I Never Thought I'd See A Webcomic Complete Its Story Arc

[PeterJS]

I'm new to this forum, but I've been following OOTS since way back in 2004. It's been bittersweet these last months, watching clear signs that Burlew is moving toward wrapping up the story at some point in the near future ("near" in this case probably being several months, or maybe even a year or two, but, you get what I mean.)

At the same time, it occurred to me how remarkable an accomplishment that is.

I've watched dozens, if not hundreds, of serialized web comics I loved end suddenly and unceremoniously (often without any explanation), or putter out into banal shark-jumping nonsense, or give up on the serialized story entirely and shift to weekly one liners (again, often with no explanation at all). It's amazing how Burlew has sustained an engaging (and still funny) story over eighteen years. And it's clear that soon this story will come to a thought-out, and well executed conclusion.

I won't lie and say that every page has been a winner. There have been some that fell flat. But, I've checked for an update once a week, every week, for almost two decades, and I've never done it out of a sense of obligation. I've never, thought "Boy, I remember when this comic was good. What happened?" And that question is almost inevitable for any series (web-comic, tv, or otherwise) that stays in the game more than six or seven years or so.

Burlew got us to care about these characters, and this story. And he managed to sustain that interest for eighteen years, while still delivering reliable laughs. Which is amazing.

And this all started with awkwardly rendered stick figures (they have since become quite elegant) taking weekly pot-shots at a money-grabbing "half-edition revision" on the clunkiest rule set Dungeon's and Dragons ever produced. It was a concept that seemed destined to date itself. I liked the comic back then, but I gave it a year or two, at most. Well, that rule set has been out of print for 14 years. And OOTS is still going strong.

It's wholly remarkable. And I'm sure other folk on the boards have said all this before, but as I read the current page, I just wanted to put it out there, before this all comes to a satisfying, and hard won, conclusion. There will come a Thursday, when I'll check giantitp for an update, and as I read the last panel, I will know this story is over. And I will be sad. Which itself is a testament to what Burlew has accomplished.

[dancrilis]

Well done to The Giant alright - hopefully Order Stickier* is just as good.

As a note 8-Bit Theater (another great comic) did complete also.

*or whatever project The Giant wishes to do (should he decide to have another project).

[KorvinStarmast]

Table Titans: I hope it comes back some day, it's a different look at D&D play and players, but one I certainly enjoy.

Rich has let us in on "how to do a good job in writing a graphic novel" (well, seven of them in a series, with some prequels etc) one strip at a time. And he's pretty good at setting up a joke and delivering it. That's what kept me coming back.

All in all, that's a pretty neat accomplishment.

[PeterJS]

Bit Theater (another great comic) did complete also.

*or whatever project The Giant wishes to do (should he decide to have another project).

True. I remembered 8 bit Theater just a couple seconds after I hit post. That was a good one. There are a couple other examples, here and there. But they're few and far between.

[The Pilgrim]

OOTS is not over yet, and will not be over for at least a couple of years more. I will restrain my accolades until the end happens.

While Mr. Burlew has shown a willingness and a resolve to end his story that is rarely seen on web authors, he has not finished the job yet. He may - God forbids - suffer from an author block or some radical change in his life that forces him to stop. When you are one step from the goal, it's usually when the ground crumbles from under your feet.

Take heart, Giant! We believe in you!

EDIT:
Regarding Mr. Burlew's style, his skill to deliver a joke and still advance the story in each single panel is admirable, and one of his signature moves. He was already praised for it by the author of DM of the Rings more than a decade ago (which is how I ended up here). And he keeps doing it, even though sometimes Elan or Belkar need to stretch it.

Another of his great knacks, in my oppinion, is his capacity to deliver a foreseeable outcome, and still manage to achieve a great effect. The scene of Tarquin revealing himself as Elan's father is a masterful example of that. Everyone saw that one coming, yet the scene was memorable nonetheless. I like that he doesn't needs to resort to cheap shots or forced plot twists to amuse his audience, and that definitely makes him an unique and remarkable author these days.

[Mike Havran]

Don't hex it. Save this kind of praise until the story is actually over. That might take a few years from now.

[Schroeswald]

Bold to say it’ll end in “several months or maybe even a year or two”, last two books took five years each what makes you think this one will be less than half that, two years is a very short amount of time for how much story Rich has got left, it’s gonna end but it’s on a very slow path to ending.

