Web-Based Comics 171
Lumpish Scholar writes "The Chicago Tribune (no registration required:-) has this long awaited article on Web-based cartoons and cartoonists. (A couple of Web-based cartoonists put together the recent Berkely Breathed interview, as reported here.) The Trib article mentions some of my favorite online cartoons: Kevin and Kell, College Roomies From Hell, and Helen, Sweetheart of the Internet (now in dead tree syndication and online here). Other sources: Keenspot, hosting service for forty online strips; Planet Cartoonist's list of the top 100 online comic strips; a similar list from Big Panda; Yahoo!'s same-day-as-the-papers strips; King Features; Comics.com, home of Dilbert (a.k.a. Dilbert.com), Peanuts (Snoopy.com), and other United Media comic strips, and cartoons from the New Yorker; Plan 9 Publishing, bringing online comics to dead trees near you; oh, yeah, and let's not forget that other online strip." I just wish Gary Larson would come back.
Too many links (Score:1)
Sluggy Freelance (Score:5)
electric sheep (Score:1)
penny arcade (Score:2)
©o,,o©©o,,o©©©o,
I see a noticable lack of the one true comic(tm) (Score:2)
sinfest (Score:2)
Don't forget... (Score:4)
Missing the best one... (Score:1)
I warn you though, it can take a while to really get into it. But stick with it, check out some of the older ones, and you won't be sorry.
-tcf
Full Disclosure: I have the same first name and nearly the same set of initials as the author of Leisure Town, but I can only wish I was capable of such brilliance
Web Toons (Score:1)
Syn
The web is reinvigorating comics. (Score:3)
Today, however, you can set up your own page and appeal to the viewers directly. If you are succesful, you have your own cult of fans and people start taking notice in the serious press. The web has created an alternative career path for the aspiring cartoonist - even if you are unsuccessful, you can still be noticed and get your work out there.
Also, the freedom from commercial pressures means that todays comics are much more innovative than they once were - the cartoonist is free to create whatever he wishes, without interference. The modern comedic tradition, informed by Saturday Night Live, Monty Python and other such surrealist shows means that the modern comic can be downright bizarre.
This all holds fairly well with the subversive traditions of the comic. The web is reinforing those traditions and bringing them to the fore more than they were.
This is a golden age for comics - they are being reborn.
--
Clarity does not require the absence of impurities,
Best comics ignored? (Score:1)
Hell, even CC vs. CC [thirtyfour.org] is better than some of this crap
Cheers,
levine
Can you Americans take anything seriously ? (Score:1)
Here in the United Kingdom, we find it helpful to restrict our use of humour (note the 'u') to those occasions where the social situation would deem it to be appropriate.
From watching many films (I believe you call them 'movies') about the USA it amazes me that even your police officers seem to joke while on duty, even sometimes with the very criminals they are supposed to be arresting!
The American 'culture' fascinates me, but I don't know how you all cope. It just seems to juvenile and self-obsessed to me.
Comics (be they online or printed matter) are simply another facet of the perpetual adolescense of the American nation. Grown adults reading childrens comics, and nobody thinks there is anything abnormal about this ? Let me tell you in England, such a person would be viewed as very eccentric (possibly even mentally disturbed). I have never been to America, is it really as childish as it sometimes appears from 'Across the pond' ? Someone please tell me it 'ain't so' :-)
So many.. (Score:1)
The Daily Düdé (Score:1)
Pathetic Geek Stories (Score:1)
Randy Glasbergen (Score:2)
Don't forget (Score:1)
Get started quickly in online comics (Score:1)
http://www.lowpass.net/stripcreator
But please, no "all your base are belong to us" strips.
Re:I see a noticable lack of the one true comic(tm (Score:1)
Also, I'm drunk!
Don't forget Bobbins! (Score:2)
Cat-Enema (Score:1)
Cat Enema! [catenema.com]
bad boys of computer science (Score:1)
Lets not forget the multitude of manga based comic (Score:3)
Sinfest [sinfest.net]
Explotation now [exploitationnow.com]
MegaTokyo [megatokyo.com]
And for the 18+ crowd: The Thin H Line [thinhline.com]
Of course I'd never expect a major newspaper to carry anything positive about the Thin H Line.
