One of the risks of following a new webcomic is that the story might never end. You might end up with a comic that lasts for years to get the creator to drop it. But there are some great webcomics that have come full circle instead of fading into oblivion, leaving hundreds – and sometimes thousands – of pages for us to enjoy.
Know of a great finished webcomic that isn’t on this list? Add it in the comments!
Top image of A Redtail’s Dream.
If you like quirky fantasy stories (and wombats), try Excavator by Ursula Vernon: There’s a reason Ursula Vernon’s epic about a tough but kind-hearted wombat engineer lost in a magical antipode won the Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story. The eponymous Digger has been magically transported away from her home to a land of gods, demons and religious fanatics and all she wants is to return home. But along the way, she becomes involved with a tribe of wise hyenas, a deadly child, talking snails, and a statue of Ganesh. It’s a bizarre epic filled with gripping artistry, with a heroine who’s pragmatic and always tries to do the right thing, even when she’s not quite sure what it is.
If you like adorable mad scientists, try Narbonic by Shaenon Garrity: When tech Dave Davenport graduated from college, he had no idea he’d end up working for mad gerbil-obsessed scientist Helen Narbon and her psychotic intern Mell, but he thinks it’s no less. worse than working for a software company. Garrity is infinitely capable of mixing clever and silly humor, and his sense of genre makes Narbonic a delight. If you’re still craving more of Garrity, check out his X-Files tribute comic monster of the week and skin horsewhich she co-created with Jeffrey Wells.
If you like sneaky Brits getting into bizarre hijinks, try Coils and Do the spooky ride by John Allison: John Allison has a knack for dialogue, creating characters that express their personalities through highly individual speech patterns. Towards the end of its run on Coilshe also showed a strong taste for science fiction and the supernatural, sending some of his characters into the Do the spooky ride, a comic filled with alternate dimensions, robots, time travel, and zombies. Although he officially wrapped both comics a while back, Allison continued the Coils universe with bad machinesin which a new generation of characters solve supernatural mysteries, and gradually began to weave their older characters into a new series of Coils bands.
If you like Victorian-flavored supernatural romance, try The Phoenix Requiem by Sarah Ellerton: Anya is a compassionate doctor-in-training who has devoted herself entirely to her work, at least until the mysterious and charming Jonas Faulkner shows up half-dead on the outskirts of the village she cares for. At the same time, a frightening plague takes hold among the villagers, and Anya must uncover Jonas’ tragic past in order to help stop the supernatural disease.
If you like quick-witted epic space adventures, try space trawler by Christopher Baldwin: A group of alien activists kidnap a group of humans to claim their place on an intergalactic council and gain freedom for a race of slaves, but the situation ends up being much more complicated than the activists thought at first. the origin. Alternately funny, heartbreaking and frightening, space trawler is a complex character-driven drama filled with alien sex, body modification, high points of selfishness and heroism, and the physical and psychological toll that war takes on sentient beings. space trawler isn’t the only completed webcomic Baldwin has under his belt; he is currently re-running his previous comics Bruno and Little Dee. He also recently launched a new scifi gag webcomic, One way.
If you like goofy historical fantasies with vampires, try Bite me! by Dylan Meconis: Taken from a desire to make fun of A Tale of Two Cities and Interview with the Vampire, Dylan Meconis created Bite me! a supernatural comedy set during the French Revolution. Claire is a girl who is turned into a vampire, and her sharp, crude humor hardly endears her to more polished vampires. Meconis has also turned her interest in history (and theology) into a more dramatic webcomic, which she currently directs. family man.
If you like building a fantasy world with a heavy dose of surrealism, try rice boy and Order of Tales by Evan Dahm: Evan Dahm started building the weird worlds of Overside and Underside in his dreamlike epic rice boy, about a small creature sent on a mission by an emissary of God. The colorful world seen in rice boy is then put in black and white in Order of Tales, which features one of the same characters but focuses on the power and nature of storytelling, and how a keeper of stories could turn into a hero. Dahm is currently filming another tale set in the same world, Vattūabout a nomad who has become a slave.
