comics! comics! yeah~!!

(web)comics I think are prett-T neat!

• Cucumber Quest by gigi d.g.
• Never Satisfied by Taylor Robin
• Monsterkind by taylor c.
• Devil's Candy by rem + bikkuri
• homestuck/ms paint adventures by andrew hussie - read legacy ver. here
• The Root & Toot Jug Band by Meebob
• All Night Laundry by Zachary Hall
• prague race by petra nordlund AKA leppu
• slightly damned by chu
• the boy who fell by DED
• star trip by gisele weaver
• z-toon's kid-n-teenagers and pompom comics (you can also view them on deviantart)
• Dumbing of Age by David Willis
• Hellaween by Moss Lawton AKA Dinolich

basically Hiveworks is full of awesome webcomics yeeeehaaaawww

(Some of these webcomics are now available in print! Such as Cucumber Quest, Homestuck, Never Satisfied, and Devil's Candy!)

F A N C O M I C S

rad & Tubular fan webcomics of things like Pokemon and Furby!

• Glitch Parade is a horror comic by ChingX featuring Furby and worm-on-a-string characters. (cw: drugs, blood, strong language)
• Finding Your Roots is a Pokemon Mystery Dungeon/Omega Ruby Nuzlocke comic by Salt n' Pepper Bunny (if you'd prefer to read it on other sites, such as tumblr, here's the mirrors page)
• Lil Char and the Gang is a slice-of-life Pokemon comic by nekoama
• Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky Nuzlocke comic On Borrowed Time by Woo (Tumblr Mirror; Rules of the Nuzlocke)
• Ask Harmonia University is a college slice-of-life Pokemon comic* by Nori/Norwayscurl (*this is a mix of short comics and drawings of characters' responses to user-submitted questions, AKA an ask blog!)
• rina by smash cooper
• Random Doom by Tamarinfrog
• if you love the pokemon nidorina, or just cartoony art of pokemon and some kirby/earthbound stuff, aquabunny is a really neat fansite run by animator Pat DB with lots of neat comics, animations, a games. Also has contributions from many other artists who similarly love the nido pokemon line

Printed/Physical Comics I've read:

Graphic Novels:

