So my job tends to be one where I might be busy one week, and then have nothing to do the next. To kill this time, I occasionally resort to webcomics. Now, I have tried reading through XKCD before, but the earlier stages of the comic were full of so much emotional bull and those “aww isn’t that touching/special?” sort of comics that just gave me a headache. It basically gave me a bad impression of it as a whole, and it wasn’t until I read the comic’s archives backwards that I had found the full and true entertainment value in it. I am now one of God knows how many readers because my first impressions were wrong.

I decided to try the same thing with Questionable Content. When it was new in 2003, a friend linked it to me. My impression of it was that it was Something Positive with more indy-rock and less hatred towards humanity. Oh, and there’s a total rip-off of GIR in there, too.

Yet as time went by, everyone kept on talking about how “amazing” and “hilarious” this comic was. It always blew my mind, because neither of these adjectives would be how I would’ve described it. My choice of words would have been “poorly written” and “not funny”. So I decided to give it another go, and to see if it changed. Unfortunately, that meant wading through 1200 strips, most of which honestly aren’t entertaining.

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So I’ve stumbled upon some new comics in the past couple of weeks, and surprisingly they’re all good. I know it probably sounds odd of me to say “surprisingly”, but in all honesty I am not a fan of most other online comics. Too many of them seem to be ripping off of the styles of other online comics without looking at other mediums of entertainment. As well as many other flaws that are far too rampant. But, that topic is for another time.

Geeks Next Door - I discovered these guys through the Otakon Webcomics Challenge. For most people, it’s probably not going to have you in stitches each strip, but there is certainly a lot of material to bring a smile to anyone’s face. It is easily enjoyable, and I had a fun time reading it. It’s easy to recommend to anyone.

Pictures For Sad Children - A stick figure comic for pessimists and cynics. This comic has an excellent narrative going, though the simple art can sometimes confuse gestures. However, the writing often offers some of the most simple concepts in excellent and hilarious ways. It is certainly not a feel good comic, though, so people that don’t find negative things funny should probably avoid this comic…and grow a sense of humor.

Gone With the Blastwave - Considering how excellent the art is, I actually thought this was a serious comic at first. Upon closer inspection, it’s not serious at all. It’s a generic post-apocalypse setting where armies identified only by their color are trying to get out of a city. That’s really the only basis so far. It can be hard to tell different characters apart, what with the only difference being symbols on their helmets, and since it is not the artist’s primary project it is very, very rarely updated. Only bookmark if you don’t mind keeping a barely updating comic in there. The real tragedy here is the author’s primary project did not amuse me in the slightest. It would do them better if they shifted their focus onto this, as it is pure Gold.

Through some perusal I stumbled upon Your Webcomic Is Bad and You Should Feel Bad, headed by a fellow whose pseudonym is John Solomon. Occasionally his three cohorts also step up to take a webcomic and utterly destroy it, beating it to a submissive pulp. Most of the offerings on the site truly are absolutely horrible and not very well known, though there are also a few that have pretty large followings. As such, said fanatics naturally take their pitchforks to the reviewers most vehemently, particularly against Solomon.

On the whole, I feel that any person making an online comic needs to read Solomon’s blog. If anything, just so you can be prepared when/if your own comic is chosen for judgment (assuming it ever updates again). It’s always important to be critical of the work you are doing, and most online critics aren’t going to provide much more feedback than “it sucks”. Well, that or they’ll tell you how brilliant you are. It’s always black and white with people on the ‘net.

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