Given my tastes, which web comics should I be reading?

[robkelk]

I've been pruning my selection of which web comics I read on a regular basis, taking titles off my "check periodically" lists for various reasons (not updating often enough for me to remember the story, humour comics that I just don't find humourous any more, the strip's creator has decided to focus on other projects, the writer's using the strip for Author Tracts instead of putting the messages into the story, etc.)

Which of course means I have time to read other comics.

What's good nowadays? Please give me one or two suggestions, keeping in mind the reasons why I dropped strips in the first place.

As to what I'm still reading: On the web-first side, xkcd, Sluggy Freelance, GPF, PvP (although that's getting close to "not funny any more"), Girl Genius, Kevin & Kell, Bug Martini, Grrl Power, Freefall, Darths & Droids, Friendship is Dragons, Wrong Hands, Order of the Stick, Sequential Art, and (of course) Erma. (I would have included Kiwi Blitz, but it's on hiatus.) In the legacy media, Dilbert (getting very close to "not funny any more") and Heart of the City (which I'm liking the recent revamp of).

And the long-timers here know what I like in other media.

Oh, yes: I really can't stand Penny Arcade, and I find SMBC to be hit-or-miss.

[Epsilon]

Have you tried Gunnerkrigg Court?

Adorable girls coming of age in a boarding school which is also on the border of The Forest where all sorts of strangeness lies.

Long form slow burn story, gradual but persistent character growth.

First page. As the last page is a major spoiler for the ending story arc. Oh yeah, and it's coming to a well earned and built up conclusion.

Try also: JL8

It's the Justice League. But everyone is eight years old. It's better than most actual DC output. It gets the characters and portraying all the cast with a balanced outlook that makes them work even better as eight year olds. 

Pheobe and Her Unicorn.

Adokable girl and her vain unicorn (Marigold Heavenly Nostrils). If you liked Calvin and Hobbes and wanted something in the same spirit but a more feminine take, go for it.

[Shepherd]

I'm already following several of those. Some of my suggestions:

Erfworld: A gamer gets sucked into a game world and proceeds to break things.
https://www.erfworld.com/

Spinnerette: The adventures of Ohio's third most popular superhero.
http://www.spinnyverse.com/comic

Something Positive: The funny and cynical lives of several close friends. Artwork and storylines are simple in early years, but get better.
https://www.somethingpositive.net/sp11212018.shtml

[Labster]

Did you not pick up reading Erfworld from Order of the Stick?  I know it was really slow to start, and the art was kinda... not great.  But in Book 2, the art got really good, and Book 3 got a little worse, then much better again -- all artist changes.   The concept is ... gamer gets sucked into a game -- except this time it's a tactical minis game.  It's kind of like Game of Thrones, substituting sex for puns.  It's been a little slower since Balder's wife came down with cancer, but the community has been pretty supportive -- we increased donations by 50% the week it was announced.

Gunnerkrigg Court is a fantasy comedy with a dash of horror thrown in -- there's a reason the heroine looks like the main character of Uzumaki, but trust me, it's not nearly as dark.  Half of the comic is in the Court, a gray cityscape with robots and questionable science; the other half in Gillitie Forest is a overgrown land of faeries and shadows and spirit animals.  Between them lies the Annan Waters, a giant chasm.  As usual, the art starts out questionable but it improves.

This one is probably not to your taste, but I'll mention it to other people: El Goonish Shive.  It's a slice-of-life school comedy with magical hijinks, with a big emphasis on sexuality and transformations and genderswaps.  It's also 100% clean -- less breasts than Ranma.  But there's something natural about how it's just kids in high school trying to figure themselves out, with the occasional bit of danger thrown in.

The Non-Adventures of Wonderella is basically a send-up of superhero tropes.  Updates very rarely now (what have we had, 4 this year?), but at least they're all funny.

I stopped reading Girl Genius a few years back -- just kind of realized I didn't know what was going on any more, and didn't really care what happened to the characters.  I still read Irregular Webcomic -- after all, it is the reason I made it to TVT in the first place.  At least marginally funny every day, which is much better than "occasionally unfunny". Schlock Mercenary has some interesting sci-fi plots, but the jokes seem forced lately.  Again, at least it updates every day.  Honestly, I need to find new webcomics.

[robkelk]

Honestly, I need to find new webcomics.

Me too... which is why I started this thread.

Thanks for the suggestions, folks. Keep them coming!

