Who reads webcomics?

[Karen El]

I was just looking at the list of nominations for The Corries - thanks for nominating me, Gilda! - and one thing I noticed was how so many people skipped the online category altogether. One person even said they didn't read online comics at all. I've also noticed how the majority of comics related websites and blogs rarely if ever do a feature about a webcomic.

Sure there are a lot of bad webcomics about, but that's because there are tens of thousands of webcomics. There are also good ones, excellent ones, and ones that force you to read 5 years of archives at one sitting.

Is it some form of fan snobbery? And if so many comic fans refuse to read webcomics, then how come some webcomics are read by hundreds of thousands of people a day? Even Planet Karen is now getting seen by more people on a daily basis than the number of copies some DC and Marvel comics sell per month.

It's getting like Webcomics: the comics for people who aren't comic fans!

[Sharpandpointies]

I read webcomics. Have a list of about six or seven I check (yours is one of them, Karen El). Like you say, some of them are spectacular.

[Blake Petit]

These days, I read more webcomics than I do newspaper strips. Much more entertainment value on the web.

[Joshua Pantalleresco]

There's some great Web Comics out there...just a few that are really good are The Dreamland Chronicles (http://www.thedreamlandchronicles.com), Nightmare World, Tales of Mr. Rhee (http://www.nightmareworld.com), and 9th Elsewhere (http://www.9thelsewhere.com/) are just some of the great ones out there. Tom Stillwell's Honor Brigade (http://www.honorbrigadecomic.com) is another such great book. Online comics are a blast and while there are some bad ones, there are some great ones too.

JP

[David Bedlam]

Great comics I like online?

Bob and George (http://www.bobandgeorge.com)

Something Positive (http://www.somethingpositive.net/index.html)

8-bit Theater (http://www.nuklearpower.com/latest.php)

Shortpacked! (http://www.shortpacked.com/)

VG Cats (http://www.vgcats.com/)

And also a couple of webtoons too!

Unforgotten Realms (http://www.unforgotten-realms.com/)

Yu Gi Oh! The Abridged Series (http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=LittleKuriboh)

Oops! Almost forgot Dr. McNinja (http://drmcninja.com/)

[Mikado]

Sinfest...hilarious!!!! http://www.sinfest.net/

[DarkOra]

I read both comics and webcomics! But then, I create both as well, so I like to keep up with what's out there (as much as possible). If anyone around here has any webcomics (besides Karen... I already read hers), feel free to PM me with the link, and I'll gladly check it out.

And yeah, I've noticed there's not a lot of crossover between print comics and the online comics. I like to refer to it as "but I only do my comic reading on the can" syndrome. To truly conquer the world, the webcomics industry needs to create the technology to allow webcomic browsing in the bathroom. :)

[Karen El]

Okay, so everyone here has good taste, even if no one has yet mentioned Wonderella (http://www.webcomicsnation.com/justinpie/wonderella/series.php), which I love so much that I keep trying to get an advert up there purely so some of the cool will rub off.

[TomStillwell]

I love webcomics.

Check out this one. http://www.evil-comic.com

[I_am_scifi]

I read lots of web comics, but most specifically I love to check out Questionable Content, (http://www.questionablecontent.net) Real Life Comics, (http://www.reallifecomics.com) Year One, (http://www.webcomicsnation.com/snufflymonkey/yearone/series.php) Diesel Sweeties, (http://clango.org) Ornery Boy, (http://www.orneryboy.com/) and the recently returned Niego. (http://www.niego.org)

[stealthwise]

I read tons of stuff, like questionable content, sam and fuzzy, somethingpositive, overcompensating, so on and so on.

[David Bedlam]

Another comic I forgot: The Order of the Stick (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0398.html) - D&D humour at it's finest.

[David Bedlam]

I read so many webcomics, I keep forgetting some:

Girly! (http://go-girly.com)

It's got lesbians!