Down that path lies madness. On the other hand, the road to hell is paved with melting snowballs.
Dont forget Fooker and Ki in Gpf-comics. (Score:2)
Re:Can you Americans take anything seriously ? (Score:1)
We may laugh a lot and not have a rod shoved up our collective asses, but at least we have decent teeth.
Why do you think we're so great? (Score:1)
You missed the best ones! (Score:1)
LOL, that other online comic [userfriendly.org] looks like it was created by a pre-schooler. ;p~
Re:The Daily Düdé (Score:1)
What, no Sluggy? (Score:4)
Comics from my past... (Score:1)
Bryan Baskin
Re:Can you Americans take anything seriously ? (Score:1)
And apparently so does the UK [bda-dentistry.org.uk] But you are probably one of those inward looking Americans with no concept of the world beyond your doorstep. Did you know only 10% of Americans hold a passport ? I am thankful :-)
The fact that we are not so self-obsessed that we have to have all our teeth capped to fit in with some American 'ideal' just shows that along with manners, breeding and culture, we have something else too. Its called individualism. In my country, it is not nescessary for a 15 year old to have plastic surgery simply to fit in with her peers. We are just not as shallow as Americans. (Or at least the ones I have seen on TV).
Duh (Score:1)
Re:I see a noticable lack of the one true comic(tm (Score:1)
Politics suck.
Pokey is not poorly illustrated.
HOORAY!
Best place for dead tree comics online. (Score:5)
I love web comics, but the problem I have with them is that I don't read them on a "daily basis" like the dead tree comics, so the ones with an ongoing storyline or character development lose a lot of their "flow." I like the "one day at a time" feel of something like Doonesbury [doonesbury.com] or the kickass newcomer The Boondocks [ucomics.com]. When you read 'em all at once, it just doesn't feel right to me.
Other great online strips: the ones at Salon [salon.com], especially Tom the Dancing Bug and Story Minute. And how could I leave out the deranged genius which is Space Moose [spacemoose.com]!
The world hasn't been the same since Word.com got destroyed by their fish-oil selling masters [zapatacorp.com]. However, if you Google long enough, you'll find the old archive of Maakies [word.com] still online.
Eschatfische.
Everything Jake (Score:2)
And if you really have too much time, check out The Bench [thebench.org], a comic by the readers. Reading the backlog will take you a few years, though.
Now, to the people who have Paypal accounts, start giving something back. A dollar won't hurt you, but it'll help them.
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Gary!!! (Score:2)
Great moments in science: Einstein discovers that time is actually money. (Larson)
what the? [mikegallay.com]
Re:Lets not forget the multitude of manga based co (Score:1)
Penny Arcade [penny-arcade.com]
The Parking Lot is Full [plif.com]
Pope Alien [popealien.com]
And many others that just don't pop into mind now.
WHat?! No Scott McCloud?! (Score:2)
I have a hard time respecting an article on web based comics that doesn't even mention the work of Scott McCloud [scottmccloud.com], easily the person who has put the most thought and effort into the web as a medium for comics..!
Go check out Scott McCloud at once. The article we just read is under-researched.
Re:Can you Americans take anything seriously ? (Score:1)
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Clarity does not require the absence of impurities,
Re:Can you Americans take anything seriously ? (Score:1)
Granted, the concept of adults following a child's cartoon strip somewhat fanatically seems immature. However if you cannot generalise all cartoons to be written for children. Userfriendly [userfriendly.org] for example is most certainly not directed at children. It is for the "hardcore geek", that is, you.
It seems a pity that a nation such as Great Britain is let down and classed as pompous due to persons such as yourself giving such a narrow minded viewpoint. Admittedly, I realise much of what you have to say is written with a dry sense of humour, however we have become a respected nation for our tolerance and acceptance of the "other person's point of view". Perhaps you should look beyond the first few links, and note that not all cartoons are for children. We ourselves have cartoons in the broadsheet newspapers. One surely cannot expect a five year old to understand a cartoon such as this one's political slant and humour.
