Introduction to Web Comics

I’ve been in a strange ‘top ten’ kind of mood. Why? I danno, but I figure, might as well roll with it. So I was thinking: What’s something you haven’t seen yet? Unless I missed something, which is entirely possible Web Comics is my answer! As a brief look into my personal history with the genre: I first got into web comics in my freshmen year of high school. My brother was really into them and was constantly suggesting them to him, so I finally gave in and started to look around. While we do read several of the same comics, only two in my top five are from his personal list. The rest I either found on my own or was directed to by a friend. So here are my top five favorite web comics!

Note: None of these are appropriate for little viewers. Just so ya know.

#5. No Need for Bushido http://noneedforbushido.com/

No Need for Bushido follows the story of a young Samurai by the name of Yurikiro Wataro and a princess by the name of Ina Senshin as they run around Feudal Japan. What starts as a simple escape attempt on the part of Ina, to get out of an arranged marriage, somehow turns into an epic adventure as the two, with some new friends, race to stop an oncoming war. Joining them is a blind Taoist priest who can’t go into bars for fear of bringing on the end of the world (long story) and has a tendency for “spewing absurd proverbs,” to quote the Wikipedia page, and a very angry ronin with a huge zanbatou who enjoys drinking, violence and Kabuki plays.

If the simple list of characters wasn’t enough to entice you, maybe the offer of random, over the top humor will. Aside from the wacky cast this comic sports an over dramatic sense of humor that really catches the eye. It pretty much makes fun of classic comic sound effects as well as your classic cliques. Our main character, for example is practically useless. He’s got a hero’s heart and a valiant spirit, but when it comes to fighting and other such tactics, he’s pretty lame. At the same time, he seems to have some incredible luck which manages to keep him alive for the most part. Ken, the ronin, on the other hand is badass in every way but completely immoral. He lives only to seek revenge for his clan but that doesn’t stop him from enjoying the… uh… finer things in life. If they need money, he beats the guy nearest to him and takes his money. If he can threaten something out of a person, he will. If he needs to beat them, that’s fine too. He doesn’t care, how it gets done, as long as it’s bloody… and gets done. Cho Teko, the Taoist priest is Chinese, blind and kind of airy, where you’d think he’d be a source of wisdom. He tries his best, throwing in nonsensical proverbs where ever he can. He’s an incredible fighter, however, and is unmistakably useful to the group. Ina… is Ina. She’s loud; pig headed, and probably has the most common sense. She can get kind of annoying, as all girls of her stereotype can, but she’s usually has a good reason for her complaints.

Sorry to treat this like a review, but it’s a good comic. You should totally go read it now. No Need for Bushido is supposed to update Mondays but it’s more like every other Monday.

#4

Red String is a romantic story of a modern day arranged marriage set in Japan. Our main character Miharu Ogawa is a strong willed high school girl who is often labeled as a “delinquent” for her bleached blond hair. Her family owns a successful restaurant, she has two best friends and a pretty good school. Life is good until her parents inform her that she’s been engaged to a boy she’s doesn’t remember since she was young. Upset, as anyone would naturally be, Miharu runs away to sulk when she runs into some random guy on the street and when he asks if she’s alright, she turns him into her cry pillow. He offers to be her boyfriend for the day, since her main upset is that she hasn’t even had a real relationship of her own yet. After their date ends in a kiss, she decides that she’s going to screw the arranged marriage and go out with mystery guy, only to find out that, SURPRISE!, mystery guy is her betrothed!

While this starts out as being Miharu’s story over the course of the comic we branch out to follow her friend’s Reika and Fuuko in their romantic endeavors as well. The name Red String comes from a story Miharu’s mother told her; everyone has a red string that connects them to their true love. The red string becomes a tangible symbol for Miharu of her love for Kazuo, her fiancé, even as things get hard. I know, it’s sappy and girly, but I love it. It’s got some great story arcs and a lot of great characters. But when all is said and done, it’s a high school romance story. So if you can stomach it, I recommend you read it. Red String updated every weekday except Friday.

#3

Again, a romance… set in Japan… yeah, I know what you’re thinking, but it was an accident, I swear! Anyway, this story is about a girl by the name of Yumi who is smart enough to get into a special high school. But of course her first day can’t go well, that’d be nonsense. So first thing she does is accidently run into the very angry lead singer of a visual kei band called Orochi and make him her mortal enemy. How you might ask? She looks like his dead mom. Moving on. Yumi manages to find two friends who are really hard core Orochi fans and fall in love with Orochi’s awesome drummer, Toshio. This means, of course, that she can’t avoid going to Orochi’s shows, but she also can’t be seen there. TIME FOR A DISGUISE!~ They dress her up all punk and fancy and manage to fool no one except the one person they were trying to fool. What are the odds? It works a little too well, though, because Angsty mcAngster-pants not only doesn’t recognize her, he actually forms a crush on her alter ego, while still loathing her with a deep passion.

