More webcomics like Digger?
October 17, 2020 9:02 AM Subscribe
Only this past week I discovered Digger and just binge read it. What others like it have I missed?
By "like it" I mean
1. Completed. (indefinitely on hiatus or abandoned does not count)
2. Available free online
3. Not episode-of-the-day or slice of life but tells an actual story, with a beginning, middle, end, threads that are opened are resolved, etc. In other words, has a plot and feels planned out. The ending isn't "author got bored and finished". (an episodic webcomic that occasionally has plotlines would not qualify)
4. Good art (I'm aware some webcomics start with bad art and improve, so if listing one of those, please let me know how long it takes for the art to get better)
Does not have to be a classic webcomic, could also be something like all the stuff on webtoons, etc. As long as it's available, complete, tells a story, and has (at least eventually) good art.
(other resemblance to Digger, like being super funny and moving, is of course also welcome but not required)
(an example of something that would qualify except it's still ongoing is Gunnerkrigg Court. An example of something that would qualify but isn't online is the Bone comics.)
By "like it" I mean
1. Completed. (indefinitely on hiatus or abandoned does not count)
2. Available free online
3. Not episode-of-the-day or slice of life but tells an actual story, with a beginning, middle, end, threads that are opened are resolved, etc. In other words, has a plot and feels planned out. The ending isn't "author got bored and finished". (an episodic webcomic that occasionally has plotlines would not qualify)
4. Good art (I'm aware some webcomics start with bad art and improve, so if listing one of those, please let me know how long it takes for the art to get better)
Does not have to be a classic webcomic, could also be something like all the stuff on webtoons, etc. As long as it's available, complete, tells a story, and has (at least eventually) good art.
(other resemblance to Digger, like being super funny and moving, is of course also welcome but not required)
(an example of something that would qualify except it's still ongoing is Gunnerkrigg Court. An example of something that would qualify but isn't online is the Bone comics.)
Narbonic - the adventures of a mad scientist and her CS grad henchman. Smaller adventures within a definite overall plot arc, and it takes a few silly initial mini-arcs for things to really get going (but they do). Lots of humor and the art style matures over the course of things, though personally I like even the early stuff - she's really good at expressing body language. It's told in a daily 4-panel format with bonus (usually skippable) Sundays, so I'd just turn off the "director's commentary" and binge through it.
Power Nap - surrealist sci-fi. I actually haven't read the last half of it yet because it updated at an absolutely glacial pace and was too hard to keep up with that way. So I can't actually say if the story's good. But it's just recently been completed and the art, at least, is incredible.
Octopus Pie - this one is actually a slice of life, but it's also a coming-of-age story and feels like it has a beginning, middle, and end. Funny and moving. It switches to full color at some point and the art, which goes through a few style changes, is always incredible.
Bobwhite - same here, a slice-of-life story about 3 art school students that ends with their graduation. The art struck me at first as kind of primitive, but at some point it started to feel like that was on purpose; the writer (who was an art school student herself) definitely knows how to draw, and her use of color is amazing. I didn't like the art at first but grew to love it. Also, she has a great ear for natural-sounding dialogue.
...you didn't ask, but if you haven't read much manga, you might really enjoy some manga. There's more than just neverending adventures of pirates and ninjas.
posted by trig at 10:05 AM on October 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
Power Nap - surrealist sci-fi. I actually haven't read the last half of it yet because it updated at an absolutely glacial pace and was too hard to keep up with that way. So I can't actually say if the story's good. But it's just recently been completed and the art, at least, is incredible.
Octopus Pie - this one is actually a slice of life, but it's also a coming-of-age story and feels like it has a beginning, middle, and end. Funny and moving. It switches to full color at some point and the art, which goes through a few style changes, is always incredible.
Bobwhite - same here, a slice-of-life story about 3 art school students that ends with their graduation. The art struck me at first as kind of primitive, but at some point it started to feel like that was on purpose; the writer (who was an art school student herself) definitely knows how to draw, and her use of color is amazing. I didn't like the art at first but grew to love it. Also, she has a great ear for natural-sounding dialogue.
