We are in the midst of a revolution (heralded by Scott McCloud) of comic strips. Online is such an easy way to make a comic strip accessible that many, many people are trying it. The technology is also available to allow the creators to try and make money from various sources (ads, donations, collected editions, sketches, merchandise, etc) to support their strips. With all these new and exciting comics available, I wanted to share some of the online comics that I follow. NOTE: This will not cover newspaper comic strips (such as Doonesbury and Dilbert) that can be read online or in a newspaper. So, let’s see what’s out in the comic world.

With newspapers dying, I was worried about the state of comics. Not comic books, but comic strips. Comic strips have been around for over 100 years and were used to help differentiate competing newspapers in a market from each other. Strips such as Little Nemo in Slumberland, Krazy Kat, Pogo and The Spirit were classics in comic history. As comic books started getting more popular, comic strips started losing their popularity. There were some strips that kept the comic strip in newspapers alive (most notably Peanuts), but it still seemed like a dying medium.

In the 1960s, a revival of sorts started with Doonesbury. It was a more direct political strip than had been seen before (Pogo was political, but not as direct as Doonesbury). That led to a new generation of comic strip writers in the 1980s where many younger people now see that decade as a second golden age for comic strips. Comics such as Bloom County, The Far Sideand Calvin and Hobbes were wonderful strips that were loved by many. But, one by one, they stopped publishing and as newspapers have been dying in the last 10-20 years, there really haven’t been a lot to replace them. There were some hopeful signs (Boondocks), but nothing really blossomed.

As we’ve moved into the Internet age, Scott McCloud predicted (in his Understanding Comics sequel Reinventing Comics) that the Internet and computers would lead to a new golden age of comics. While many dismissed his ideas when they came out a decade ago, time has proven him correct. Let’s take a look at some of my favorites in the web comic area. I’ve included a description of each comic from the creator themselves.

Dork Tower: “DORK TOWER is for anybody who’s ever been burned being an early adapter; who’s made more Twitter tweets than actual Twitter followers; who’s ever gone to a Star Trek convention; who’s ever played Dungeons and Dragons; who suspects Anime is more than just a passing ad; and who’s been fragged by a Gravity Hammer in Halo III – or anyone who KNOWS one of these people.”

XKCD: “A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language.”

Love and Capes: “Love and Capes is a heroically super romantic comedy situation comedy in comic book form from Thom Zahler.”

Cleopatra in Space: “Zapped away as a teenager from her home era of 52 BC, Cleopatra VII found herself in the middle of a centuries’ long war in the far, far, really far, far future. Now she fights alongside P.Y.R.A.M.I.D. (Pharaoh Yasiro’s Research And Military Initiative of Defense), both human and alienkind’s only hope against the evil Xaius Octavian.”

Chopping Block:  A comic about Butch, everyone’s favorite serial killer.

Let’s Be Friends Again: “Let’s Be Friends Again is a comic about comics.It’s not complicated.”

Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal: From Wikipedia: “Like most one-off comics, there are few recurring characters. The humor often comes from leading the reader to think they understand the situation when they look at the picture, but then throwing them off with a punchline-esque caption underneath.”

Welcome to Wayne Manor: “Inspired by the Tiny Titans, my take on the life of Batman and his sons…”. His sons, of course, are Robin, Robin, Robin and Robin (i.e. Dick, Jason, Tim and Terry).

If you want to find other web comics, check out The Web Comics List Awards 2010.