Title: The System
Author: Ross Nover
Start Date: 2008
Genre: Comedy
Update Schedule: Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays (Note: May miss updates.)
Website: http://www.systemcomic.com

Synopsis:

There’s no real plot or set characters. The comic uses AIGA pictograms (known under other names worldwide: “Helvetica Man,” “Bathroom Sign Guy,” “Isotypes,” etc.) and constructs them into gag strips. A majority of the strips tend to be based around the author’s life, either his career as a graphic designer or his own personal observations. Others are random or recurring gags.

Recommended Age Group: 15 and up. There’s lots of cursing in this comic.

Strengths:

The way Nover manipulates the pictograms makes them amazingly expressive. There are several pictograms that don’t exist in reality, so his use of PhotoShop to get the desired effect works to his advantage.

It’s also very easy to make guest strips! The author welcomes the use of them at every opportunity. The pictograms are available for free (see the above link in the synopsis), so if you have PhotoShop or even something cheaper, you can have your guest strips featured on his site.

Weaknesses:

This comic can be very easily compared to another popular webcomic, XKCD. I’m willing to excuse this problem, however, because aside from the obvious difference in aesthetics (stick figures versus sign figures), the comics are actually far more distinct than one might expect.

XKCD assumes its readers are smarter than they need to be. It focuses on humor relating to complex subjects such as math, philosophy, and science. Readers with minimal knowledge in these fields may be stuck without context of the jokes being told, forcing them to use Google or Wikipedia just to understand a single strip. The System is far more simplistic with its subject matter, avoiding much of the terminology that would require research.

Verdict:

I give this comic a wholehearted recommendation. If you’re a fan of XKCD, you might actually come to like this. If you’re not, you may actually find this comic easier to transition into. The art is easier on the eyes and more consistent (let’s face it: even for stick figures, XKCD is rather ugly) and it’s funny without being confusing.

Title: Evil, Inc.
Author: Brad J. Guigar (writer/artist), Ed Ryzowski (colorist)
Start Date: 2005
Genre: Superhero, parody, comedy, satire
Update Schedule: Daily
Website: http://www.evil-comic.com

Synopsis:

Evil, Inc. is a corporation run by supervillains, whose goal is to provide evil-doers everywhere with the tools and services they need to thwart superheroes and enact their plans of crime and world domination. Rather than focusing on a protagonist (this comic contains a large cast of central characters, which include staff members as well as the superheroes they face), the comic instead chooses to focus on the politics in and surrounding the corporation, providing an analogue and satire on real-world business practices.

Recommended Age Group: 12 and group. Most of the comic’s content is safe, although there is some sexual humor.

Strengths:

The comic’s art style and format are very reminiscent of newspaper comic strips. The characters are sympathetic and likable and it contains well-written nods to the tropes of DC and Marvel heroes and villains.

Weaknesses:

This comic contains a lot of filler, usually one strip per week. To their credit, many of these are gut-bustingly hilarious, but the author prefers to keep many of these strips in the exact same format. He basically copies and pastes them and just changes the dialogue. They tend to break the flow of the storylines, and they begin to feel redundant after a while.

Also, the author has a habit of including a bio page for EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER in the comic. It’s fine if you want to introduce main, major, or even secondary characters into the story, but here’s the problem: Guigar also gives bios to background characters who don’t even deserve them. Thankfully, Guigar rarely does this anymore, but it can make for a very annoying read when catching up through the archives.

Verdict:

I give this comic a wholehearted recommendation. In the same vein as Atomic Laundromat, Evil, Inc. provides a unique take on the superhero genre that isn’t necessarily about good guys fighting bad guys. Instead, it’s a cleverly crafted social commentary that’s definitely worth a look.

I’m reviewing this comic because I just recently learned that it was just picked up by Fox for an animated series adaptation. To congratulate their celebration, now is a good time to review Axe Cop.

Title: Axe Cop
Author: Malachai Nicolle (writer), Ethan Nicolle (artist), Kailey Frizzell (colorist)
Start Date: 2009
Genre: Action, fantasy, sci-fi, comedy
Update Schedule: Tuesdays
Website: http://www.axecop.com

Synopsis:

Axe Cop, the world’s greatest policeman, travels through space and fights crime and the forces of evil with his partner, Dinosaur Soldier. He also teams up with other heroes (including the famed Dr. McNinja) and entire alien races with unicorn horns on their heads to defeat the most evil overlords such as King Evilfatsozon and the King of All Bad Guys.

