Webcomics: An Annotated Guide for the Understandably Perplexed

By Glen Weldon

Not much in the way of comics news this week; the industry's gone silent as everyone who's anyone — along with thousands of no-ones dressed as Ewoks — decamps to San Diego for Comic-Con.

So now seems as good a time as any to spend some virtual ink on the webcomic, a relatively new medium that fuses classic comics tropes to the virtual infrastructure of buggy Powerpoint presentations.

After the jump: A webcomics primer, and a sampler of the best and brightest. And weirdest. Let's not forget the weirdest.

It's a great big fat Web out there, and it's filled with folks making various species of clickable comics. This site claims to track nearly 14,000 of 'em, which is one of those I-am-but-a-speck-in-the-vast-uncaring-universe sort of facts that leaves one feeling vaguely terrified, so I figured I'd share it with you.

You're WELcome.

Below, I'll list those webcomics I visit regularly, but just understand that it's a teensy slice of the cyberpie.

(From what I can tell, for instance, there seem to be an inordinate number of webcomics about sexy, sword-wielding, anthropomorphic kitties in leather bikinis. I cannot speak to their merit, or lack of it. On account of the creepy.)

And I'm not saying these selections are the funniest or the most accomplished or anything; I'm merely saying I like them: Check 'em out, decide for yourself.

But first, some basics:

Navigation, or 'Gah! Where the Frilly Heck Am I .... GAH!'

Oy, such a nuisance. No two webcomics seem to share precisely the same means of navigation, and some are downright stupid about it. And though these sites can get pretty cluttered, there are some widely adopted conventions.

What you're looking for are arrows pointing left or right, and/or the words "previous" and "next." You may be able to find a highlighted calendar which will allow you to skip to specific dates. Many sites also feature a "random" button, which offers a handy way to sample the offerings.

Subject Matter, or 'Hah! Burn! The AI of Allies in the PC version of Mass Effect WAS Totally Ganked!'

Okay, yes, there are a lot of strips that traffic in obscure references and in-jokes pertaining to matters geeky: video games, comics, sci-fi, fantasy, scantily clad kitten-women.

There are so many webcomics devoted to "video-game culture," in fact, that the gaming site Kotaku.com chooses the best 13 or 14 every week. There are a couple of video-game comics in my favorites below, but if you're enough of a gamer to know a Gameshark from a Game Genie, Kotaku's a better place to start.

That said, webcomics are a lot more varied than the best-known examples of the form would suggest. In this, webcomics are a lot like dead-tree comics.

Story, or 'The Guy With the Duck on His Head: What's HIS Deal?"

Some webcomics tell huge, multi-character stories over many years. Even the gag-a-day strips have running characters and some semblance of an ongoing story arc.Callbacks to something that occurred three, 10 or 140 strips back are commonplace.

This is where the "About" button in the menu is your friend. Most creators offer a tutorial that introduces their characters and points new readers to good jumping-on points. In many cases — particularly those huge ongoing Web sagas — you'll just have to start from scratch.

Don't Get Hung Up on Where They Fit in the Realm of Visual Art.

That's this guy's job, and he's all over it. Trust me.

Clear Your Cache — And Your Day.

And update your browser and defrag your drive while you're at it. Pages can take a while to load, so trolling the deep archives of any webcomic tends to soak up a goodly amount of time, especially if you're willing to give a strip an honest shot.

If the most recent comic doesn't grab you, don't dismiss the whole strip just yet; click around a bit.

I find that whenever I come across a new webcomic that jibes with my sensibilities, I tend to gorge myself on it. (Let me just say here: Should you wish to assay the Goats site — with archives that go back to 1997 — take a sandwich and a change of clothes.)

Note: None of the webcomics I've linked to below are NSFW, per se. I mean, there's salty language in many, tasteless jokes in several, and old-school, Old-Testament blasphemy in more than a few — but no bare breasts, if that's the sort of thing you're worried about. Still, it might be best to consider them Not Entirely Appropriate For Work.

Goats
Funny, weird, and never anything less than clever. Plus there's a heck of a lot of it. Check out the helpful "New Reader? Start Here" in the navigation bar and, uh, start there.

Pictures for Sad Children
This one, you gotta start from the beginning. So that's where the link sends you. Also: I love this comic like ... a thing that really really loves another thing, I don't know. Not to oversell it, but it's the most perfect comic in the long and storied history of ever.

Achewood
The art's sort of willfully primitive. The writing gives off wiggly golden rays of goodness that can cure rickets. True fact.

xkcd
AKA "The stick-figure one." One of the most popular webcomics out there. Which sort of reinforces the fact that the kind of people who make something popular on the Web are not the kind of people who make, say, America's Got Talent the most popular show on TV.

Web people are weirder people.

Wondermark
A sort of online fumetti treatment -- found art, surreal crypto-neo-ur-Victorian gags. A marvel.

Penny Arcade
By geeks for geeks. Non-nerds welcome, but they'll occasionally need a phrasebook. If you're completely befuzzled by the day's strip, click on the accompanying blog entry, which will at the very least tell you where the reference came from.

PvP
A kindred spirit to Penny Arcade, with a wider cast and more attention to character comedy. Just as funny, but sweeter, in an odd way.

Dinosaur Comics
Truth in advertising: The same six panels of dinosaurs on a murder spree, day in, day out. The only thing that changes is the dialogue. A high-wire experiment in form that, simply, dependably, and against all odds, works.

Partially Clips
Like Wondermark, a combination of found art, a finely honed comic sensibility, and awesomeness run rampant.

Cat and Girl
Smart, funny grooviness you can count on. The linked-to comic is not the most recent, but I had to start you off with that one. Because: Heh.

Octopus Pie
A satisfying blend of serial narrative, punchlines that land and idiot-proof navigation make this strip by a criminally young artist (she's 24, for God's sake), a good place to start any day.

The Rack
This strip, set in a comic shop full of obstreperous employees and work-your-last-damn-nerve customers, is simultaneously a loving paean to, and a withering satire of, men (and women) who love comics more than is strictly healthy. In-jokes abound, but characters matter more — as when the employees make their weekly reading recommendations that end up telling you more about who they are than the books they're discussing. And yes, there are guys like Aaron.

Lydia
Recently launched spin-off of The Rack (same writer, different artist), featuring the shop's most acerbic employee dropped unceremoniously into corporate America. Still finding its feet, but the above-linked strip made me want to go and high-five something. That does not often happen, people.

Perry Bible Fellowship
No longer publishing. Late, lamented, sorely missed. You'll see why.

Sheldon
It's cute. I like it. Shut up.

A Softer World
Not quite a gag strip, not quite an art strip. It's like a mashup of Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey and Barbara Kruger.

Templar, Arizona
Huge — and hugely immersive — tale of a city and its people, all of whom are just slightly off plumb. Just read it. It's great.

AD: After the Deluge
Unforgettable, breathtaking chronicle of New Orleans before, during and after Katrina. I guarantee you will hungrily devour this beautiful, heartbreaking project. and sit there cursing out your browser for its sluggishness.

Right, then, that's my lot. Y'all have any favorites?