• Bone (series) by Jeff Smith (Scholastic)
• Owly (series) by Andy Runton (Top Shelf/Scholastic) (which is a lovely example of a silent/no-dialogue comic--z-toon also does some great ones!)
• Hex Vet by Sam Davies (Kaboom!/Boom Studios)
• Hex Vet: The Flying Surgery by Sam Davies (Kaboom!/Boom Studios) - Gosh I love Hex Vet! These are some of my favorite little GNs I've read so far!
• The Tea Dragon Society by Katie O'Neil (Oni Press)
• The Tea Dragon Festival by Katie O'Neil (Oni Press)
• Aquicorn Cove by Katie O'Neil (Oni Press) - (lovely art and moving story and characters, but man I was bummed out that, for how lovely the cover presentation is, the protagonist only rides an aquicorn for like 1-2 panels and her befriending of supernatural creatures takes a major backseat to the other themes of the story. Honestly you could remove her interactions with the aquicorns completely and the core of the story wouldn't change much, they are mostly a means to an end in setting the rest of the story elements in motion. I think the book has some good messages but at the same time, I disagree with the presentation of tourism as a solution to economic struggles without mentioning the negative impacts tourism brings as well; also, see comment below on Pilu of the Woods)
• Lost at Sea by Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni Press)
• Baba Yaga's Assistant by Marika McCoola, illus. by Emily Carroll (Candlewick Press)
• Mientras Yubooh Duerme (While Yubooh Sleeps) by Paulinaapc/Paulina Palacios (Planeta Cómic)
• Hilda and the Bird Parade by Luke Pearson
• Gilbert the Little Merman by Art Baltazar (Papercutz) - Very simple, cute, silly, and straightforward comic for kids. Checked it out because I picked up a sample of the sequel book on free comic book day, but the sequel hadn't been released yet, so I decided to take a look at the original. From the sample, I found the premise of the 2nd volume a bit more interesting than the 1st one's, but either way, I hope kids really like these tales. Both volumes seem to be pretty conscious of the kinds of stories and ideas imaginative kids come up with, where the sky's the limit, so I think it's great if Gilbert's adventures can encourage kids to get creative, come up with their own adventures, have fun, and learn to enjoy comics. If you're a teen or adult looking for a kid-friendly comic that's complex enough to offer something for older readers, you're probably going to want to look elsewhere, but that's no complaint. It's great that Gilbert knows exactly what it wants to be and who it's for. If I was introduced to comics like this one as a kid, I probably would've gotten into the medium a lot sooner.
• Pilu of the Woods by Mai K. Nguyen (Oni Press) - (the art is SUPER cute and charming and the story and characters are touching but after reading this and Aquicorn Cove, both published by Oni Press with lovely covers that suggest nature and adventure are the forefront elements of these two stories, well, I read them without any prior info and expectations, and while I'm glad I did give them a read, I wasn't expecting them to actually be stories primarily about a child coping with the loss of a parent/pretty heavy emotions, so... I kinda wish I 1) didn't read two in a row and 2) read more of a synopsis first. I do recommend them but they're maybe not the best GNs to jump into with zero expectations/background, especially if you're in the mood for something cute and light only at the moment.)
• Sparks! by Ian Boothby and Nina Matsumoto (Scholastic) - I LOVED the cartoony art style, both inkwork and colors, but unfortunately I didn't enjoy the Saturday morning cartoon-style writing and plot. I did like the main two cat characters quite a bit, though. What can I say? It's entertaining, it's for kids, it's Scholastic. I think it could've been a little better for both kids and adults but it's not bad, it has a really fun premise (two cats controlling a robot dog suit acting like secret superheroes) and I'm glad this comic isn't their only romp. But as someone who can't stand Saturday morning cartoon-style ventures and humor, yeah, it's not exactly for me. If I come back to this, it'll be for the charming art mostly.
• Rainbow Bridge by Steve Orlando, Steve Foxe, and Valentina Brancati (Seismis Press/Aftershock Comics) - I really enjoyed this story, it's very sweet. I ADORE the art style, it's so expressive and full of emotion and really plays with shapes, it feels like no two poses or panels are the same. I also love that for a somewhat sad story about death, it was much kinder to my heart than most other stories about grief and loss I have encountered lately. I feel good having read it. My only gripe is that the writing can be a bit cliched at times, especially near the end, but I still think this comic is worth reading for sure. It may not be a new story, but it's pretty well-executed and well-balanced and relatable. I liked the characters and character designs very much. The ending feels like they've left room for another comic if possible, but still feels cohesive, contained, and mostly satisfying if we don't get anything more. Reading this was really a treat for me, it feels a lot like "reading" a hand-drawn animated movie with all the detailed character expression, scenery, and story pacing.
• A Cat Story by Ursula Murray Husted - This was a pretty charming read. I will confess I did not previously know about Malta (never thought, so where is the Maltese dog from or named after?), so this opened up my world just a little bigger. The concept of cats running in paintings as bits of the narrative are presented is sweet and enchanting, and the characters are delightful. I especially loved the scene in which the two cat protagonists find themselves on a boat with a poodle and a human. As far as graphic novels go, it was a bit long for my tastes (but that's not saying much, because I prefer graphic "novellas"), but I would've liked to see some chapter breaks perhaps. I do recommend it and I look forward to reading it again at some point. I guess I also wish it was printed larger (because the drawings are often very detailed!) and the part with the cat-cult kinda threw me off. *shrug* Doesn't ruin the rest of the experience, though! A lovely undertaking.
• The Dragon Kingdom of Wrenly #1: The Coldfire Curse
• The Dragon Kingdom of Wrenly #2: Shadow Hills
• The Tea Dragon Tapestry by K. O'Neil

omnibus volumes I've read:

• Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW) vol. 3 - Issues #9-12 (Battle for Angel Island)
• My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (IDW) vol. 15 - Issues #64-68 (I skipped #68 tho bc I haven't seen the movie)
• My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (IDW) vol 16. - Issues #69-73
• Beasts of Burden: Animal Rites & The Dark Horse Book of Horror (which includes half the BoB stories)
• Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW) vol. 2 - Issues #5-8 (The Fate of Dr. Eggman)
• Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW): Tangle & Whisper
• My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (IDW) vol. 19 - Issues #84–88

Floppies (single-issue comics) - series I've read at least 1 floppy issue or omnibus from

• Beasts of Burden by Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson (Dark Horse)
• Lumberjanes
• Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW)
• My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (IDW)
• Adventure Time, Steven Universe, yeah
• Xena Warrior Princess, circa 2018??