Recommended Age Group: 12 and up. There’s violence and decapitations, and minimal blood.

Strengths:

The writing is OFF THE CHAIN. The adventures of Axe Cop are just the imaginations of a hyperactive 5 (now 8) year old child, and his older brother literally interprets them into art. It’s the perfect combination of exaggerated humor and insane action.

The art is fantastic is well. It perfectly fits the wacky universe of Axe Cop and its inhabitants.

Weaknesses:

Not everyone would be invested in this comic’s wacky humor; in fact, some people might be turned off by it. Fun fact: I actually discovered this webcomic from another reviewer who completely trashed it. As we grow older and mature, we develop a certain mental threshold for realism, and some readers may find it painful to sit through.

Another inherent flaw is that the characters are one-dimensional. Again, we need to keep in mind that these are stories made up by a kid who isn’t even in his double-digits yet, so I feel that readers need to be more forgiving in this regard.

Verdict:

I give this comic a wholehearted recommendation. I haven’t seen anything this over-the-top since Tex Avery’s MGM cartoons. Just be careful when exposing your children to this comic.

Also, a side note: Ethan Nicolle draws another webcomic, Bearmageddon, which is nowhere near as chaotic as Axe Cop (it’s by a different writer), but it’s still worth checking out if you enjoy his work.

Title: Greenberry
Author: Liz Keene
Start Date: 2011
Genre: Fantasy
Update Schedule: Whenever
Website: http://greenberry.smackjeeves.com

Synopsis:

In this twist on the classic fairy tale The Frog Prince, a young princess wanders out of her castle and discovers a frog and turns him into a human with a kiss.

As you can guess by the image, the frog is NOT happy. He was already a prince of the Frog Kingdom, and he could lose his right to the throne if he remains in his human form. He brings the princess on an adventure to find a wizard to change him back.

Recommended Age Group: All ages.

Strengths:

I have a general rule not to review webcomics that are too young; I tend to give them time to develop their story before putting them on this blog.

Greenberry has turned out to be a surprising exception to this rule. One great strength to this comic is its pacing. We’re only 41 pages in, and the story is already well-developed so quickly! Most webcomics typically require several chapters before the gears start grinding, but this comic jumps right into the action.

Another notable characteristic of this comic is the art style. It’s very reminiscent of Shel Silverstein.

Weaknesses:

This comic seems to suffer the same problem as Buni, where none of the characters are named. Most of them are referred to as a title or what they look like. (Prince Frog VI? Yeah, that’s believable.)

Verdict:

I give this comic a wholehearted recommendation. If you’re a fan of twisted fairy tales or want to show your kids a sweet fantasy story that doesn’t make the source material darker and edgier (which seems to be a popular trend in fiction nowadays), this is totally worth your while.

Title: Dueling Analogs
Author: Steve Napierski
Start Date: 2005
Genre: Gaming
Update Schedule: Whenever (usually several times a week)
Website: http://www.duelinganalogs.com

Synopsis:

Dueling Analogs is a gag-a-day webcomic with video game-related humor, brought to you (sometimes) by the author and his friend, Jeremy the Sony PR Gnome.

Sorry for the short description, but it’s difficult to define comics like these that have no plot and characters who barely recur.

Recommended Age Group: 17 and up. Not for the kiddies!

Strengths:

The author is actually very good at imitating other people’s art styles. Examples like Dr. Tran, Gabe & Tycho, and even Finn and Jake look exactly like they would in their respective series. There are also many more examples sprinkled throughout the archive. Try to find them!

Weaknesses:

The author seems to only be at his best when imitating other people’s styles. His own original style looks overly simplistic (though the avoidance of black outlines is an admittedly nice touch). What I find especially bothersome is that Steve has another webcomic (Warning: NSFW!) where the art looks even worse. Steve is clearly capable of doing better, so why does he hold back?

The strip’s other weakness is fairly obvious: the genre. It’s your standard gag-a-day gaming webcomic, and considering how the Internet has been flooded with them over the past 15 years, there’s nothing here that makes it stand out from all the rest.

Verdict:

I give this comic a halfhearted recommendation. It all really comes down to personal taste. If gaming webcomics don’t bother you, it wouldn’t hurt to add this to your collection. If you’re sick of them, this probably wouldn’t change your mind.

