Webcomic Review

[BlueBard]

From my point of view, Webcomics are comics.  Different medium, fewer 'professionals', but still... And don't forget that the really good ones tend to get printed as collections.

We don't really talk about them much here.  I suspect I'm probably missing out on some really good webcomics because nobody here talks about them.

So let's start talking about them.

Up for discussion is the latest installment of "Looking For Group" (http://www.lfgcomic.com)

http://www.lfgcomic.com/page/326

To give a brief synopsis, Cale'Anon is a good member of an evil race of elves.  He and his friends are in the process of reviving the legendary kingdom of Kethenicia across the sea.  The Northern races have lost a war against the evil kingdom of Legaria and Cale has persuaded the survivors to relocate to Kethenicia.  Cale and his friends are now seeking a magical portal to return there, but are being opposed by Knights of the Way who guard the portal.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

Spoiler

The leader of the Knights of the Way is revealed to be an adult Princess Leena, whom we have previously seen as a little girl and also as a ghost called the 'Shriek'.  (It's complicated...)  Cale has just asked Leena to explain how this has happened.  As is usual, Richard the undead warlock provides a bit of comedy relief as a disembodied head.  I find myself wondering a few things:

What happened to Pella (dwarf) and the other Rage (minotaurs)?  What did the Knights do to them?

What happened to the rest of Richard's body?

Is there a possible love triangle developing here?  I see Benny (orc priestess) standing next to Cale and we know they've had a little tryst.  Across from her I see Leena, who is a very pretty elf...

WHY SHOULD YOU READ IT?

As always, the artwork is great.  I'm really interested to see how the plot develops; Sohmer and DeSouza are very good at keeping the surprises coming and Cale has come a long way from the innocent soul he started out as.  All of the characters have been developed over time, making for a very interesting cast.  Best of all, the series has a great sense of humor.  Richard the undead warlock really shines as the comedy relief and the funniest lines usually come from him.

WARNING:

The series often depicts people being slaughtered and Richard's gruesome antics.  The humor can be very black at times.  Probably not suitable for anyone under the age of 13.

So, post a review of one of your favorite webcomics!

[The Enigma]

LFG? Seriously? That comic is going nowhere really, really slowly. So slowly it found itself kicked out of my RSS feed a few weeks back because I'd read it just for the sake of reading it. The jokes range from predictable (anything Richard says) to non-existent. In fact, it seems to struggle with whether it wants to be a plot-type comic or a joke a day comic. Maybe if I'd played more WoW I'd appreciate it, but it's really not for me...

Now, for my idea of what a fantasy RPG-based comic should be like, I present the superb Order of the Stick. Granted, the art is not up to much, but the jokes are consistently funny and the plot has become ever more intricate (just like a good RPG should).

I have a feeling that most of my tastes are rather darker than others here (web and other comics-wise) so I enjoy Something Positive and Cyanide and Happiness makes me smile only slightly less often than it makes me cringe. I remember recommending FreakAngels to people last time it was mentioned; it's still good and free. Subnormality is wordy but generally good and occasionally superb. I've been reading Sluggy Freelance for about 8 years so I'm not going to stop now. For other things you probably already read that I like, see Megatokyo, Girl Genius, Questionable Content, Penny Arcade, VG Cats 8-bit Theater (although I'm slowly starting to prefer Warbot), XKCD and Hark, A Vagrant. There are plenty more, but those are the ones I am always happy to see in the old feed reader.

For a (relatively) unknown comic that everyone should read, I can recommend Dresden Codak. This was the most brilliant thing I saw in 2009: http://dresdencodak.com/2009/01/27/advanced-dungeons-and-discourse/

[BlueBard]

Sorry, Enigma... LFG hasn't gotten old for me just yet.  As to the slow pace, well, Girl Genius is only moderately faster at advancing the plot. 

Like LFG, although a lot happens the heroes don't seem to get very far in a week (I've lost track how long they've been in Mechanicsburg and Agatha still isn't the officially resident Heterodyne).  But I'm a patient fellow and that kind of detailed artwork does not come easily or quickly.  Girl Genius is also on my list of webcomics I like and I plan to do a semi-official review of that one, too. 