Comics I want to read:

• No One Returns from the Enchanted Forest by Robin Robinson
• More Hilda
• More Owly
• More Bone
• Krazy Kat
• Heavy Vinyl (BOOM! Studios)
• Diesel by Tyson Hesse
• Little Nemo in Slumberland (classic and IDW)
• Astrix
• Tin-tin
• Mafalda
• Peanuts/Charlie Brown
• Garfield
• LOVE Series by Brremaud and Bertolucci (Magnetic Press)
• Archie Sabrina
• classic Archie comics
• Hotel Dare (BOOM! Studios)
• Bodie Troll is probably a good style reference
• Ruinworld by Derek Laufman also a good reference
• I Moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation by Natalie Nourigat
• Dungeon Meshi/Delicious in Dungeon

~ manga ~

(HARD to REMEMBER... here's my manga chapter guide--my roadmap to series I want to keep track of!)

• Snow White with Red Hair - Vol. 14
• No. 6 - Vol. 2

• Witch Hat Atelier - Vol. 5 (witch hat is really good! just taking a break)
• Princess Jellyfish - Vol. 1
• Pokémon Mewtwo Strikes Back: Evolution - flipped through it but I haven't actually read it yet
• Pokemon Special: Sun & Moon - Vol. 4
• Ouran High School Host Club - Vol. 8
• Letter Bee: Tegamibachi - Vol. 1
• Dorohedoro - Vol. 5
• Mairimashita! Iruma-kun
• Naka no Hito GENOME - Vol. 6
• Talentless Nana -
• The Casy Study of Vanitas - Vol. 4?
• Soul Eater - Ch. 70?
• Unofficial Hatsune Mix by KEI - didn't enjoy this a ton, read a handful of chapters, not sure if I'll finish it

• AoHaru Ride - Idk how I finished this, I guess I just felt like speed-reading a shoujo? I don't remember much anymore lol. I liked the anime well enough that I decided to read the manga. Not sure how I feel about either nowadays... *shrug*
• Warriors Manga: Ravenpaw's Path - I... did not enjoy this. Oh well!

Light Novels (sorta also on my Books page):

(What's a Light Novel? Light Novels are easy-reading "rainy day" novels that are often short and usually have full-page illustrations every few chapters. Many anime and manga series are adapted from light novels, and are often placed on manga shelves at bookstores. They aren't actually comics but more like an associated media, so that's why I'm listing them here as well as my books page.)

• Durarara!! - I read a tiny bit of the first volume, but uh... The language of light novels is something that rarely vibes with me. Maybe it's the way they're translated into English; I haven't given up on the medium as a whole but I can usually expect to struggle with them. Not that they're a hard read, it's just... I don't know, an annoying read? Every book is like a voice, and some voices are harder to listen to than others for me.


• Seraph of the End: Guren Ichinose's Catasrophe at 15 - I read like one and a half of the U.S.-released omnibuses. I don't recommend them. At first I was excited because I liked Guren as a protagonist a lot more than Yu, whom I find insufferable. But then things went from bad to worse with Seraph of the End's increasingly prominent tendancy to objectify its female characters. It has many other glaring problems as well, but, the author's choice to hand Guren so many love interests with no regard for themselves is truly distasteful. I feel tricked for starting to like Guren's character for a while, since I didn't like him much in the main manga/anime. Bummer...


• Kagerou Project - I have read a bit of the 1st and 2nd volumes. Like Durarara!! the language doesn't mesh super well with me, so it's a slog I'm in no hurry to finish. But I like Kagepro a lot and unlike Durarara!!, which has a pretty coherent and enjoyable anime, Kagepro is super complicated and messy and the light novels are probably the best way for me to experience the story and try to understand it. So I will try to give the light novels another go at some point.


