First off, this comic is gold. I went through the archives and didn't even realise I'd done it until I was at the end hitting next and waiting for more. The writing is razor sharp and the art conveys exactly what it has to in the cleanest possible way, and can be surprisingly complex at times considering its simplicity. Beaver and Steve comes from the same general family as btc, whereby each strip can stand alone on its own merits, so people can jump in at any stage without feeling left out. Although, as always, with some comics you do get an extra kick out of the punchline if you've gone through the archives. However, Emotibot ....understands
While starting out as a fairly normal webcomic, it quickly threw the art into overdrive and the writing into meta-philosophy. While not always humorous, each strip is ultimately satisfying in an indescribable manner. Such mind warping concepts as a gun that can only harm your one true love, or a universe that may only be accessed through self immolation are bizarre but you find yourself compelled to keep reading. As mentioned before, the art is an absolute delight, with freeform colours and shapes breaking free of traditional lines and boundaries. Read A lesson is learned. You won't regret it
I have not read these archives through fully, but any comic that makes a Michigan J Frog reference is awesome. Also I believe they are aussies too, which is double awesome
Keir appears to be updating at least semi-regularly again, so I think it's safe to feature comic him. High Ping Bastard is the most eclectic mix of insanity I've had the privelege to read. From his humble start in the adventures of Testicle the Barbarian, a scottish brute who anally rapes anything. Anything. Elves, skeletons, Shakesperian actors, giant crabs. I am not making this shit up. Unfortunately the testicle archives are not on the site, due to his lazy webmaster *cough cough*, but enjoy his whiskey soaked adventures in making every excuse possible to not update his comic. Really. There's about 20 strips in a row which are excuses on why he cannot update. Since his resumption of updating, he's tapped back into klassic keir komedy stylings with Jesus and Pacman! Keir was, I believe, the second webcomic creator I spoke to, and believe me I couldn't have found a better role model in making completely crazy comics if I had looked. Enjoy it, IF YOU DARE
If you're looking for pure spurting-jets-of-whatever-liquid-you're-drinking funny, read Acid Zen Wonder Paint. No I'm not kidding. This is the funniest thing I've ever read, and if you get through the archives without cracking a smile, you have no soul and I will kill you. Mixing the sparkling simplicity of MS-Paint with the bizarre comedy writings of hours of sleep deprivation, AZWP will make the girls swoon and the guys, uh, vomit or something. The newsposts are the icing on the icing on the cake.
I finally got off my lazy butt and went through the Questionable Content archives, to see what all the hullabaloo was about. And let me tell you, there's a lot to...baloo. Yeah. Jeph's art has really come a long way in the space of a year, and the writing is consistently top notch. Plus, judging from his newsposts, he's a really really nice guy. I'm not kidding, read the news on each comic and you come away with "he sounds nice", which is a really rare find in the cutthroat world of webcomics nowadays if you think about it. Or maybe I'm just bitter. Anyway, creator aside, some strips come away with a Bobbins vibe to them, while others are just straight out of left field hilarious. Also, Pintsize is adorable.
Acid Keg has some of the classiest, most delicious art I've ever seen. And that's not even including the 2003 archive of random strips, which are like the icing on the...icing on the cake. Steve's pop-culture infused creations seem to cry out with a life of their own, and in an internet full of crap manga and sprite comics, it's refreshing to say the least. I'm not sure if anyone else got this, but during the first storyline with Laura and Andrea, I was getting a very Bobbins-ish vibe. If you're a reader of Bobbins, you know that's a good thing. Traversing through the entire archives, you won't be strapped for laugh-out-loud moments, as Steve's bizarre sense of humour and comedic timing have been honed to perfection. Check out Acid Keg as well as Steve's gallery, if not for the hilarity then at least to see some of the prettiest art you're likely to find.
Since I first started reading, Moth's incredible writing and fantastically simple style has had me hooked. I don't know how else to describe this....addiction, except it's like he has some sort of remote control with each button being something that I find funny, and he manages to push every single button without fail. His ramblings about the often neglected "laws" of funny, both in the site and the short-lived Rocketbox (now Comic Coach) were quite possibly some of the most influential things I've read. Fawning aside, Checkerboard Nightmare focuses on the shamelessly market-driven larger than life persona that is Checkerboard Nightmare. Chex, has dedicated not only his life but his entire exitence to becoming the most popular entity in the entirety of everything, picking up enemies and lawsuits as he blunders along. And of course there's the obligatory straight man lawyer, violent robot and token female. Plus one of my favourite bit-characters, a quantum cat named Schroedinger who could see all possible states of existence. Nerdy in-jokes that work on multiple levels are peppered throughout the archives, and it pays to go through them more than once. Pays Moth mostly, who makes 10c per ad-view. No, I'm kidding....it's 5c
ARGH! It's KC GREEN!