[woweedd]

Well done to The Giant alright - hopefully Order Stickier* is just as good.

As a note 8-Bit Theater (another great comic) did complete also.

*or whatever project The Giant wishes to do (should he decide to have another project).
I think Rich himself has stated he does plan to do another project "if only because I expect food to continue to cost money". Not sure what'd it'd be though....I feel like it'd be another dramady, given his wheelhouse, but i'm pretty sure it won't be D&D, or maybe even fantasy: I feel like, no offense to him, Rich has maybe wrung all the humor one CAN out of fantasy tropes. It'll still probably be parodic in some fashion, i'm not sure of what.

[hroþila]

If we're talking webcomics, I don't think the ending of The Order of the Stick will be more remarkable, memorable or spectacular than the ending of Pictures for Sad Children.

[Quartz]

Another webcomics nearing completion is Gaia, from the author of Sandra and Woo.

[Scottzg]

Cool to see someone else whose been following forever. I've been tagging along since strip ~30, when i read about OoTS in a forum discussing Sluggy.




I've watched dozens, if not hundreds, of serialized web comics I loved end suddenly and unceremoniously (often without any explanation), or putter out into banal shark-jumping nonsense, or give up on the serialized story entirely and shift to weekly one liners (again, often with no explanation at all). It's amazing how Burlew has sustained an engaging (and still funny) story over eighteen years. And it's clear that soon this story will come to a thought-out, and well executed conclusion.


Just wanna address this. I have some comics i absolutely adore that have completed.

Digger (https://diggercomic.com/)is super good and finished ages ago. Wombat digs in to another world while under the influence. You can blast through it in a couple long evenings, and the story is very tight and cohesive.

Narbonic (http://narbonic.com/) starts pretty slow, but the 2nd half is a page-turner. It's about mad scientists. Read it at your leisure, but block off a day once the storylines start getting compelling.

Evan Dahm (http://rice-boy.com/) has made several stories in his surreal world. Vattu is still ongoing, but it's pretty epic and i'm sure he'll finish it.

These are pretty different from OOTS (and not as funny), but they're all tightly written, take place in other worlds, and their story arc was planned well in advance of the day-to-day writing. Quality.

Hope to make some new fans. :smallsmile:

[Werbaer]

Another completed webcomic:
Schlock Mercenary (https://www.schlockmercenary.com/) ended last summer after 20 years.

[Quartz]

Errant Story (https://www.errantstory.com/) is complete and still up.

[rgrekejin]

Another great completed webcomic:
The Adventures of Dr. Mcninja (http://drmcninja.com/) wrapped up in 2017 after a 13-year run. One of my all-time favorites.

[Scottzg]

Another completed webcomic:
Schlock Mercenary (https://www.schlockmercenary.com/) ended last summer after 20 years.

I've taken a couple stabs at schlock and never got in to it. I've heard it's better to start at chapter 10, your thoughts?

Read through Freefall last year. It was great. I mention it cuz it's a similar comic, albeit still ongoing. (now is a good time to read it because the 2nd! story arc recently finished.)


Another great completed webcomic:
The Adventures of Dr. Mcninja (http://drmcninja.com/) wrapped up in 2017 after a 13-year run. One of my all-time favorites.

Can't believe i forgot dr mcninja! Awesome strip.

[knag]

Drowtales (http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?sid=4192) seems to be wrapping up after something like 20 years. I've really enjoyed that one.

[Scottzg]

Errant Story (https://www.errantstory.com/) is complete and still up.

Enjoying this so far. Thank you!

(it reads like a version of Looking For Group that isn't destined for the bad webcomics wiki)

[WanderingMist]

I've watched dozens, if not hundreds, of serialized web comics I loved end suddenly and unceremoniously (often without any explanation), or putter out into banal shark-jumping nonsense, or give up on the serialized story entirely and shift to weekly one liners (again, often with no explanation at all). It's amazing how Burlew has sustained an engaging (and still funny) story over eighteen years. And it's clear that soon this story will come to a thought-out, and well executed conclusion.


Well, if you're looking for other good, funny webcomics that also seem likely to complete their stories, there's Freefall and Girl Genius. Granted, both are ongoing at this point

EDIT:

I've taken a couple stabs at schlock and never got in to it. I've heard it's better to start at chapter 10, your thoughts?

