OnlineComics

Also known as WebComics. Comics that are published via the World Wide Web instead of through a traditional syndicate. GregMulert, AlexWilkins, and BrianRoney are among the avid fans of this form of comics.

If you're willing to accept a more liberal interpretation, however, you might include "traditional" comics which are also available via the Web, usually with additional features. Doonesbury (http://www.doonesbury.com) and The Norm (http://www.thenorm.com) are good examples of this phenomenon.

One of the biggest differences between OnlineComics and traditional comics is the lack of an editor. This can be a big advantage, since it lets the artists introduce topics and storylines that would never make it into a newspaper strip. However, there is also a negative side, as editorial oversight can be very useful in avoiding strips that are patently offensive (assuming of course, that the artist actually wants to avoid offending people), boring, or otherwise unreadable. A common sentiment, however, is that the occasional "What the heck was the artist thinking?!?" strips are justifiable when compared to the relatively bland and repetitive fare offered by many traditional comics. *cough* Garfield *cough* Personally, though, I (GregMulert) prefer a mix of the old and new.

- So does anyone else find it surprising that Jim Davis has been given yet another syndicated strip? ( Mr. Potato head ... ) --AvaniGadani

One of the biggest OnlineComics organizations is KeenSpace? (http://www.keenspace.com), a free hosting service for aspiring artists, along with its "elite" division, KeenSpot? (http://www.keenspot.com). Many traditional strips can be found online at http://www.comics.com, http://www.ucomics.com, and http://www.kingfeatures.com, backed by the United Media, Universal Press, and King Features syndicates, respectively.

Finally, here are a few of the most famous OnlineComics and related sites (that haven't already been mentioned):

http://www.sluggy.com/ - SluggyFreelance?, a popular and long-running online strip. Updated daily.

http://www.userfriendly.org/ - UserFriendly?, another long running strip aimed at the geek community. Updated daily.

http://www.pvponline.com/ - PvP?, a very funny gaming strip and one of the few financial successes (along with Sluggy and UF). Updated daily.

http://www.scottmccloud.com/ - Web site of ScottMcCloud?, artist and enthusiastic OnlineComics proponent

http://www.megatokyo.com/ - Megatokyo. Tough to describe; sort of a combination gamer comic and shoujo manga, with a healthy dose of 1337 h4x0r? d00d thrown in... Updated irregularly.

http://schlockmercenary.com/ - Ummm, yea. --RobAdams Updated daily.

http://www.angryflower.com/ - Bob the Angry Flower, a flower man who lives with a stump and a fetus. --AvaniGadani Updated... I can't tell from a cursory glance at the site.

http://www.nuklearpower.com/ - 8-Bit Theater. Inspired by FinalFantasyOne, one of the oldest/most successful sprite comics out there. Probably funniest if you're a gamer geek, but you don't have to be to find it funny. Updated every other day.

http://faith.rydia.net/ - Demonology 101. A comic about demon girl in high-school; sometimes funny but also dark and serious. It's been going for 3 years and 500 pages now, which is forever for a webcomic. Updated weekly during summer vacation, once every two weeks during school, but updates come in chunks (this is NOT a strip comic). Now complete, as of June 2004. Still very much worth reading, though.

http://www.penny-arcade.com/ - Penny Arcade. Another gamer's comic mostly about Gabe and Tycho and their video game commentary. Pretty well respected in the gaming community. Updated MWF.

http://www.questionablecontent.net - Questionable Content. A comic about some twenty-something indie-rock fans, their respective amusing love lifes. Also includes a healthy dose of sarcastic sidechatter, and costars a humanoid robot who doesn't understand the human romance thing fully, but gets it enough to make snarky comments. Oh, and the author also frequently recommends music he likes, on the side.

http://www.phdcomics.com/ - like Crippling Depression, only for grad students. One Stanford grad student's take on the benefits and drawbacks of being a grad student there. Makes fun of Berkeley about as frequently as a Mudd comic might make fun of CalTech?.

http://www.cad-comic.com - Control - Alt - Delete. Comic that has some strong similarities to Penny Arcade, although they are very different comics. Has a very strong relationship with 8-Bit Theater. Updated MWFS (that's Saturday, not Sunday)

http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/ - Girl Genius. Phil & Kaja Foglio's latest comic, now online. Fun, funny, SteamPunk?.