Another webcomic dynamo, KC manages to make...I dunno...a BILLION webcomics PER SECOND. The art is minimalist but detailed when required, similar to the familiar (Ren and Stimpy) Spumco style, and with a matching off the wall sense of humour. With comics like CAT!, Droop, Bill the Magician (soon to be finished) and other similarly insane projects, I have no idea how he manages to update them all and letting each of them have grade A updates every time. Maybe he's insane too. Check out all his comics before he gets dragged away!
Inktank Comics
Actually 3 comics in one, Inktank is the home of perennial favourite Angst Technology, senior member Weak-end Warriors, and newcomer Sorry, We're Open. And Barry writes and draws ALL OF THEM. Yes, he is INSANE. The black and white art is crisp and highly stylised, and his sense of humour never fails to impress. Not to mention he has all the old Rocketbox work archived in the Comic Coach section, a vital resource for people just starting out in comics, or even if you've been established for a while you might still learn a thing or two.
SMBC
SMBC, or Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal as it's known in pirate heaven, is one of those comics I really got into just as it ended and disappeared without a trace for six months, surfacing momentarily then bobbing back down into disappearing world. A delicious hybrid of The Far Side and The Parking Lot is Full, this is the type of out of left field humour that consistently works. I have been rendered helpless from laughter on many an occasion while going through the archives. Particularly at Moloch, god of fire and the Superman one. You'll see what I mean.
Scary Go Round
I take it for granted that most of the people I meet read Scary Go Round or have read John Allison's previous comic Bobbins, because I hang out with a lot of webcomicy type guys, but a lot of the casual readers I've met have no idea about either comic, and they're really missing out. Besides his constantly unique art, Allison produces some of the most hilarious dialogue and situations, which are fine tuned to perfection when coupled with the characters he's created. Tim, the manly man scientist, Shelley the kitten-loving cutie, Amy the hippie slash spoiled daddy's girl and let's not forget Fallon the international superspy of mystery and her corresponding international superspy catsuit. Scary Go Round has an overall weirder tone than Bobbins, but it's still way up on my must read list. And yes, it's because of him that Unit Lei refers to herself in the third person whenever she talks.
Vindibudd
Vindibudd chronicles the adventures of Vindibudd and his sidekick General Safety. There's a great sense of comedic timing, some tasty art and really vivid colouring and panel layouts.Think of Vindibudd as a batman wannabe who ends up like aquaman a lot of the time, with hilarity ensuing. I haven't completed the archives yet, so I'm not fully qualified to say this strip is PURE gold, but from what I've seen it's totally silver at least. See for yourself
Yenny
The first thing you'll notice about Yenny is the totally fine quality of the art. The lines are clean, the coloured strips vivid, the shading spot on, and the overall professional quality in each update never cease to amaze me. the art resembles Spumco (of Ren and Stimpy fame), but I didn't make the connection at first since there weren't any random closeups of putrid teeth and junk. Of course the title character is Yenny Lopez, a big thighed long legged woman, whose anatomy seems to defy the laws of physics, but hey it's webcomics after all. There's the running joke of her huge oversensitive feet, and her best friend the pervy iguana, and you just KNOW that the hijinks are about to occur. While the first few strips suffered from tiny text syndrome, David seems to have taken care of all that, leaving you with just the pleasure of enjoying the comics
Supafine
Supafine is one of those rare gems that you come across every now and again. The art is clean and crisp, the humour is plentiful, and most importantly, the humour is plentiful. Besides the run of ms-paint comics, there isn't a supafine comic I haven't heartily guffawed at, and that's saying a lot considering I'm a bitter empty husk of a man. Zach and Lance have a great sense of timing, and the non-sequitur comics know how far to push it without it being just stupid. And that takes a lot of skill, believe me. With a penchant for superheroes and delicious childhood treats, Supafine is...well...super fine. (I just like saying supafine). Check them out
Squareseville
Kenny tells me that squaresville is a good comic, and I believe him. You should too
Slackerz
Alright, you know how I do rant comics, with basic stick figures because the writing is supposed to pick up the slack on the art? Well Slackerz follows this principle for EVERY SINGLE COMIC. In fact it has super outstanding writing, and somehow manages to squeeze the best effects out of the stick figure art genre. The rants are quite frankly delicious, and had me in fits as I went through the archives. In fact there's so much goodness that some had to be TAKEN OUT and put into a deleted comics section, which holds some gems of its own. While sometimes relying on non-sequitur, the angry man routine which I love so much is honed to absolute perfection.