Title: Atomic Laundromat
Author: Armando Valenzuela
Start Date: 2009
Genre: Superhero, sci-fi, comedy
Update Schedule: Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays
Website: http://www.atomiclaundromat.com

Synopsis:

David is the owner of the Atomic Laundromat, a laundromat that specializes in dry cleaning for superheroes and supervillains alike. His employees include his robot Bob and psychic Juno. David is also the unlucky child of a family of superpowered beings–namely, he has no powers whatsoever.

After David’s father and famed hero The Messiah is charged with a lawsuit for public indecency (though he never actually meant it), David has to rely on his childhood friend, Angela, who has grown up to become an attorney for superheroes, to clear his case.

Recommended Age Group: 10 and up.

Strengths:

This comic deserves praise for its original premise. It features superheroes, but the content is twisted in such a way that they’re not really the focus of the comic, instead focusing on the side characters that are tangentially related to its world.

Weaknesses:

The pacing for this comic feels rather uneven. Whenever it switches to story mode, it moves at a rather slow place. The transitions between gag-a-day and story is too seamless with this one.

Verdict:

I give this comic a wholehearted recommendation. It has great humor, interesting characters, and a unique spin on the superhero genre that I believe non-fans of superhero comics might find interesting.

Title: Kiwi Blitz
Author: Mary Cagle
Start Date: 2009
Genre: Sci-fi, action, comedy
Update Schedule: Tuesdays, Thursdays
Website: http://www.kiwiblitz.com

Synopsis:

The comic takes place in a future where animalistic mech sports tournaments are all the rage. One pilot, Steffi Frohlich, gets bored with being stuck in the junior league (and in an embarrassing elephant robot). To celebrate her 14th birthday with a new gift she receives–a new bird robot–she decides to use her new mech to fight crime instead. Her escapades lead her to several run-ins with the police as well as the attention of two of the city’s most famous criminals, Gear and the Raccoon.

Steffi’s new double-life also leads to a troubling dynamic with her friends and family. While her father is perfectly okay with it, her childhood friend is reluctant to the point where he wouldn’t want to be her friend anymore.

Recommended Age Group: 12 and up. There’s minor blood and language.

Strengths:

All the characters are instantly likable. Everyone–main characters, secondary characters, minor characters, even the villains–is energetic and a total joy to read.

The artwork is also worth mentioning. It’s gloriously drawn and rich in detail. Everything from color to lighting to even the details on background characters is very well done.

Weaknesses:

Steffi’s motivation to become a crime fighter feels rather weak. She’s choosing to risk her life because she’s bored with doing sports? It comes off as rather selfish. I understand that the author did this to give the main character a flaw, but I feel that there could have been better ways to introduce it, especially since later circumstances (which I will not spoil) explore her flaw in greater detail.

Verdict:

I give this comic a wholehearted recommendation. It’s a fun and exciting series to read with a great story and fun characters. The archive isn’t very long, so you can breeze through it in an hour or two.

Title: Buni
Author: Ryan Pagelow
Start Date: 2010
Genre: Fantasy, dark comedy
Update Schedule: Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays
Website: http://www.bunicomic.com

Synopsis:

Buni takes place in a cartoony fantasy world where animals are the primary species and other mystical elements exist like sentient clouds and a smiling sun. The titular character, Buni, is a naive bunny (obviously) who is the constant victim of his world. His actions always have consequences either on him or the people close to him. He’s deeply in love with a female bunny (who we only know as “Buni Girl”), but she’s in a relationship with a beefier male than him.

Recommended Age Group: All ages.

Strengths:

If you suffered through the archive of Subnormality after reading my article on it, you’ll be relieved to know that Buni is the exact opposite: There is no dialogue in this comic whatsoever! All the speech balloons in this comic utilize pictures instead of text. The archive makes for a very quick read.

The artwork is also notable. The simplistic style perfectly matches the tone and the content that we should expect of a work of this type.

Weaknesses:

There are several recurring characters in this strip aside from the ones mentioned in the synopsis. Buni’s father, a mob of bears, and lawn gnomes who constantly raid Buni’s house show up constantly in the strips, so as a consequence of having a lack of dialogue, the entire cast of characters in this comic goes unnamed.

Verdict:

I give this comic a wholehearted recommendation. It’s a great example of how storytelling can be told through visuals alone. Just be warned that this comic can get very dark and depressing at times.