I doubt I'll be telling most of the people here something they don't already know, but I'm hoping this will catch on.  I might find new favorites in somebody else's list.

By the by, please post links to the webcomics you like.  I can Google 'em, but links are friendlier.

[BWPS]

http://www.xkcd.com/ 

Randall Munroe might be the nerdiest/best person on the planet. Sometimes I have to get on wikipedia to get it but that's probably because I'm just a terrible engineer.

[GhostMachine]

http://www.evil-comic.com/ - Evil, Inc.

http://www.cad-comic.com/cad/ - Ctrl+Alt+Del

http://www.pvponline.com/ - PvP

http://www.sinfest.net/ - Sinfest

None of these are appropriate for kids, and I'd avoid Sinfest if you're deeply religious, as its downright blasphemous most of the time. (Note: I believe in God, but not in organized religion)

[The Enigma]

Yeah, I avoided links due to the adult content (Cyanide and Happiness is not appropriate for those with eyes and an imagination). As to plot speed, you're right. Girl Genius is just as glacial (and Sluggy and QC and Megatokyo are all slower - slow pace alone doesn't put me off something) but I like the universe so much more. Sparks and steampunk is just that much cooler for me than LFG's rather, er, obvious inspirations. Still, each to his own and all that. Let me know if it becomes really epically cool at any point and I'll dive back in.

[Trelau]

Wow, the Enigma almost quoted all the webcomics i read ^^
http://questionablecontent.net/ Nice story, published almost daily. They sell nice t-shirt too.
http://www.shortpacked.com/ Working at a toystore...He a transformer's fan, and a batman nerd. Lot of reference to comic book and cartoon from the 80s.
http://www.thenoobcomic.com/daily/strip001.html I though the art would improve with time, but it seems stable...It's a parody of what MMO are.
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0001.html Order of the Stick, definitly my favorite webcomic. Based on Dungeons and Dragons
http://archive.gamespy.com/comics/dorktower/ Made by John Kovalic, the guy who draws the "Muchkins" illustration (it's a board game)
http://www.goblinscomic.com/ goblin! Probably the best art i've seen in a webcomic. DnD from the poitn of view of goblins. My second favorite webcomics, and only because it's only one strip a week (but when you see the quality of the art and coloring you get why he needs the time)
http://xkcd.com/ the nerdiest webcomic on earth
http://www.vgcats.com/comics/ Vg cats...Lots of video game reference, but so long to update...
http://www.penny-arcade.com Video game celebrity. They even have a card game based on their comic
http://www.nuklearpower.com/ the 8 bit theatre. Made with sprite from nes and snes Final Fantasy games. Really fun.
http://www.amazingsuperpowers.com/
http://www.explosm.net/comics/                  Three dark humor webcomic.
http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=480#comic

http://www.leasticoulddo.com/sometimes i like it and sometimes i don't...but he's a reference in the webcomic world so...
http://freefall.purrsia.com/default.htm the art is simple but the story is nice (and talk about longevity)
http://www.thebookofbiff.com/2006/01/04/6/ the book of Biff. i don't read it every days...the joke are usually funny

oh and i almost forgot that one:
http://batmanandsons.blogspot.com/ Batman and sons! It's fun and cute, but mostly cute.

[BlueBard]

Speaking of PvP, it looks like there just -might- be a new storyline starting based on Star Trek Online.  Or it might not...

http://www.pvponline.com/2010/01/28/first-contact/

I think Kurtz is at his funniest when he's doing a parody of some game, so I hope so.  I don't always like PvP, but it does have its moments.

On the other hand, it sounds like he's gearing up to do public appearances again... which usually means guest artists... which is definitely a hit-or-miss proposition.

[BlueBard]

Okay, looks like the STO thing may have been a one-shot... which in my opinion made it kind of lame.  PvP is back to mildly humorous Apple worship in today's strip.