Read through Freefall last year. It was great. I mention it cuz it's a similar comic, albeit still ongoing. (now is a good time to read it because the 2nd! story arc recently finished.)



Can't believe i forgot dr mcninja! Awesome strip.

Didn't notice Freefall was already mentioned but glad to mention it again. For the record, in regards to the comment about its second arc currently finishing, Freefall started in 1998.

[InvisibleBison]

I've taken a couple stabs at schlock and never got in to it. I've heard it's better to start at chapter 10, your thoughts?

I'm not Werbaer, but I am in the middle of rereading Schlock Mercenary, so I figure I'm qualified to answer this question: Starting at book 10 would be a mistake, especially for a new reader. There's a lot of good stuff in the first nine books, and while it's not the most continuity-heavy comic (at least, until the last few books) it does have some ongoing elements and recurring characters that you might not fully understand if you start in the middle. If anything, I'd give the opposite advice - stop reading after any of books 13 through 16, because the comic gets significantly less good as it moves to its conclusion.

[Quartz]

Digger (https://diggercomic.com/)is super good and finished ages ago. Wombat digs in to another world while under the influence. You can blast through it in a couple long evenings, and the story is very tight and cohesive.



It's a great story.

[Mariele]

Damn it, now you've gone and jinxed it! Now Burlew's going to go and drop the comic.

[Corian]

Thirding the mention of Digger (http://diggercomic.com). Still one of my all-time favourites, and I also enjoyed all of Ursula's novels. Summer in Orcus (http://www.redwombatstudio.com/portfolio/summer-in-orcus/) is beautifully whimsical.
Among completed comics, another one I liked a lot was Kaspall (http://www.kaspall.com/).
There were not many comics that I read that died on the vine, actually. One I really regret not seeing finished is No rest for the wicked (http://www.forthewicked.net/).

[Darth Paul]

I only hope for a proper ending, the one the creator intends.

I hope we don't end up with Rich being forced, by time, circumstances, finances, or whatever, to change his plans, but put out some kind of ending in some form just because he would feel disappointed if he himself never got to finish the story. I want him and us to have all the time in the world to see it done as intended, not something like what happened to Joss Whedon.

It still burns me that Firefly was cancelled by Fox after a mere half-season, and it took an entirely other studio to pick it up as a film and give us some kind of ending, a 2-year story arc crammed into a 2-hour movie.

Friends tell me to let it go. No. It still burns me. :smallannoyed:

[Hurkyl]

Thirding the mention of Digger (http://diggercomic.com).
I'll never forget that Digger actually came to a conclusion... due to the fact I took a several month hiatus starting from the penultimate strip expecting to come back to a satisfying archive binge. I never even considered the possibility the strip might be ending!

[Lvl 2 Expert]

I've taken a couple stabs at schlock and never got in to it. I've heard it's better to start at chapter 10, your thoughts?
I'm a mayor mayor big big fan of Schlock Mercenary. On my latest readthrough I paid some attention to where I would start. As I wrote in the Schlock Mercenary thread (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?611335-Schlock-Mercenary-X-The-Mundivore-or-quot-Eat-it-quot/page9) at the time: I figure a good place to start is Book 5, Part III: Handle With Care, 31st of May 2004 (https://www.schlockmercenary.com/2004-05-31). (Yes, in the middle of a book. Trust me. Book six is where the longer arcs become the most important part of the plot, and the second half of book five functions as basically a prologue to that, showing what the world is like before the events of book six.) Book ten is one of the best books, and book eleven is quite possibly the best book. But books six through nine are good too, and starting at this point builds up a lot of the context and characters that may make the reading more enjoyable.

I personally also really like the very early bits, but I understand it's not for everybody. They're very pun based, among other things.


Another great completed webcomic:
The Adventures of Dr. Mcninja (http://drmcninja.com/) wrapped up in 2017 after a 13-year run. One of my all-time favorites.

The other one I'm a mayor mayor big big fan of. I'm still swerving about around webcomics trying to find something that will fill the "two awesome comics to compulsively check all the time"-shaped hole in my life these two left.

I actually think I got to know both of them from the same single blogpost. I think it was a post on Explosm.net (Cyanide and Happiness), although if it was the post doesn't seem to exist anymore. Must have been close to 15 years ago by now.

