's, there are traps and troubles along the way, and - although they don't realize it - they're not alone down there. But the two women start off and, slowly, start to get... closer... Comic with some serious moments, REALLY nice B&W art

http://www.earthsongsaga.com/comic-redux/redux1.html The Earthsong Saga A young woman wakes up under a tree with no idea where she is, how she got there, or - most disturbingly - who she is. And as if that weren't bad enough, she next finds herself caught up in a battle between two groups of diverse, extraordinary beings with amazing powers, all of them fighting over... her. The winning side takes her to see the beautiful and benevolent living embodient of the planet on which they're standing - Earthsong - who explains what's going on (a war between two sides with very different agendas; one might even say, between good and evil). Why the young woman - who they wind up calling Willow (as good a name as any) - is there (it's complicated; she was basically teleported in from her home world to save her life). And how she can help the fight or return to safety, her choice, she's got a month to decide before they can send her home. Which answers her questions, although she still can't remember anything before she woke up under that tree. However, as her potential allies learn more about Willow, they come to realize that she is like nothing they've ever seen before, and soon have a question of their own: Just what IS Willow? (It's a subject of considerable speculation on the comic's fan forum, too. No clear answers so far). Serious drama/mystery, with gorgeous color art

http://www.tryinghuman.com/index.php?view=index Trying Human A young woman is having odd sleepwalking and memory loss episodes. Concerned, she consults a therapist, who puts her under hypnosis. And under hypnosis, she remembers being called in the middle of the night up to the roof of her apartment building by a compelling voice that put her in a trance; being taken somewhere and given an odd physical exam by people she can't visualize clearly; and then being returned to her apartment. But along the way she encounters another of the mysterious persons behind all this, one to whom she feels a strange attraction, even though she can't see his face. The therapist is able to focus her memory, and she suddenly sees... that the 'person' is actually a tall Grey. She's being abducted by aliens. An idea she pooh-poohs, when released from hypnosis. The therapist is less dismissive, but in the face of the woman's scepticism, doesn't press it. He does, however, give her a suggestion; that if this ever happens again, she focus all her energy on waking up from her trance before the exam and she's forced to forget. "Yeah, right!" she mutters, before going to sleep that night. And then, the Call comes again... All of which ties in somehow to a blonde WAC in 1950 on a military base in the southwestern US who was part of an investigation into a crashed flying saucer (and the sole survivor), and who was shot for unknown reasons . Interesting mystery/drama, with good but slightly cartoony color art.

http://www.lfgcomic.com/page/1 Looking for Group A sword and sorcery saga, distinguished by interesting situations, good characterization... and Richard, a spectatularly evil, mysterious, and powerful undead warlock with a manical and even demented sense of humor and whimsy, all of which you'll have to see to believe and which it's almost impossible to describe. And what's even weirder is, he's on the side of the good guys! Mainly because it's more entertaining... serio-comic with bursts of satire and inside jokes (no more ewoks, ever, please), very very good color art.

http://www.flipsidecomics.com/ Flipside The story of an exuberant, MUCH smarter and more complex than you might believe possible jester-girl/adventurer, and an extremely skilled and honorable female sword-fighter, both of whom get in trouble amazingly often... The adventures and action are entertaining, but it's the relationship between jester Maytag and would-be knight Bernadette that's at the heart of the comic. . Very serious, with very good B&W art

http://www.errantstory.com/comic.php Errant Story Set in a world of extreme magic, politics, and tense race relations. Meji is a young, beautiful, intelligent female half-elf with a lot of problems (she's never seen her Elf father, who probably doesn't even know she exists; her ditzy human mother doesn't pay much attention to her; her rich and politically powerful human grandfather does, but mainly to insist she live up to his standards; she's the only half-elf in her city, she can't find a boy she likes, she's got behavioral problems which, combined with her skill at destructive magic, makes everyone treat her like a walking time bomb... and her 'familiar' is an acid tounged talking cat who chides and insults her constantly and who none of her spells can destroy). But her biggest problem is she's about to flunk out of school - which her grandfather would NOT like - and her only hope is to put together a Senior project so awe inspiring her instructors will have to give her an "A". Which is almost impossible. In fact, she muses, she'd have a better chance being a... Aha. And so Meji stands up in class and annouces her intention to become a god. Everyone laughs. But Meji actually has a clue as to how to do so and sets off on a quest. Along the way she meets Jon, a gunslinger/assassin with a weakness for damsels in distress, even if they are scary little devil girls; Ian, a young male half-elf with goals similar to hers, although for nobler reasons (and who makes her heart go pitter pat); and Sarine, an Elven ranger charged with secretly hunting down and killing half-elves, who most full blooded Elves regard as monsters (Sarine is NOT like most Elves, though, and usually does her job by not doing it, warning the half-elves she comes across to run and hide. Those whose mental instabilities don't make them dangerous, that is). And between the four of them they start a chain of events that will change their world. Or maybe destroy it... Dark, serious comic with bits of humor, especially in the repartee between the characters (Jon and Sarine play off each other especially well). Very good B&W art