(Note: I’ve saved the image for the middle of the review rather than the beginning.)

This request comes from testobject at Extra Curricular.

Title: Subnormality
Author: Winston Rowntree
Start Date: 2007
Genre: Comedy
Update Schedule: Whenever
Website: http://www.viruscomix.com/subnormality.html

Synopsis:

Subnormality is a gag-a-day strip, so it doesn’t really have any plot. It does, however, have a few central characters, a setting, and a running gag that makes the strip rather infamous.

The comic (mostly) takes place in a quirky metropolitan city where occasional fantasy and science fiction elements occur in it.

The two central characters are the Sphinx from the Oedipus mythology (although in this comic, her name is spelled “Sphynx”) and an unnamed girl with pink hair who tries desperately to make it through her miserable life under terrible working conditions and substandard wages–the closest thing this comic has to anything resembling a plot.

Other recurring characters include two neo-Nazis who travel through time, a woman named Justine (the author never states it; you had to actually READ THE FILENAME just to find out) whose interests in male activities disrupts the laws of physics and reality, a female demon from Hell who’s VERY interested in humans (if you know what I mean ;)), and many, many others who would probably make this post last way longer than it should be.

The running gag I mentioned above would be better explained in the strengths and weaknesses.

Recommended Age Group: 15 and up. There’s a LOT of swearing in this strip.

Strengths:

I think I’ll let the below image demonstrate what makes this strip so infamous.

The running gag is that you’d have to read walls of text in every strip. The above image provided is actually one of the SHORTEST strips in the entire archive. (You’re welcome.)

Rowntree is actually a pretty smart writer. He can manage to write extensive amounts of dialogue in each strip, then bring in an amusing punchline at the end of the strip that ties everything together. The style of humor is like watching a standup comedian or listening to someone have their own creative variation on “The Aristocrats” (sans the gruesome descriptions). The payoff is well worth the wait.

Weaknesses:

Obviously, the comic’s main feature is also its own downfall. The strip still has yet to reach 200 strips (there are only 193 as of this writing), and it’s mentally torturous to try to read through the whole archive in one sitting. To put this into perspective, 200 strips is typically a very quick read for a webcomic–you might breeze through it in an hour or two. In Subnormality‘s case, you might need more than a day just to get through this tiny archive. It takes several minutes just to read one strip alone.

Verdict:

I give this comic a halfhearted recommendation. You’ll either consider it one of the most brilliant endurance tests ever created, or toss it aside and forget it. If you plan to read through the whole thing, I’d recommend reading it with friends or playing a game to relieve the stress of going it alone. Have a stopwatch ready and see who can read the longest strips in the shortest amount of time, or see how many strips you can read in a set amount of time. Have fun!

Title: Three Panel Soul
Author: Ian McConville (artist), Matthew Boyd (writer)
Start Date: 2006
Genre: Slice of life, dark comedy
Update Schedule: Weekly
Website: http://threepanelsoul.com

Synopsis:

Three Panel Soul is the sequel to Ian and Matt’s previous webcomic, Mac Hall (which I’d recommend checking out if you’ve never read it). For those of you who haven’t read Mac Hall, it chronicled a group of slackers–authors included–who resided in MacDonald Hall, a dormitory in Bowling Green State University (a real life college in Ohio). The comic ended in 2006 after Ian and Matt graduated. Three Panel Soul takes place after they’ve left college and are now out on their own in the world. The comic is titled after its format: every strip is no more or less than three panels.

Recommended Age Group: 12 and up. Objectionable content in this comic is minimal, but the subject matter may still be a bit too dark for younger, undeveloped minds.

Strengths:

Ian’s amazing Photoshop skills carry on from Mac Hall to this comic. The art varies greatly, depending on whether the artist wants to be more cartoony or realistic.

Weaknesses:

The lack of color seems a bit jarring. In Mac Hall, the color made the backgrounds look gorgeous and really pop out like eye candy. Now that his comics are black and white (save for his video game-themed strips), the backgrounds feel rather lacking; the blurriness seems to pop out more than the abstraction (see the below image for a comparison).

Verdict:

I give this comic a wholehearted recommendation. It’s not a requirement to read Mac Hall first, although I highly recommend that as well; the art is especially breathtaking in his old comic. Ian is an artist who’s definitely worthy of your attention.