[JeenLeen]

Sorcery 101 (https://kelmcdonald.com/sorcery-101-chapter-list/) ended. Good urban fantasy comic. She also has another (much shorter) completed urban fantasy comic (different setting) on the same website.
I didn't care for the ending, but it was a legitimate ending.
I also felt it to leave a few loose ends, but I guess the author is still writing in that universe (just the future of it), so maybe it's reasonable some stuff stays untold.

Weregeek (http://www.weregeek.com/) (hard to place in a genre) is close to ending, and the author basically said its main story has sorta has already ended, but she wanted to give it another year-ish of comics to tie up some loose ends in character arcs and give it a proper ending.

But, yeah, I agree with the sentiment. I still feel we have several years to go, though, so I don't feel it strongly, but I like seeing this comic's updates.

[Darth Paul]

I thought Darths & Droids (https://www.darthsanddroids.net/archive.html) had ended very satisfactorily, but then every time it did, a new movie came out... :smallconfused:

[Lvl 2 Expert]

Weregeek (http://www.weregeek.com/) (hard to place in a genre) is close to ending, and the author basically said its main story has sorta has already ended, but she wanted to give it another year-ish of comics to tie up some loose ends in character arcs and give it a proper ending.

But, yeah, I agree with the sentiment. I still feel we have several years to go, though, so I don't feel it strongly, but I like seeing this comic's updates.

Huh, I thought the author had just changed her mind about what kind of comic she wanted it to be, at least two times.

I learn something new every day.

[arimareiji]

Just don't announce the Giant is going to retire tomorrow (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0663.html), okay? (^_~)

[KorvinStarmast]

Friends tell me to let it go. No. It still burns me. :smallannoyed: Good thing that our brown coats are made with Nomex, since it burns me too.
*Sigh*
What could have been ...

[Lvl 2 Expert]

Just don't announce the Giant is going to retire tomorrow (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0663.html), okay? (^_~)

I couldn't if I wanted to, commenting on the update schedule is against forum rules.

[Blue Dragon]

Most of Pixie Trix Comics reach an end, moving some of the characters to a spin-off series. Is only slightly less nsfw than Oglaf (kind of "soft-porn Archie"), but I really like their work.

[Lethologica]

Some other finished comics:
Scurry https://www.scurrycomic.com/scurry-comic
Guilded Age http://guildedage.net/ (I guess they're remastering it now?)
The Phoenix Requiem http://requiem.seraph-inn.com/
Freakangels, Nimona (since taken down)

[pearl jam]

now that you bring it up, i remember that i used to read freakangels long ago.

[Blue Dragon]

now that you bring it up, i remember that i used to read freakangels long ago.

I loved Freakangels, but sadly the site was closed after the comic was finished, what I see as a low blow.

[Hoyce]

...the clunkiest rule set Dungeon's and Dragons ever produced...

Spoken like a man who has never had to calculate THAC0! ;)

We can agree that the comic and story are amazing and that Rich deserves all possible praise and more though. :)

[Kaytara]

I've watched both Rich and the story grow for over ten years now, seen him make it through hiatuses and Sir Thumbsalot's tragic indisposition.

It's pretty damn amazing, yeah. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. *knocks on wood*

[Quartz]

Another webcomics nearing completion is Gaia, from the author of Sandra and Woo.

Gaia has officially ended. And is still up.

[Ranadiel]

To add an old example of a web comic that finished, back in the olden days of web comics, there was Adventurers. A daily JRPG parody comic that lasted for 6 years and over 999 strips (it stopped counting at 999).

[An Enemy Spy]

How many webcomics are there left these days? Seems like in the early 2000s you couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting a webcomic, usually one about two gamers on a couch complaining about the newest Call of Duty. These days there are three webcomics I still follow: OotS, Darths and Droids which is also a pretty long running series, and The Draw Play which is a comic making jokes about football which would be of no interest to people who aren't NFL fans.

[Metastachydium]

How many webcomics are there left these days? Seems like in the early 2000s you couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting a webcomic, usually one about two gamers on a couch complaining about the newest Call of Duty. These days there are three webcomics I still follow: OotS, Darths and Droids which is also a pretty long running series, and The Draw Play which is a comic making jokes about football which would be of no interest to people who aren't NFL fans.