http://flakypastry.runningwithpencils.com/index.php Flaky Pastry The funny adventures of three roommates - genius goblin girl Nitrine, super-chaotic super-Elf Zintiel, and "I am NOT a cat-girl!" Marelle - who cause havok (both intentionally and otherwise) as they live in a city of magic and technology. It may not be deep, but it's loads of fun. Comic comic, with very nice color art

http://egscomics.com/ El Goonish Shive Yeah, I know all the criticisms of it. But what can I say, I love the characters and can't give them up. Mainly comic story with serious moments and arcs, rather nice B&W and color art

[High-Chancellor]

As a note for all Zebra Fan's:

Since Joe changes his update style to partial pages, he's actually been updating more like room temperature molasses, perhaps even slightly faster! Rather than slower than molasses. I am satiated that there is a progression happening.

Zebragirl is good stuff. I am sad that it was dying for a while. Hopefully nothing happens to finish it off.


As far as Gunnerkrigg goes... I think the problem isn't so much lack of cohesive plotting, it's an excess of convoluted story detail and side-stories. Which I like, and most other people seem to like also... even though they do get frustrated by it.

[Godskook]

Hey thanks everybody. Hopefully I'll find some that fit my tastes. I appreciate it.


However, the fact remains that his characters have very little personality. I simply do not see any way that can be disputed. Lack of personality does not make a comic bad, but don't try to defend a comic by saying it has something it doesn't.

I made two assertions:

1.Well fleshed out. Ethan and Lucas, in particular are incredibly explicit personalities. I can take what I know about them now and make guesses about their future actions that still sound reasonable when I find out what the author was intending, which is in stark contrast to PA characters.

2.Developing. Can you really read the latest comics without seeing that Ethan is different than he was at the start of the strip? Is Zeke still the innocent and obedient bot he was created to be? Is Scott still the recluse he was during Ethan's greatest reigns of terror?

I'm not sure what you mean by 'lack of personality' but going by the Answers.com version, I'd say CAD characters definitely do. I've known people who act like that.

Wait a sec....why are you responding to that? At that point, you hadn't even mentioned CAD.

-----------

@Lurker, good points, generally.


Then if we were to say . . . accuse Nathan of being a Mary Sue for Tim Buckley, the implications of how bad CAD is taken to an entirely new level.

I like reading about marysues, if done to my standards of 'well'. One piece, Erfworld, Batman, SchlockMercenary and others. I don't tune in to see if the hero wins, but rather to see how the hero wins. If you don't like a marysue, I'd expect you to hate CAD, but Ethan is supposed to be one.

On the other hand, complaining about the marysue-ness of CAD while praising PA is rather hypocritical since the PA main characters have Bugs Bunny level powers.

[GoC]

Most of the good ones have been mentioned but I thought I'd add two.

Charby the Vampirate. (http://www.drunkduck.com/Charby_the_Vampirate/index.php) Nice comic. Here's a stolen description:
"Charby is sort of a gag day monster house comic that grew into a full comic with a deep story line. It’s got lots of dark humor, a fair bit of violence and a lot of characters. If you’re looking for something that is funny, tries to avoid vampire cliché and has a lot going on Charby is a great comic and I recommend it but to be fair I'm totally bias. It doesn't just feature vampire but a wide variety of other creature too like Alps. The art is rough at the start but now its is really, really good."

Sandra and Woo. (http://www.sandraandwoo.com/) Funny and lighthearted. I enjoy it.

[T-O-E]

1.Well fleshed out. Ethan and Lucas, in particular are incredibly explicit personalities. I can take what I know about them now and make guesses about their future actions that still sound reasonable when I find out what the author was intending, which is in stark contrast to PA characters.

