The Big 10: Web Comics
Saturday, September 29th, 2007
Every body in the house say “punch n’ pie”, it’s the return of The Big 10! For the seventh entry, I’m taking a look at some of my favorite web comics. As we all know, when it comes to free entertainment, much of what’s offered is awful and lame garbage. However, there are some hidden gems of quality just waiting to be discovered. Web Comics are no different. With that in mind, here are my favored examples of online comics, combining both exceptional art and clever writing.
WARNING: Contains Brief Language And Mature Subject Matter
As per usual, keep in mind that this should in no way be considered a Top Ten, and the titles listed within are in no particular ranking order. With that out of the way, get ready to smile and laugh with “The Big 10: Web Comics”:
1. Striptease
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I’d never heard of this comic before just days ago. Thanks to my dear friend Susie, I was introduced to Striptease by way of the image you see above. It’s a Buffy reference, so I’m already smiling, but it’s the converting of a judgmental non-believer into an instant viewer that has me laughing. It’s funny because it’s true.
2. Sugar Shock
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Speaking of Buffy, here’s creator Joss Whedon’s new storyline, Sugar Shock. Ever since reviving the Slayer’s stories through comics in early 2007, Joss has become a golden god for Dark Horse Publishing. They’ll produce anything he has to offer, even if it’s free to the public. That’s great news for poor folks like me who can only afford a couple of comics a month.
This monthly mini-comic (each issue seems to run for roughly eight pages at a time) has vibrant pop art, a brisk but appropriate structure as well as the wit and charm that Whedon’s writing is famous for. Sure, there are only two issues at this point, but it’s already set itself up as a must-read in my mind. I just hope Joss can keep it up, and not run the risk of spreading himself too thin and ultimately burning out, like he’s done in the past. The loyal fans know what I’m talking about. Nevertheless, decent Whedon material is still awesome material in general.
3. Real Life Comics
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The characters and events in Real Life comics are apparently based on actual people and their lives. It shows. The writing feels natural and the characters are solid. Not only is the art clean and simple, but the observational humor found within this comic is easy to relate to and understand. And come on, Optimus Goth? So whacky, it’s gotta be true.
4. Penny Arcade
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Probably the most popular title on this list, Penny Arcade has actually been known to appear in Electronic Gaming Monthly. While focusing mainly on video game humor, the comic is also chock full of references to more accessible and universal forms of popular culture. The characters are well defined and consistent in their actions. It doesn’t feel like just one voice spread over a number of talking heads.
5. Kristy VS. The Zombie Army
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Take a bit of Sam Raimi, Tim Burton and Joss Whedon and mix it all up. The end result might resemble this comic. It deals with a young girl’s seemingly random battle with hundreds of the undead. As the story progresses, so does the character of Kristy, as she finds she has a connection to all of this, and there are bigger forces at work here. It’s fun, quippy and sometimes even shocking. In any other comic, this story would have grown repetitive and stale, but Kristy’s adventures are constantly evolving and moving forward. It really is hard to know just what will happen next.
6. Ctrl+Alt+Del
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Control Alt Delete mixes the bug-eyed art and violence of Jhonen Vasquez with the sly, spastic humor of Mel Brooks (or maybe Albert Brooks). Regardless, it’s never boring and always good for a chuckle. It’s quick and disposable, but totally worth a look.
7. Dueling Analogs
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Dueling Analogs is what it would be like if the Zucker Brothers were hardcore gamers. This comic is at its best when doing one-shot parodies. The style of the art is sometimes changed to reflect the title being lampooned, but it’s always spot on. They’re the kind of comics that come from years of watching The Simpsons and reading Mad Magazine. Clearly, a solid combination.
8. Questionable Content
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Questionable Content wears its indie cred on its sleeve, referencing obscure band names left and right. The best part is, it does it without any snobbery towards the reader. One gets the sense that the artist just likes to share what he enjoys. The comic feels very friendly and personable. The humor jumps effortlessly back and forth between high and low brow. The weird and abstract is even thrown in sometimes for good measure.