[DHBirr]

A second vote for Phoebe and Her Unicorn.  I need to add the quibble, though, that unlike in Calvin and Hobbes, Marigold is unquestionably real.  Images where she makes weird faces ("Curse you for introducing a unicorn to the concept of selfies.") are particularly adorkable.  There're also lots and lots of ugly-cute goblins (everything they say sounds like slight variations on "Blaart"), and Phoebe's arch-frenemy Dakota.  Phoebe's dad, a systems administrator, is secretly cool (so he says).

Phoebe:  Dad, what was life like before the internet?
Ethan Howell:  I knew this day would come.  That one day, you would ask about the BEFORE TIMES.  It was a dark and brutal age, when typewriters roamed the land and IGNORANCE and BOREDOM reigned.  It was VERY DIFFICULT to waste time watching videos of cats.

-----
Considering that one dictionary definition of "carry on" is to "behave or speak in a foolish, excited, or improper manner," the designers of that famous poster, "Keep Calm and Carry On," need to make up their flippin' minds!

[Norgarth]

Lets see...

I'll third Gunnerkrigg Court, and second El Goonish Shive.

Other ones I follow that I don't think have been mentioned yet are:

Fatherhood - A weekly webcomic my brother started writing when his wife was pregnant with their first child (I think it's funny, and as he's family, I feel required to plug it. )

Two Lumps: The Adventures of Eben and Snooch - a pair of cats.  Includes jokes about the weather in Texas (where the author lives), silly stuff cats do, etc

Goblins - following a group of D&D style goblins (lots of gamer humor mixed in)

Looking For Group - a fantasy adventure/comedy loosely based on/inspired by World of Warcraft I believe, though it's diverged a fair bit over the years.

Schlock Mercenary - long running daily comic about a scifi mercenary force. Like with so many long running webcomics, the art has improved over the years.

Naruto: Jutsu and Jinchuriki - I haven't read too far in this one yet, but in the tradition of Darths and Droids, or Friendship is Dragons, it's a Naruto as tabletop campaign webcomic.

[RMH999]

Kill Six Billion Demons

Far beyond Earth, the multiverse is in chaos as criminals rule and callous kings maintain a fragile peace. One day, a mysterious and bloody figure appears to a woman named Allison and bestows her with a legendary artifact known as a Key of Kings. By doing so, he transports her into Throne, a land as mysterious as it is bizarre. But when rumors about the Key begin to spread, Allison must not only learn face herself, but ensure the security of the world at large.

-- To me it gives a strong flavor of the Exalted RPG, with Allison being a newly Exalted Solar and dealing with the various gods/demons/spirits

[classicdrogn]

Ava's Demon has art that varies from fully-painted style (most of the time) to psychadelic-colored silhouettes (rarely) and occasionally actual animation, usually at arc endings. It's about a bullied girl, the titular Ava, trying to find her way through a rather dystopian if intriguing space opera setting with added magical elements. Sadly, I can't personally recommend it as such because the site wants to use far more scripting than I'm willing to turn on, especially for the animated episodes, so I've only read bits and pieces where someone prodded me enough to take a look past that. (Of course, my tolerance for cute internet layout and script stuff has severely declined over time, to the point that I don't allow pages to specify fonts or lately even colors other than my defaults, so I expect most people would find it more acceptable)

As noted at the top of the intro page, "This comic contains adult themes that may not be suitable for everyone. Reader discretion is advised!" Mostly, this is for bullying and violence, I believe, but there are some sexual themes as well.

http://www.avasdemon.com/chapters.php
Link is to the "archives" listing, which has a decent preview of the art style for arc dividers without major spoilers etc. I will note that the images here do tend much more heavily to the "silhouettes" style than the regular instalments, at least as far as I recall. A quick check of a couple of pages each from the first few chapters confirms all-painted, one with a screen flicker effect, and no silhouettes, so I may actually have been misremembering in the other direction. Some of the panels are downright beautiful, more than I remembered.

[Labster]

I'm going to throw out a "new" comic, which is actually getting pretty close to its centennial: Nancy

I'll let Vox explain why it's funny again with its new artist.  I know it's a newspaper strip, but given how many papers dropped it, it's a webcomic for most of us.

[Black Aeronaut]

I've seen most of the stuff reccomended, and I'll second them all.

By the way, Kiwi Blitz is updating again.

Oh, word of warning: El Goonish Shiv has a frickin' HUGE archive. I'd say that it probably rivals Sluggy Freelance and Schlock Mercenary in this department. (Hell, I'm pretty sure that all three of them are contemporaries of each other.)

