A Web of LIES

How sad is it when someone's prime medium for vicarious living is webcomics? I currently read over 70 webcomics, and while some of those update rarely, and some even haven't updated since I first found them, the majority get new strips multiple times per week.

I started reading webcomics a few years ago, the first one was Penny Arcade. Big surprise. For those in the host of voices in my head that don't know what Penny Arcade is, see my profile blurb. After that, every now and then (maybe once every couple of months) I find a new comic that I like and read the whole archive, as well as add it to the list of comics I check daily. This usually triggers a sort of comic spree where I do some searching for other new comics and read those archives. I'm currently near the end of such a spree (at least I think it's near the end, it can be difficult to tell).

When I first read webcomics, I usually tried to go for the Penny Arcade style comic, about gaming and without much of an overall plot. Unfortunately, Penny Arcade is, in my opinion, the best by far of all those types of comics. The next best one I've found is Ctrl-Alt-Del, which focuses more on storyline, less on gaming jokes, although there are still a lot of those.

On a side note, Penny Arcade is still great, but over the years it's become more of a game review site and gaming news centre webcomic. As I am not that big a gamer, this disappoints me, and lets a lot of undoubtedly great punchlines fly over my head.

As a direct result of reading Penny Arcade, I began reading User Friendly. This came about from some spat between the two, and as it was mentioned on the PA website, I found UF and started reading it. While UF is still somewhat nerd-oriented, it was the first really in-depth plotline comic I read. Those types of comics are quite possibly my favorite comics to read the archives of, if not to read daily. The reason for this is quite simple: reading the archives is like reading a book, but reading the daily updates as they come is akin to reading one line of a book, and then having to wait for a day, even two or three, to read the next line. It just can't hold your interest as much.

Penny Arcade was the original webcomic, to the best of my knowledge, and so a lot of newer comics were inspired by it. That is why I consider Gaming webcomics a type of their own, because there's enough of them to be a "type". There are three other "types" of comics that I read. One I've mentioned, the plot driven comics. These I like the best, in general. Joke-a-day comics are great, but if the joke isn't particularly funny, that's an update wasted for me. Plot driven comics may not have jokes as often, although many of the good ones fit them in often enough, but almost every update is worth reading, because it advances the plot, lets you know more of the story. (One of the reasons I hate when plot comics waste updates on random sketches or something.) Of course, plot comics are better if they are updated often, while joke a day comics can be updated less often and still be good.

The third type of comic is the joke a day, no plotline whatsoever comic. Of the ones I read, this type is split into two subtypes: the one where the joke is usually very nerdy or(->boolean OR) obscure. I like those because I a a nerd, and I enjoy good nerd-jokes that many "normal" wouldn't get (which just makes it more enjoyable). The other sub-type is when the comic relies on non-sequiturs/puns/offensiveness to make the joke. I find shock-value jokes to be very humorous, although this type of comic is the only one in which I am not likely to read the entire archive of older comics once I discover it.

The fourth type of comic is the comic that never updates. I hate these comics, and yet I still retain them in my list of daily checked comics. I guess it's some vain hope of seeing the author start them up again. And just so you know, I mean they never update. I have at least 5 webcomics that haven't had a new strip since I found them and read their archives. One of them, the archives contain less than 10 strips. At least now I avoid new starting comics that I know haven't been updated in months/years.

So anyway, that was a pointless post. To reward anyone who actually read through it, or anyone who scrolled down to see if there was anything interesting at the end, here's a list of my top webcomics, organized by "type". Also, in order of best to worst (IMO of course) from top to bottom. (cross-type is not ranked).

Google them to find the websites. If you can't find it by just Googling the name, try Googling the name and "comic" or "webcomic".

Gaming/Joke A Day
Penny Arcade
Ctrl-Alt-Del
Sore Thumbs
God Mode
VG Cats

Plot-Driven
User Friendly
Something Positive
MegaTokyo
Dominic Deegan: Oracle for Hire
Least I Could Do
Friendly Hostility
Questionable Content
PvP
Order of the Stick
College Roomies From Hell
Nukees
Girl Genius Online Comics
Buck Godot Online Comics
Misfile
El Goonish Shive

Joke A Day
Subtype 1: Nerdy
xkcd
Decorum
Comedity 2.0
PHD Comics
Geebas on Parade
Suptype 2: Weird Humour
Sinfest
Cyanide and Happiness
White Ninja

Never Updates
I don't recommend any of these comics.

Anarchronism