Yesterday , the nominations for the Eisner Awards , often considered the Oscars of Comics , came out , respect five comics in the digital funnies family . But there are dozens of amazing webcoimcs out there that the Eisners have completely ignore .
The class for Best Digital Comic found in 2005 and it ’s always been perplexing for avid followers of webcomics . We ’ve hoped that the category would be an chance to play up independent comics by lesser known creators and in some year , it has done an excellent job of doing just that . However , the nominee be given to let in Divine who have substantial tie-up to the world of print comedian , and sometimes digital offerings by cock-a-hoop - name creators border out people who have been work in webcomics for year . ( pillowcase in point , Joss Whedon and Fabio Moon took home the 2008 Eisner for Best Digital Comic for the Dark Horse digital release of Sugarshock ! ) Gary Tyrrell atFleenand El Santo atThe Webcomics Overlookshare their thoughts on this year ’s list . I particularly agree with Tyrrell that Dean Trippe’sSomething Terribledeserved a nominating speech for Best Short Story , although this wasa particularly bang-up year for short digital report .
I ’d also like to point folks toward one of this twelvemonth ’s nominees that is peculiarly desirable : As the Crow fly by Melanie Gillman .
1 . Gunnerkrigg Court by Tom Siddell : Every twelvemonth , Siddell ’s narration about students at a technologically advanced schooltime that stand outside a secret forest gets deep and rich . Antimony Carver and her best Quaker Kat must navigate not just their classes , but also robots , idol , ghost , and the cryptic past tense of their instructor and parent .
2 . Dresden Codak by Aaron Diaz : Diaz has long been reel large and minuscule stories centered on Kim Ross , a socially awkward cyborg who has a complicated kinship with her late , human beings - famous inventor father . “ Dark Science ” is Diaz ’s good story yet , institutionalize Kim to the art deco metropolis of Nephilopolis , where bureaucracy rules more than scientific discipline .
3 . Broodhollow by Kris Straub : Straub reach a touchy reconciliation act between sweetness and horror in the story of Wadsworth Zane , an obsessionally superstitious encyclopedia salesman who arrives in Broodhollow to square up the land of a remote relative . But the seemingly idyllic townspeople harbors dark secrets , which may be connect to its almost daily holidays .
4 . Oglaf by Trudy Cooper ( NSFW):I do n’t know if the Eisner committee considers comics feature expressed depictions of sex , but if they would be remiss not to consider Oglaf . This sexy walkaway through a high fantasy world alternate between gags and hilarious longform misadventure , jab fun at various music genre tropes with breasts and penises .
5 . Achewood by Chris Onstad : Achewood recently give to the net , giving us a fresh round of Onstad ’s well develop characters and wild humor . And he has made his brawny archive available indigital , pay - if - you - like - it format .
6 . Girls With Slingshots by Danielle Corsetto : For ten years , Corsetto has been inviting readers into the lives of her ever - flourish cast of characters , fictional character that readers deeply connect with . The dear lives of her characters are rattling and complex , but their vocation and personal pursuit get adequate basis .
7 . Bad Machinery by John Allison : A heir to Bobbins and Scary Go Round , Bad Machinery follows two groups of schooling - age detective as they solve supernatural mysteries . Sometimes they are dealing with portals through metre and cryptozoological being ; other clip , the focus is more on personal relationships . No matter what , the characters are full and the dialogue delightful .
8 . Dicebox by Jenn Manley Lee : In a spacefaring future , two migrant workers travel from job to problem , encounter a panoply of absorbing fiber , lush landscape — and trouble . Plus , we slowly uncover the secret past tense of our two protagonists .
9 . The Intrepid Girlbot by Diana Nock : Nock is an implausibly gifted cartoonist , one who superintend to recount earnest and funny stories using no dialog . Girlbot is on an interminable pursuit to be a good girl and for friendship , but she ’s never quite sure how to go about it . She has carry off to get a clan of raccoons get up in her hijinks , one of whom she gifted with cybernetic enhancements . They did n’t on the button help that raccoon fit in .
