better than the sunday comics page

As of the past 6 months or so, I've added the indulgence of webcomics to my ever-diversifying armory of procrastination techniques. While it began as a bit of a fancy, many of the comicistas out there on the internet are actually fantastic artists and have created compelling, fascinating and complicated worlds in their work. A word of warning, when you start with a new comic you’ll get this great rush of being able to read hundreds of pages of archived material. But, once you reach the end of what’s been written/drawn so far you will likely feel, as I did/do, very deprived as you wait for the next installment(s). Adis over at Count Your Sheep posts the most regularly (three to fives times a week), although his comic is also in a strip format (like newspaper comics) rather than a graphic novel, so it’s probably easier to produce those faster. Inverloch, Angels 2200, and Flipside are also pretty regular (two to three times a week). Alpha Shade, which is gorgeous and complex, has the longest lag between updates, so much so that the artists only just posted a regular update schedule on their site (although time alone will tell if they stick to it).

Here are a few of my favorites, in a vague sort of order. In order of my dedication, perhaps:

1. Count Your Sheep is a clever, fun, and cute comic by artist Adrian Ramos (known as Adis). It’s about a girl, her mother and their imaginary sheep, Ship, and is reminiscent of Calvin and Hobbes. I love this strip, and it’s actually a marvel to me that, despite frequent attempts, Adis hasn’t yet managed to get his work syndicated or published somewhere. I think Count Your Sheep is far more interesting and more intelligent than many of the comics you find in, say, The Washington Post.

2. I' m not sure how to describe Alpha Shade because I'm not always entirely sure I know what's going on myself, there's so much going on at once. But this isn't a bad thing. It's gorgeously-rendered and the characters are intriguing and enigmatic. At the stage it's in right now, it's hard to glean the scope of the entire narrative; I've only gathered enough to know that one of the central characters--a pretty typical American 20-something--has become trapped(?) in a parrell universe and finds herself commander of an army. Or something. I don't think my description does Alpha Shade any favors, but if you read it you'll understand why I'm at a loss.

3. Inverloch is a fantasy-adventure story set in a world that's vaguely reminiscent of RPGs I played as a pre-teen, except the characters, setting and social architecture are much more realistically conceived. There's racism and sexism and greed and vanity, and the story is really as much a social allegory as it is a fantastical narrative. And besides, Acheron, one of the main characters, is adorably cute and cuddly.

4. Angels 2200 is a futuristic sci-fi comic set in a world where most of the men have been killed by some sort of plague. It's alternatively amusing and heartbreaking and while it's full of feminine stereotypes, the artists are also meticulous about breaking them whenever possible.

5. Flipside is possibly the weirdest comic I've ever read. About a female jester, a female would-be knight and their adventures, it definitely falls under the fantasy category. A word of warning: while funny and kooky, it's also a bit risque (occassionally in an obviously prurient way) and sometimes quite violent, but intriguing all the same.

Also, check out the Buzz Comics rankings to find more great webcomics if you, like me, are looking for entertaining procrastination.

Okay, back to actual work now. No. Really.