Some of the best comics is online.

November 26, 2002 5:41 AM

Some of the best comics ever are online. Some independent, some ubiquitous, and all too cool for syndication. Does anyone else know any good online comics?
posted by Keyser Soze (42 comments total)

This comic in particular is in a class of its own.
posted by Keyser Soze at 5:45 AM on November 26, 2002

I gotta agree with the choice of Sinfest. It's daily reading for me.
posted by PenDevil at 5:50 AM on November 26, 2002

Does anyone else know any good online comics?

Nah. But I'm sure somebody around here does.
posted by ook at 5:50 AM on November 26, 2002

Ah! Slightly double post. Lets see if this thread can save itself. Lets keep the ball rolling.
posted by Keyser Soze at 5:57 AM on November 26, 2002

Here's a few:
KU-2
Lint McCree Mysteries
Gravity
Modern Pulp
Supernatural Crime
And 14 weekly strips at
Adventure Strips
posted by Stuart_R at 6:00 AM on November 26, 2002

Diesel Sweeties!
posted by atom128 at 6:04 AM on November 26, 2002

(Didn't mean that as a double-post callout, really; more as a cross-reference to another good list of online comics.)

Come to think of it, I do know one: e-sheep is consistently interesting (if interestingly inconsistent). And I see he's finally got round to doing part 3 of The Spiders, which means the rest of my morning is now shot to hell.
posted by ook at 6:06 AM on November 26, 2002

Jerkcity

www.Jerkcity.com


Bruno:

http://www.brunostrip.com/bruno.html

The best way to read Bruno is to start from the beginning in the archives...
posted by Spacelegoman at 6:07 AM on November 26, 2002

Great stuff - I hadn't seen Zot before. Thanks, Keyser Soze!
posted by Songdog at 6:12 AM on November 26, 2002

Call me old-fashioned, but I prefer ink-on-paper comics. Like Garfield. Man, what a hoot! I love it when Garfield is being lazy and won't even get up to chase the mice. Talk about lazy! And when he eats lasagna.
posted by Man-Thing at 6:13 AM on November 26, 2002

Don't dare go on without checking out Cat and Girl. Chances are you'll hate it, but if not you'll thank me :)
posted by Space Coyote at 6:14 AM on November 26, 2002

I'll repeat myself:Death to the Extremist is my new fave. And Achewood, of course.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 6:23 AM on November 26, 2002

Wigu!
posted by toothgnip at 6:24 AM on November 26, 2002

Narbonic.

In the interests of full disclosure, I went to college with its creator. It's hysterical anyway, not least because Shaenon knows that one punchline is just not enough for a four-panel strip.
posted by Epenthesis at 6:27 AM on November 26, 2002

Nothing nice to say is too cool for school.
posted by jchalmers at 6:28 AM on November 26, 2002

Goats
posted by KnitWit at 6:32 AM on November 26, 2002

Great stuff so far (little do they know I am quietly filling my favorites folder)......
posted by Keyser Soze at 6:33 AM on November 26, 2002

i like MFTIU!
posted by yeahyeahyeahwhoo at 6:35 AM on November 26, 2002

Pokey the Penguin is an acquired taste, I suppose, but I've lost more work hours to Pokey and his pals than to MeFi.
posted by mikrophon at 6:36 AM on November 26, 2002

this again, huh? well! here's a good one that I don't think too many peeps know about: Creased Comics (via palfloat)
posted by mcsweetie at 6:45 AM on November 26, 2002

PVP Online
posted by Beholder at 6:50 AM on November 26, 2002

The ever inconspicuous SPACE MOOSE.
posted by Frasermoo at 6:57 AM on November 26, 2002

One of the big reasons Penny Arcade is such a success is that they not only have a high quality comic but the only decent video game blog around.
posted by McBain at 7:16 AM on November 26, 2002

Oh man, I always forget that Scott McCloud has taken Zot! online. I can't look at this at work, I'll probably start crying from sheer joy. Thanks Keyser.
Someone out there has to know: what is Larry Marder of Beanworld "fame" doing these days? The most recent weblinks I could find were from 1998.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 7:25 AM on November 26, 2002

I used to really like User Friendly, but then it got boring. The only comic that I still read regularly is Penny Arcade, which as McBain said might also be because of their blog.
posted by riffola at 7:26 AM on November 26, 2002

Not to be cranky, but before we mention Space moose or Achewood for the ump-teenth time, can we please check this very recent 106 comment Mefi comic thread before we mention another comic. I'm sure there are many cool on-line comics that weren't mentioned, so why be redundant? I think this thread can justify itself if people can care more about submitting new information then about giving some shout-outs and representing.