Probably my favorite element of Questionable Content is its arc-based storylines. Beneath the cool and aloof sillyness, there lies the occasional jolts of pathos and empathy. It’s dramatic without being melodramatic. The characters are diverse and endearing and the art has a wonderful grace and progression of skill.
I would love to see a live-action adaptation of this story, although the talking computers/robots could present a problem within the translation. Still, the stories are strong enough and identifiable, I’d like to see someone take a stab at it. In terms of casting, main character Marten looks EXACTLY like Diggnation’s Kevin Rose. 
9. Sheldon
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Sheldon is in the tradition of comics one would find in the Sunday newspaper, both in art and script. Another example of excellent, observational humor. Like Calvin & Hobbes before it, Sheldon gives us amusing but ponderous humor that can only come from the innocence of youth. A true classic. Plus, that duck character is mad adorable.
10. VG Cats
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I love cats, so maybe I’m a bit biased. Beyond that, I think I’ll let the above image speak for itself. Enough said!
Honorable Mentions:
Boy On A Stick And Slither
Fang Gang Lite
Player Vs. Player
Three Panel Soul
Little Gamers
That’s it for this edition of The Big 10. Got a list of your own? Go forth and get posty with it.
-John Pavlich
www.sofadogs.com
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You think that Ctrl-Alt-Delete has writing equivalent to Mel Brooks? Seriously? Are we talking about the same Ctrl-Alt-Delete that doesn’t know what a punchline is and displays frequent bouts of repulsive misogyny?
@Jacobo – That’s who the comic made me think of. What else can I say? Also, I haven’t read enough of the comic to notice the misogyny you speak of. It may very well be there, but it’s a web comic so I guess it just doesn’t really matter enough to me in the end. The TV show House often has misogynist humor, but that doesn’t stop me from watching and appreciating the other aspects.
links don’t work
Talk to Randy about it. The images were there when I originally posted this, almost two years ago. If you want to see them, this (along with all my Big 10 articles) can be found in its original location at my MySpace blog.
No offense, but I have to say that’s a pretty bad list. I don’t know enough about all of these to comment, but Ctrl Alt Del and VG Cats are both really not very good. Actually they’re both really bad. Ctrl Alt Del has the most blatantly copy pasted art ever – it seriously has no artistic merit, the guy barely knows how to draw. From a story standpoint, it’s obnoxious. Every character is unrealistic, the main character is an annoying, semi-sociopathic jerk, but everything always goes right for him, and everyone loves him, because he’s The Hero. It’s not like it makes up for it in humor, either. The strip traffics in very well-trodden tropes of humor, and not particularly well – it does the crazy sidekick, robot in this case, the long suffering roommate, all that. But the jokes are never funny. VG Cats is even worse in this regard – every strip is overly long and drawn out. The author has no idea how to craft a good joke, instead filling the strip with mediocre joke after mediocre joke, blunting the impact of each and making the strip nonsensical. He still can’t update more than once every three months, though.
A larger problem than dubious recommendations present is the lack of some really excellent stuff that’s out there on the Web. I would recommend that anyone who’s interested check out Gunnerkrigg Court (weird girl goes to a weird school, Neil Gaiman Approved), Adventures of Dr. McNinja (Irish Ninja Doctor and his Mexican bandit sidekick go on adventures involving Zombie Ben Franklin, Evil Pirates, Death, Etc.), Achewood (it’s hard to describe… a bunch of talking animals hang out with each other? great dialogue, incredibly funny, but not everyone’s cup of tea. check it out, though), Starslip Crisis (Sci-fi humor… kind of like Star Trek except on a museum ship), and Templar, Arizona (again, hard to describe. Very character driven, in an intriguing alternate reality version of America). Any of these are well worth some time put in.
