Last night a webcomic saved my life with a song
I read a lot of webcomics. I mean it. At any given time I'm reading upwards of 30 regularly, with more that I forget about for months at a time and then go back through the archives. Here's a list of what I'm keeping up with currently, and why. There's no particular order to the list. At some point, I got into the habit of reading them in this order, and I keep it up so that I don't forget any.


Something*Positive is the comic I've been reading the longest out of any on this list. R.K. Milholland is a dedicated creator and a genuinely funny and decent guy. The humor is offensive as a general rule, but is all tongue-in-cheek. He probably receives the most hate mail of anyone on this list. The plot is really just people trying to get by in a hateful world with the help of their hateful, cynical friends.

Wapsi Square is a work that receives a lot of recognition from other webcomic creators. It's a long running series about humans, demons and other-worldly creatures trying to deal with leading a normal life while unraveling the mysteries around the Mayan calendar. Lately it's been pretty serious, but it generally alternates between dramatic and lighthearted. Paul Taylor's art is very distinctive and stylized, and entertaining to watch it evolve through the archives.

Girly is the work of Josh Lesnick, a comic creator I've followed for the longest of anyone on this list. It's his third major work, stemming from an earlier comic, Cute Wendy, which was an alternate version of his earlier comic, Wendy. Girly follows Winter and Otra, a girl and her sidekick, respectively. Otra wanted to sulk and live her life on her own until Winter came along and dubbed Otra her sidekick in a series of what can only be called Wacky Adventures. Bonus points because the two of them are a positive same-sex couple. Josh gets a lot of admiration from me because he's constantly challenging himself, evolving his style and trying more and more complicated things. He also thinks about comics in a very academic way, and has studied the work of many of his major influences, which can mostly be tracked to early Warner Brothers cartoons.

Married to the Sea, Natalie Dee, Toothpaste for Dinner and Superpoop are a quartet of comics made by a married couple in Ohio. These are some of the most familiar webmcomics to people who don't read webcomics. They're simple one-panel comics, MttS Photoshopping images from the public domain, Natalie Dee produced via MS Paint, TfD featuring abstracted, wall-eyed people and a little text, and Superpoop created by adding captions to popular images from the internet and media. They're not winning any awards, but they're simple, fun reads.

Least I Could Do and Looking for Group are produced by the same writer/artist team, LiCD 7 days a week, LfG Tues/Thurs. I've heard LiCD disdainfully referred to as Sohmer's personal fantasy where he's rich and bones hot chicks, which is accurate, but doesn't take away from the fact that the comic is enjoyable, funny and well drawn, inked and colored. LfG shares the same sense of humor as LiCD, but is a D&D meets LotR sort of fantasy epic. I can always trust these titles to be enjoyable.

Shortpacked! is a comic about a toy store and the strange people who populate it. The comic is roughly a spin-off of David Willis's earlier series, It's Walky! (which still continues as Joyce and Walky!). David Willis is another creator who I just really like on a personal level. We get occasional comics of him talking to us, the readers, via the panels, and also from time to time, he makes appearances in the comic, making himself a canon character in his own comic's universe. The plot is mostly zany hijinks, enjoyable for just about anyone, but especially for those who have ever been a part of any fandom.

XKCD is another webcomic familiar to people who don't read webcomics. Odds are, if you know a scientist or mathematician who reads a comic, it's this one. The art is simple, stick figures with minimalistic backgrounds, but the jokes are complex. The creator has a degree in physics, and even worked on robots for NASA. That said, it's not inaccessible to anybody who's reading this. It's always funny, and occasionally touching.

Penny Arcade is a long running series I only recently picked up. It's another well-known title, and is often begrudged its success. Built as a gamer comic, the writer/artist team are themselves no seen as experts in the gaming field. Gaming companies give them copies to review and pay top dollar to be advertised on their site. The comic itself is a series of three-to-four panel one-shots with little to no continuity. Frequently the humor is inaccessible to non-gamers, but there are some true gems in their lengthy archives. The evolution of the art is also spectacular to observe here.

Dr. McNinja is a comic about a doctor who is also a ninja. In case you couldn't tell by his name, he's also of Irish descent. The closest thing I can compare this comic to is Deadpool. It is a relatively violent action comic that is truly hilarious. His sidekick is a young bandito who rides a dinosaur and his receptionist is a gorilla. His mentor is Benjamin Franklin. These are the sorts of goings-on that keep me coming back.

Misfile is a series that will feel familiar to anime fans. In this universe, heaven works like an enormous corporation, and when some files are messed up, one teenage boy is transformed into a girl, and a girl's life is rewound one year. The drunk, stoner angel that caused the mix-up now resides on earth, trying to fix the matter. Thrown into the mix is a lot of street racing. It reads like a combination of Oh! My Goddess, Initial D and Ranma 1/2.

