Webcomic Blogs 

 

 

 


A List of Webcomic Blogs



At their best, webcomic blogs are insightful, informative and entertaining.

Some blogs are very "insider," with an inside joke tone and name-dropping. They often have the most readers, suggesting -- surprise, surprise -- that dish, gossip and back-scratching appeal in the world of webcomics as much as anywhere else.

Other blogs are very "outsider." You don't learn much about the author, and there are few connections to well-known personalities. You don't get scoops, but you often get a sincere attempt at straight talk. Often less disciplined, these blogs vary in quality not only amongst one another, but from post to post. With less to lose, they take risks that can fail.

A few blogs not worth citing are written by people who are to some degree deranged, or who have succumbed to a philosophy of nihilism.

I'm not sure how to classify my blog. I never set out to write a blog, especially one updating 5-7 days a week. The best I can offer is it helps me learn and organize my thoughts. As long as there are interested readers, I'll do my best.

Ultimately, you have to read a variety to find a voice you like. Few people seem to follow more than a handful of blogs, so you might as well look around before you park somewhere.

Blogs are listed alphabetically. I provide as much detail as I have available. I have my biases; form your own opinions.


 

 



ArtPatient.com


Offers in-depth weekly webcomic reviews with illustrations, occasional commentary, and a jumping-off point for the author's own explorations of art and webcomics.
By Delos Woodruff
Delos was Editor of Comic Fencing, discussed below.
Illustrated, feed.

Update, December 2008: Delos has left Comic Fencing.


 

Blog of Last Resort
"Making Webcomics Worth Their Pixels"
"Making webcomics successful isn't what it used to be... a young publisher's look at how to succeed in webcomics (or at least what she thinks it takes to succeed), coupled with advice on monetizing your webcomics efforts as well as improving your webcomic, mixed in with her adventures with her webcomic, Last Resort."
Author: Rachel Keslensky
Frequency: 2-3 times a week
Feed Subscription: http://feeds.feedburner.com/BlogOfLastResort
Rates comics with a system? No
Illustrated
Location: Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Sites by Same Author: Last Resort 

 

"Every Friday multiple reviewers face off against the same webcomic!"
Recent reviewers include Jay Slay, Jack Carter, Delos Woodruff, Anthony Cardno
Submissions accepted.
0 - 5 star ratings issued by each of four weekly reviewers.
Started April '08.

Update: December 2008: This site has always been run by a hierarchy of volunteers, including an editor and a stable of reviewers. The owner's commitments elsewhere have always made it vulnerable to attrition, and recent departures at all levels leave its future in question. We've now gone a month without an update.



 


Magazine style, multi-contributor publication featuring web and non-web comic coverage.
Editor: Xavier Xerexes
Forum lightly used.

December 2008: Forum closed. Has a tendency to research topics halfway, then publish the results and ask readers to fill the gaps. The result is a fair amount of hackneyed lists and useful articles that compile data which is then allowed to go obsolete, left to rattle around in search results. If you're trying to do research on anything besides historical data, a ComixTalk search result brings a heavy sigh. The editor seems to fear engagement with critics, giving the site a mild and wimpy flavor.


 

"Recognizing when comics are great -- and analyzing what went wrong when they're not."

Author: Matt Koelbl

Updates Monday and Friday

Feed available

Comic rating system: No

By same author: Short Little Stories

Not illustrated

Location: Maryland

Update, December 2008: Updates are sporadic. The author seems to have other priorities.

 


"Throwaway reviews for a throwaway medium."
Feeds, frequent updates, illustrations
Authors are listed as: Daku, Phil, Brandon, Midnight, The Geek, Brigid

Update, December 2008: Six people produce less output than many one-person blogs, but the content, especially by Brigid, can be engaging, and brevity never hurts.


 

"The webcomic blog about webcomics"
Author: Gary Tyrrell under the influence of the Dumbrella Collective
Updates weekdays
Popular blog mixes occasionally murky insider jokes and gossip with uneven reporting and miscellany from the inbox. Called "the blog people read to see if they've been mentioned" by one daily reader.

