At-home entertainment is having a big moment right now with isolation measures being put into place across the country.
YouTube, Netflix, and online books are getting a lot of attention from everyone staying at home, but let’s not forget about webcomics.
There’s no shortage of webcomics available to read, but finding a series that has a large archive is another story altogether.
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Here are seven picks with deep, deep archives to keep you entertained for a few hours, days, or even weeks!
xkcd
Running since 2006, this bare-bones stick figure webcomic bills itself as a “webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language.” Subjects range from the architecture of roadways, what your writing style says about you, coding jokes, and tattoo criticisms, among others.
Subnormality
A long-form webcomic about humanity and connection, mostly. It started with a standard three panel punchline but evolved over the years to become an absurdist, surreal, and sometimes melancholic meditation on human connection and the experience of existence. Canadian artist Winston Rowntree (a pseudonym) renders a vivid and detailed environment, then usually covers it with a mass of text, a monologue, or thought bubbles. The comic has also spawned a successful short animated series, People Watching.
Hark, a Vagrant!
A Canadian treasure, Kate Beaton’s hand-drawn webcomics tackle the absurdity of historical figures, literature, and more. Beaton’s comics have been collected into print volumes twice, and she’s moved into children’s books with the publication of The Princess and The Pony.
Junior Scientist Power Hour
Artist Abby Howard has a particular affinity for zeroing in on the absurd and illustrating them in a cartoony and sometimes grotesquely detailed way. Howard’s content ranges from one-off jokes to comics about her own life and experiences. Her long-form horror comic The Last Halloween is another excellent read, though it remains unfinished at this time.
Dresden Codak
Launched in 2008, Aaron Diaz’s visual storytelling about a cyborg scientist and her adventures has been a highlight on the internet. With several one-off comics and a fully completed arc, Dresden Codak is lush and dense, and well worth the read.
Atomic Robo
With 74 issues over 15 books, Atomic Robo has only five rules for itself:
- No Angst
- No Cheesecake
- No Reboots
- No Filler
- The Main Robot Punches A Different Robot (Or Maybe A Monster)
With all that in mind, now is a great time to dive into the adventures of robots and monsters created by Brian Clevinger and Scott Wegener.
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