Theater Hopper
The single best comic about movies that I've read. Theater Hopper started off strong, and just kept on improving. Unlike Movie Comics, Theater Hopper has maintained a consistently high level of quality, and has continually refined its work. It has a great sense of humour, and Tom manages to squeeze all sorts of effects out of his art (I think it's flash, but I might be mistaken). I really admire theater hopper, because it must be hard (and expensive!) keeping up with all the latest movies for each strip, and you can tell that he is really really dedicated to his movies (I can see him actually doing a lot of the things his comic alter ego does). Check out Theater Hopper, you won't regret it.
Reality Glitch
While currently in intermission, Zeb Spade has created a hefty and detailed backstory with the existing archives, which I'm sure you will thoroughly enjoy as you go through them. While some of the earlier comics' fonts are tiny, things get better later on in the Hell storyline. With less hardcore geek references than Something Positive, Reality Glitch lets even non D&D player in on the jokes, and also treats readers to continual gratuitous cheesecake (woooo!), especially when the main female character was transformed into a succubus/angel mix, I don't think there are too many manufacturers who make shirts in that size! Zeb has a nice unique style going, and seems to have a much better grasp of light and shading than I do.
VG Cats
A comic that needs no introduction....yet I'll do one anyway. To begin with, Scott's art is mind blowingly utterly amazing. I think he actually takes three billion years to form a single strip from the matter of exhausted stars, then breaks the space time continuum to meet his update schedule. Each strip has days worth of loving care crafted into it, and I think he spends more time on colouring and shading than I have for entire comics. As the VG in the title suggests, it's a comic primarily for gamers, but it's pretty damn good considering a non-gamer like me can still get such a kick out of each update. I'm sure if I actually played the games that are written about, there'd be an even better kick to them. Don't let the "furry" aspect scare you off. They're just kitties who make jokes. Like disney and warner brothers, before the internet came and....scarring....brain.....hurt.....Where was I? Oh yeah. The jokes are great, the art is fantastic, and VG cats is a must read.
Elf Only Inn
Speaking of comebacks, Sortelli has decided to wake the slumbering giant of comedy that is Elf Only Inn! I was just getting into the comic when he stopped it back in July, but it's great to see that he's back in the saddle and churning out the same high quality of humour. EOI takes its name from the chatroom Elf Only Inn, a roleplaying channel where we meet the cast and watch their personalities bounce off one another; the stick-up-the-ass Lord Elf, the gradually less serious ranger Megan, the two resident airheads M'Lady and Goku666, and just for good measure the Vulcan Nimoy, Duke Nukem, and a tentacle monster called Woot. Seriously, check this out, you won't regret it.
Combustible Orange
The first thing I have to say about this comic is WOW. There's some delicious art within the confines of this strip, I'm not sure how to even describe it because there's so many different elements. Characters are rarely static, and they end up moving their hands and bodies in all sorts of crazy dynamic poses. In addition to the fantastic art, it has a nice relaxed sense of humour. Of course the humour itself is manic (such as the ever popular character SUPER DEMOLITION CHRIST!!!11ONE), but it doesn't seem to be forced out unwillingly. And combustible orange has the additional greatness of having hackers as a running joke throughout the strip. Remember hackers? Anyone?
Pepperwood
From the man who brought you Aikida comes his latest project, Pepperwood! While not a comedy oriented strip like Aikida, the concept art and what little pieces of story I've gleaned from Fenris tell me that this is gonna be a kickass comic. Keep your eye on this one, and send him lots of support because we don't want this comic to die too!
