CanvasReconmends: Webcomics
Well, I like webcomics, and my brother’s been suggesting some so… why don’t I get in on that game? That webcomic recommendation game? Ty gentle push people towards the comics that I, an infallible consumer, enjoy.
Yes. That’s what I’ll do.
My main requirement for this list is ‘Stuff I love, but don’t see anyone else talking about, seesh!’ So if you think any of these are too popular for such a push… talk about them more? In a space that I’d notice?
Harpy Gee: A project the creator (who works in animation and comics) has been trying to turn into a cartoon for… a space of time? Harpy Gee is a very charming comic, following an elf named Harpy, as she moves into a town and quickly makes friends while also going on sweet adventures! It’s actually very soft in tone, the coloring invokes a dreamlike quality, and each chapter feels like an episode of a cartoon show, with continuity, but also with its own narrative. The cast is composed of characters with baggage, but not particularly heavy baggage. It’s very family-friendly. Go read it.
Scurry: A relatively new comic, this is the first ‘traditional genre, but with rodents’ that I’ve seen step out of Fantasy. More to the point, it’s a post-apocalyptic scavenger story following the adventures of mice after the humans suddenly go missing, and winter is coming. It’s still in the slow build portion, as we’ve only barely left the house we started in, and the rest of the world hasn’t quite been elaborated on. The art is gorgeous, and the subtle world building is superb. Despite making the mice very realistic, there’s enough variations that each mouse looks distinct from the others. That’s talent.
Up to Four Players: This one is… okay, so for the first stretch of its life, it was pretty much your typical Video Game commentary comic, but replace Video Games with Tabletop. It had strong writing and jokes that came from genuine love for the material it’s spoofing, with good running gags and comedic characters. Ut4P is good for those comics alone. However, starting at the beginning of the year, the comic was retooled instead to focus on the central cast playing a campaign set in an original world, making it mix of unique fantasy, meta RPG Commentary, and pitching the setting. There hasn’t quite been enough to make a judgement, but I’ll miss the old direction.
The Handbook of Heroes: This one, meanwhile, know what is and runs with it. Single panel comics explaining and lampooning the various unspoken rules of Tabletop RPGs. There’s a regular cast of characters, and a good use of negative continuity, IE, keeping whatever is needed for the joke.
Table Titans: Probably likely to be more known than I’ve seen, as it’s made by Scott Kurtz of PvP fame and backed by WotC. Still, I really love the way they portray the GM’s narration and the separation of Player and Character, cleverly fading them together as the game requires. Read it if only for visual cleverness.