Command+F is your friend.
posted by dgaicun at 7:30 AM on November 26, 2002

Triangle and Robert. Now Dgaicun can take off his nun suit.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 7:34 AM on November 26, 2002

A couple of these aren't technically "comics", but here are my daily reads (or however often they come out):

Sluggy Freelance
Sinfest
Scarygoround
diesel sweeties
General Protection Fault
WIGU
Jerkcity
ASCII Art Farts
goats
rehabilitating mr. wiggles
Bob the Angry Flower
Too Much Coffee Man
Sexy Losers
This Modern World by Tom Tomorrow
Homestar Runner. Sewiously.
posted by RylandDotNet at 7:55 AM on November 26, 2002

"I think this thread can justify itself if people can care more about submitting new information then about giving some shout-outs and representing."

So far this threads been great, and everyone has been giving good comments. More links than shout outs so far.
posted by Keyser Soze at 8:02 AM on November 26, 2002

There's something odd about web comics to me. 90% of the comic strips I've ever looked at seem almost interchangeable in their style and humour. The format seems to be: Two or three half-asleep characters talk about geeky things in the first two frames, while in the third, someone makes a mildly sarcastic or self-deprecating remark that serves as a punchline. Ziggy is more animated and biting than most of this stuff.

E-Sheep and Leisuretown stand out for me as the best web comics, though they're more like comic books, than comic strips. I found both of these on Scott McCloud's link page. There's more goodness to be found there.
posted by picea at 8:10 AM on November 26, 2002

Don Hertzfeldt's temporary anesthetics
posted by soplerfo at 8:11 AM on November 26, 2002

A few of my favorites:

Cyberbooty
Nowhere Girl
Small Stories
posted by bedhead at 8:12 AM on November 26, 2002

Sexy losers used to be written under a different name. I have been looking for that comic since its original site shut down. thank you.
posted by Keyser Soze at 8:14 AM on November 26, 2002

TEDDY and
A DOG AND HIS ELEPHANT
..wonderful, sad stuff by Ethan Persoff, not for casual reading. damn good, tho.

i'll jot down others in a bit, i'm away from my bookmarks. but really check those out.
posted by Peter H at 8:39 AM on November 26, 2002

Sexy losers used to be written under a different name.

Yeah, it used to be called "The Thin H Line." The artist used to go by his real name, but he calls himself "Hard" now. I guess it was tough to get a real job when people found out you did a comic like that. Funny shit, but definitely not work-safe.
posted by RylandDotNet at 9:31 AM on November 26, 2002

One of my favourites is Fans!. One of the few strips that I know of that's written by one person (T. Campbell) & drawn by another. The quality of the art varies, but the style of the usual artist, Jason Waltrip, is damn good.

Also, Suspect Device (more fun with clip art than Tom Tomorrow ever had), Bruno the Bandit, and mad props to RylandDotNet for linking to Sluggy Freelance.
posted by Johnny Assay at 11:07 AM on November 26, 2002

Get your war on is always a classic. Perhaps someone should organize like some sort of index for all of these comics, with user ratings and stuff. Maybe even something like amazon's 'you might like this' type of thing.

At least that would stop us from posting this same thread over and over again :P
posted by delmoi at 11:23 AM on November 26, 2002

Perhaps someone should organize like some sort of index for all of these comics, with user ratings and stuff.

Digital Webbing sometimes posts links to online comics in addition to their news about print comics.

I know quite a few webcomic artists who would like to see a really good index...
posted by Stuart_R at 11:45 AM on November 26, 2002

And don't forget Get Fuzzy.
posted by tommasz at 11:58 AM on November 26, 2002

hotendotey
(apologies in advance)


And don't forget Get Fuzzy.

Great comic, but it's not exactly unsyndicated.
posted by badstone at 2:06 PM on November 26, 2002

Unicorn Jelly.

Sure, the art's not that hot, some of the individual strips seem rather pointless, and you definitely won't understand it if you start reading from the most current strip (which is why I linked to the first one). It's also deep fantasy/sci-fi with a good bit of manga influence and a dash of DnD references, so it's probably best suited to raging geeks like me.

Still, I look forward to reading this one each day, far more than any other webcomic I read. It's the only one where the characters have developed so strongly over time, and the only one that sets me to thoughtful pondering on a frequent basis. It's also the only one that makes me both dread the ending and look forward to finally finding out how it ends.
posted by vorfeed at 4:44 PM on November 26, 2002

I second the nominations for Death to the Extremist and wigu.
posted by kcalder at 1:29 AM on November 27, 2002