I know I said I'd review Girl Genius, but there's no point.  I'm guessing most of you already know about it and unless we're discussing something specific it's a waste of time.  I'll make it simple: steampunk, gaslamp, and mad science.  Written and drawn by Phil Foglio of Dragon Magazine and Myth Adventures fame.  If you aren't already, go read it:  http://www.girlgeniusonline.com.  Start at the beginning.  It'll be worth it.

Another webcomic that should be on your must-read list if you're a Sci-Fi fan is Schlock Mercenary: http://www.schlockmercenary.com.  It follows the humorous misadventures of Tagon's Toughs, a team of interstellar mercenaries in the 31st century who very often find themselves in the middle of intrigue on an interstellar scale.  The title character is Sergeant Schlock, a carbosilicate amorph who most resembles a shapechanging pile of poo and loves shooting his handheld plasma cannons.  The humor ranges from sophisticated to crude and scatological.  If you start at the beginning, the artwork is pretty bad but you can pick up references for later storylines.  The current artwork is decent and the storylines are very good, very well thought out in my opinion.  I recommend starting here to get a handle on the current storyline and going back to read older stories as needed.

[DrMike2000]

I'd highly recommend Axe Cop:

axecop.com

Drawn by a professional comic artist and written by his 5 year old son, its the closest thing to Flaming Carrot without being Flaming Carrot.

[BlueBard]

Today's Girl Genius:  Tarvek fights a mechanical menace to save Agatha's life!

http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20100203

(But... isn't she dead???)

(Yes.  Don't worry about it.  Think 'Mad Science'.)

I'm not sure how I feel about this part of the storyline.  As if Agatha didn't have enough going on to try to establish herself as the Heterodyne heir, this feels like an unnecessary diversion.  I want her to get on with fixing the Castle and dealing with the Baron.  Got to admit it's exciting, though.  One cliffhanger after another.

It's also establishing Tarvek as a worthy rival for Gil.  He's making up for some of his earlier misdeeds in spades.

I have mixed feelings about the artwork, especially this "Muse of Protection".  The detail is fantastic, but the figure is... off.  Plus you have this large mechanical valkyrie interacting with much shorter humans... so he's got it crouching or he's playing around with the perspective to make it fit the frame and it's not working very well.  I have a feeling he should've made it a little smaller but having established the size already he's stuck with it.  The two other muses we've seen weren't nearly that big, but I've got to admit it looks formidible.

[BlueBard]

This is why I read Girl Genius:

http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20100212

Spoiler

"Ah! Got a fire here!"

"I'm on that!  Looks like an overloaded junction router!  Do you have any butter?"

"Uh..."

"Nevermind, I brought my own!"

Sparks are fun when they get all mad-science-y.

[BlueBard]

Excellent day for webcomics!

Girl Genius is back in technicolor!

In PvP, the LOLbat is at the mercy of the Grammar Nazi!  (If I didn't know he'd be rescued, I'd be even happier...)

But the best, best, best so far is a treat for the Lantern fans over in Evil, Inc.  It's even a treat for anyone who's blah on the whole 'emotional spectrum' gig:  The best parody of the Lanterns I've seen yet.  Enjoy!

http://www.evil-comic.com/archive/20100303.html

For those of you who need convincing to go check it out, here's a little sample:

Spoiler

"In Righteous day, or Boogie night..."

[daglob]

I want one of those.

[BlueBard]

Today in PvP, the most annoying superhero LOLbat has an even more annoying sidekick forced on him by circumstances.  There is justice.

http://www.pvponline.com/2010/03/05/

(The strip has an amusing twist at the end, or it would have been blah otherwise.)

And over in Starslip, Vanderbeam has just finished a flashback about the events right before the attack that killed his beloved Jovia.  The flashback was brought on by a real attack of opportunity during a fleet training exercise by a rival ship captain.  Beams suddenly gets his Kirk on and I think we're about to see some smackdown.  This is gonna be good!

http://starslip.com/2010/03/05/

[Ajax]

Blip:www.blipcomic.com:Good webcomic when the creator decides to update with actual pages instead of random art. Though he has been fairly consistent of late. Story of a girl who was born outside of "God's Plan". It's more nonsensical comedy oriented then the description would lead you to believe. Updates everyday.

