Comics You Should be Reading: A Brief Introduction

Being an ardent comic evangelist in often non-comic-reading groups, I often get asked what comics X should read.This really happens! There's a weird persecution complex in comics fandom, where fans think that non-readers are just waiting to rank on them if they voice some enthusiasm, but my overwhelming experience is that most people are happy to learn about New Fun Things. They just don't know where to start.

The trouble is that I hardly know where to start either. As a lifelong fan, having someone ask me "What comics should I read" is a bit like having someone ask me "How can I have fun in life?" There are so many answers, and it depends on the person doing the asking, and I could talk for hours about any of the hundreds of comics I like well enough to follow and oh man now my brain is locking up and I need time and an internet connection and ...

And here I have both. So here, in what I hope will be a not-infrequent series, are the Comics You Should Read, with descriptions and links and everything. This by no means an exhaustive series- I'm going to stick mostly to online comics, and I have my own very specific tastes and all-- but if you're like me, and you should be if you're reading this blog, this should at least give you a place to start.

Now, what sort of stories do you like...?

In Which I Receive External Validation

All right, friends and companions, full disclosure: the reason Wondermark moved to the head of my comics-geeking que was that its wonderful benevolent creator, David Malki, was having a rather fantastic blog contest, giving away ten artist-signed-and-illustrated books to adoring bloggers. Now I legitimately AM adoring of Wondermark, and had intended to talk it up, but that sort of put a fire under my bustled tail.

And, lo, I have emerged victorious! Along with 9 other, much better and more established bloggers! Behold!

http://wondermark.com/thanksgiving-bloggers/

And this was truly fantastic and rather unexpected. But look again-- among the names of my co-champions?

Robin McKinley.

Robin McKinley, if you don't know, is an author of many actual books, like the Blue Sword, and The Door in The Hedge, and a lot of other books, of which I have read several and enjoyed more than not.* She has her own Amazon bookstore!

And a blog! In which she writes about writing, which is of course something she actually knows about!

While I? Have written some Etsy descriptions, a few trifling blog posts, and a fair number of awkward book reviews.

And yet today, on this glorious near-Christmas morn, I am her equal. I have won over the same audience as an actual professional writer. Never mind that it was in a rather random blog promoing contest; never mind that it was a rather obscure contest. Right now, in this glorious kingdom of the Internet, I AM EQUAL WITH A REAL WRITER.

My ego is currently threatening to o'errun my generous state borders. 2009 has just become my Most Triumphant Year Ever.

Even if I suspect this now means I have to live up to some sort of standard. I will not let the existence of reality spoil my triumph!


* Any writer** who writes enough books is bound to turn out some that are not as solid as others, or just not as much to my taste. Even Pratchett has the Rincewind stories, which I'm just kinda Meh over for the most part.

**Except Stephen King. But that's different, King's a whole separate deal for me, and probably deserves his own post.

Wondermark: In Which Carapace Is Moved to Write A Post

I know, I know, I fell off the face of the earth. And I'm hanging on by my fingertips right now. Both artisanness and The Day Job are hitting their peak, and I'm afraid I'm just not shiny enough to be entertaining right now.

So I'll let someone else be entertaining instead! Lasses and potentially lads, should any deign to show to this doe party here, may I direct your attention to the truly aesthetic frenetic frabulous Wondermark, by the personable and hygenic Malki!?

I'm not being confrontational, there. Malki! is his nom de...plume? Art? Arte? My Latin is nonexistent.

Anyway.

If you like classic illustration, you will like Wondermark, because it is MADE of classical illustration. That's not some post-modern statement like "I'm made of awesome!", Malki! goes and digs up all kinds of weird old Victorian ephemera illustrations to serve as the art for his comics. And alters the heck out of it, to the point where Wondermark is as much collage as clip art. And if you like snarking on said Victoriana, Malki's your guy. There are also strips where people ride Piranhamoose, so good news all around, there. And if you like excessive verbosity and a highly affected writing style, well, he'll keep you occupied while I'm dealing with students and craft fairs.

And if you don't like any of that stuff, I'm afraid we are not going to be friends for long, dear reader, and indeed I question how you even arrived at this location.

Seriously. Go look at Wondermark. And be sure to check out the alt text while you're at it.