...you didn't ask, but if you haven't read much manga, you might really enjoy some manga. There's more than just neverending adventures of pirates and ninjas.
posted by trig at 10:05 AM on October 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
O Human Star by Blue Delliquanti - a robotics engineer wakes up in a familiar bedroom, which is strange, because the last thing the engineer remembers is dying in that bedroom. How many years has it been?
The Carpet Merchant of Konstantiyya by Reimena Yee is about a Turkish man who starts off as a scholar, but falls in love and becomes a carpet merchant instead. Art is just beautiful.
Rice Boy by Evan Dahm is a story of a small creature on a journey through a strange world.
Al'Rashad - written by Mefi's Own mightygodking, with art by Davinder Brar. The first volume (8 books) is completed, and is its own story. There's the beginning of a second volume, but the first is very satisfying.
Death Vigil by Stjepan Sejic - if you're lucky, at the moment of your death, Bernadette the Grim Reaper will claim you for the Death Vigil: her personal guard who stand against the forces of necromancy. Perks of the job include new friends, cool weapons, terrible jokes and the chance to not be dead. Oh, and save the world, OK?
I don't know what your tolerance for erotica is, but Chester 5000 XYV by Jess Fink is pretty much the most fun a wordless Edwardian robot sex comic can be. (Linked pages are SFW, comics very much NSFW.)
First arc: an overworked scientist builds his wife a sexy robot butler to take care of her needs. Shenanigans ensue.
Second arc (which won an Ignatz award) is more a story about people and the mechanics of the heart. Still Edwardian, still wordless, and there are still some robots. And sex.
posted by Pallas Athena at 3:04 PM on October 17, 2020
The Carpet Merchant of Konstantiyya by Reimena Yee is about a Turkish man who starts off as a scholar, but falls in love and becomes a carpet merchant instead. Art is just beautiful.
Rice Boy by Evan Dahm is a story of a small creature on a journey through a strange world.
Al'Rashad - written by Mefi's Own mightygodking, with art by Davinder Brar. The first volume (8 books) is completed, and is its own story. There's the beginning of a second volume, but the first is very satisfying.
Death Vigil by Stjepan Sejic - if you're lucky, at the moment of your death, Bernadette the Grim Reaper will claim you for the Death Vigil: her personal guard who stand against the forces of necromancy. Perks of the job include new friends, cool weapons, terrible jokes and the chance to not be dead. Oh, and save the world, OK?
I don't know what your tolerance for erotica is, but Chester 5000 XYV by Jess Fink is pretty much the most fun a wordless Edwardian robot sex comic can be. (Linked pages are SFW, comics very much NSFW.)
First arc: an overworked scientist builds his wife a sexy robot butler to take care of her needs. Shenanigans ensue.
Second arc (which won an Ignatz award) is more a story about people and the mechanics of the heart. Still Edwardian, still wordless, and there are still some robots. And sex.
posted by Pallas Athena at 3:04 PM on October 17, 2020
This question was answered here in 2014 (It was where I found Digger)
17 Fantastic Completed WebComics to Binge Read from Beginning to End
posted by metahawk at 3:30 PM on October 17, 2020 [2 favorites]
17 Fantastic Completed WebComics to Binge Read from Beginning to End
posted by metahawk at 3:30 PM on October 17, 2020 [2 favorites]
"Sailor Twain, or The Mermaid on the Hudson" which started as a webcomic but now only appears to be available as a graphic novel. It is complete and has an ending, although it's rather ambiguous and probably tragic.
Also "Nimona," which is what Noelle Stevens was up to before Lumberjanes and the She-Ra reboot. Also started as a webcomic, also now a book, also apparently no longer available free online (but buy it, it's really good and Noelle Stevens is awesome).
posted by Alterscape at 12:32 AM on October 18, 2020 [1 favorite]
Also "Nimona," which is what Noelle Stevens was up to before Lumberjanes and the She-Ra reboot. Also started as a webcomic, also now a book, also apparently no longer available free online (but buy it, it's really good and Noelle Stevens is awesome).
posted by Alterscape at 12:32 AM on October 18, 2020 [1 favorite]
On failure to properly fact-check: Noelle Stevenson. Sorry!
posted by Alterscape at 1:21 AM on October 18, 2020
posted by Alterscape at 1:21 AM on October 18, 2020
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posted by wintersweet at 9:32 AM on October 17, 2020 [1 favorite]