Update, December 2008: You'd best form your own opinion, as I no longer follow it regularly. Would benefit from an injection of judgment, maturity and ethics. The blog is owned by the Dumbrella Cooperative and relentlessly shills for them. Tyrrell is merely an anointed fanboy -- hence his constant "we at Fleen" phrasing. Recently deleted blog's tag phrase about "semi-abusive opinion mongering" after critical remarks in another blog. This year's model is Octopus Pie, which gets public stroking on an almost weekly basis. Unintentional hilarious moment came went Tyrrell earnestly reported on Pie creator's quest to recruit an intern (she is an obviously inert person who thinks fame should be awarded to her by proclamation).

Not always wrong, but always shilling and struggling to be important. Serves as a sort of screen: people who maneuver to be mentioned also seem to populate the list of people who never make it. I think it serves as a barometer of judgment.

Failed to retract an incorrect article about my work. Notice to Tyrrell resulted in the usual simpering letter out of public sight, but apparently he is too proud to admit his math skills are lackluster. Not that anyone expected anything else -- this is a small person suffering the embarrassment of a large podium. Old school, from when webcomics were more clubby and had even less community. Leave this one to the punters. Don't get tangled in the marionette strings if you do visit.



 

The Floating Lightbulb


"Web Comics Eureka."

Author: Bengo

Updates: 5-7 weekly

Feed subscriptions: Yes

Comic rating system: No

Illustrated

"Recently we are moving away from covering where comics have been and toward where they are going." Lots more webcomic how-to and analysis of interest to people who actually do webcomics.

Sites/works by same author: Scratchin Post (comic, with Pug), Li'l Nyet (comic, with Pug), Psychedelic Tree House ("Open source webcomics how-to)


Update, December 2008: This is my blog, so judge it for yourself.



 


MPD57


Mike Perridge returns in 2009 with a new site and a blog on webcomics, but also art and design. Coverage of Zuda. More information as he gets rolling.


Daily updates planned.




 

"Rants and Reviews" by Robert A Howard
Contributors include: Amber "Glych" Greenlee, Park Cooper, Barbara Lien-Cooper, Ryan Howe, Steve Anderson, Adam Barnett, Erik Lervold
Email, illustrations
Features longer articles, reviews and essays





This Week in Webcomics

In-depth news and reviews published every Friday.
RSS feed, comments.

Update, December 2008: I am not sure of the appeal of reporting the latest developments in various webcomic titles, but I'm watching.

 

Author: Jack Carter
Location: Savannah GA
Rates 1 - 10 chimps
Since March 2007
Substantial archive of reviews and interviews


 

Webcomic Overlook


"Readin' webcomics, then telling you what I thought of them.  I tend to get painfully logorrheic and go on a tangential stream of consciousness flow with my big reviews.  But, hey, readers on the run get treated to some smaller 'One Punch Reviews' too!  I try to get samples from all over the webcomic bouillabaisse, but somehow I keep coming back to zombies, super heroes, and video game comics. Feh."
Author: El Santo
Updates: Weekly at best.
Feed subscription:  Yes
Rates comics with a system: 0 - 5 stars
Illustrated: No
Location: Seattle


Update, December 2008: Did a feature on Pug and my work this month, so our objectivity may be compromised. Survived an interruption for a wedding without turbulence. Author's perspective is often refreshingly different from my own, in an intelligent way. A webcomics media site of significance and value, an opinion shared by many other sources.


 


Authors: Eric Alfred Burns and Wednesday White
Email, comments
An unusual but rather effective rating system is offered, based on enthusiasm: Rabidly Following, Happily Reading, The Hoi Polloi, Why Do I Read This Webcomic Again?
A similar system reports on reading frequency.
After many years of influential commentary, this blog's update frequency waxes and wanes and frequently extends into the author's personal life.

Update, December 2008: I've never been able to log in to this one for some reason, so it's harder for me to follow closely. Yesterday someone said to me, "It was important until he started writing about his own life." It does seem webcomics are often off the radar. Writing could be much tighter.


  

On again, off again updates.
"Webcomics are my vice and I prefer to examine genre webcomics that are typically ignored by the Webcomic Media."
Author: Scott/ Melbourne, Australia
Comments, Illustrations, Email
Since 2005

Update, December 2008: Full disclosure: this blog did a nice review of one of our webcomics, so my opinion might be biased. Here it is: OK, so we have another erratic updater. That doesn't mean it's not worthwhile, you just have to appreciate what it offers, when it offers it.


  
 

PsychedelicTreehouse.com is Copyright Bengo & Pug
Visit our other site: Lil Nyet,  Scratchin Post and Floating Lightbulb 
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