by Michael Wirth

Created on: February 07, 2007   Last Updated: December 08, 2011

Comic strips have been a staple in newspapers and magazines for years. However, they have also become ruled by an iron fist; getting a new comic into a newspaper is a difficult thing to do. Because of this, many strip writers and artists are publishing their comics on the internet. There are literally hundreds of comics on the internet today. Many of them are genius; others are just terrible. Here are my top three webcomics.

1) Achewood http://www.achewood.com
(Updates Monday through Friday)
Created by Chris Onstad, Achewood is the story of anthropomorphs in a fictional California town. The main characters are Ray, a millionaire cat with a taste for Kettel One Vodka, Roast Beef, a sadly depressed cat with a penchant for program coding, Phillipe, an otter who is five years old, and many others. The writing borders between genius and insanity, with stories that range between meeting Mark Twain, traveling through space, and a last man standing battle called the Great Outdoor Fight.

2) Penny Arcade http://www.penny-arcade.com
(Updates Monday, Wednesday, and Friday)
Most would consider Penny Arcade to be the paradigm of webcomics. Two guys take their hobby and turn it into their business. Gabe and Tycho, the internet avatars of the writers, spend their time commenting on the video game industry and the problems that plague it today. This one is not really for the casual reader; most of the information they discuss comes from those who are extremely knowledgeable about the video game industry. However, there will be a few strips that cater to almost anyone's sense of humor.

3) Questionable Content http://www.questionablecontent.net
(Updates Monday through Friday)
The strip is not really what the name implies. QC is about the life of a young man, Marten, who sets himself about by listening to indie music and uses many polysyllabic words in the correct context. He makes friends with an emotionally unavailable girl, Faye, whom he catches feelings for. To make things worse, she lives in the same apartment with him, and his Anthro-PC, PintSize, has an infatuation with violence and Faye's underwear. Their lives take some strange turns, and the comic makes even stranger allusions. Questionable Content was, for me, an acquired taste, but in the long run, I am glad I stuck with it, because now I look forward to the new strip every day.

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