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Step 2The wonderful time-wasting world of online web comics
Remember reading the Sunday comics as a kid- the laughs, the storylines, the ink all over your hands? Welcome to 2008, where the ink is virtual and the strips are called webcomics! Even if you aren't a regular webcomic reader, finding a good one and reading them all in order entertains and makes time fly by. I've listed off some of the ones I visit here, and given a brief description:
Sluggy Freelance ( first comic ) - Sluggy is one of the most popular webcomics. Featuring evil mutant Santas, mad scientists, alternate dimensions, killer bunnies, love interests and sugar-high ferrets. It has excellent humor and a huge cult following (called Sluggites). It also just celebrated its 10th year, so there's a slew of nifty archives to enjoy! Just skip 'Oceans Unmoving' (aka, Plotline Unmoving) if you want to stay awake. Updated daily, even weekends.
Megatokyo ( first comic ) - Considered by some to be the webcomic with the best artwork. Stars two main characters as they get stuck in and work/live Japan. Kind of a soap opera these days; I think I prefer the early stuff. Or I'm just spoiled on Sluggy's faster-paced storytelling. Either way, this is definitely worth a read-through. Updated when the author feels like it.
CTRL+ALT+DEL ( first comic ) - This could be a bit much for some prudes. Occasional swearing etc. Loosely based on video game commentary, it also delves into relationships, robots, and insanity. As with a lot of online strips, as time went on it got much more polished. I may not check it daily, but I check when I remember to. Pretty sure it's updated each weekday.
Penny Arcade ( first comic ) - Nine-year-old webcomic about gaming... mostly. These guys are popular enough that this is all they do. Really, this is their day jobs. Almost as popular as the comics are the bizarre intellectually crude rants on various games, companies, obsessions, etc. Unfortunately only updated now twice a week, Tuesday and Thursday.
Real Life Comics ( first comic ) - Another one that's come a long way in the past eight years- from black and white, to color, then even texture and shading. Lately it often reflects its title, modeling strips after the artists' real life events. IMHO, however, some of the best storylines came from the impossible/outrageous inventions and adventures that have nothing to do with reality. Pretty much updated each weekday.
PvP ( first comic ) - Don't worry, the initial horrible artwork got so good eventually they did an animated series. PvP stands for Player vs Player; the comic portrays the interactions and adventures of friends working at a gaming magazine by that name. Also lately very heavily into relationships, but the author still keeps the gaming geek quality intact. Updated daily.
xkcd ( first comic ) - "A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math and language." The artistry (if it can be called that) is just stick figures, but that isn't the point. This is the webcomic of a geeky intellectual, and true geeks will laugh three times... once at the strip itself; secondly at the fact that they found something so geeky funny; and thirdly when you notice the alt-text embedded on each strip image. Updated randomly.
Cyanide and Happiness ( first comic ) - Often crude, obscure, completely offbeat or random- and very funny. Written by multiple authors with limited artistic talent, there is no theme or ongoing storyline. The humor is frequently dark, even pretty disturbing for those that normally read Peanuts or Family Circle. Of course, cheesy one-liner word-play gags are popular as well. Updated frequently.
User Friendly ( first comic ) - Another geek strip. Has gaming elements, but is a good hardcore IT / programmer's strip. The drawing is rather painful, and average laypeople don't get all the jokes so it isn't as popular as some others. In a month and a half it will celebrate a ten year anniversary, though, so there's a ton of archives to read through. Updated everyday.
There's a slew of others out there, obviously, like Something Positive, Mac Hall, The Perry Bible Fellowship, etc., etc... but I can only vouch for what I know, and these are the ones I personally keep up with. If just one looks interesting enough to explore, before you know it the hours have flown by and you've escaped one more day of boredom, huzzah! ;-)
Sluggy Freelance ( first comic ) - Sluggy is one of the most popular webcomics. Featuring evil mutant Santas, mad scientists, alternate dimensions, killer bunnies, love interests and sugar-high ferrets. It has excellent humor and a huge cult following (called Sluggites). It also just celebrated its 10th year, so there's a slew of nifty archives to enjoy! Just skip 'Oceans Unmoving' (aka, Plotline Unmoving) if you want to stay awake. Updated daily, even weekends.
Megatokyo ( first comic ) - Considered by some to be the webcomic with the best artwork. Stars two main characters as they get stuck in and work/live Japan. Kind of a soap opera these days; I think I prefer the early stuff. Or I'm just spoiled on Sluggy's faster-paced storytelling. Either way, this is definitely worth a read-through. Updated when the author feels like it.
CTRL+ALT+DEL ( first comic ) - This could be a bit much for some prudes. Occasional swearing etc. Loosely based on video game commentary, it also delves into relationships, robots, and insanity. As with a lot of online strips, as time went on it got much more polished. I may not check it daily, but I check when I remember to. Pretty sure it's updated each weekday.
Penny Arcade ( first comic ) - Nine-year-old webcomic about gaming... mostly. These guys are popular enough that this is all they do. Really, this is their day jobs. Almost as popular as the comics are the bizarre intellectually crude rants on various games, companies, obsessions, etc. Unfortunately only updated now twice a week, Tuesday and Thursday.
Real Life Comics ( first comic ) - Another one that's come a long way in the past eight years- from black and white, to color, then even texture and shading. Lately it often reflects its title, modeling strips after the artists' real life events. IMHO, however, some of the best storylines came from the impossible/outrageous inventions and adventures that have nothing to do with reality. Pretty much updated each weekday.
PvP ( first comic ) - Don't worry, the initial horrible artwork got so good eventually they did an animated series. PvP stands for Player vs Player; the comic portrays the interactions and adventures of friends working at a gaming magazine by that name. Also lately very heavily into relationships, but the author still keeps the gaming geek quality intact. Updated daily.
xkcd ( first comic ) - "A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math and language." The artistry (if it can be called that) is just stick figures, but that isn't the point. This is the webcomic of a geeky intellectual, and true geeks will laugh three times... once at the strip itself; secondly at the fact that they found something so geeky funny; and thirdly when you notice the alt-text embedded on each strip image. Updated randomly.
Cyanide and Happiness ( first comic ) - Often crude, obscure, completely offbeat or random- and very funny. Written by multiple authors with limited artistic talent, there is no theme or ongoing storyline. The humor is frequently dark, even pretty disturbing for those that normally read Peanuts or Family Circle. Of course, cheesy one-liner word-play gags are popular as well. Updated frequently.
User Friendly ( first comic ) - Another geek strip. Has gaming elements, but is a good hardcore IT / programmer's strip. The drawing is rather painful, and average laypeople don't get all the jokes so it isn't as popular as some others. In a month and a half it will celebrate a ten year anniversary, though, so there's a ton of archives to read through. Updated everyday.
There's a slew of others out there, obviously, like Something Positive, Mac Hall, The Perry Bible Fellowship, etc., etc... but I can only vouch for what I know, and these are the ones I personally keep up with. If just one looks interesting enough to explore, before you know it the hours have flown by and you've escaped one more day of boredom, huzzah! ;-)
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Snafu Comics
There's a lot of comics on this one
and also:
VG Cats
CHeck em out. Check the archives cuz theres a lo of great ones