Oh no! (Score:1)
Warning: not for the faint-hearted.
obComic Plug (Score:2)
Exception: Superosity [superosity.com]. Chris Crosby is a freaking genius.
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Penny Arcade (Score:1)
[insert subject here] (Score:1)
Here's a few good ones (I'll leave out the obvious links to Sluggy and stuff, and those that I've seen people mention already.):
Nukees [nukees.com]
Acid Reflux [acidrefluxcomic.com]
Snail Dust [xidus.net]
Avalon [avalonhigh.com]
Bruno [brunostrip.com]
Waiting For Bob [waitingforbob.com] (currently on hiatus)
Clan of the Cats [clanofthecats.com]
It's Walky [itswalky.com]
Irritability [utexas.edu]
Netcomics (Score:1)
People might be interested in checking out the Netcomics project at sourceforge, which downloads comics daily. (Note: I am one of the developers, and this could be considered as a shameless plug...but it's on-topic...)
Check it out at http://sourceforge.net/projects/netcomics [sourceforge.net]
Subversive comics (Score:2)
On a more serious note, Brazilian artist Latuff has some political cartoons critizing the handling of the Zapatista uprising by the Mexican government [fzln.org.mx] (in Spanish).
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You think being a MIB is all voodoo mind control? You should see the paperwork!
3 good comicstrips... (Score:1)
You can check them out here [hardcorelinux.com].
On-line cartooning (Score:1)
That's a lot of time invested.
Although some enterprising companies like Plan Nine [plan9.org] have been selling dead tree editions of some of the best on-line comics, that's still very low wages for a lot of artwork.
I provide you this challenge: how could an Internet cartoonist make money from their website?
Re:Don't forget... (Score:2)
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Re:penny arcade (Score:1)
Great Comics On the Web (Score:2)
I should have included this with the last email... These are awesome links.
First, some from electric sheep [e-sheep.com], a very socially conscious, interesting, and humerous collection of comics.
Here are two Scott McCloud links. Scott McClouds greatest works, unfortunately, are not online: Understanding Comics, and Reinventing Comics. Get them at a comic store near you, or at BarnesAndNoble.com [barnesandnoble.com]. Here's some of his online work, which are of exceptional quality:
Finally, Unicorn Jelly [unicornjelly.com], for those who love science, mathematics, and anime. Be sure to check out the alternative time lines, and the powers of ten map of the universe of tryslmaistan. [unicornjelly.com]
What abotu Sinfest? (Score:1)
Interesting site (Score:2)
The print version has some of the most interesting themes I've seen in a long while. I don't remember what exactly is on the web version
Yay for Leisure Town! (Score:1)
QA Confidential has to be one of the greatest things I've ever read, on the web or off.
There's also some pretty funky stuff on Weird Ass Comics [weirdass.net].
One word: syndicates (Score:5)
The syndicates have done to comic strip art what the record companies have done to music. Family Circus is to comics as Boyzone is to music.
A worthwhile read is a speech given by Bill Watterson (creator of Calvin and Hobbes, who would not "sell out") called The cheapening of the comics [teleport.com].
Newpaper Syndication = Holy Grail ? (Score:2)
What, no T&R? (Score:1)
Why no mention of Triangle and Robert [mediaone.net]?
Re:penny arcade (Score:1)
Re:And let's not forget... (Score:1)
What about foxtrot? (Score:2)
UNTITLED.GIF (Score:2)
Left out of the list: (Score:1)
(blatant plug) And of course Sweaty Bullets [asomething...otwhat.com] is the worst of all because I draw it.
My mom is not a Karma whore!
Another Comic (Score:1)
It's updated weekly.
Check it out!.
Big Blue Room crisis (Score:2)
I go out into the Big Blue room to be retro, and do some shopping in this place called a store, and when I get back, what do I see?
Anyhow, my two bits of webbased strips:
Sabrina [sabrina-online.com] -(mirror here [descent2.com]) - Life as a dedicate Amiga user, etc.
Vinny The Vampire [myqth.com] - Almost everyone is a hollywood classic monster of one sort or another. But other wise it is a more or less "normal" world.