[Grazzt]

Of the ones not already mentioned, I read Misfile (http://www.misfile.com), Friendly Hostility (http://www.friendlyhostility.com) (and I loved it's precursor, Boy Meets Boy), Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal (http://www.smbc-comics.com), The Devil's Panties (http://devilspanties.keenspot.com/) (it's not Satanic porn. Really, it's not), The Order of the Stick (www.giantitp.com/cgi-bin/GiantITP/ootscript), Queen of Wands (http://www.queenofwands.net) (which is now over, but it was good while it lasted), and Two Lumps (http://www.twolumps.net).

I also like Year One, Something Positive, Shortpacked!, and VGCats.

[Expletive Deleted]

Wonderella (http://www.webcomicsnation.com/justinpie/wonderella/series.php). . . that is pure awesome.

My favorite online strips are probably the aforementioned Order of the Stick and the recently ended Narbonic (http://www.narbonic.com/) (now in "Director's Cut" reruns). Those are the only two that I've loved enough to buy in print form.

[Buzz Dixon]

I read lots of webcomics (as well as regular comics on the web) but I gotta say PLANET KAREN is one of my new "must read" faves.

Excellent work, Karen El!

[The Beast Of Yucca Flats]

I sometimes go to Devil's Panties, as well. And I also like these comics WFMU has put up on their site (assuming they count):

http://www.wfmu.org/Comics/comics.html

[Night Swordsman]

I miss As If! and I still from time to time go to Girl Genius,since it went web only. :(

[Dan Duerr]

You can count me as another webcomic addict. And since I don't think anyone has mentioned it, Dresden Codak is pretty damn funny too. Linky here: http://dresdencodak.com/cartoons/dc_031.htm . The "Dungeons & Discourse" strip is one of the funniest I've ever seen.

[The Xenos]

double post. see below.

[The Xenos]

In my favorites I got Penny Arcade, MacHall (which ended and is moving on to new stuff), PvP, VG Cats, manga.clone-army.org (a series of weird and disturbing webcomics), Alien Loves Predator, Hookie Dookie Panic!, Pass Fail Studios (Comic Book Parody Humor), Dueling Analogs (cool new gaming comic), Press Start To Play (another cool new gaming comic)Perry Bible Fellowship (crazy comic goodness, Did someone say weeaboo?).

The only webcomic I rather snub is MegaTokyo. I never got into it, but then I started hearing all this hype. I've seen the lines at cons and I just don't get it. The fans seem to get rabid. Many also seem to be extreme Japanophiles.

I've met the MacHall guys. I also met Dan Kim of manga.clone-army.org. I bought his dramatic webcomic in printed format. He also does Nana's Everyday Life, a very sad comedy about an armless and legless little orphan girl.

I myself have been in about 3 and a half web comics. Only one is still up, Sketched Out Life. Kinda. Whenever it gets updated. One was an Evalgelion South Park parody site with some Batman and X-Men thrown in. The half was a spinoff of that which never lasted. A final one was a college newspaper strip also posted on the web, so maybe it's more 2 and a half.

[Paploo the Ewok]

I read and make webcomics. My favorite webcomic, Narbonic, concluded recently, http://narbonic.com/ though it's now in a rerun mode, with commentary on the daily strips. Go to Shaenon's website, and you can find all 5 years worth of Narbonic to read through, as well as assorted guest strips and extras [ps--- I contibuted to the finale, which was very awesome to do :)]
http://girlamatic.com/comics/jeepers.php My own webcomic should be updating shortly......
There's also a nice range of comics on http://www.webcomicsnation.com
and I like how http://www.netcomics.com is using the web simulataneously with a print line[some of their new series are being serialized online in Korea and their english site simultaneously]

ppst--- Looks like it updated. http://girlamatic.com/comics/jeepers.php Yay!

[Cam63]

Planet Karen gets my vote.

[The Beast Of Yucca Flats]

I can't believe I forgot to mention The Perry Bible Fellowship!

