Lets talk about webcomics

[Fox12]

I've started to really get into web comics, since I've found that they tend to have clever writing and more diverse art than normal comics. They also tend to explore more diverse subject matter. Unfortunately, they also tend to have more drawn out release schedules, since most artists do this on the side, or don't get paid. This means that you can read through a series fairly quickly, and then have a long wait until anything new comes out. Despite this, I find they're worth the wait. Here are some of my favorites.

Gunnerkrigg Court: A dark, weirdly funny, interesting story about a girl attedning a school that blends magic and science. It's like a weird blend of Neil Gaiman (who is, incidentally, a fan) and Princess Mononoke.
http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1

Everblue: A very Avataresque comic with, hands down, the best looking art on the list. It's art is more polished than 90% of the professional comics I've seen, and the characters and dialogue are entertaining. A great adventure story.
http://everblue-comic.com/?id=3

The Meek: A fantastic looking comic with smart writing. Sadly discontinued (probably) but it showed promise just the same.
http://www.meekcomic.com/2009/08/22/ch-2-cover/

Ava's Demon: This probably makes the most use of the web comic medium, since the other stories could all be printed, but this one is uniquely designed for the web. As a result it can do things that traditional comics can't, like use music, and brief pieces of animation. Somewhere between a comic and an animated series, it explores a girl who makes a pact with demon who has haunted her her whole life. Probably one of the more original series I've see in a while. Illustrated by someone who's worked for both Pixar and Dreamworks, this is swiftly becoming one of my favorite series.
http://www.avasdemon.com/

This Gem. If you haven't seen it yet, it also makes unique use of the web comic. http://comic.naver.com/webtoon/detail.nhn?titleId=350217&no=31&weekday=tue

So which are your favorite web comics, and why? And have you seen any that do something unique?

 

[Lionsfan]

Besides xkcd and Cyanide and Happiness, the only one I really got into was Daisy Owl.

And that's been done for way too long now.

 

[Artina89]

A friend of mine got me into Exterminatus Now: http://exterminatusnow.co.uk/
The art style is very similar to Sonic the hedgehog and I am finding it really enjoyable. I also really like Scandinavia and the world:http://satwcomic.com/ but I haven't checked that in ages. I am also partial to The Oatmeal as well.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Ava's Demon: This probably makes the most use of the web comic medium, since the other stories could all be printed, but this one is uniquely designed for the web. As a result it can do things that traditional comics can't, like use music, and brief pieces of animation. Somewhere between a comic and an animated series, it explores a girl who makes a pact with demon who has haunted her her whole life. Probably one of the more original series I've see in a while. Illustrated by someone who's worked for both Pixar and Dreamworks, this is swiftly becoming one of my favorite series.
http://www.avasdemon.com/

I've just been checking that one out, it's petty damn good! And I'm usually not too kean on webcomics.

OT: The Hiimdaisy Metal Gear Solid hyperdub is an extremely funny parody on the series. Whether you're an MGS fan or not, check 'm out on Youtube.

 

[War Penguin]

Vattu, mother fucker!

If you're not reading Vattu, you're missing out on some good shit. It's made by the same guy who made Rice Boy [small](another fucking awesome comic you should read)[/small], Evan Dahm. The story is great, a girl taken from her tribe to serve as a slave in an imperial city. The world is beautifully designed, as Dahm loves to create fantasy settings that don't have your typical let's-be-like-Tolkein tropes. And the art style, oh god the art style, is just so goddam amazing! So many vibrant and varied tones, each for different settings. God, it's so fucking beautiful! It's still a work in progress, but it's being updated constantly. So read Vattu. Read Vattu NOW!!!

There's also Moe, if you're looking for something much less serious.

This is a cute comic that updates as frequently as Homestar Runner nowadays, but there's still almost 500 pages worth of stuff to keep you entertained. It's basically a comic that revolves around this loser named Moe. And you see how his life goes up and down. Crazy stories start but never finish, characters show up only to never see them again, and Moe is always an idiot. This is why this comic is so amazing. Read Moe if you love crazy nonsensical humor with just a slight bit of intelligence sprinkled in.