Let's Be Friends Again: www.letsbefriendsagain.com: Random joke a day comic mostly about comic books. Updates once a week.

Shi Long Pang: www.shilongpang.com: Follows the adventures of a Shaolin monk traveling through Ancient China during a time of turmoil as he looks for his lost brothers (monk brothers not siblings). Slow to update but there are enough pages to keep you busy for a while. Good story thus far.

Dresden Codak: www.dresdencodak.com: The smartest webcomic on the internet. Period end of story. Though it takes forever and a day for it to update.

Freak Angels: www.freakangels.com: Warren Ellis does a free webcomic that updates every friday with 5 pages. Do you really need to know anymore? Updates Friday

Seedless: www.reyyy.com/seedless : This series often times makes no sense but the art is bizarre and the story is even more out there. Thus far it's DBZ meets Ninja Turtles but the main characters are all grapes. Updates Wed

Between Failures: www.betweenfailures.com : Story of a group of twenty somethings working in a dead end retail chain and blah blah blah. What elevates this above some of the other webcomics of similar themes is the humor.  Updates MWF

multiplex: www.multiplex.com : The webcomic for the filmgeeks and snobs out there. Group of friends who work at a movie theater and make snarky comments about upcoming films, currently showing films, and there is also social interactions blah blah blah, more movie jokes. Updates wed.

Superfogeys: http://www.th3rdworld.com/web-comic/The-SuperFogeys : Where do superheroes go when they retire, to Valhalla of course! The superhuman retirement home! Updates once a week, forget what day.

[Trelau]

if I may: mutiplex is actually on
http://www.multiplexcomic.com/
multiplex.com is an artist management compagny apparently

[The Enigma]

Good list, Ajax. I started reading Let's Be Friends Again and am really enjoying it. Anyone who can use the line "You know who got 'sued' last night? Reed Richards." really appeals to my sense of humour. I'll have to explore some of the others in due course but thanks for the recommendation.

[The Hitman]

I'd highly recommend Axe Cop:

axecop.com

Drawn by a professional comic artist and written by his 5 year old son, its the closest thing to Flaming Carrot without being Flaming Carrot.

Ooh sweet Christmas, this is a great comic!

[BlueBard]

Starslip http://starslip.com/2010/03/16/reversal/

Vanderbeam: "Prepare for smug satisfaction!"

Classic.

[Viking]

I hadn't seen this webcomic listed yet, so I thought I'd share:

Darths & Droids, at http://www.darthsanddroids.net/

What if the plotline of Episodes I, II, and III of the Star Wars movies could be explained via the scenario that it was a Games Master running an RPG for some unpredictable players?  The webcomic uses still frames from the movies, with word balloons and the like added to tell a new take on the story.  Scrolling further down the screen for each comic, you'll find commentary by the webcomic's authors about the nature of stereotypical gamers.

Suddenly, the inclusion of Jar-Jar Binks makes a lot more sense - he's the result of one of the gamers bringing his much-younger sister to the gaming sessions.  And if the film has a sequence of chompy, crushy conveyor belts?  That was the day that the GM was sick, and the munchkin power-gamer took the reins of running the gaming session.

[The Enigma]

Yeah, Darths and Droids is rather good (I might even dare to say better than DM of the Rings - http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?cat=14). I'm really looking forward to how they move on to the original trilogy. I'm looking forward to seeing how Anakin turns into an evil NPC and stuff.

[UnkoMan]

Webcomics are still a big deal, eh? Gosh, I haven't read these since I stopped making them, back in 2005.

Well, not entirely true. I stopped following strips then though, but I read through a couple of good things since then. One with a robot detective. One with some guys fighting a fairy world. One that was very pulp fiction. Except now I can't remember any!

It's good to see they are still kicking though. In various qualities.

[BlueBard]

I really liked "DM of the Rings"!  I'll have to start in on "Darths and Droids" when I get the chance.

In other developments, a surprise twist in Starslip: http://starslip.com/2010/03/26/zardinous-intents/

Looks to me like

Spoiler

Future Zarde somehow got hold of a Timesuit.  This is getting interesting.

