Let's talk about lesser known comics

[brigid]

Hey, webcomics community! Let's talk about lesser known webcomics, ones that are relatively recent but have already established themselves as quality. By "lesser known" I mean not one of the usual suspects one sees when reccing webcomics... PvP, QC, Hark! A Vagrant, Octopus Pie, Penny Arcade, Something Positive, and other ones that are awesome and we love but are pretty popular. Bonus points if they are feminist or deal with characters who are not white able bodied heterosexual males.

Riot Nrrd Comics is one of my newest faves, and my heart skips a beat every time a new one goes up. The art is a little young, but the writing-- and especially the characters-- are very, very strong and more than make up for the art, which looks like it's going to improve.

Depending on your social circle, either every single person you know reads PhD Comics or else nobody's ever heard of it. It's a bit of a niche comic, albeit a very well established and long running one, about academia and the pursuit of a fancy, expensive, piece of paper. Also: the nature of humanity.

Unshelved is another all or nothing comic, with this one's milieu being not academia but the closely related world of public libraries. As a special bonus, they do book reviews as well. Dreamy!

Darryl Cunningham, on livejournal, has published several extremely popular comics about controversial subjects-- vaccines, the moon landing "hoax," psychiatric care. While certain of his work has garnered a lot of attention, not all of it has. Check out the rest.

Kagerou, by Luka Delaney, is one that I've fallen behind on. It's got a big archive, and it's really fun to go back and look at the starting art and what Luka is creating now.

I first ran into Ugly Girl a few years ago. It's an intimate look at high schoolers dealing with personal relationships and general life stuff, and it's really compelling. Giving the characters labels instead of names (spaz, fat girl, ugly girl, etc) is an interesting choice that says a lot about the society they (and we) live in.

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned Skin Deep before, a beautifully illustrated, colored, and written comic about mythological creatures and their world.

What are some of your go-to lesser-known webcomics recs?

Comments

[foxfirefey]

I've been enjoying Family Man lately.

And I like Skin Deep!

[brigid]

Family Man is super hugely awesome!

[neka]

I found myself falling in love with I Was Kidnapped By Lesbian Pirates From Outer Space recently.

[brigid]

I will check that out! Thanks for sharing!

[neka]

I would also like to add.

The Less Than Epic Adventures of TJ and Amal
Roza: The Wizard
Everblue
Freckle-Face
&
My Cardboard Life

[brigid]

Wow, I don't think I've heard of any of these! I'm getting some really awesome suggestions. Thanks!

[neka]

It feels good to rep for my friends & favorite artists/writers that's for certain.

Enjoy the comics. I think they are all worth a click ^_-

[softestbullet]

Aw, I love My Cardboard Life! How precious.

[jaynells]

Eeee, I love Lesbian Pirates From Outer Space! Best title ever. :DDD

[rivenwanderer]

Because I read a lot of blogs by and about webcomic artists, sometimes I can't tell which are popular and which are lesser known, since I read people talking about them all the time--but I think all of these are at least below the top "tier" of popularity. Grouped by how I think about them in my head:

Gunnerkrigg Court (mad science magic school! The main characters are girls. I love this one so much!)
The Meek (long-form epic with interesting characters)
Rice Boy (Actually three long-form comics, of which two are complete and one is in progress, as well as some short stories. Takes place in a fantasy world with weird creatures. The current ongoing story's protagonist is female.)
Digger (Surely this counts as "popular", but I feel compelled to rec anyway!)
The Witch Knots (has witchery and animal transformations)
Brightest (lesbian drama/angst with pretty compelling characters so far)

Buttercup Festival (surreal, beautiful, reminds me of a minimalist and grown-up calvin&hobbes sometimes)
The Secret Knots (mostly one-shots with a few multi-page stories, about strange moments and unspoken weirdness in life. Updates rarely but is always worth it.)

Lotus Root Children (a serious comic about child trafficking, with mythic threads holding it together)
Sin Titulo (kind of a psychological horror/thriller thing)
Sailor Twain (historical fiction about a mermaid in the Hudson River)

Jumbly Junkery (has diary comics, random art, and long-format episodic stories)

[brigid]

Gunnerkrigg Court is really excellent, but also pretty popular I think. But sooooo good! The Meek is really good as well. I'm reading Digger right now for the first time. Wow!

I don't know the rest of them! Thank you so much!

What are some of your favorite webcomics blogs? Why don't you create a post about some of your favorite blogs and websites that talk about webcomics? I think that'd be a pretty cool addition to the community.

[ajollypyruvate]

I tend to think it's popular but who knows:
Adventure! Romance! MAD SCIENCE!

I'm also too easily amused:
Holy Bibble

It hasn't updated in some time but they are beautiful nonetheless:
Copper. By the same artist who does Amulet, which is not a webcomic but I'll urge you to read it anyway.

[susanreads]

I posted about my favourite webcomics last year on my journal. Galaxion has moved to its own site and is still going strong; Magellan is on hiatus till October, but there's lots in the archive to tide you over. Riot Nrrd is my top find of this year so far.

I've bookmarked this post to come back and check out the recommendations I don't already know. It'll take me a while to catch up!