Webcomics I am currently reading

[alias_sqbr]

I got inspired to post about it to webcomics (which I am the sole active mod of, a responsibility which weighed on me very heavily for a while but now involves deleting the odd bit of spam) and thought I might as well repost the list somewhere it will actully get read.

Homestuck: deeply weird and eclectic huge long scifi humour horror interactive musical EXPERIENCE.
Freefall Gently funny and intelligent space opera about created intelligences and societies. Moves amazingly slowly, it's one of the oldest webcomics I know of still going and has covered like...3 days in universe.
Gunnerkrigg Court Bittersweet? Something like that. Fantasy set in a magical school.
Band vs Band Fun bubblegum about girl bands.
Family Man 18th century, university and (were)wolves. Very intelligent but a bit slow.
Girl Genius Steampunk and SCIENCE. Lots of fun.
TJ and Amal Finished roadtrip m/m romance. Really funny and sweet.
Johnny Wander Gag strips and strange, funny little stories.
Questionable Content Kind of like Friends but with more robots.
Something Positive cynically funny slice of life with a kind heart deep, deep down.
XKCD funny stick figure comics about science and life (hey someone might not have heard of it)
Chaos Life Funny gag comics, often slice of life.
Desden Codak Weird, beautifully drawn but confusing transhumanistish science fantasy.

All tend to have female main characters or a mixed-gender ensemble cast, and have a high possibility of canonical queerness and/or robots. I'm also still subscribed to Megatokyo but I don't actually read it, I just go "hey! it updated!" the way one enjoys a shooting star.

Comments

[chagrined]

haha megatokyo

*FLASHBACKS*

[alias_sqbr]

It's still going! Technically.

[hokuton_punch]

I have been reading Something Positive for more years than I care to count, and I still get such a kick out of it. Plus I've been loving a lot of the newer characters recently. ♥

[alias_sqbr]

Yeah, it's amazing how he keeps it fresh and engaging.

[cheshirenoir]

Of those, I actively read Gunnerkrigg Court, Girl Genius, Questionable Content and Something Positive. I occasionally read XKCD. I attempted to read Homestuck on 2 separate occasions, but I usually reach a point and... stop. :-)
(Hey! It's hard going! Also since it's heavy on the flash I can't read it in default Chrome any more)

I'll post my list to my DW I think...

[alias_sqbr]

Ooh I like your list, lots to poke at! Homestuck really is a pretty Herculean labour, I totally get not pushing through if it's not working for you.

[cheshirenoir]

I got a long way in before I gave up :-) (Of course "Long way" is relative. It is, as you say, Herculean)

I'd still recommend that people at least try it. It was fascinating as a project.

I'll probably give it another go sometime. Pity it's so flash intensive. It strikes me as something that would work really well on a tablet, like an iPad.

[alias_sqbr]

Yes it's really interesting! I have to wonder how much is lost in the book versions.

[aris_tgd]

SOMEONE ELSE READS FREEFALL OMG.

I love that comic so much.

Though speaking of old comics still going, did you know that Kevin and Kell is still running? I saw Bill Holbrook at Emerald City this year and bought some books from him.

May I rec you some of my favorites that you don't have listed?

You maaaaaay enjoy Dumbing of Age? It's got a lot of the same characters that David Willis used in his other webcomics (It's Walky!, Shortpacked!, etc) but in a completely clean-slate continuity set in the present day. It's an ensemble cast focusing on a lot of female characters, notably Joyce, who was raised conservative Evangelical Christian and is navigating the secular world and being best friends with an atheist and being okay with queerness. I say "may" because there is a lot of characters figuring out how to be adults and how to not be jerks or bad people, and that might be stressful. There's also some violence, both in flashbacks and in present-day.

... I mention it because it's got a lot of great female characters and a lot of canonical queerness, some of which is angsty and some of which is just adorable and happy. So it seems it may be a thing you would enjoy!

Also, I can't say enough nice things about Vattu, the newest comic from Evan Dahm. It's all about cultural clashes and imperialism and navigating worlds that you don't belong in. Lots of POV female characters. Not yet any canonical queerness, though I pretty much read Junti as queer, and the Weightless One is deliberately described as having no pronouns and being genderless in the character guide.

And finally, I always plug this one but especially now, Dicebox. It doesn't so much update slowly as it benefits from reading in large chunks, but based on all the things you are interested in I feel like Dicebox would be a thing you would enjoy. Canonical queerness, technology, absolutely beautiful.

[alias_sqbr]

Freefall <3 <3

I never got into Kevin and Kell, but yes did stumble across it again recently, and have to respect anyone who can maintain a single story that long!

I've been avoiding David Willis comics after Shortpacked went weird and a bunch of people said "yeah that's what David Willis does". But I have sometimes considered trying Dumbing of Age anyway.

People keep reccomending Dicebox, I've made vague attenpts to get into it in the past but will have to give it a proper go one of these days.

Vattu sounds interesting, thanks!

Moar squeeing

[aris_tgd]

Yeah, David Willis' old universe (Roomies, It's Walky, Shortpacked, Joyce and Walky, etc) was kind of filled to the brim with old continuity and references. I enjoy DoA more than Shortpacked both because I'm not really into the toy store jokes and because it really is a clean slate. There are lots of references to things he did previously (The Head Alien and Monkey Master are now characters in a kids' cartoon show, Amber still has Amazi-Girl as a secret identity), but you don't have to either have read everything he ever wrote or see inside his head in order to follow it, and so far it seems like he's keeping the more cartoony SF elements out of it.

Dicebox soooo gooood, but I will admit the first book moves a little slow and is perhaps a little more in medias res than new readers would appreciate. That's normal. But it's so pretty and it's so casually queer and genderqueer, and there's a lot of stuff about medical access (iirc there is chronic mental illness but no main cast member with chronic physical impairment, but a lot of discussion about injuries and proper treatment.) It just feels like a very lived in future, and I'm really glad that we spent a whole book on the weird liminal spaces before the current strips which are dealing with governments and spy drama. And all the characters from the first book keep coming back and having opinions and roles, so it's not like they leave it all behind.

(I cannot squee enough about this comic. I had a hard time getting into it first myself, but when I came back the second time there were like 50 more pages and I was able to get a foothold.)

Re: Moar squeeing

[alias_sqbr]

Those are both good things to know, thanks!

[lea_hazel]

I always feel so guilty when I get behind on my webcomics.

[alias_sqbr]

That's one reason I follow so few these days.