10 . Dumbing of Age by David Willis : Willis takes his common cast of characters and sends them back to college , where they must learn who they are and what they need in the grimace of new experiences . The standout character is Joyce , a formerly homeschooled Christian girl who is trying her hard to look at the wide-cut populace with loose centre and an open gist . If it ’s not too much of a gag comedian , I ’d also recommend Willis’Shortpacked ! , which provide improbably insightful comment on democratic media and fandom .
11 . Family Man by Dylan Meconis : There is a rationality that Meconis ’ historical comic was onour leaning webcomics that will make you smarter . It ’s a richly detailed trip to 18th - century Germany , where theological scholar Luther Levy has taken a lecturing stead , but does n’t realize the strange backstory of his new employer and the brilliant and beautiful school bibliothec .
12 . Octopus Pie by Meredith Gran : A coming - of - years drollery for people in their 20s and 30s , Octopus Pie follow Eve Ning , a Brooklyn - dwelling nonachiever whose life-time becomes much more interesting when stoner entrepreneur Hanna becomes her roomie . It capture the joy and uncertainties of being unsettle in your spirit in a city filled with strange and lovely the great unwashed and experience .
13 . The Fox Sister by Christina Strain and Jayd Aït - Kaci : The Fox Sister is a about completed comic stage set in sixties Japan , about a young woman whose integral home was killed by a fox daimon who now put on her dead babe ’s consistence . Cho Yun - Hee becomes a Mu priestess in an sweat to belt down the daimon , and find an unexpected ally in Alex , an American Christian missional .
14 . Nimona by Noelle Stevenson : Lord Ballister Blackheart disgraced former knight in quasi - medieval world has fall into a comfortable routine as a supervillain , at least until a shapeshifting pal elbows her way into his earth . She encourages him to hail up with better and proficient plot of ground , he works to expose the nefarious workings of the so - called proficient guy cable . But Ballister has no theme who he has ask in into his lifespan .
15 . My Cardboard Life by Philippa Rice : My Cardboard Life may have embark on out as a gag comedian that relied heavily on puns — both verbal and visual — associated with the comic ’s motley media . Increasingly , though , Rice has turned to differentiate recollective stories that play even more with attribute and the broad variety of material she use to make her comics .
16 . Monster Pulse by Magnolia Porter : After being put out with a foreign chemical , a radical of nipper discover that various part of their physical structure — the center for one , the stomach for another , an eye , all of one girl ’s hair — are translate into sentient monsters . The youngster now have to contend with the constitution responsible for as well as see how to deal with their new deviation .
17 . Just Another Sheep by Mat Heagerty and JD Faith : In an alternate edition of 1960s America , Banning is deal with a foreign power : he can inflict anything he has feel upon another human being . He find himself in Washington , DC , amidst a Vietnam War protestation , but the event stop in a major catastrophe , one that will interchange American chronicle forever .
18 . Ménage à 3 by Gisèle Lagacé and David Lumsdon ( NSFW):In this delightful sex funniness , virtuous Gary finds himself suddenly in motivation of roommate and terminate up with the statuesque DiDi and the ominsexual Zii . What start as a Montreal - base take on a harem laughable turn into something much richer as Gary becomes just one link in the comic ’s legion sexual hijinks .
19 . exaggeration and a one-half by Allie Brosh : Brosh ’s sporadically updated comic is sound on the text and tends to be occasional , but it ’s also intensely autobiographical , a series of essays that range from maniacally cockamamie stories from her childhood to plainspoken descriptions of her experience with depression .
20 . Vattu by Evan Dahm : With each new comic , Dahm ’s world of Overside becomes tumid and more intriguing . Vattu focuses on a friction of otherworldly cultures , seen in the take of a girl taken from a peregrine folk by an regal force and sent to live in one of the empire ’s metropolis as a striver .