Again, this is a high school romance, filled with high school drama. Still, it’s just as much Orochi’ story as it is Yumi’s and that’s why I like it, I think. We see the dynamics between the band members and their rivals as well as Yumi’s interaction with them and her struggle to form a strong relationship with Toshio while avoiding or coping with Miyabi (lead singer) and his buckets of rage and angst. Miyabi himself is one of the better characters in the comic. Yeah, he’s a douche bag, he’s an angst pot, he’s got a mouth on him and he’ll do anything to succeed. But he’s had a rough life and he’s not completely unrelatable (that’s totally a word. I don’t care what Microsoft says). He’s too much of a jerk to gain my full sympathy, but I do feel for him, at least a little.

As with Red String, The Way to Your Heart is obviously not for everyone. It’s still pretty good, though and highly amusing at times. It updates Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

#2

Guess what! This one isn’t set in Japan! I’m not actually sure where it’s set. It’s been a while since I read the beginning, but at any rate, it’s not Japan, so be happy. Hanna, naturally our main character, is a supernatural detective. He’s very light hearted, excitable and rather outspoken. He has a tendency to state the obvious, mostly because he pretty much says whatever comes to mind. Our story is narrated by a zombie without a name, often referred to as {…}. Since he can’t remember his name, Hanna just gives him a new one whenever it’s needed. I love {…} above all else. He is the yin to Hanna’s yang. {…} is quiet, calm, cool, and collected. He has a very observant personality, preferring to sit back and watch things unfold. He’s really only hanging out with Hanna because he has nothing else to do. He doesn’t know who raised him, how, or why. He also has the most wonderful comments to make about the story. There is a whole cast of fabulous characters joining our main heroes, but it would take forever to go through them and I would feel like I was slighting someone if I tried to pick out the most important. You’ll just have to read it for yourself to see them.

The art in this comic is something to take note of. In the beginning it was actually pretty colorful, but as it’s progressed the style has darkened to suit the mood, I guess. I love the coloring most, I think, as it really sets the tone of the comic. The style itself is somewhat abstract, getting creative with the appearances of some of the characters. It is something that pleases me greatly. This comic, above and beyond the previous two, has some of the most fantastic characters. There isn’t one among them that is not fantastic in one way or another. Hanna Is Not A Boy’s Name does not have an update schedule. It is, however on Deviant Art as well, if you would like to find it there. The author’s account name is vert-is-ninja.

#1

So, in a shocking twist of events, my number one favorite web comic is NOT a romance or set in Japan! Crazy! I know! It is, however, a huge geek fest. For those of you who are familiar with the soul sucking life consuming thing that is World of Warcraft this title holds some great meaning that I don’t understand. That is, however, the beauty of this comic. You don’t have to be a fan of the game to enjoy the insane comedy that is LFG. It does help though.

Basically what’s going on here is we have this elf named Cale who is good and pure and noble and everything that elves shouldn’t be. We also have an undead warlock named Richard who likes to kill things. That’s about as deep as it gets for him. Cale is out to do good and prove that elves aren’t all evil as is the common belief. After getting to know Richard for a little bit, being incinerated by Richard, being healed by a priestess of unknown origins, and fighting his way out of a mass of ‘defenders of the realm,’ we get our main quest, which will, inevitably spiral out of control until we’ve completely forgotten what the original quest was in all the insanity and hijinx.

Really, there’s only one reason to read this comic, and that is to watch Richard kill things in creative and amusing ways. Really, Richard is the most hilarious homicidal maniac you will ever meet and I love him with a deep burning passion that will never die. He somehow had managed not to kill Cale or the others, though he has, on numerous occasions, made a casual attempt. He’s dead, so he can do pretty much whatever he wants. The group members at one point take turns cutting off his head just for fun.

The humor itself is kind of sick in this comic, and a lot of it is based in the game, but for the most part, an outsider, like myself, has no trouble keeping up and getting a great laugh out of it. The writers are not above a good pop culture reference here and there and, as unusual as it is in a comic, they enjoy a good musical number. Yeah, it’s some good stuff right there. This is easily my most favoritest web comic of all time. It started during my freshmen year and has missed exactly one update since then, and that was only because they were on tour in New Zealand or something like that. To EVERYONE I say, GO READ IT NOW!~ LFG updates on Mondays and Wednesdays.

I’m so sorry this came out so long. To make up for it, here’s Richard singing to make you happy again. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcbazH6aE2g