Quite a few, I'd say. Many long-runners, too. I'm currently reading (apart from OotS and Darths&D.) Wilde Life, Mountain Time, xkcd and Soul to Call with some degree of regularity. String Theory's also still around, although it's really slow these days.
Anyhow, I see little reason to start mourning the industry just yet.

[Fyraltari]

Quite a few, I'd say. Many long-runners, too. I'm currently reading (apart from OotS and Darths&D.) Wilde Life, Mountain Time, xkcd and Soul to Call with some degree of regularity. String Theory's also still around, although it's really slow these days.
Anyhow, I see little reason to start mourning the industry just yet.

I don't think you can call webcomics an "industry". It's just a ton of different independent artists.

[Metastachydium]

I don't think you can call webcomics an "industry". It's just a ton of different independent artists.

Eh, as far as I'm concerned small time independent local bakeries make up a fair chunk of the baking industry.
Nyhow, it might not be the best term, but it's a lot shorter than "a ton of different independent artists" so I'll elect to choose brevity and convenience over being hairsplitting-proof.

[KorvinStarmast]

so I'll elect to choose brevity and convenience over being hairsplitting-proof. Where's my like button? :smallconfused:

[nineGardens]

Yeah... seeing OOTS come to an end is amazing, and just... all the story arcs that have woven togeather. Durkon's backstory finally coming out was just.... amazing (previously he had always seemed the most flat, uninteresting character, and then when he finally got the focus it was... wow)



Thirding the mention of Digger (http://diggercomic.com).

Gonna hop on the Digger Bandwaggon, that story is amazing.

Another one I'ld like to add is All Night Laundry (http://www.all-night-laundry.com/).
Its one of the best stories I've ever read, and also managed to be a Completed, interactive, daily, timetravel webcomic. It literally updated every single day for 7 years. Go check it out.

[Trixie_One]

Adding to the pile on reccomending Digger. It really is that good, and is reminicent of places of Sir Terry's fantasy work. Main character is basically a discworld dwarf to some extent while also being a wombat. Then it also never comes off as a pale imitation.

[JonahFalcon]

You're forgetting The Order of the Stick 2: Order Stickier.

[NeoVid]

You know, I didn't realize so many webcomics had successfully concluded. The only one I could think of off the top of my head was Kid Radd (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Webcomic/KidRadd), meaning somehow I managed to forget Digger. And yeah, here's another fan hoping that Order of the Stick joins that small but significant number of webcomics.

[Fafnir13]

Sluggy Freelance, my first webcomic, is still going. Kind of amazing given how many have faded out or simply lost my interest. Girl Genius and Goblins are the only other long form comics that survived since my ever more distant high school days. We’re really lucky to have so many talented artists putting there work out for free anyone to read.

[Taffimai]

Let's see, which ones haven't been mentioned yet? Irregular Webcomic (https://www.irregularwebcomic.net/1.html) finished up a while ago and is now doing a rerun with added commentary, which is great because the annotations are excellent. My favourite completed webcomic is A Miracle of Science (https://project-apollo.net/mos/index.html) though.

[Schroeswald]

Let's see, which ones haven't been mentioned yet? Irregular Webcomic (https://www.irregularwebcomic.net/1.html) finished up a while ago and is now doing a rerun with added commentary, which is great because the annotations are excellent. My favourite completed webcomic is A Miracle of Science (https://project-apollo.net/mos/index.html) though.
Irregular webcomic still makes new comics Monday to Friday with reruns on Saturdays and sundays, the new comics were revived back in 2015, I read them for awhile but fell of sometime in 2020.

[enh]

Personally, I keep checking for Camp Weedonwantcha (http://campcomic.com/) to come back from hiatus. I can't say that I particularly identify with any of the kids -- which is a good thing, since the premise is terrifying -- but it and OOTS up there on my list of "webcomics that would make me very sad if they vanished".

[Aisper]

Rich has let us in on "how to do a good job in writing a graphic novel" (well, seven of them in a series, with some prequels etc) one strip at a time. And he's pretty good at setting up a joke and delivering it. That's what kept me coming back.

One thing I look for in a good TV show is one where there are episodic arcs, season arcs, and an overall series arc, each progressing at their own pace.