2.Developing. Can you really read the latest comics without seeing that Ethan is different than he was at the start of the strip? Is Zeke still the innocent and obedient bot he was created to be? Is Scott still the recluse he was during Ethan's greatest reigns of terror?

I'm not sure what you mean by 'lack of personality' but going by the Answers.com version, I'd say CAD characters definitely do. I've known people who act like that.

You can sum up anything about any CAD character in just two words. There's no depth.
Wacky one, fat cynic, girl gamer, evil robot, random chef etc.

[BRC]

Concering CAD. Buckley is a decent comedian and his art is more than adequate for a webcomic. He built up his fan-base with the Penny-Arcade formula, namely making one-shot jokes about video games. Yeah, it's the same thing PA does, but theres no reason to not have multiple such comics, provided he's making different jokes about video games. He has a cast of characters that works for telling jokes.

However, the problem is that he seems to think he is a brilliant storywriter. So, rather than doing funny things concerning games, he decides to take these characters and make a big story with them. However, That's not what people are reading for, people are reading because he says funny things about video games. He likes to think he is alot more versitile than he is, he likes to think that not only can he make people laugh, but that he can make people really care about these characters. As he has gradually abandoned Jokes in exchange for Drama, the comic has gotten worse. Exhibit A: The Infamous Miscarriage. What should have been a highly dramatic scene fell flat and has become the universal symbol of failed webcomic drama. Why? Because these characters arn't meant for drama, they are meant to make us laugh three times a week.

You see, the comic dosn't know how serious it wants to be. On one hand, they've had Ethan building a fully-functional Artificial intelligence robot out of an Xbox, with stuff he apparently had laying around the house. They had him hallucinate meeting the gods of gaming and creating a church around them. Said church started working with very little trouble. Now, all these things are fine in a silly comic about gaming, and Buckley did them well. They fulfilled their purpose: To entertain.

Now however, we are expecting to care and sympathize with this guy who built a robot out of spare parts, and successfully founded a religion, is struggling to run a small buisiness. A character learning responsibility by struggling to run a game store is, not in of itself, a bad story idea, but Buckley's method for handling it appears to be "Make abunch of comics where Ethan is really stressed", rather than working it into jokes or explaining why he is stressed.

For an example of a comic that successfully combines serious plot and humor, look at OoTS, or Schlock Mercenary. They manage to make you feel for the characters, while at teh same time remaining funny, making them Great comics.

As for why CAD is so hated, it's because it fell. Back when it was being funny, it was a Very Good comic, and built up an appropriate fanbase. Now that it's a mediocre drama, it retains that same fanbase. Noting attracts Hate faster than somthing with a disproportional popularity to it's actual quality.People look at the current way CAD is going, and decide it doesn't deserve it's popularity, so they hate it.

[T-O-E]

As for why CAD is so hated, it's because it fell. Back when it was being funny, it was a Very Good comic, and built up an appropriate fanbase. Now that it's a mediocre drama, it retains that same fanbase. Noting attracts Hate faster than somthing with a disproportional popularity to it's actual quality.People look at the current way CAD is going, and decide it doesn't deserve it's popularity, so they hate it.

Actually no. People hate CAD because of the thousands of scandals involving Buckley, and the fact that he rules his forum with an iron fist. If his comic was just bad (and in my opinion it always has been), it wouldn't have gotten the hate it has.

At its best, it's an unfunny cliche. At its worst it's an abomination. Imho.

[Gurped]

Freakangels, by Warren Ellis

well written, well draw, and if you know English accents, the dialogue is fantastic (it's great anyway, but knowing the accents helps)

www.freakangles.com

[BRC]

Actually no. People hate CAD because of the thousands of scandals involving Buckley, and the fact that he rules his forum with an iron fist. If his comic was just bad (and in my opinion it always has been), it wouldn't have gotten the hate it has.

At its best, it's an unfunny cliche. At its worst it's an abomination. Imho.
I have trouble attributing the hatedom to Buckly himself. Mainly because alot of the hate I have seen is directed at the comic, rather than at Buckley (Though I've seen hate for him as well).
If the comic just sucked and always sucked, it would never have gotten popular. Therefore, at some point, the comic must have been good enough to get popular and break out from the thousands of webcomics out there. Plus, I actually got a good deal of amusement from reading some of the earlier strips.

