LONG COMICS.
Anne Frank VS the Moon Nazis. This comic would be a horribly, horribly bad idea, if anybody but Bill Mudron did it. Between the smashing art, the brain-twanged sense of humor that crosses only the RIGHT lines, and the secret core of gooey lovesickness, nobody's been able to object to it after page 8. I wish I were this good.
Strings of Fate. Tochi's extremely funny and extremely sexy god-romp manga. Between the wry humor, the loose, snazzy art, and the obsession-inducing fantasy storyline, I spend far too much of my freetime nagging Tochi to update.
Return to Sender. Vera's morbid wackmobile of a comic, done in styling bluetones. Witness as cute children get hit by meteorites, whiny twenty-somethings get their come-uppance, and you're gradually reduced to sobbing in dark corners at how talented Vera is.
Dicebox. Jenn Manley Lee's exceedingly pretty and wry slice of life sci-fantasy comic. The style is immensely appealing, and the vagabondish protagonists are a damn lot of fun. Jenn is a guru, and this comic already promises to be Something. There's a lot hiding beneath the surface here, and I think it's all going to come crashing out. GO READ.
Knights of the Shroud. Matt Bayne's lovingly illustrated comic featuring a band of warrior sisters going about and kicking much rear. It's quite lovely, and I'm so excited about it I could just squeal. Nag Matt! Nag him until KoTS OWNS HIS SOUL!
Arcana Jayne. Magical hijinks, Halloween aesthetics, sexy men in black, people with swooshy capes, evil sorceresses with good fashion sense, and what appears to be pretty much my sense of humor, only used to devastating effect by the incorrigibly wonderful Lisa Jonté. I am a happy chicken.
Eversummer Eve. It's pretty, it's manga, and it involves magic and femmy men with mystical powers! This can only be a good thing.
COLLECTED SHORTS
Small Stories. Derek Kirk's wonderful comic stories. Bittersweet, offkilter, touching, illustrated in a great range of perfectly executed styles. Derek: will you be my Asian trophy boyfriend? Say yes! Say yes!
E-sheep.com The comics gallery of Patrick Farley, who's so inventive he probably doesn't even need to wear pants anymore. There are some really incredible, innovative webcomics here...as in comics that USE the web, as opposed to just being distributed over it. Your jaw will hit the floor.
Erika Moen. Erika's got a healthy compendium of slice-of-life comics, which range from the melancholy to the utterly ridiculous. If you're not completely charmed with them, you're probably missing some gene sequences. She's a proven addictive substance.
No Headroom (etc). A collection of some of the most purely hilarious miniseries comics I've found yet. No Headroom follows the adventures of a scarf-clad, begoggled cyber-loser as he gets chased by aliens, dead ravers, and his mom. Malarkey follows the adventures of a spaceship pilot and what happens when you do women favors. Go now. You will enjoy.
STRIPS/JOURNALS
Narbonic. Shaenon K. Garrity mixes mad science with office comedy, and everybody wants to have her babies. If you've ever been entertained by anything, in particular gerbils, this is THE STRIP for you. If you've ever referred to something as "eeeeeevil" and meant it as a compliment, this is also THE STRIP for you.
Life with Leslie. A journal-comic. A really good one. As his mom says, it's funny and sad at the same time. Few people can draw well, be truthful, and keep you reading. Leslie pulls it off times three. Why the hell are all these awesome cartoonists single? Criminy.
The Journal Comic. Drew Weing's wry little journal comic; this is what my life will be like in a few years. It's nice to check in every now and then, and hope that I can draw that well someday; with any luck, I might even be able to work up a three-day stubble to match his!
Exploding Dog. These aren't really comics. They're...well...they're their own thing, and they're bloody brilliant, and hilarious, and poignant at times. Sam Brown is a very odd sort of genius. You'll get addicted to the archives, and send him title suggestions.
Salon.com The home of some of the best strips online, a different one each day from a rotating cast of fabulous cartoonists. Highlights include the sardonic and always wacko K Chronicles (Keith Knight, whose booth I once babysat...), the acidic Story Time (Carol Lay) and the work of the eternally slippery Tom Tomorrow (you get the idea).
The Commuter. If only all college boys could draw this adorably. Plus he's uncovered the international conspiracy of killer squirrels. At any rate, a gorgeous, hilarious little strip comic that reminds me of Frank Cho's university work, only with less nudity. (Don't let this fact discourage you.)
Bob the Angry Flower. The world needs more cynical, left-wing, chainsmoking, grammar-freak daisies. This strip rules.