[Gaz]

Not one person who reads Ctrl-Alt-Delete (http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/comic.php)?

[stealthwise]

Not one person who reads Ctrl-Alt-Delete (http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/comic.php)?

i do! i do!

[Gaz]

Merry Winter-een-mas, then! :D

[stealthwise]

Merry Winter-een-mas, then! :D

Winter-een-mas is back bitches!

Do you read pvponline? They completely ripped that off with their last arc, and didn't really do a very funny job of it either.

[OzBat!]

As part of my daily online routine, I MUST visit the following:

sluggy freelance (http://www.sluggy.com/)

pvp online (http://www.pvponline.com/)

Kevin and Kell (http://www.kevinandkell.com/)

Order of the Stick (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots.html)

Girl Genius (http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/)

in that order, too!

[Karen El]

Planet Karen gets my vote.

Which would be nice but you won't be able to as Planet Karen didn't make it to the final list for the Corries. I guess it wasn't nominated enough or something. I have no clue how these things work.

[Matt Doc Martin]

I regularly read Something Positive, Order of the Stick, and Sinfest.

[Rhydaman]

And if so many comic fans refuse to read webcomics, then how come some webcomics are read by hundreds of thousands of people a day? Even Planet Karen is now getting seen by more people on a daily basis than the number of copies some DC and Marvel comics sell per month.

It's getting like Webcomics: the comics for people who aren't comic fans!

Much bigger target audience that way. The number of non-comic fans vastly outnumbers the number of people who consider themselves to be comic fans.

[Matthew E]

I was just looking at the list of nominations for The Corries - thanks for nominating me, Gilda! - and one thing I noticed was how so many people skipped the online category altogether. One person even said they didn't read online comics at all. I've also noticed how the majority of comics related websites and blogs rarely if ever do a feature about a webcomic.

Sure there are a lot of bad webcomics about, but that's because there are tens of thousands of webcomics. There are also good ones, excellent ones, and ones that force you to read 5 years of archives at one sitting.

Is it some form of fan snobbery? And if so many comic fans refuse to read webcomics, then how come some webcomics are read by hundreds of thousands of people a day? Even Planet Karen is now getting seen by more people on a daily basis than the number of copies some DC and Marvel comics sell per month.

It's getting like Webcomics: the comics for people who aren't comic fans!

I read yours, but that's the only one I read regularly. No particular reason for it; I just don't.

[David Bedlam]

New comic I had to share!

Captain Excelsior! (http://www.captainexcelsior.com/)

It's brand new, so there is no excuse not to catch up! Read!

[Magneto_X]

I read MegaTokyo, Penny Arcade and Harker (which is made by Rei-Ka.k.a Larsony !).

www.harkercomic.com

[Ronée]

I read Pet professional www.petprofessional.net and PVP when i can, Tiki Coladas www.tikicoladas.com and my fave is wondermark www.wondermark.com

[WhiteRose]

www.pvponline.com (consistently amusing!)
www.penny-arcade.com (video-game commentary that's amusing when understood)
www.somethingpositive.net (Oh the Rippy)
www.ctrlaltdel-online.com (good art, somewhat amusing)
www.scarygoround.com (Britishly-funny!)
www.questionablecontent.net (Hella favourite!)
www.yume.comicgen.com (so sweet and endearing!)
www.nopinkponies.com (reminds me of Sunday newspaper strips, adorable)
www.pawn.se (oh lordy)

[websbestcomics]

Going back to the topic question, I've found that there is a vast audience outside of the direct market and comic shops, comprised mainly of online readers who wouldn't be caught dead in a comic shop, but aren't bothered by all of the things that bother comic collectors/readers when reading a web comic. It's a different animal. I think that one of the differences is that print comic readers are by nature collector-type personalities, and as such are overwhelmed by the prospect of having to 'collect' comics in a different format--especially when that format includes a virtual sea of comics to choose from.