Hyperactive pixels: the webcomic community

Webcomics are an addiction of mine, however, I hadn’t realised that there was a whole cottage industry of Webcomic criticism. Of course I’d heard of Websnark, but sites such as Fleen and the Webcomic Examiner were new to me. I enjoy the way that the Examiner has put together a consistent examination of various Webcomics and it also examines the industry that holds them in place (e.g. From Keenspot to Blank label)

Tastes in webcomics obviously do change, I once was completely enamored of Sluggy Freelance, I think the general consensus is that he has tried to pull too much off. I usually ignore gamer comics as monomanias, I for one am glad that Megatokyo has been transformed into something far more mangaesque and it fits together better in its print form of course. Unlike the Websnark I quite enjoy the convoluted narratives, it makes the comic feel like a serial Victorian novel. Admittedly the extras that usually accompany a webcomic (Character notes, background) are flimsy, but once you’re hooked that doesn’t matter. I like the ambiguity present between the two realities that exist in MT, Largo’s and Piro’s, and unlike the general consensus I think that Gallagher has assimilated the ‘craziness’ of co-creator Largo’s viewpoint into something that is his own.

As for recent discoveries, Nazi High, is one of my guilty pleasures, apart from the usual teething problems that usually afflict Webcomics in the first hundred strips it has developed quite well. Artistically, it uses a fluid style that suits the silliness of the narrative.