Webcomics

One of my daily routines is reading my webcomics. If you're not familiar with webcomics, they are essentially the same thing you'd read in the newspaper, but in many cases they are created by independent artists and are only available online. Also, many web comics are more intricate in art and story than newspaper comics, and also often in full color every day. However, artists who make their living through webcomics are paid through advertising and merchandise, so if you find one or more you really like, please consider supporting the artists through a donation or purchase.

The Webcomic I've been reading the longest is PvP (short for player vs. player, a gaming term for you non nerds). The strip is the story of two guys who have been friends from when they were young and own a gaming magazine called PvP. The strip has been running for 10 years, so of course that synopsis is limiting, but it's a great strip, great characters, and lots of geeky fun. I have a Skull the troll plush up by my computer.

Next I started reading Girls with Slingshots, which is about a couple of single girls, their friends, and life in general. Not really geeky at all, but lots of drinking, so I'm all for it. I think I started reading this one based on a recommendation by Scott Kurtz of PvP. The webcomic community is pretty tight, and you'll often see character crossovers among some of them.

Then I discovered Questionable Content, which involves a bunch of friends in a western New England town and their lives, which involves coffee shops, sex, AIs, hipster culture, and other geekery. Fun story and characters.

Next is Shortpacked! about a bunch of people who work in a toy store. That's kind of a limiting description, but there's lots of shenanigans and Transformer references.

Dumbing of Age is a comic by the same artist who does Shortpacked!, and uses many of the same characters, but in an alternate college campus universe. It sounds confusing, but I can kind of keep it straight. The personalities are a direct crossover, i.e. Mike is an asshole in both.

Penny Arcade, along with PvP, is one of the longest running webcomics, also about geek culture and gaming.

I started reading XKCD because my husband read it and thought it was funny, and I agree. Warning, most of the comics have some sort of technical slant to them, lots of things like computer coding, physics, etc. It's awesome. I've reposted so many of these.

Finally, my most recent addition is Girl Genius, a steampunk series by Kaja and Phil Foglio. Fantastic story, fun characters, outrageous antics, and great art. I highly recommend investing the time to read this one from the start; jumping in may not make a lot of sense, and there's a lot of history.