21 . secure Female Protagonist by Brennan Lee Mulligan and Molly Ostertag : A smartly written and worked up geographic expedition of the ethics of superheroes , SFP follows Alison , a superstrong former costumed Hero of Alexandria is trying to figure out how to be a genuinely good somebody after realizing that the domain is much more complicated than rosters of superheroes and supervillains would paint a picture .
22 . Skin Horse by Shaenon K. Garrity and Jeffrey C. Wells : What if there was a shadowy authorities agency commit to the welfare of monsters ? Skin Horse delves into the farcical world of zombie plants , transgenic rightfulness groups , and mad scientists who favor their monsters cute and downlike , and always satisfies .
23 . Templar , Arizona by Spike Trotman : Although Templar , Arizona , has take a backseat to Spike ’s publication undertaking ( including Poorcraft , Smut Peddler , and Sleep of Reason ) , it is still a fun trip-up every time it update . In an alternate world occupy with unusual subcultures and an Egyptian Empire that never fell , writer Ben die hard out from home and settles in the vibrant city of Templar , populated by severe cultist , obsessional trueness - tellers , engineers forcibly reclaim buildings , and more unusual type .
24 . The Adventures of Dr. McNinja by Christopher Hastings : A comic about a ninja who also happen to be a medical doctor is bound to be a bit silly , and Hastings has elevated wackiness to an art form , tell dotty stories about undead Benjamin Frankin , a lawn tennis couple that will decide the destiny of the world , and space dinosaurs , just to name a few .
25 . The Bouletcorp by Boulet : Boulet ’s funnies do n’t forge a longform graphic novel , but they are remarkable . for the most part , The Bouletcorp functions as the artist ’s diary comic , but often he uses it to carry individual work of fabrication , each one a gem . Go to the site and keep hitting the “ Random ” button . You wo n’t be meritless .
26 . The Secret Knots by Juan Santapau : The Secret Knots is a series of shortsighted stories , most of them haunting witching realist thought experimentation . He distinguish the story of a TV secret plan expert who serves as a human walkthrough , a superhero who is gradually fading from everyone ’s memory , a musical record album composed of hoi polloi alternatively of songs , and ghosts who are something other than the spirit of the dead . Sometimes he turns to larger stories , including a Lovecraftian tarradiddle with an end both happy and scary and a surreal supernatural investigator agency .
27 . O Human Star by Blue Delliquanti : Roboticist Alastair Sterling backwash up 16 class after his last in a robot written matter of his honest-to-goodness body and finds that the robot revolution he had always trust for has do . Humans and robots happily coexist . But he ’s most surprised by the adolescent gynoid living with his sure-enough married person Brendan , a robot female child who looks quite a minute like Al . It upgrade a host of questions about identity and kinship both parental and amorous .
28 . Quantum Vibe by Scott Bieser : In a future when humanity has colonized the solar scheme , Nicole Oresme takes a job with Seamus O’Murchadha , one of the system ’s frontmost scientist . Together they travel from blank space station to planet to moon , working on O’Murchadha ’s in vogue project and getting caught up in the government of the various factions .
29 . Guilded Age by T Campbell , Phil Kahn , John Waltrip , and Jason Waltrip : We’re sucker for fantasy stories that are both wacky and thoughtful , and Guilded Age has that in jigaboo . It really thump and prod at its party of improbable explorer and sets them to tasks that can be both ridiculous and politically turbid .
30 . Unsounded by Ashley Cope : When a hermetic zombi spirit learner is sent on an errand with an ill - mollify , Leo - tailed princess of thieves , only good things can happen , right ? Cope has created a globe that feels instantly real with her own touch on the mellow phantasy genre and character who are deeply flawed and yet delightful .
31 . JL8 by Yale Stewart : This might be an odd ingress for the Eisner committee because it ’s an wildcat sports fan comic , but JL8 is a stunningly successful and affectionate take on DC laughable characters . It ideate the member of the Justice League as costumed kids , learn all the lessons that will finally make them wedge .