If the comic's quality has never changed, and the only reason people hate it is because of Buckley, why would people direct their hate towards the comic, instead of towards Buckley. The fact that you are a horrible person dosn't mean you can't make a good comic.

No, my theory is that the comic was good and popular. The popularity went to buckley's head, causing him to think "Hey, I'm a popular webcomic artist, I rule over these internet scrubs". At this point he began engaging in internet jackassery and orwell-modding his forums. At the same time, his comics start sucking as he rides the Drama Llama. So he get's a double dose of hate.

[LurkerInPlayground]

I have trouble attributing the hatedom to Buckly himself. Mainly because alot of the hate I have seen is directed at the comic, rather than at Buckley (Though I've seen hate for him as well).
If the comic just sucked and always sucked, it would never have gotten popular. Therefore, at some point, the comic must have been good enough to get popular and break out from the thousands of webcomics out there. Plus, I actually got a good deal of amusement from reading some of the earlier strips.

If the comic's quality has never changed, and the only reason people hate it is because of Buckley, why would people direct their hate towards the comic, instead of towards Buckley. The fact that you are a horrible person dosn't mean you can't make a good comic.

No, my theory is that the comic was good and popular. The popularity went to buckley's head, causing him to think "Hey, I'm a popular webcomic artist, I rule over these internet scrubs". At this point he began engaging in internet jackassery and orwell-modding his forums. At the same time, his comics start sucking as he rides the Drama Llama. So he get's a double dose of hate.
Not remotely. Being successful doesn't mean you've done anything to earn it. I've seen good webcomic artists who probably don't even receive a fraction of the recognition that Buckley does from his fans. The world of business is similar. Sometimes hard work doesn't mean success. While people who have either had more privilege or luck get success.

J.K. Rowling wasn't successful because she is a good writer, she's just an astoundingly fortunate one. She somehow got very good press and exposure to an audience to whom the notion of fantasy literature was a novelty.

The ire Buckley receives isn't that he's merely successful, although that's part of it. It's that he's unabashedly proud of his drivel and is egomanical enough to use his success as way of bullying others into submission. He is almost universally loathed by his "fellow artists."

To nobody's surprise. I'm one of the people who refuse to read CAD out of sheer principle.

[LurkerInPlayground]

@Lurker, good points, generally.



I like reading about marysues, if done to my standards of 'well'. One piece, Erfworld, Batman, SchlockMercenary and others. I don't tune in to see if the hero wins, but rather to see how the hero wins. If you don't like a marysue, I'd expect you to hate CAD, but Ethan is supposed to be one.

On the other hand, complaining about the marysue-ness of CAD while praising PA is rather hypocritical since the PA main characters have Bugs Bunny level powers.
Uhhh. No.

Is Bugs Bunny a Mary Sue for whoever invented the character?

Mary Sues are transparent wish-fulfillment characters. Tycho and Gabe aren't powerful because the authors also want to be powerful. And they're not even all that powerful in the context of their "world" anyway. As they're often screwed-over by supporting characters and frequently murder one another.

Merely being "powerful" does not a Mary Sue make. Batman, Erfworld and Schlock Mercenary have no Mary Sues; as far as I'm aware. They're not intended to have characters that exist as a device that the the author uses to live vicariously. They're not an adjunct to blatant narcissism and delusions of their own perfection.

[escapee626]

I wholheartedly suggest xkcd.com! It is epic hilariousness!

[T-O-E]

To nobody's surprise. I'm one of the people who refuse to read CAD out of sheer principle.

I read it, but only because I hate it. Some of the jokes are so terrible and unoriginal that I actually laugh.

[LurkerInPlayground]

I read it, but only because I hate it. Some of the jokes are so terrible and unoriginal that I actually laugh.
I can understand that, but I can't operate that way. I've stopped reading better comics than Buckley's for having some egregious flaw.

[Gurped]

its intresting how most threads about webcomics can devolve into arguments over Buckley's merits or lack thereof.
irritating too

[Egneil]

Thunderstruck (http://talesfromthevault.com/thunderstruck) : Drama/Modern Fantasy.

White Noise (http://www.wncomic.com) : Sci-fi.

Level (http://www.levelmanga.com/main.php) : Sci-fi. Currently on hiatus, if it's still alive.

I'm not really good at explinations so I won't try.