TrueNuff
How else can I start this off except with COOKASS! I knew I was hooked as soon as I saw that (and that's a pretty early hook, too). The archives are like a rich creamy hug (???)...okay that made no sense but I don't know how else to describe the continual building of comedy that ensues, particularly with the setups up to a week in advance that give you a hearty chuckle down the track when you're not expecting it. The writing is a real strong point, with Brando's continual pickup lines and rejections, the long running George Foreman grills jokes, and Threeboy even managed to make me laugh at the puns he occasionally slips in. Damn you Threeboy! I'll get you someday! SOMEDAAAAY!! Also: Fucking. Gold.
The Tao of Geek
While I can't really remember the early comics (sorry Lit!), I do know there's a distinct growth in goodness as the strip progresses, and in addition she has one of the most unique styles I've seen to date, and enough geek humour to satisfy the most fanatical RPer. There's a massive cast who I pretty much forgot the names to every update (I'm really really bad with names), but Lit manages to keep them all equally interesting, and doesn't make one shine out more than the other (although I have a soft spot for Fred's latest mail antics). Just because it's a...mostly...dramatic comic doesn't mean TOG is devoid of humour, and with over a year of consistent daily updates you're bound to find something that'll hook you in.
Sterling
I found Sterling a while back on the Rocketbox forums, but never actually had the time to read through the archives until recently. Sterling is a very well drawn black and white comic, with a slight megatokyo feel (It's not really that close to it, but I don't know that many comics to compare it to). There are plenty of different viewpoints throughout each strip, and you're guaranteed not to have to worry about static 'talking heads' updates, unlike other comics...*cough*. While normally I prefer comedy over serious comics, Sterling has an intruiging storyline and the writing seems to flow naturally from each character without seeming forced. And talking about flow, don't miss out on Aeka's crazy-ass hair. Call me crazy but did I select two featured comics in a row that use the same font I do?
College Fuzz
It's quite a nice change to come across a comic that's actually funny, and College Fuzz has given me a good chuckle or three. There's a nice clean style going (flash maybe? I'm not sure) and I always have to give extra points for someone using the same main font I do. Dave has a great warped sense of humour, and there's plenty of fresh jokes as you go through the archives. While still fairly young, I predict good things in College Fuzz's future, with the strips continuing to improve as time goes on. Check 'em out while they're still young and give him lots of encouragement. Good comics are hard to come by!
Aikida
Fenris recently retired Aikida after 2 years of fantastic comics. His art was a major influence on mine during the transition I've been making during the past year, and I've no doubt stolen some jokes off him too but he's been kind enough to overlook it. Or at least to extract punishment in a manner I'm currently unaware of. One of the strips strongest points of Aikida is the way he created such lovable main characters who you can't help but sympathise with. Aikida, the character who the strip is named after is your standard issue half Irish half Japanese 6 foot red-head with a DD bust and martial arts background. You know the type. Then there's Wade, the chainsmoking alcoholic who is a character who you'd think would be the bad guy in any other setting but Fenris manages to make him totally endearing, flaws and all. Moving towards a slightly more dramatic feel near the end of its run, you finally get to see hints about the relationships between Wade, Aikida, Sydney and Morgan but it's almost like losing close friends when you finally hit the end of the archive and so much is left hanging. Anyway, I don't want to give away the story or any of the jokes, you'll have to read it for yourself to find out why it's one of my favourite comics. And be quick, the archives might not be left online forever.
This just in, Aikida's back from retirement! Enjoy the pure love once more!
Eidolic Fringe
I really really like the artwork on this comic. The anime style is something I could never actually do, and it's rare for me to come across anime comics (online manga? Whatever the term is) that aren't just Megatokyo ripoffs or talking head strips. The story begins with a guy getting hit by a speeding car after pushing a girl out of the way, then he ends up in a giant ocean planet where he's almost immediately accosted by pirates. How can you not love that? While more of a serious series than anything, there are some golden moments, mostly when they step out of the comic with a bit of old fashioned 4th wall breaking. One of my recent favourites is the 'rejected comic titles' series, where they spoof famous movies/shows using their own characters. Well...it's not as funny until you see it for yourself. There's also some good characterisation with the incompetant engineer and psychotic cook....but I don't want to spoil too much about it, you'll have to see for yourself. Go! Now now now!