 

[RJ 17]

There's really only three that I check out on a regular basis.

http://www.penny-arcade.com/
Yay! I get to be the one that brings up good ol' Penny-Arcade! I'd imagine a lot of my fellow Escapists read this comic as it's one of the most well-known game-based comics out there.

http://sluggy.com/
Here's an old one. Can't remember exactly how I got into it, just know that I've been reading it since high school (so well over a decade). It's just kinda its own little story and I read it every day.

http://pvponline.com/
This one used to be more game-related (and it still kinda is) though more and more it's gotten to be it's own thing. Seeing as how pvp and penny arcade are closely related (the guys from both comics actually have a couple shared-projects) I'd imagine this is another one that a lot of Escapists read as well.

 

[saluraropicrusa]

I guess I'll be the first to mention the oliphaunt in the room of webcomics...

Homestuck
I'll be the first to say don't read this webcomic unless you're already really interested in it and have a lot of free time... I actually have a whole host of problems with HS, and have for a while. The reason I stick with it, and will till the end, is because of the characters. I love the characters too much to just abandon it.

There, now that's out of the way.
I've read a lot of webcomics in my time, and stopped reading almost as many, mostly for lack of updates or interest. I guess my favourites would be...

http://amei.wratbox.com/nameless/0.html
Nameless Stories
The art is gorgeous, and there's something compelling and mysterious about the story and characters, despite how cryptic it might be.

http://www.paranatural.net/index.php?id=1
Paranatural
Really cute art, fun characters, and great humor. Plus a pretty cool plot.

http://boxerhockey.fireball20xl.com/?id=1
Boxer Hockey
No longer really updated as far as I can tell, but this is another really funny comic, with excellent art (that gets a lot better over time).

Also going to mention (but not link to) Oglaf, a very NSFW erotic comedy webcomic. I lost interest as it wasn't really paying enough attention to its own plot (too many one-off gag strips), but a lot of it really is quite funny. There are some parts that are even sweet, or moving. It's just also 18+ only.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I've been reading Penny Arcade the longest, and Girls With Slingshots second. I praise regular updates above all.

xkcd, Perry Bible & VG Cats when I remember to check for updates, which are far and few in between, or seem to be anyway.

OGLAF (NSFW) every Sunday.

Used to read Dr McNinja but got tired of the never-ending, intertwining arcs coupled with the fact that there were always delays so I always kinda forgot what had just happened and where was the story headed and so on.

Also used to read Johnny Wander back when it was a random slice-of-life strip but then the creators started a story that's been going for a year or 2 now and I miss the old format.

 

[Souplex]

I've posted this before, but I'll post this again.
The only good webcomics on the Internet!
http://www.giantitp.com/
http://www.erfworld.com/
http://www.nuklearpower.com/
http://www.penny-arcade.com/
http://www.twogag.com/
http://www.thatsinhuman.com/
http://threepanelsoul.com/
http://awkwardzombie.com/
http://digitalpimponline.com/ (All the comics except Retail Rage)
http://www.multiplexcomic.com/
http://drmcninja.com/
http://www.starslip.com/
http://www.chainsawsuit.com/
http://www.bugmartini.com/
http://www.smbc-comics.com/
(This list is subject to change, and is limited to webcomics that are still updating. Sorry Beaver and Steve, and Rob and Elliot)

 

[Tahaneira]

I read a lot of webcomics.

A lot of webcomics.

Like, probably way too many webcomics. Dozens. I don't think you guys want to hear about them all, though, so I'll just pick a few of the highlights.

My current obsession is Paranatural. It's hilarious, the art is gorgeous (once Zack gets into the swing of things, anyways) and the story is being assembled piecemeal. We don't really know what's going on; there's no narrator, so all information comes from characters talking to each other, and they don't tell each other things that they already know. So it's up to audience to put together the pieces of information we have and wildly speculate about the rest until more answers come, and I love it.

There's Lackadaisy which has some of the best art I've seen in anything, not just webcomics, I think the writing is really clever as well. The gal who draws it is actually a professional artist and creates it with the same production values as she puts into her paying work. This is awesome, but also bad; her work takes priority, so Lackadaisy can go for months without an update. She never abandons it, though, so you can be assured another page is always coming, no matter how long it takes.