[robkelk]

I've seen most of the stuff reccomended, and I'll second them all.

By the way, Kiwi Blitz is updating again.  

Yeah, I noticed. Thanks.

Oh, word of warning: El Goonish Shiv has a frickin' HUGE archive.  I'd say that it probably rivals Sluggy Freelance and Schlock Mercenary in this department.  (Hell, I'm pretty sure that all three of them are contemporaries of each other.)

Oh, dear. The only reason I managed to complete an archive run of Sluggy was because I was on sick leave (broken wrist) and literally had nothing better to do. (I was into OotS early enough that the archive run didn't take too long at the time.)

[Norgarth]

El Goonish Shive at least doesn't update daily

It also has basically 3 sets of posts.  
1) The main comic (usually updates M/W/F, occasionally skips an update due to RL stuff.  for example, yesterday's update was cancelled for "Health/writing reasons')

2) EGS:np (np=newspaper) , EGS:np stuff is mostly non-canon fluff/jokes.  occasionally used for canon storylines that don't directly impact the main story (and usually marked as being canon) (Usually updates Tu/Th, sometimes skipped if Dan's short on time)

3) the Sketchbook  silly stuff, random doodles, reader suggestions for character costumes/transformations, Writers Block jokes, re-colors of main or NP panels, etc (updates erratically, sometimes has been dormant for months at a time)

[Labster]

Actually currently EGS:NP updates M/W/F the same as the main comic. I think it's been like that about a year.

[Black Aeronaut]

Blowing the dust off this thread because I know the people that would notice it will definitely be interested in this.

http://fourkinghell.smackjeeves.com/comi...itle-page/

Basically? The Shitenyou are somehow revived.

Shenanigans (and plot!!!) ensue.

[Bob Schroeck]

Oh, geeze, I went to look at what that was, and ended up twenty or thirty strips in before I realized it.

[Black Aeronaut]

*Cackles wickedly*

I guess I forgot to mention that it was a Sailor Moon fan-comic, set a year or two after the events of the 5th Season.

[Star Ranger4]

Oh my. Thanks for sharing this one BA

[Bob Schroeck]

I kept going all the way to the last extant strip (posted yesterday). This is good stuff and I'd say it's got me hooked.

[Epsilon]

Very funny webcomic!

EDIT: http://fourkinghell.smackjeeves.com/comi.../page-050/

I laughed so hard at this I forgot how to breath.

EDITEDIT: "Make certain to brainwash my parents when you see them, they're used to it."

Oh my god.

[Black Aeronaut]

Page 83 fucking KILLED ME. Heee....

EDIT: Oh, I'll need to get in touch with the artist/author... this is giving me IDEAS for how I'll wrap up various seasons in The Final Dream.

[Epsilon]

Sleepless Domain

"It's ten o'clock. All citizens should be inside and all magical girls transformed."

Well... uh... how to explain without spoiling...

Spoiler

Did you like Madoka, you'll like this!

[robkelk]

...  I still read Irregular Webcomic -- after all, it is the reason I made it to TVT in the first place.  At least marginally funny every day, which is much better than "occasionally unfunny". ...

I just finished an archive run of IW. Already having read the two published collections, I had an idea what to expect, but ... Jane Freakin' Goodall!!!

Added to the "read weekdays" list.

Blowing the dust off this thread because I know the people that would notice it will definitely be interested in this.

http ://fourkinghell.smackjeeves.com/comics/949088/four-king-hell-title-page/

Basically? The Shitenyou are somehow revived.

Shenanigans (and plot!!!) ensue.  

Good story, capturing the overall feel of the original Sailor Moon anime. Shame about it being updated so irregularly, though.

Added to the "check occasionally whether it's updated" list.

[robkelk]

Blowing the dust off this thread because I know the people that would notice it will definitely be interested in this.

http ://fourkinghell.smackjeeves.com/comics/949088/four-king-hell-title-page/

Basically? The Shitenyou are somehow revived.

Shenanigans (and plot!!!) ensue.  

Good story, capturing the overall feel of the original Sailor Moon anime. Shame about it being updated so irregularly, though.

Added to the "check occasionally whether it's updated" list.

Alas, it's gone missing from the live web - not just the comic, but the website as well.

[Black Aeronaut]

Smack Jeeves apparently just had a major renovation of the website. I can't say that it's really all that much of an improvement - it's like as if they got the web comics archive version of the Crapatalk Makeover.

https://www.smackjeeves.com/discover/art...leNo=61611