[BlueBard]

Not sure who cares, but pressing on...

The latest issue of Looking for Group gives us a surprising reveal.

http://www.lfgcomic.com/page/356

The past few weeks have been a flashback to Cale's early life in a monastery.  While there he met, fell in love with, and secretly married a female elf named Shora.

Cale is betrayed by --

Spoiler

His mentor, the Master of the monastery, who causes him to believe Shora is unfaithful.  Cale runs away.  The Master then shockingly kills Shora in cold-blood to insure that Cale will never return and will go forth to meet his destiny.  Afterward, we see a familiar silhouette and red-lined black word balloon that tells us Richard the Warlock was on hand.

I can't be sure, but it seems to be a brilliant retcon of the circumstances in which Cale and Richard first meet.  Add to that the simple fact that --

Spoiler

Cale's Master was previously seen feeding a rabbit that looks a lot like the one Richard later adopted as a pet, and that this rabbit is more than likely the same shapeshifted archwizard who's been working behind the scenes for awhile now --

http://www.lfgcomic.com/page/348

And earlier comics where a raider's head exploded and a "dark man" saved Cale's life from raiders --

http://www.lfgcomic.com/page/344
http://www.lfgcomic.com/page/346

And it seems that someone has been pulling Cale's strings for a very long time.  All that's missing is Richard's role and true motivations in all of this.  And it will be interesting to find out what Cale does if and when he finds out just how he has been heartlessly manipulated.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

OOTS, Darths and Droids, DM of the Rings, XKCD, Girl Genius, LFG....

Only major webcomic I read that's not been recommended here is Weregeek, which is just phenomenal. Moves quickly, covers all manner of geek topics, and delves into the personality of the characters outside of their geek activities.

[BlueBard]

As a public service, I am relaying an announcement by Ryan Sohmer of a new webcomic which is to launch this month:

Clearly the amount of projects that we?re juggling is nowhere near enough to cause that heart attack I?m going for, so it only made sense to add a little something to the load.

For the last few months, Lar and I have been working on a new comic, which we have recently named ?Gutters?.

In brief, Gutters is a series of stand alone pages that parody the comic book industry and the heroes and characters that dwell within. Think of it as an editorial cartoon targeting comic books, and you?ll understand where we?re going with it.

While I?ll be writing Gutters, Lar will be the art director with Ed Ryzowski serving as colorist. As for who will be doing the actual art, well, that?s where things get interesting (and slightly different). Rather than have one artist pencil each page, we elected to have a rotating roster of professional artists, among them are some giants in the comic book industry alongside new and emerging talent. This way, in addition to what I hope will be a humorous comic, Gutters will also be an ongoing showcase of art.

That said, Lar demanded that he be the one to put together the first page (who am I to argue with the man?), and as such, we thought to tease you a little with the penciled version (click to view larger version):

Spoiler

Gutters will launch in June, and will update three times a week. Check this space for more info.

The pencil is pretty funny... if that's what they're going to put out on a regular basis, I'm in.

[Podmark]

heh that's pretty good. I could see myself checking that out.

[BlueBard]

Gutters has officially launched!

If you'd like to see the fully colorized version of the ink I linked to, go here:

http://www.the-gutters.com/

If you're wondering about the name of the webcomic and what it's got to do with comic books... (I know I did):

Definition: The inside margins or blank space between two facing pages is the gutter. The gutter space is that extra space allowance used to accommodate the binding in books and magazines. The amount of gutter needed varies depending on the binding method.

In saddled-stitched publications the amount of gutter, as well as the outside margins are adjusted to allow for creep. Gutter is sometimes used to refer to the alley or space between columns of text in a page layout. .

Definition of gutter pulled from here: http://desktoppub.about.com/cs/pagelayout/g/gutter.htm

[BlueBard]

Webcomic Quote of the Day:

Girl Genius: "Some people are natural minions."



In other news, over at Weregeek we learn about the mating habits of Vulcans and ferrets.  Who says webcomics aren't educational?

And finally, the 2nd issue of Gutters will appeal to Randy Ripoff and anyone weary of Deadpool-proliferation.