Monkey Business
I have rarely, if ever, seen a comic which maintains such a consistently high level of humour. From the get go the jokes are gold and the two main characters (if not a bit PA-ish) mesh perfectly. One of my initial impressions actually was that Monkey Business is what Penny Arcade would be like if you took out all the gaming jokes and mediocre material. This is all A grade stuff. Karl's art especially has been improving at a phenomenal rate, from the initial jaggy copy and paste work to his recent loose sketchy style, it's a real treat to see him get a grasp on his art, and I'm looking forward to see how far he can take it. Read Monkey Business, or your funnybone will never forgive you!
Back in the Day
Check this out, a webcomic made in ms paint that DOESN'T suck ass. All you spriteys pay attention to reva and quit complaining that the tools are holding you back. She manages to wrangle quite a bit of expression out of ol' paint. Although she breaks the fourth wall more often than I'd normally prefer, she does such a good job of it that you'll tend to forgive her this minor transgression. Bitd has a classic seinfeld-esque observational humour going, with the occasional bit of slapstick to liven things up. Yes, the characters are people she knows, but I don't hear you complaining about penny arcade. Have a look through it, regardless.
No 4th Wall To Break
No 4th wall to break is another of those comics you can't judge by art alone. While clean and minimalist, it's also marvelously expressive, and the writing is where n4wtb really shines. It takes a good writer for author appearances in the comic not to appear lame and self serving, but Blurry manages it well, even violating this essential rule of webcomicing as often as possible. Serious strips like "A Whiter Shade of Pale" rank in my favourites along with jokes such as 'Accidental Nazi', or his recent 'All my Specters' storyline. Did I mention the main characters are a specter, a lit match (with his mortal enemy a bucket of water) and a statue of Odin? The two most recent additions include a clumsy bat/demon thing and a spanish group of mosquitos. If you like Checkerboard Nightmare, you'll love No 4th wall to break. You don't know what you're missing out on if you pass this strip up.
Dpad
Heeeyy, you remember dpad don't you? Sure you do. Well just in case you didn't know it, Joe's back from his 3 month vacation and is actually regularly updating again. 2003 and...well....the latter half of 2002 really wasn't dpad's best hour, but you can see the goodness coming back in the latest comics. In case you're new to this, dpad's about a lone superpowered hero fighting against insurmountable odds to defeat the ultimate incarnation of evil...or something along those lines. And there's some customer hating in there as well. Don't let the cut and paste fool you, there's quality in the writing and situations, and before you know it you'll be wanting an atomic ninja of your own.
Polymer City Chronicles
The Polymer City Chronicles (PCC) started off as a fairly normal comedy/gaming comic. That is if your definition of fairly normal includes hyper-muscular women with gravity defying busts (if you think Lindy's proportions are large in the beginning, wait until you see her reappearance in the Urusai storyline), anime sheep-girls and a scientist who'd prefer to tinker with his flying missile equipped van than to have sex with his alien warrior-race wife. Still with me? Along the way PCC did a sudden u-turn from comedy and puns (can anyone forget Luftwaffels, the nazi breakfast treat?) to a rich involved storyline, the history of the alien world of Urusai. According to Chris himself, there was over 2 years of material still to go when he had to cut it short due to increasing costs and an increasingly difficult time reaching donation targets each month. Following a momentary step back into his comedy roots, PCC is now embarking upon another involving storyline, albeit not as long as the first one. Check Polymer City out while you still can. His financial situation is unfortunately not getting any better, and it'd be a real shame for potential readers to miss out on the PCC archives. Chris' art was a major stepping stone in my intial evolution of styles, and his simple yet expressive line-art will no doubt help other budding comicers who were in my position. If you like what you see, donate your spare dollars, and maybe he'll get to complete the Urusai storyline the way he envisioned.
Bollox
I may not know a lot, like how to do long division or play the guitar, but I know funny, and this is funny. Bollox has deceptively simple art, but a delicious writing hook to get you addicted. One of my favourite segments is where Eddache takes old 50's black and white photos and attaches hilarious captions. He doesn't skimp on his own drawings though, and you can find the same quality jokes in his own Bolloxified style, or even in his crayon drawn storyline. Like all good strips, Bollox also maintains a consistently high standard of humour throughout its run, and catching up on the archives will be over before you know it. Hard to believe he's recently completed his 500th strip. And best of all? Bollox is a proudly BRITISH production! Take THAT you damn yankees!