• Gosick Vol. 1


• WANT to READ: Kino's Journey, Gosick Vol. 2 (good luck to me finding a reasonably-priced copy...)

more webcomics that I used to read

(I didn't stop reading them for any dramatic reason, it's just been a decade)

• Awkward Zombie
• Nedroid
• My Cardboard Life
• Does anyone remember the bombkirby comics on the old Nintendo forums? I do, I LOVED them in middle school

looking to start your own webcomic?

consider the following options for comic hosting:

• Tapas is a great place to host your webcomic! It's free to use but there are options for monetization as well.
• SmackJeeves is/was(?) a well-known comic hosting site with free and paid plans
• ComicFury is free and doesn't have ads, similar to SmackJeeves
• tumblr is not a bad place to get started! Look for desktop themes that provide a good format for reading webcomics. The default mobile theme is not the best for reading comics, though (it's newest-to-oldest post order), so it helps to add next/prev buttons to your post. Some people also like to post their comics to Deviantart, forums, Instagram, etc. (And besides your hosting platform, social media is of course also great for letting your readers know you've posted an update. RSS updates, too.)
• Hiveworks is great if your webcomic is already rolling and you want to try joining a well-known network/web publisher, though I imagine they're pretty selective
• WebToons is a huge platform for comics! I'm not sure how selective they are, but they have a bigger library than Hiveworks does, so... maybe they're more accepting? They're more international, too.
• Lots of people host their comics here on neocities! (Or just, host it on their own website.)
• Whatever method of hosting you decide, having a companion tumblr, twitter, or instagram will help you get on people's radars and keep them updated and engaged! For example, Lil Char and the Gang is hosted on Webtoons but the creator posts every comic as it comes out on Instagram as well, and The Boy Who Fell is hosted on its own website managed by Hiveworks, but the creator posts a link as every update comes out on both their personal and comic-only tumblr accounts.
• some comic artists also sell standalone comics as digital PDFs on Gumroad and Itch.io, or even in person at comic conventions. (note: be hesitant about selling your own fan comics at conventions, that hasn't gone well for a lot of people - legal trouble stuff)

Comic Publishers, for serialized comics and/or Graphic Novels

• BOOM! Studios (techincally now owned by Disney/Marvel because 20th Cent. Fox bought BOOM, and then Disney bought Fox)
• Boom Box (BOOM's division that publishes Lumberjanes); Boom also has another division called kaboom
• Hiveworks (webcomics)
• IDW
• Oni Press
• Papercutz
• FirstSecond
• Image
• Top Shelf Productions (now an IDW imprint) (it seems they also host webcomics??)
• Drawn & Quarterly
• First Second AKA :01 (imprint of Roaring Brook Press, owned by Macmillan)
• Dark Horse Comics
• Viz Media
• HarperAlley (HarperCollins comic division)
• I'm sure you already know DC and Marvel (and if it wasn't obvious, I'm not really interested in supehero comics, sorry)

Traditional Publishers (many well-known book publishers are now taking on Graphic Novels)

• Macmillan
• Hachette
• Simon & Schuster
• Harper Collins
• Penguin Random House
• Scholastic
• Candlewick Press (a much smaller publisher than Scholastic or the Big Five, but a traditional publisher that also does YA GNs nonetheless)

I wonder if there are Moomin comics...

- - -

The Comic Pipeline:

• Script (Yes, start with a script--early design/planning is key!)
• Roughs (Plan out Composition/Layout, make it MESSY so you can EDIT)
• Pencils (NOW we clean it up, make it neat)
• Ink/Lines
• Flats (Color Block-In)
• Shading & Highlights
• Lettering (speech bubbles!)

now you know...

- - -

Some cool Comics Events (in-person/sometimes online bc of covid)

• Comics X Games
• TCAF (Toronto Comic Arts Festival)
• MICE (Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo)
• the many Comic Cons, of course - see what local cons are close to you! (when cons are safe again after covid, oof)

~ other resources ~

• Radiator Comics has a bunch of cool resources on this page, like links to their open studio & feedback sessions!
• Level Ground Comics (Site|Instagram) has workshops and anthology zines and stuff.

..................

Newspaper Comic Strips I vaguely remember seeing decades ago:

• Peach Fuzz
• Get Fuzzy