For this month, we’re rounding up some familiar faces with webcomics that some of us are longtime fans of, while others are just discovering new faces or new comics altogether. Read on to find out what you should be catching up on online!
King of Mars
By Lychgate
https://tapas.io/episode/1062992
Updates on Wednesdays
Quick disclaimer: this is written by a friend of mine! King of Mars is just starting out, so there’s never been a better time to hop on board and start reading it. It follows Peanut, a mage in training who’s just been booted out of mage school. He crash-lands on a beach beneath the floating magical university and meets up with “Walnut” (definitely not his real name), whose laid-back personality will certainly prove endlessly frustrating to Peanut. I already can’t wait. Lych’s art is colorful and expressive, with great action and absolutely hilarious facial expressions adding personality to the characters. The story is really just beginning, so it’s a lot of setup right now, but it’s shaping up to be a hilarious magical romp.
Seriously though, I cannot stress enough how hilarious Lych’s faces are:
— Heather Wells
Gunnerkrigg Court
By Tom Siddell
gunnerkrigg.com
Updates on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
Gunnerkrigg Court is one of my favorite comics ever that I’ve literally been reading since I was in middle school, and there’s always something new, exciting, and very magical happening in it. The latest saga? Our heroine Annie is dealing with some pretty intense identity issues as she returns from the forest to find out that, due to some time-dilation magic, she had been away from home for months. So why didn’t her family and friends miss her? Well, because a second Annie had been living there in her place! Interestingly, both versions of Annie are struggling with not being the only one. It brings up lots of fascinating philosophical questions about identity, individuality, and authenticity and it’s got me wondering how I would cope if I were in a similar situation, which is a hallmark of a great story.
Gunnerkrigg Court may be a difficult story to hop in the middle of since it relies on so much past story and history, but if you’re looking for something a little heavier to spend a little time reading while you decompress from the holidays, consider starting from the beginning and experiencing the whole saga!
— Jameson Hampton
Darbi
https://www.webtoons.com/en/action/darbi/list?title_no=1098
Sherard Jackson
Updates on Wednesdays
I’m not a regular webcomic reader, but I need to be. My children have introduced me to Webtoons.com, so for this month’s Webcomics Roundup, I decided to check out the really neat “Daily Featured” feature and choose a comic at random. Well, it wasn’t entirely random. I chose the one with the dinosaur. And when I read the description, “The misadventures of a blood-thirsty baby T-Rex,” I knew I had found my place in the world. Popping back to the very first episode, we meet the titular character, an ingenious baby T-rex with an indomitable and vicious survival instinct, as well as a foul mouth, much like all the other dinosaurs.
This is a bloody, sweary story, because prehistoric times were just that harsh. I love the bright colours Jackson utilizes, starting with the feathers and scales of the reptiles and the very messy, very brutal moments of bloodshed. But violence is not the only point of this story. Jackson quickly establishes that family is top priority–blood or found. Basically, this is The Land Before Time for grown-ups. I am here for this.
— Wendy Browne
Brand Echo
http://whatisbrandecho.com
Charlotte Finn and Ing
Updates on Wednesdays
Maybe you’re looking for something new? Most of the popular webcomics these days have years of history behind them–some so many that the comics themselves would be old enough to vote these days. Brand Echo, on the other hand, just started a couple of days ago. It’s got one page! Charlotte Finn and Ing have started a comic together that promises to be a “cyberpunk ghost story of love and loss,” and also “definitely not about Star Wars.”
There’s not currently a whole lot to say about the story, but a) ghosts and b) the world does not get enough cyberpunk-themed media by trans folk, so. Here we are, and here I am. I’m excited to see where it goes!
— Nola Pfau