Supermegatopis [supermegatopia.com] - the worlds largest open air insane asylum
FreeFall [purrsia.com] - Space Opera Lite
GeekComics [geekcomix.com] - 'nuff said
Re:I see a noticable lack of the one true comic(tm (Score:1)
I do enjoy doing the oh so "important" stuff too, but that doesn't mean i wanna be super serious all the time, lighten up.
REALLIFE (Score:1)
Comics and XML (Score:1)
http://www.jmac.org/projects/comics_ml/ [jmac.org]
I'm of the opinion that XML can help web-based cartoonists, both spare-time amateurs (like myself) and professionals trying to make a living, in lots of ways, inlcuding self-syndication, accessibility, and content management, and further help open up the road for a lot of the future technology standards that'll have to take hold, such as micropayments, before digital comics can enter the state Scott McCloud [scottmccloud.com] dreams of in "Reinventing Comics".
J
MacOS Open Source [jmac.org]
Exploitation Now! (Score:1)
Re:'sence' ? (Score:1)
Cartoon topic search. (Score:1)
During a recent seating reorg at my previous company, I was reminded of a certain Dilbert strip where management was actually playing a huge game of chess with all the employee cubes! I coudn't find the actual strip anywhere, so I tried the website and even sent a few emails, but received no reply.
It would be nice to have a search engine for comic strips where one could search by theme or incident. Userfriendly has something basic where you can lookup plot lines. I'd be willing to pay a couple of bucks to have the right strip at the right time!
Whatever happened... (Score:2)
Clever javascript comic strip creator (Score:2)
You just entry your text, pick your chracters and backgrounds and pow [lowpass.net]..
Sadly, doesn't work in Netscape though.
Goats Rules (Score:1)
It should have been included in the list in the article but unfortinutely it does not qualify as a serious strip because it is so bizarre. Or so the author was told bvy the syndicates, but you must check it out. If you like monty-pythonish weird humor
Schlock Mercenary (Score:1)
PVP? (Score:2)
Online Comic Strip Downloader (Score:3)
Re:Online Comic Strip Downloader (Score:3)
There are sites that do this via CGI, too. I deliberately didn't mention them in the submission, because they short-circuit whatever ad revenue these artists are making.
I'm not saying you don't have the write to write or use such scripts. I'm saying there's an ethical decision to be made here.
If you like Far Side, then try Dr. Fun! (Score:2)
:) I believe his cartoons are online only and he still makes new ones!
Does Larson have Far Side cartoons Web site? (Score:2)
KeenSpot also hosts KeenSpace (Score:2)
--
WolfSkunks for a better Linux Kernel
$Stalag99{"URL"}="http://stalag99.keenspace.com";
Re:The web is reinvigorating comics. (Score:2)
Comic strips like Kevin and Kell, Sluggy Freelance, MegaTokyo, and several others could not exist in the world of the syndicates because they often have subjects that the syndicates would reject outright as either "violating standards" or too obscure.
It really is a rebirth of the comic strip.
Trib's listed strips; more of my favorites (Score:2)
Having said that, here are some more that might appeal to fellow Slashers:
o Goats [goats.com]: nominally a couple of Web developers, mostly about
o Freefall [purrsia.com]: A captain of a starship (that's only flown once in the history of the strip), his robot sidekick, and his furry engineer. SF meets Dilbert in a kindler, gentler way.
o GPF [gpf-comics.com]: life at a software development company with an unfortunate name.
o Help Desk [ubersoft.net]: life at the tech support desk of a software megacompany named Ubersoft (with products such as Nifty Doorways and Tactile Basic).
(The last two recently had a crossover [gpf-comics.com], a pretty common occurence in online strips.)
o Acid Reflux [purrsia.com] (previously here [acidrefluxcomic.com]): vaguely-D&D-ish strip about a young god trying to restore the universe her sister abandoned.
o Mega Tokyo [megatokyo.com]: a couple of American gamers stranded in Japan.
o Real Life [reallifecomics.com]: a couple of American gamers who know they're comic strip characters.
o Schlock Mercenary [schlockmercenary.com]: light SF strip.
All have complete archives back to the first strip, so you can catch up at your leisure. Enjoy!