And then there's Derelict. The art is pretty good, but what I like best is the sense of desolation the writer manages to convey. The main character is alone for most of the comic, and I find how she deals with the isolation interesting. I'm also intrigued by this apocalypse; I'm looking forward to finding out more about it.

So yeah, those are three out of the altogether much too large list of comics I read. I heartily recommend everyone try them out.

 

[Thunderous Cacophony]

Also going to mention (but not link to) Oglaf, a very NSFW erotic comedy webcomic. I lost interest as it wasn't really paying enough attention to its own plot (too many one-off gag strips), but a lot of it really is quite funny. There are some parts that are even sweet, or moving. It's just also 18+ only.

Funny, I prefer the one-off ones to the story; the apprentice storyline never really grabbed me, and the occasional miniarc is enough. It's only weekly, I believe, so it's easy to lose the momentum of a big story.

OT: Dr. McNinja is one of my regular ones, but as Johnny pointed out it has gotten a bit delayed and recursive lately. Hark! A Vagrant is good, but her production is super-slow; I wouldn't be surprised if it was down to once a month or so. I am ARG! is good for one-off laughs, and it has some nice art, but I don't know if that's what OP wants.

D20 Monkey is excellent; the schedule suffered when the author broke his leg, but now it's back up to regular releases. The art style changes regularly as the artist grows, but I think it's consistently decent. If you have a few minutes, read the Dread arc (starts here), you wont regret it. Only about 15 pages.

And of course, I can't forget Basic Instructions, the source of my lovely avatar. Might not be what OP wants, as it's less focused on the art than the writing, but it's damn good writing.

 

[saluraropicrusa]

Also going to mention (but not link to) Oglaf, a very NSFW erotic comedy webcomic. I lost interest as it wasn't really paying enough attention to its own plot (too many one-off gag strips), but a lot of it really is quite funny. There are some parts that are even sweet, or moving. It's just also 18+ only.

Funny, I prefer the one-off ones to the story; the apprentice storyline never really grabbed me, and the occasional miniarc is enough. It's only weekly, I believe, so it's easy to lose the momentum of a big story.

I guess I just prefer reading a story-driven comic. Shrug. I'm used to waiting a week or more for an update to a comic with no one-off or gag strips, so I don't think the momentum would be a problem (at least for me).

 

[Thunderous Cacophony]

Also going to mention (but not link to) Oglaf, a very NSFW erotic comedy webcomic. I lost interest as it wasn't really paying enough attention to its own plot (too many one-off gag strips), but a lot of it really is quite funny. There are some parts that are even sweet, or moving. It's just also 18+ only.

Funny, I prefer the one-off ones to the story; the apprentice storyline never really grabbed me, and the occasional miniarc is enough. It's only weekly, I believe, so it's easy to lose the momentum of a big story.

I guess I just prefer reading a story-driven comic. Shrug. I'm used to waiting a week or more for an update to a comic with no one-off or gag strips, so I don't think the momentum would be a problem (at least for me).

To each his own. I never really felt like the story was going anywhere, so a weekly one page wasn't doing it.

 

[OneCatch]

xkcd [http://xkcd.com/] and SMBC [http://www.smbc-comics.com/]. Probably more SMBC these days - Zach has got some flak for the more philosophically minded comics recently, but I think it's an improvement. Though in fairness the 'What If' subsection of xkcd is rather cool as well.

Used to follow a lot more comics, but a lot of the others have fallen by the wayside; got kind of bored with Cyanide and Happiness and Darths and Droids, and Ty stopped making Something of That Ilk.

Edit; Also, Surviving the World [http://survivingtheworld.net/]

 

[DaWaffledude]

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

Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal: Sorta like XKCD but with its own flavour.

Darths and Droids: What if Star Wars was a D20 roleplaying game?

El Goonish Shive: It's... It's El Goonish Shive, and that's the only way I can explain it.

