Despite being a webcomic creator, I hate most webcomics. Hell, I hate my own webcomic. Webcomics are, for the most part, the stupid little doodles people come up with when they’re bored. The only reason why they’re put up on the internet is because it’s just so easy to put stuff up on the internet these days. As such, the signal to noise ratio is pretty bad. However, I do read some webcomics.
Over the years the number of webcomics I follow has dwindled, due to either a) the comics themselves just fizzling out, or b) me losing interest. Here are a few that have survived up till now in no particular order.
Penny Arcade
Penny Arcade was the first webcomic I ever read. I came to know about it through the few issues of Playstation magazine I had lying around. I remember liking the artwork, but it took me a while to actually make my way to the site. Once I finally decided to visit the site, it took me about three weeks to charge through the archive on a weak dial up connection.
Penny Arcade is a great comic. I don’t even play video games, but I tend to find most of their work hilarious. Tycho is an utter genius when it comes to comedic writing and Gabe delivers a solid art style that resembles the few American cartoons I actually like. They’ve had periods that haven’t been all too hot, but for the most part their archive is solid.
Megatokyo
I honestly have no idea why I still follow Megatokyo. Apparently it has some kind of story, but I am completely in the dark as to what it is and who any of the characters are beyond Piro and Largo. Furthermore, Fred’s style is pretty bad. In a way it’s an interesting twist on what people consider “manga” but most times it just looks lazy. Nice buildings, though.
Megatokyo was probably the second webcomic I ever read. To be honest, I’m one of those people who really liked the early four panel strips. They weren’t laugh-out-loud funny, but they were charming pieces that tickled the funnybone of my 13-year-old Japanophile self. If it had continued along that vein, I probably would have liked it a lot better.
Real Life
I’m not entirely sure how I came upon Greg Dean’s Real Life. It was probably though Mac Hall. Anyways, I used to really like Real Life. Its humour was always extremely stupid but it made me laugh. Recently Greg’s been really playing up “real life” aspect of his comic by just making strips that are terribly boring. Though, his newest storyline is pretty funny, in a dumb way. He should just keep doing things like that.
Mac Hall
Mac Hall is no longer around, but I have to mention it. Mac Hall is, undoubtedly, my most favourite webcomic. In fact, it’s probably one of my most favourite things– full stop. When I was in highschool, Mac Hall provided me with a depiction of college life that appealed to my geekish sensibilities. It was the kind of college experience I wanted. Yes– nostalgia does play a bit into this, but even when I go back and read a random Mac Hall comic, I still find it to be very good.
Ian’s art was probably at its best when he was into the thick, wavy linework and shiny colouring. However, his lines-free style looked great after perfected it. Mac Hall’s artwork also influenced mine greatly. In fact, my colouring style is based off of one of Ian’s very old colouring tutorials. As for the writing, I didn’t really get half of Matt’s jokes when I was in HS, but upon re-reading them, they all suddenly struck a chord with me. Funny how that works.
Three Panel Soul
3PS is Mac Hall all grown up. Being all grown up, it’s less exciting than Mac Hall, but still a good comic. Once again, I can only get into Matt’s scripts half of the time, but Ian’s art is constantly great. Maybe once I’m out of college I’ll appreciate 3PS more.
TGSA Comic
TGSA Comic is by Kimmo “Blastwave” Lemetti and some guy called Pulsar. The writing ranges from average to hilarious, and Lemetti’s artwork is always good, be it simple or extremely detailed. I think it could be very good if the writing was tightened up a bit.
Gone With The Blastwave
I love Gone With The Blastwave. It never, ever, updates, but just looking at it is an experience. Lemetti’s artwork here is always incredible, and the humour is deliciously dark. I should buy his book!
VG Cats
VG Cats updates so rarely that I often forget I read it. Scott’s writing is usually pretty funny, and the art is polished but uninteresting. The only thing that really bothers me about this one is that Scott’s taste in anime is terrible. And furries. Ugh.
Tsunami Channel
A long time ago one of my friends linked this to me, but I didn’t read it since I was on dial up. It was only when Tsunami Channel linked my own comic that I decided to go back and read through their archive. Akira’s an actual Japanese person so his artwork is pretty authentic “manga” stuff and tends to look good. The writing is typical, and is kind of hurt by Akira’s command over the English language, but generally I like it. In fact, this comic is what I wish Megatokyo was.
Wow, nine comics. That’s more than I thought. But three of them never update, so maybe that’s why I thought the number was lower.
Oh wait! I forgot one!
Mistakes of Youth
I do read my own comic. In fact, I read each comic many times which is why I end up hating all of them. My art is horrible, and my writing is even worse. I’ve been trying my best to improve on my art, but it never goes anywhere. I’m a talentless hack, and I have no idea why I put out this shitty shit webcomic.