If you like short horror stories, try split lip by Sam Costello: Sam Costello is an omnivorous fan of the horror genre, which is evident from the collection of stories he’s written in his Split Lip anthology series. Employing a different artist for each story, Costello explores serial killers, Lovecraftian cosmology, insects, aliens, body horror – anything that will keep you up all night.
If you like innovative storytelling, try Trouble Detective by Andrew Hussie: Andrew Hussie uses interactive fiction as inspiration for his MS Paint Adventures comic books, the most famous of which is the hugely popular Homestuck. Trouble Detective is the only completed adventure, however, starting out as a simple parody of text-adventure games with a film noir flavor and evolving into something much stranger.
If you like long mysteries with a touch of Lynchian weirdness, try Sin Title by Cameron Stewart: Inspired by a seemingly supernatural vision of his childhood, Cameron Stewart has created a trippy story about the nature of memory, self-identity, and what sons can inherit from their fathers and grandfathers. Alex is a disgruntled man who discovers a photo of his grandfather with a mysterious young woman, but as he tries to find her, he sometimes finds himself transported to an island with a dead tree. As he tries to figure out what is happening to him, his life begins to unravel as he gets caught up in an unholy conspiracy.
If you like watching government agents battle alien threats, try It’s Valky! by David Willis: Like John Allison, David Willis enjoys playing with the same set of characters, though he plays their dynamics in different universes with very different plots. It’s Valky! follow his gag band Flatmates !, casting its characters as agents of SEMME, an organization dedicated to protecting Earth from aliens. Many of these same characters appear in Willis’ ongoing comics. Shortpacked! and Age Dumbing.
If you love beautifully rendered mythological settings, try A Redtail’s Dream by Minna Sundberg: After an irresponsible fox spirit traps their Finnish village in the dream realm, a boy and his dog must travel through the dream world and convince the village leaders to return the villagers to the waking world. But first they have to help the leaders accomplish the tasks they want to complete in their dreams. Sundberg recently launched a new comic, the post-apocalyptic Stay still, stay silent.
If you like scary post-apocalyptic dramas, try Freakanges by Warren Ellis and Paul Duffield: The author of Transmetropolitan and Global Frequency tells us the post-apocalyptic story of Whitechapel that asks, “What if Midwich Cuckoos had reached their twenties?” After flooding England, the Freakangels have established a haven in Whitechapel, where they try to use their skills to bring back some semblance of civilization. But it’s hard to save their camp when they have to deal with infighting, jealousy and threats within their own group.
If you like Buffy-inspired stories that mix the supernatural and the ordinary, try Demonology 101 by Faith Erin Hicks: Demonology 101 is the first comic book directed by Faith Erin Hicks, who went on to produce a number of stellar comic books like The Adventures of Superhero Girl and Friends with boys. This first comic focuses on a teenage demon raised by humans who must deal with both high school and the intrusions of the supernatural world.
If you like comics inspired by video games (and/or Atomic robot), to try 8 bit theater by Brian Clevinger: Brian Clevinger (author of Atomic robot) used video game sprites to illustrate his comic, which started as a parody of a wide range of classic video games, but gradually focused more and more on Final Fantasy. Clevinger is also responsible for the hilarious and depressing webcomic Warbot in accounting.
If you like space comedy, try Starslide by Kris Straub: What happens after a military ship is turned into a space museum? Starslip tells the adventures of a crew whose mission is cultural but whose ship is still capable of military operations. Straub is a prolific webcomicker, having recently created horror comics Broodhollow.
If you like geek and fandom celebrations, try Fans! by T Campbell and Jason Waltrip: When this college’s sci-fi and fantasy fan club isn’t watching movies or playing RPGs, it’s saving the world from threats straight from star trek and the Lord of the Rings. Fans! is a loving tribute to geeks of all persuasions, but it’s also a rich epic about the growth of its characters and their worldviews. Campbell is another big hitter in the world of webcomics; his latest comic is the high-fantasy tale golden age. I also particularly like her webcomic (completed) Betty-and-Veronica-sans-Archie Penny and Aggiewith the art of the stellar Gisèle Lagacé.