32 . Namesake by Megan Lavey - Heaton and Isabelle Melançon : Namesake proposes that the characters from classic plant of fiction are conceive of and reimagined because they feature different protagonists who all share the same first name . tons of Dorothys have chitchat Oz ; Alice after Alice has headed to Wonderland ; and more than one Wendy has tended to the Lost Boys . But the creation is in for a fresh twist when a cleaning woman named Emma seems to have the power to claver multiple fictitious worldly concern .
33 . Lovecraft is leave out by Larry Latham : Win Battler is a author of unearthly fiction who has become pen chum with his matinee idol , author HP Lovecraft . But when he travels to Providence to converge Lovecraft , he finds his champion has on the spur of the moment exit wanting and strange things are afoot in the metropolis . He teams up with a Brown University librarian and a Catholic non-Christian priest to uncover the horrific truths behind Lovecraft ’s fable .
34 . Something Positive by RK Milholland : Milholland has been sharing the journey of his cast of oddball character since 2001 , and it has been a rewarding ride . Both cynical and queerly uplifting , Something Positive is mostly about the kinsperson we make for ourselves , but it also require darker storylines , like the current spark about a formerly haughty beauty who is now eking out a hard world as a fugitive from justice from the law .
35 . Derelict by Ben Fleuter : A beautiful comic set in a post - revelatory future , Derelict follows a salvager as she journey through a world plagued by miasm and strange creatures who are often at odds with the remains of humanity . It play up the lonesomeness and danger of the quiet world .
36 . The Less Than Epic Adventures of TJ and Amal by EK Weaver : On a road trip from Berkeley to Providence , Amal bump himself unexpectedly saddled with a traveling companion , the cocky TJ . However , as their trip goes on , their family relationship becomes more sexual than Amal expected .
37 . Thunderpaw by Jen Lee : Lee use twinkling vitality and the multitudinous canvas tent to add a signified of emotion and pacing to her comic about two hot dog hold up the apocalypse . It ’s also charming because as anthropomorphize as her protagonists are , they still feel very much like cad .
38 . Spindrift by Elsa Kroese and Charlotte E. English : Morwenna is a half - full-blood Alar living in a city where full - blooded Alar fly about on divinely gifted wings . She ’s subject matter to operate as an apprentice to her blacksmith uncle , but when someone discovers to truth about her parentage , she is sent to separate a rich taboo , radically modify her life and the polish of both her parents .
39 . Penultimate Quest by Lars Brown : You know how your RPG characters are everlastingly sentenced to turn over keep and go on endless quest . What if your characters were unwittingly trapped in a sort of purgatory ? In Brown ’s comic , which has two books under its whang and will be reason in a third , a handful of characters start to question their endless lives of contend through a dungeon , dying horribly , and then respawning again .
40 . Paranatural by Zack Morrison : The rowdily curious Paranatural star topology Max , who starts out at a raw schoolhouse in a new town that happen to be frequent by ghosts and various supernatural creature . He ends up joining the schooltime ’s Activity Club , which secretly works to keep the local supernatural activeness under control .
41 . Blindsprings by Kadi Fedoruk : Blindsprings is a fairly new comic , but its story and artwork are already magical . A curst cock-and-bull story princess is “ rescued ” by a new mage against her will and find herself rejoining the human race after hundreds of year . Now she must fulfill a new task give to her by her former jailers in a metropolis that blends industry and magic trick .
42 . Chester 5000 XYV by Jess Fink ( NSFW):An titillating comic with a marrow , Chester 5000 XYV follows an inventor who creates a sexy robot for his libidinous wife . thing get complicated , however , when char and robot precipitate in love .
43 . Gaia by Oliver Knörzer : charming school is all well and good , but what happens after the students graduate and have to get in a existence fill with political tensions and the mark of war ? Gaia follow a group of former schoolfellow whose life after commencement is far more complicated than school ever was .
44 . confutative Content by Jeph Jacques : Jacques ’ scifi - tinged soap opera about a lovesick guy , his emotionally turbulent roommate , and his foul - minded automaton has raise up with a enceinte and wizard cast of characters . It has even occasionally broken out of its Northampton setting , in one case transport some of its stars to visit a space station .