[Marillion]

http://www.agirlandherfed.com/redone/redo1intro.shtml A Girl and her Fed

http://www.smbc-comics.com/ Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

[Jigsaw Forte]

its intresting how most threads about webcomics can devolve into arguments over Buckley's merits or lack thereof.
irritating too

Scott Kurtz is also a pretty popular target for "It's Popular But it Sucks".

Anyway...

<plug>

Read my webcomic! I put up a new page each week and it's about a vampire stuck on a futuristic deadly reality show!


http://www.lastres0rt.com

</plug>

[DMaster]

OK, first off, can we knock off the CAD hate? Whether you like it or not, the point of this thread is to recommend various comics. If you hate it so much, spout your opinion on some other thread.

Anyway...
Irregular Webcomic (http://irregularwebcomic.net) - this I can't recommend enough. It features a whole bunch of widely varying stories portrayed through use of Lego bricks, mostly involving parodies of numerous archetypes, such as a typical group of fantasy RPG characters, and famous movie franchises, like Star Wars and James Bond. It's absolutely hilarious, mentions lots of real-world science, mathematics and history, and when the varying threads collide, there's no end to the madness that ensues.

Kid Radd (http://www.kidradd.com/) - a video game parody that hits upon the major tropes of practically every type of video game in existence, offers some very interesting insights on the nature of humanity and the games we play while still having a great deal of humor, and while it starts out just being funny, it evolves into a truly epic story. It has long since ended, but I assure you all, mere adjectives could never do it justice.

Sinfest (http://www.sinfest.net) - episodic and primarily meant to be humorous. It's rather interesting in some of its gags that to my knowledge you won't find anywhere else, like the classic fact that God is not only visible (to the main characters at least), he's a bit of a deadpan snarker who keeps putting on giant puppet shows in the sky. Funny, insightful, and drawing you back to the same characters in spite of there being no actual story, Sinfest to me is one for the ages.

Sluggy Freelance (http://www.sluggy.com) - one of the longest-running strips online. A gigantic mix of humor and drama, and among the most well-known examples of a Kudzu Plot (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/KudzuPlot) and of Cerebus Syndrome (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CerebusSyndrome). While its plot is quite perplexing at times, given all the different plot threads and characters not seen in years, it does makes sense if you just bear with it, and it's every bit as epic as some of the other comics mentioned on here. Oh yeah, and one of the mains is a switchblade-wielding rabbit who lives to maim telemarketers. How can you go wrong with that?

[Gadora]

Having done a quick trawl of my Piperka account, I would recommend the following: (I am only mentioning those that are 100+ pages, still updating on a regular basis, work safe, and have not already been mentioned.)

Story+Humor
Accursed Dragon (http://www.accurseddragon.com/)
Dan and Mab's Furry Adventures (http://www.missmab.com/): Title bad, comic good. Also, the writing picks up at about the same point that the art does.
Dumnestor's Heroes (http://www.dumnestorsheroes.com/)
Knowledge is Power (http://www.kip-comics.com/)


Story
Firefly Cross (http://www.drunkduck.com/Firefly_Cross/)
No Rest for the Wicked (http://www.forthewicked.net/):
Skin Deep (http://www.webcomicsnation.com/korybing/skindeep/series.php)


Humor
The Book of Biff (http://www.thebookofbiff.com/)
The Princess Planet (http://www.theprincessplanet.com/)

[SquirrelKing]

There's a new webcomic out there that's just starting up called Dead Heaven. Granted, it's not a funny comic, but rather very dark and mature (ie, blood, nudity, cursing). That said, the art is absolutely top-notch. Check it out, but I wouldn't recommend looking at it at work.

http://www.deadheaven.net

[Meirnon]

Whew! I am glad that this thread isn't dead before I can chime in :smallbiggrin:

Not sure if it's been mentioned yet... but Flipside is invariably a good comic. Over a thousand pages, a good storyline, art that gets progressively better (I don't like/hate manga, mind you), and an otherwise enjoyable read. I got hooked on it and read all of it in a few hours... and I get bored reeeeaaaaal easy, so it's not something you should overlook.
http://www.flipsidecomics.com/

You'll probably want to start at book zero... then again, you might decide book one is good enough to start. It's formatted so that you can read book one and not have to read book zero... but I recommend reading book zero first anyways.

Here's the address for the first page to book zero.
http://www.flipsidecomics.com/comic/book0/fs01pg01.html

If you can get past the art in the beginning, I can almost guarantee you'll love it as much as I have.