When you mention Rich's ability to set up and deliver on a joke, that demonstrates to me that OotS does the same thing as the shows I like: each strip has a small story with a payoff at the end, each book has an arc of its own, and the comic as a whole has an arc. As others have said, OotS hasn't crossed the finish line yet, but there nor have there been any major slip-ups (to my mind, anyway).

It's literally the only webcomic I still read, despite starting many of them over the past 20 years, and I think a lot of it comes down to the excellent pacing of strip/book/series arcs being resolved.

[Ruck]

One thing I look for in a good TV show is one where there are episodic arcs, season arcs, and an overall series arc, each progressing at their own pace.

The Shield was very good at this. It had probably the best overall arc I've ever seen, plus really good seasonal arcs that play into the overall narrative, and individual arcs for each episode (which, even though the main story was primarily about the Strike Team, the show contrasted them with enough other cops that they could all have their own stories and keep the main one feeling well-paced, without rushing or stalling it).

[shockeroo]

You know, I didn't realize so many webcomics had successfully concluded. The only one I could think of off the top of my head was Kid Radd (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Webcomic/KidRadd), meaning somehow I managed to forget Digger. And yeah, here's another fan hoping that Order of the Stick joins that small but significant number of webcomics.

I came here to mention Kid Radd! Really nice narrative.

[ShadowSandbag]

A little surprised Homestuck hasn't come up yet. That was huge for a time. Problem Sleuth as well, though that had much less of a following.

I think one could also argue that Ctrl-Alt-Delete competed its Story Arc, but thats a whole 'nother thing.

[Quartz]

How many webcomics are there left these days?

Try the below:

Day by Day (political)
Exiern (NSFW)
Goblins
Kevin & Kell
Marblegate
I Dream of a Jeanie bottle.
Jesus & Mo
Pibgorn
Two Lumps
Murry and Lewy (NSFW, back after a long hiatus)

Some have story arcs, others do not.

[Syncrogti]

Some folks in here mentioned Schlock Mercenary. I met Howard Tayler numerous times at the Dragon's Keep, a little game store in town, he's a really cool dude. He even did some art inside the cover for me. I would start at the beginning of the comic, despite the art quality being not very good (he was just learning how to draw, he got MUCH better as time went on).

[Psyren]

+1 to 8-Bit Theater, DM of the Rings, and Darths and Droids.

(RIP in peace to Grand Line 3.5, as the source material is STILL GOING)

[Willie the Duck]

A weird example is Wapsi Square, which absolutely positively wrapped up their primary story arc in or around 2012 (the Mayan Calendar being a prominent feature), but then went ahead and reinvented into a slice-of-life monster-school comic. I won't pretend I like the new arc as much as the original, but it is still going.

[a_flemish_guy]

another comic that reached it's conclusion was darken which ran from december 2003 to oktober 2017

really good d&d comic if you're a fan of evil groups

[Sinewmire]

Try the below:

Day by Day (political)
Exiern (NSFW)
Goblins
Kevin & Kell
Marblegate
I Dream of a Jeanie bottle.
Jesus & Mo
Pibgorn
Two Lumps
Murry and Lewy (NSFW, back after a long hiatus)

Some have story arcs, others do not.

I've cut down on merely OK webcomics I read, but I am still mainlining

Stand Still Stay Silent
Girl Genius
OOTS

and usually catch up with

Gunnerkrigg Court
Dumbing of Age

[Saint-Just]

Dominic Deegan (https://www.dominic-deegan.com/comic/0001-20020521/) was finished in 2013 after 10 years. It's not fantastic but not mediocre either.

Author started a sequel in 2019 but it's definitely a separate thing

Alice Grove (https://www.alicegrove.com/page/217) is 216 pages finished in less than 3 years. As far as I understand it has 100% pre-written story, so it's tighter than standard for the "industry".

[elros]

Dominic Deegan (https://www.dominic-deegan.com/comic/0001-20020521/) was finished in 2013 after 10 years. It's not fantastic but not mediocre either.

Author started a sequel in 2019 but it's definitely a separate thing

Alice Grove (https://www.alicegrove.com/page/217) is 216 pages finished in less than 3 years. As far as I understand it has 100% pre-written story, so it's tighter than standard for the "industry".
I just read Alice Grove and enjoyed it! It is nice to read a webcomic that is like a short story or mini-novel. Thanks for the suggestion!