Web comics and alien abduction (Score:2)
Moderate this one up! (Score:2)
Re:What, no Sluggy? (Score:2)
No kidding. Sluggy is an awesome cartoon. I am highly addicted to it, and enjoy it far more than userfriendly to be honest.
Re:One word: syndicates (Score:2)
It's not as if the net hasn't tried to help this situation. The classic Dysfunctional Family Circus [implausible.net] would take a normal, horribly unfunny Family Circus image, delete the original banal caption and invite visitors to add their own caption. The best of these, chosen by editors (people who had submitted many funny captions) would be added. This went on for 500 cartoons before Bil Keane's lawyers shut it down.
PlanetCartoonist's Top 100 list... (Score:2)
I still bring 9 to 10 thousand hits a day to my site, but something tells me if you can go six months and only lose six places in the list, there's a lot of dead strips in that "Top 100".
politicalcartoons.com (Score:2)
A daily collection of political cartoons from around the USA, and also some world news, can be found at politicalcartoons.com [politicalcartoons.com].
Re:Online Comic Strip Downloader (Score:2)
I did something like this a while back, it's still around [evercrest.com], but it's fallen into a bit of disrepair since I don't have the time to update the scripts much anymore. Last I checked, it correctly indexed 70 or so comic strips.
You sign in with an account, and it keeps a list of strips you want to "subscribe" to, and it remembers the last time you've read each of them. When you log in, it presents a link directly into the archives of each of your subscribed strips for every new strip since the last one you read.
It's ad-revenue friendly, since it doesn't bring over the images, it links you to the full archive page, ads and all.
Re:Don't forget... (Score:2)
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hulagaglgl (Score:2)
Re:One word: syndicates (Score:2)
It's not as if the net hasn't tried to help this situation
Yes, it does seem that the Net has been slightly more useful for cartoonists than it has for musicians. Dilbert is probably one of the most well-known examples - none of the syndicates wanted to publish his original Dilbert submissions, so he published them on the Internet. The syndicates were interested after Dilbert became a success.
If you're disappointed that Watterson's gone... (Score:2)
I know I'm not alone in getting more laughs out of 9 or 10 online strips than I get out of an entire page of newspaper strips. Sure, they might be worried that "Sinfest" or "Sluggy Freelance" might offend some people, but as recent MTV/network TV events like "Jackass" and "Survivor" show, the people at Huge Media Coproations know that offensiveness sells. Bah, let them ignore the goose that's laying golden eggs... I'll be viewing webcomics every day and buying merchandise from the ones that are really nifty.
Re:Space Moose (Score:2)
Motivating [spacemoose.com]
Managing [spacemoose.com]
Re:Don't forget... (Score:2)
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Re:What about foxtrot? (Score:2)
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Obfuscated e-mail addresses won't stop sadistic 12-year-old ACs.
Re:What, no Sluggy? (Score:3)
Remember, Sluggy Freelance has been around since August 1997, a veritable old-timer in terms of online comic strips. I believe it came out about the same time as the first User Friendly strips.
The only major online comic strip older than Sluggy Freelance I know of is Bill Holbrook's KEVIN AND KELL, which (I think) was originally distributed on CompuServe a little bit more than ten years ago.
Other Strips (Score:2)
Alex's Restaurant [alexsrestaurant.com]
Bruno (which has been on the web for at least 5 years) [brunostrip.com]
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Re:One word: syndicates (Score:2)
Strange, I remember reading something about the history of Dilbert done by Scott Adams (I think it used to be on the website but I can't find it.) He tells how he submitted to a number of major syndicates, all of which (including United Features, as I remember) rejected him. He had scans of the comic strips he submitted, as well as the responses from the syndicates, some of which said 'the humour is good but you should hire an artist'. I couldn't remember all the details, but I saved it somewhere. It definitely did not, though, just "require one submissions package". I'll have to see if I can locate that article. My netscape in Linux seems to hose itself whenever I go to dilbertzone.com.
Re:Clever javascript comic strip creator (Score:2)
"Sadly, doesn't work in Netscape though."
Nor does it work in MSIE on the Mac, apparently.