Evil Inc. follows a huge corporation run by supervillians. Creator Brad Guigar is a veteran of the webcomic business and produces a fun, steady comic. It has some dry spells, but reflects well the sort of trials and tribulations of trying to date, build a family, make your boss happy and survive hostile takeovers... when you can control lightning.

Girls with Slingshots is a comic I will recommend to almost anyone. It's as real-life as any of the comics I read, mostly dealing with dating, getting drunk and trying to make friends. Of course, there's also a cactus named McPedro that talks in an Irish accent to any drunk character. The most recent storyline is a massive crossover with Something*Positive, in which Davan of S*P attends a GwS wedding on a whim. Danielle Corsetto is another writer-artist who I adore personally.

Octopus Pie is a comic I truly envy. Meredith Gran weaves a world in a tiny area of New York that has a life of its own. I adore how she subtly makes New York another character in the comic, but never intrudes on the reading with HEY, HEY, THIS IS HAPPENING IN NEW YORK, GUYS! It follows the trials and tribulations of Eve, who deals with her overbearing boss Olly at her grocery store job, her stoner roommate Hanna, dating her old flame and trying to figure out if her life actually makes her happy. Gran's skill with ink is unbelievable, and she writes such a smooth story that re-reading the archives is a pleasure.

Johnny Wander is a comic that always makes me feel good. The artist, Yuko, is someone who I've followed on the internet for years though I didn't realize that until very recently. The comic is mostly autobiographical about Yuko, Ananth (the writer) and the very interesting people they live with. Yuko's art is striking in its simplicity and fun. Love love love. One of my favorites.

Curvy is a porny comic about inter-dimensional travel, a world made of candy and hot sex. I think that covers it. The art is fabulous.

Oglaf is another porny comic, but this one is in a medieval fantasy sort of setting. ABSOLUTELY hilarious. The art is phenomenal and expressive, and it's proof positive that sex can be sexy and funny at the same time.

Daisy is Dead is a comic about a zombie. A cute zombie. She doesn't want to eat brains, she just wants to work as a barista and not terrify everyone she meets.

Dawn of Time is a work of genius. As the name implies, it's a prehistory (sort of) comic following Dawn, a cavewoman who encounters dinosaurs, the civilized world and even time travellers, and generally creates chaos wherever she goes. Phenomenal.

Dresden Codak is one of the best comics I read. The art, writing and concepts are off the charts. Unfortunately, the schedule that the creator works on is absolutely insane, so you really only get a comic once a month, if that. However, it's always worth the wait. The design, colors, writing, everything is always spot-on. It follows Komiko Ross, a mad scientist with serious social anxiety problems and all her adventures with historic figures and time travellers.

Evil Diva's titular character is the daughter of higher-up in the corporate world of Hell, literally. She goes to high school with other demons and angels and is mentored by Virgil (of Dante's Inferno). The art is wonderful and adorable, and the story is really taking shape.

Gastrophobia follows an amazon, Phobia, and her son, Gastro through their mythological hijinks. The art is top-notch fun, and the gags are well-executed. Another highly respected comic creator.

My Stupid Life is the autobiographical work of Mitch Clem, a man better known for his other comics that I haven't gotten around to reading. His life is hilarious, but very rarely updated.

Nobody Scores! is a little comic about inevitable disaster. There is no continuity, as every comic ends in, well, disaster, leaving the cast dead or maimed. Consistently inventive and hilarious. This comic is wholly unpredictable.

Awkward Zombie is the work of a very, very talented youngster who just started college. It's a gaming comic, but the humor is accessible, and the art is brilliant. I think we'll be seeing some very impressive stuff from this girl in the future.

DAR: A Super Girly Top Secret Comic Diary is the autobiographical comic of Erika Moen, a queer artist dealing with being a wife, model, artist and former hardcore dyke. Funny, irreverent and smart, this comic is only one of Moen's brilliant works.

Hark, a Vagrant is the historic comics of Kate Beaton, a genius with a history degree and some free time. She pokes fun at European, Canadian and American history and anything else that catches her eye. Her art has evolved and has always remained fun, and her humor is simultaneously low-brow and high-brow in its approach.

Questionable Content is another wildly popular title. Filled with indie music, anime and physics references, it is an ever-changing and evolving comic. It never disappoints, and has some of the wildest characters of any comic I read. It also has a rich meta life, with the comic creator writing and performing songs written by a band in the comic (and then posted to the internet), and twitter accounts for several of the cast members.


Like I said, there are always some that I forget, and even now some of them come to mind. If you ever want to read some comics, let me know and I can give reader recommendations for days and days.