Art and humor are very much subjective. Having said that, I neither write nor draw any of those comics, so your words do not offend me. I may check out your recommendations someday, but it’s difficult to do after your approach. Perhaps you should have simply said, “I’m personally not a fan of these comics, but I suggest you instead check out…”.
Ah, I got a nod under Striptease–I’m the dear friend who slid that Buffy-referenced strip along
And now I’m here to leave some positivity.
John and I have been friends for years. He and I are very similar in some tastes, and wildly different in others. I remember this one time, I said that a particular band was horrible onstage. Mind you, this isn’t a band I really give a rip about either way, but they were opening for Rufus Wainwright and I was forced to sit through them. I thought they were terrible because they sounded like a CD; if I wanted to listen to a CD, I would just buy the bloody CD. I related this to John later, who disagreed with me–after a drawn-out argument, I realized that he and I simply had different tastes and to just let it go when we disagree, heh.
And, in all honesty, the most fun conversations I’ve had with people (including John) were when we were sharing our mutual love of something, rather than cutting something down that someone else likes. It’s much more productive, and so much easier to geek out on.
A few that I would put on my own list:
QC
Anders Loves Maria
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
xkcd
The Perry Bible Fellowship
qwantz
and
the one that John should be publishing
because it’s awesome.
— Susie
reading the new questionable content is my daily routen when i get home from work.
I love QC, and like you, it was once part of my daily routine. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to keep up with it and actually haven’t read it in over a year.
xkcd?
This article is crazy old. I hadn’t read xkcd at the time. I know it well now and love it dearly. The Race mini-series was epic hilarity for sure!
This article is almost 2 years old. It went that whole time without comments. So take that into consideration when you decide if you want to continue commenting on it. If it can’t remain civil, then we can always lock the comments.
Please don’t flame or troll just because you don’t agree with John’s opinions.
Dictionary.com describes Anhedonia as a psychological condition characterized by an inability to experience pleasure in acts which normally produce it.
“Well, art and humor are subjective. Did I mention that disagreeing with my, John Pavlich’s, taste in comics is a DSM-IV pathological condition?”
I think I’ve got another Dictionary.com entry for you.
No need to put words in my mouth. I’ve no problem with someone disagreeing with my opinion, but execution is very important. A calm, friendly exchange of ideas and viewpoints is much more stimulating and effective than a heated argument full of negative energy. But, as I said before, those aren’t MY comics, so I’m not offended if someone doesn’t like them.
You’re ducking the question. Are you or are you not implying that people are disagreeing with your choices in comics because they are suffering from Anhedonia, i.e. watching blank-faced mannequins lurch unnaturally from panel to identically-composed panel while parroting recontextualized Popsicle-stick jokes is–to paraphrase–an act that should normally produce pleasure?
If not, why cite the Dictionary.com entry? And if so, how do you reconcile that with your idea that art is subjective, that there’s no right or wrong in comics, just different tastes?
I cannot duck, nor head-butt a question that was never asked. But, now that you actually have asked, the answer is no. The dictionary.com quotation was in response to a very nasty, mean-spirited post that has since been deleted by the administrator.
You don’t like these comics, specifically Ctrl+Alt+Del. I get it already. I also get your reasons why, I just don’t agree with them. You’re not going to change my mind. I like the art. I like the humor. It’s as simple as that. Someone else doesn’t like it, such as yourself, that’s fine. Whatever. I’m okay with you not liking it, so why can’t you be okay with the fact that I do?
Actually, never mind. Scratch that. I don’t want to know. You have some problem with my taste in web comics, and I should probably leave it at that. I’m better off not knowing why. It’s only going to result in an endless circle of “I don’t like it because of X.” “Well, I DO like it, because of Y.” “Yeah, but I don’t like that. How can you like that? And what about Z?” “I just do. What else do you want? And I’ve got nothing against Z. I’m fine with it.” and so on and so forth. You get the idea, so let’s just agree to disagree, shall we?