45 . Sam Zabel and the Magic Pen by Dylan Horrocks ( NSFW):There are touches of autobiography in Horrocks ’ fantastic tale of a cartoonist who has lost his cacoethes . But as Sam Zabel rule himself conversing with other creators and laughable Holy Writ characters , he also asks profound motion about the morality of intimate fantasies and whether we are responsible for the thing we enjoy imagining .
46 . Shi Long Pang , The Wandering Shaolin Monk by Ben Costa : Pang is on a interruption between volume , but if you have n’t read Costa ’s historic fantasy about a Shaolin monk in late 17th - century China , now is a good clock time to get caught up . It coalesce history with martial arts action and a truly loveable main character .
47 . Cucumber Quest by Gigi DG : This all - ages comic both celebrates and poke fun at the tropes of illusion dangerous undertaking . Aspiring hotshot Cucumber was all set to go to magic school until he and his swordswoman babe Almond were sent on a quest by their forefather rather . They meet a colourful form of character and monsters , many of whom are n’t peculiarly well suited to escapade .
48 . prosperous Penny by Ananth Panagariya and Yuko Ota : The Johnny Wander team gives us a longform comic story about a perpetually luckless noblewoman who is trying to get her liveliness together . That involves moving into a entrepot cabinet , bullyrag her mode into a chore at a launderette , and dating a guy who does n’t seem to mind her untethered lifestyle .
49 . Stand Still , Stay understood by Minna Sundberg : Sundberg ’s reexamination toA Redtail ’s Dreamis a post - revelatory write up localize in Northern Europe . After a plague pass over out most of Europe , Iceland rebuilds as a for the most part isolated nation . Now a squad of explorers is venture out into the Silent World to learn more about how their fellow world have faired .
50 . MS Paint Adventures by Andrew Hussie : If you have set foot in a amusing book normal in the last few years , chance are you have seen the black shirt wearing , face painted , multicolored tusk lover of Hussie ’s MS Paint Adventures comical Homestuck , which separate its complex write up in the cast of classic text risky venture video recording plot . Hussie ’s use of single jury Page and animation have determine other desirable webcomics , such as Michelle Czajkowski’sAva ’s Demon .
51 . Trekker by Ron Randall : Trekker commence living as a Dark Horse photographic print comedian ( and Dark Horse will be releasing the Trekker Omnibus ) , but Randall has have his futuristic story about bounty hunter Mercy St. Clair online . It ’s part risky venture story , part role bailiwick , and always exciting .
Update : So this was n’t really intended to be a comprehensive lean , and I honestly stop listing webcomics after a while because the list was getting out of hand . But because several mass have say they ’re bookmarking this for future denotation , here are a few comic strip I finger peculiarly awful about leaving off the list :
52 . great power Nap by Maritza Campos and Bachan : In the future , most citizenry take a drug that rid of the demand for sleep , but Drew is tragically supersensitive . His already miserable life gets even weird when he ’s signed up for a freakish sleep study .
53 . Sam and Fuzzy by Sam Logan : Added by popular requirement , the long - running epic adventures of a new man and his bear - same roomy .
54 . GastroPhobia by David McGuire : set up in a loony rendering of ancient Greece , GastroPhobia follows an exiled Amazon warrior and her odoriferous , not very warrior - comparable son . Expect lots of pun .
55 . Ava ’s Demon by Michelle Czajkowski : In a space - faring world , Ava has spent her full life history haunted by a potent and cruel being . When she is fatally spite , however , she grow a second chance at life — if she ’s willing to make a pact with her tormentor . A lovely comic that make excellent use of single panels to accomplish pacing and motion and includes short animations at the end of each chapter .
56 . Judecca by Jonathan Meecham and Noora Heikkilä : Set in a river to the afterlife , Judecca centers on a few souls who are just test to get by . But as a serviceman and a womanhood make an emotional connection , their island ’s knock-down forces feel that something is amiss in their domain .
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