By David Gallaher

Friends help you move, but real friends help you move your comics. I don’t know about you, but I’ve moved around a lot. I have friends who move around a lot too. And, I’ll be honest; nothing is more cumbersome than moving some 25 long boxes of comics up six flights of stairs. Really, it’s tremendous pain in the ass. And, if you’ve never had the pleasure, I really don’t recommend it.

These things are heavy!

If you are looking to parse down your collection, reduce your risk of hospitalization, or simply spare some cash, I’d suggest putting down the bags and boards and urging your friend to pick up a mouse and keyboard for some awesome webcomics.

Webcomics are space-saving, cash-saving, hernia-saving miracles.

But, with some 19,000 webcomics to choose from, the reading options can feel overwhelming. There are so many amazing webcomics out there, it’s hard to gauge which ones a reader might feel compelled to read. But, consider this column a small primer on where to find some near-mint, free comic content. It’s not an exhaustive list, but much less exhausting than carrying all of those long boxes.

A Choice Webcomic: The Abominable Charles Christopher

Abominable Charles Christopher – Follow the adventures of a dim-witted yeti through a forest full of colorful animal characters.

Black Cherry Bombshells – An ultra-violent girl gang fights for supremacy in a doomed future where all men have been mutated into flesh eating zombies.

Chicago 1968 – The Democratic National Convention has made its way to the Windy City. The Vietnam War has entered its bloodiest year … and with Abbie Hoffman in the picture, things are about to get really interesting!

Dorming – One of the gURL comix branded for teen girls. It’s pretty cute, and I dig the style.

Evil Inc – Brad Guigar’s long-running series about an evil, super villainous corporation.

Freak Angels – Warren Ellis has a TARDIS in his brain, really it’s the only explanation for how he can keep that sort of genius contained. Now, goes read his steampunk-thingie.

You Need To Be Reading Ghost Pimp!

Ghost Pimp – The tales of a Divine Dolemite, Cootie Brown – a super-cool, super-smooth, murdered pimp living in heaven who is sent to earth by G-O-D!

Her! – The continuing saga of a curious girl who enjoys seeing a pig experience pain and embarrassment.

Imaginary Boys – Join Elise on her magical escapades, exploring all the worlds between life and death with her pet Robert. Death is not the end… it’s just the beginning.

Jon Raymond is… IMPOSSIBLE – This is what happens when Chris Sims, the twisted mind responsible for the popular Invincible Super-Blog, writes your comics.

Kelly – Dan Goldman’s psychedelic fever dream, captured for your enjoyment.

Lore Brand – Although this strip has been retired, it’s well worth checking out as Lore Sjöberg remarks on topics trivial, mundane, and profound.

The Marvel – A captivating story about rocker scientist and occultist, Jack Parsons, the co-founder of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Next-Door Neighbor – For better, and more often for worse, we all have some crazy neighbor stories. New installments appear every other Monday. Enjoy!

Order of the Stick – As a table-top gamer, I find this medieval fantasy webcomic to be an accurate reflection of the patter that develops during our gaming sessions. See also: Knights of the Dinner Table.

Platinum Grit – Discover primitive magic and crazy adventures, as Jeremy and Nils encounter aliens, showgirls, succubi, and more.

Questionable Content – Looking for a slice-of-life comic to help you forget your troubles?  Join Faye and the employees of the local coffee shop for some romantic melodrama and sexual humor.

Raising Hell – The tagline reads, “As much as they wished each other dead, their love refused to DIE!” That’s only the tip of the iceberg in this exceptionally well-rendered, EC Comics-inspired series.

Smash – Mix the humor of “Calvin & Hobbes” with the adventure of The Incredibles, and you’ll end up with something like this series!

Tiny Ghosts – A weekly photo-comic filled with robots, rag dolls, ballerinas, and melancholy humor. See also: A Softer World.

Ulysses Seen – James Joyce’s epic rendered in sequential form!

Vulcan and Vishnu – The travels and travails of two honest workmen devising their way around obstacles and through calamities on their way to fortune and glory.

Wondermark –Take 19th-century illustrations, change the context, create humorous juxtapositions, and you’ll get something like this strip.

xkcd – A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language, and a breakout hit over the last few years.

Yenny – The adventures of YENNY recounts the day-to-day experiences of a girl who is trying to make it in the adult world, but in quite an out of the ordinary way.

Zuda Comics – just one of the many places to find great web comics!

Zuda – Apparently, there are some really great comics on this site, but this is the only one you really need to read in FULL SCREEN MODE!

Over twenty great titles to start with… all for free!

And, look at all the money you saved on medical bills!

Happy reading!

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Award-winning-author David Gallaher writes the critically-acclaimed, werewolf, western webcomic: HIGH MOON. When he isn’t writing for the New York City Police Department or listening to Gunsmoke, he’s twittering: http://www.twitter.com/davidgallaher

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 1st, 2009 at 2:00 pm and is filed under News & Views, Webcomics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.