 

[Vausch]

My favourites are:

Cyanide and Happiness [http://explosm.net/] : dark humour and visual puns at their finest
Bug Martini [http://www.bugmartini.com/] : Ramblings of an unfocused mind and it is really fun.
Kevin and Kell [http://kevinandkell.com/] : A rabbit married a wolf in a world of animals with human level intelligence.
XKCD [http://xkcd.com/] :Stick figures talk about maths, science, and philosophy. Gets quite funny.
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal [http://www.smbc-comics.com/] : my current favourite comic. Philosophy, math, engineering, physics, superhero, and economics jokes that anybody can understand.

And I also work on a webcomic myself as a coulourist.

Work Sucks: So Does the Food Chain [http://worksuckscomic.com/] follows Kaz the Jester and his 2 employees as they try to survive day to day at work and in life. It's a lot more difficult when you live in a world populated by giant man-eating monsters and your place of business happens to be inside a big floating space whale.

 

[Vrach]

I check out XKCD from time to time, though honestly more when someone actually links it.

The ones I read regularly are cad-comic.com, pvponline.com and darklegacycomics.com. I check up on Oatmeal from time to time, generally read everything as it's one of the more awesome webcomics out there, but he can take ages between new stuff.

Used to read http://www.lfgcomic.com/ (as you might be able to tell from my avatar, it's from there), but stopped a long time ago. It was nothing to do with the comic itself, I just couldn't be arsed waiting between new stuff.

Like you OP, I have a problem with their scheduling. I don't mean I'm blaming the artists on it of course, but when I find a new comic I like, I usually read through the entire history in a few days and am then left too hungry for more to be able to wait for the next one, causing me to lose interest. The above-mentioned few are the rare ones that survived my attention deficit

 

[Grimh]

That's my problem with webcomics, by that I mean a problem with me not the actual comics.
I read them, catch up and thanks to the slower release schedule I just put it off for a while and inevitably forget everything.
Reading through it all again becomes too daunting if they're very long.

I've read so many that I've forgotten about.
I do remember Gunnerkrig Court though, and a comic called Dresden Codak.
Critical Miss is easy to remember since I already frequent this site.

I'll check out some of the ones listed in this thread though.
The cycle must go on.

 

[Godhead]

Obviously outside of our own Critical Miss, my all time favorite web comic has got to be

Spoiler: NSFW

Oglaf [http://oglaf.com]

Pictures for Sad Children [http://picturesforsadchildren.com] is also quite good if you enjoy darker humor.

 

[Majinash]

I've seen Order of the stick, XKCD and Erfworld mentioned already, along with Gunnerkrigg Court which I found wonderful.

I'd like to add Girl Genius [www.girlgenius.com], which is a wonderful steampunk romance adventure with a really fun art style. It has apparently won tons of awards too, so possible a lot of you already know about it. Still I'm pretty religious about reading it every week.

Also something else that is pretty well known is Goblins [http://www.goblinscomic.org/]. Similar to Order of the stick it pokes a lot of fun at DnD rules set into a world to play out. Also does a great job of getting you to really care about everyone. The artist is apparently having some kind of medical issues, so the comic has been on hold for awhile. Still worth a read to catch up.

Also no one mentioned VGCats [www.vgcats.com] which I read all the time in high-school, but has really slowed down. The artist also has another pokemon-specific comic on the page. It is video game humor with a pair of anthropomorphic cats as the goofy guy and straight man.

On the more NSFW side. If you like Anthro themed stuff, "Las Lindas" was a pretty fun comic for me back when I followed it. It's PG13 (maybe not? but nothing X-rated), but the artist does a lot of other work on the site that isn't.

I also recently discovered "Menage a 3" recently which is some lighthearted NSFW humor. Feels like it updates pretty regularly.

Also 2 comics that seem to have been discontinued are "Sexy Losers", and a more specific comic inspired by it: "Ghastly's Ghastly comic". The former has a disclaimer on the front page saying it will no longer be updated, and mostly deals with jokes about various fetishes. The latter seems to have had about 5 new pages in the past 6 years, also jokes about fetishes, but more focused on a few.

Links left out of possibly NSFW comics because I saw someone else leave them out and wasn't sure if its cool or not.