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This is by no means a full list of all of the fine comics available
online. These are just the ones that happen to appeal to me right
now.
Daily Syndicated
- Doonesbury
An old standard, mixes politcal commentary and humor with a vast cast of
characters. As of the end of October 2000, there is a comprehensive archive
of the full THIRTY YEAR run. Awesome! The site says it requires flash,
but it's been working fine without it for me.
Daily Independant
- Bruno
Awesome artwork, great characters, extended plot and a full archive! In
many ways the best cartoon strip on line. Not always funny, in much the
same way that life is not always funny. Occasional adult themes may make
this unsuitable for younger readers.
- Bruno the Bandit
Very good artwork, semi-episodic plot lines and a full archive, indexed by
plot. Almost always funny, and suitable for practically anyone.
- Kevin and Kell
Professional quality online comic by a professional comic strip artist.
Full archive available via FTP, which helps to make sense of the rather
large cast of characters. Extended plot elements can sometimes show up
again too, so it's well worth reading through them. Suitable for all
ages.
- Sluggy Freelance
A truly nifty comic. Excellent artwork, extended plot with connected
story lines and a full indexed archive. The only time that this strip
isn't funny is when it's hysterical. Occasionally violent, but otherwise
suitable for all ages.
- User Friendly
The artwork isn't up to the other strips, but the jokes are decent and
have a certain amount of geek-appeal. Reccomended for anyone with more
than a basic understanding of what goes on in a technical support office.
Full archive available online, suitable for all ages.
- Goats
Good artwork, frequently funny or at the very least odd. One of the best
features is the archive, which lets you see how much the author's skills
have improved over time. Considering that one of the main characters is a
goat who has been blessed by Thor with magic panties that allow him to pick
up women in bars, you'll understand that this strip is not for everyone.
- Clan of the Cats
This one's been going for a bit over a year now. It's a
combination of comedy, drama, and the supernatural with good artwork and
a sympathetic main character.
- PVP Online
A well
rendered daily comic on the behind-the-scenes hijinx at a computer game
review magazine. The former weekend replacment strips for PVP have taken
on a life of their own over at sixtosix.com. The focus is on the
cleaning staff and security guards at the building and are done by a
different creative team.
- The Class
Menagerie
This recently changed from weekly to daily updates An anthropomorphic
animal strip set in a college dorm. Frequently funny, with excellent art.
The site has undergone a recent rennovation which makes it much easier to
access the archive of past storylines.
Regularly updated Independant
- Freefall
Very nicely rendered artwork and a fun cast of characters. The site has a
full archive of strips and a section for fan art. New strips are updated
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The strip itself is rated 'PG', but watch
out for some of the fan site links...
- The
Quirkiverse
I stumbled across this one while doing some genealogical research, and
it's turned out to be well worth following. It's a sci-fi epic in color,
updated on Sundays. Kind of like Prince Valiant in space, on LSD.
You can also order print and electronic .PDF versions of
the comic strips from their site, which is kinda cool.
- Cool Cat Studio
Very nicely rendered artwork... It's difficult to sum up the ideas behind
the strip, but it's a fun behind the scenes view of a magazine and design
sutdio and the people who work there. I'd rate it PG-13 for occasional mature
themes.
- Bob the Angry
Flower
Surreal and funny. This is the online version of a Canadian comic strip
that has been featured occasionally in the back cover of Dave Sim's
"Cerebus" comic book. It's improved from a 'Whenever I Feel Like It'
update to 'Fridays More Often Than Not.' A massive and humorous annotated
archive of strips is available.
Irregularly updated Independant
- Journey To The West
Great artwork with a fantastic combination of computer rendered and hand
drawn images. A splendid story about a blue Zen coyote in the west, his
bigfoot / monkey king teacher, a psychadelic alien grey wizard, a southern
belle cat, a paranoid fox and the eerie Men in Black. The archive is a
must-read.
- Red Meat
Supposedly this is updated weekly, but it's been a bit irregular lately.
Check it out anyway. This is sick and twisted humor at its best. The
artwork is, for the most part, very clean and wholesome, looking in many
cases like something out of a 1950's style clip art catalog. Everything
else though... Well, let's just say that this is not reccomended for
children.
Just Plain Wrong - Spacemoose
With the demise of the Dysfunctional Family Circus,
something had to take over this coveted position and Spacemoose is the top
contender. Surprisingly good artwork combined with appallingly sophmoric
humor make this a comic strip that you'll love to hate. Absolutely
not for children, and probably not for adults either.
So why include it at all? Well, it's tough to describe the reaction this
strip provokes.
Imagine that you see some sweet-faced grandma walking down the street and
she slips on a banana peel. And while she's trying to regain her balance
she's striking the exact same pose as a prima ballerina and the
incongruity makes you laugh. Then she falls down and breaks her hip.
Suddenly you feel really ashamed, but that doesn't change the fact that
for a split second, she was the funniest thing you ever saw.
Reading Spacemoose is a lot like that.
Update: The strip hasn't been updated for over a month now, so if
it doesn't get changed within a week or two, I'm going to have to retire
Spacemoose in favor of smoething else nasty. Probably
SSDD.
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