Recommend me a webcomic that's good from the start

[Professor Lupin Madblood]

I like Looking For Group.

. . . Seriously?

I like Gunnerkrigg Court, Lackadaisy, and Girl Genius.

Well, there may be hope for you yet.

Narbonic is pretty much the greatest webcomic to do with science fiction ever. It's funny, it's dramatic, it has actual characters, and it's finished, so you don't need to worry about playing catch-up. It has a successor, Skin Horse, which is equally as enjoyable.

There's also The Furry Experience, which is a furry comic (obviously). If that isn't a deal for you, though, you'll find a funny and surprisingly real take on university slice of life with a healthy dose of personal drama.

MS Paint Adventures, man. It's impossible to do it justice in mere words. If you you know about it, you'll know what I'm talking about.

He wanted webcomics, not exercises in masochism upwards of 5000 pages.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Maybe Starslip Crisis[footnote]All links in this post go to the very first strip of the relevant comic? The art isn't realistic, but it's obvious that it does exactly what the author wants from the start -- kind of a newspaper strip style, and the story is actually very good. It starts out as a comedy about the crew of a de-commissioned luxury warship (that's not a typo, it was de-commissioned for being too cushy) that has been converted into an interstellar art museum, but the plot (which quickly gets serious without losing its humorous edge, and involves quite a bit of sci-fi action) gets going pretty quickly. In fact, I'm really tempted to start reading it again. I read it religiously for a while, then got out of the habit a couple years ago when all of my bookmarks got deleted in a hard drive crash. I should have a nice backlog built up by now.

I also second Doctor McNinja, which was mentioned earlier in the thread.

Edit: correction, after starting a re-read just now, it takes a while to get to the main plot, but all the little episodic story lines (or at least most of them) from early on get tied into it later. It's a pretty good example of how to do episodic-seeming story telling that's really small building blocks of a much larger story.

 

[trollnystan]

I like Questionable Content, Gunnerkrigg Court, Looking For Group, Lackadaisy, and Girl Genius. Now recommend me a webcomic that:

1. has good art to start with
2. is story-based
3. doesn't use the strip format
4. has likeable characters
5. Does include a little humor but isn't only about the laffs

Care to recommend one?

I know, I know! Guilded Age! (Here's the beginning) It's fantasy-esque with a promised beginning and end, and they just went from updating 3 times a week to 5. YAY! It's one of my favourites =) They changed artist a while back as well, so the art in the beginning is a bit different from the art now.

On the surface it's about a group trying to save the world for various personal reasons, but there is a twist later on...

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Oglaf is pretty good. I won't link to it since it's technically porn, but look it up if you want a laugh.

 

[bluepotatosack]

Paranatural [http://www.paranatural.net]
I really have to recommend Paranatural. The art does get much more impressive when it goes full color, but it was always good. It just want from simpler line drawings to full backgrounds and such. Just read it! Some of the finest expressions I've seen in comics.



Supernormal Step [http://supernormalstep.com/]

Sort of an alternate universe superhero thing, mostly story driven with a bit of humor.

Skin Deep [http://skindeepcomic.com]
Most myths are real and live in secret. Some very good world building with good characters and definitely worth a read if you have any interest in mythology.

Family Man [http://www.lutherlevy.com]
An incredibly detailed period piece/werewolf fiction. A lot of theological/philosophical debate, as informative as it is entertaining. Definitely a lot of humor, but it's of a rather dry variety. From the creator of Bite Me! [http://www.bitemecomic.com/] A much sillier vampire farce set during the French revolution. About as much attention to history, though. And some prototypes of characters that appear in Family Man.

Templar, Arizona [http://www.templaraz.com]
Remember what I siad about world building? This is the prime example. The city is as much a character as any human in the comic. Sort of a contemporary alt-history comic set in a bohemian city with many conflicting subcultures.

Zebra Girl [http://www.zebragirl.net]
Girl accidentally gets turned into a demon. Great ink work, very unique comic.

 

[aceman67]

http://www.multiplexcomic.com/

Multiplex is a very good comic. Good story, especially if you have any interest in movies, how theaters are run, how movies are made, ect.

 

[[REDACTED]]

The Meek [http://www.meekcomic.com/] is absolutely incredible: great artwork, great dialogue, great artwork, great characters, great artwork...

Unfortunately you'll have to put up with an extremely wonky update schedule and lots of cliffhangers, but oh well. Also, I should probably mention that it's kind of NSFW, because tits.

 

[Worgen]

Digger, I never understood why no one else ever lists this one in these threads.
http://www.diggercomic.com/?p=3
Its one of the best web comics around and its finished so you get a full story without having to wait for it to update.

 

[Worgen]

Edit: double post, weird.

 

[C F]

MS Paint Adventures, man. It's impossible to do it justice in mere words. If you you know about it, you'll know what I'm talking about.

He wanted webcomics, not exercises in masochism upwards of 5000 pages.

Yeah, here's a quick litmus test for you OP:
> Do you consider yourself a very patient individual?
> Can you handle what essentially boils down to meta-textual bullcrap wrapped in faux adventure game command prompt?
> Do you have a high tolerance threshold for inane shenanigans with little immediate payoff?
> Are you willing to clear your mind and immerse yourself in a story that doesn't care about satisfying any pre-existing conventions, but exists simply for the sake of existing?

If you answered yes to all of the questions, then clear your mind (and calendar), and click your way into Homestuck [http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=001901], the current, longest, and most story driven MS Paint Adventure.
If not, then, I dunno, watch this video and maybe you'll get a sense of what it's all about.
<youtube=MLK7RI_HW-E>

(Personally, I think the effort justification part is bullcrap, I genuinely enjoy Hussie's work regardless of length. Just my two cents.)

 

[sextus the crazy]

Oglaf is pretty good. I won't link to it since it's technically porn, but look it up if you want a laugh.

"Blood and Thunder!"

"Victory at Sea!"

OT:

Err, anything by Brian Clevenger [http://nuklearpower.com/], but 8-bit theater [http://www.nuklearpower.com/2001/03/02/episode-001-were-going-where/] and the dreadful [http://www.nuklearpower.com/2011/02/23/the-dreadful-001-2/] are my favorites.

 

[saintdane05]

Drow Tales. It was made a bit out of order, so expecet some qualty drops after the first few chapters, but it is REALLY good.

Syphellie is so evil, she kills kittens.
Oh yeah.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Oglaf is pretty good. I won't link to it since it's technically porn, but look it up if you want a laugh.

"Blood and Thunder!"

"Victory at Sea!"

"She is my son!" Cries manly tears.

"Oh no, we remain celibate."

"Then why are you-"

"Blowjobs don't count."

 

[blackrave]

I personally follow Spinnarette [http://www.spinnyverse.com/2010/02/09/20100209/]
I like it so far

Also Mess Perfect [http://epantiras.deviantart.com/gallery/26672451] is really funny

 

[sextus the crazy]

Oglaf is pretty good. I won't link to it since it's technically porn, but look it up if you want a laugh.

"Blood and Thunder!"

"Victory at Sea!"

"She is my son!" Cries manly tears.

"Oh no, we remain celibate."

"Then why are you-"

"Blowjobs don't count."

"Oh God! I hope it's not... the Fucktopus!"

 

[Andy of Comix Inc]

Romantically Apocalyptic.

It starts out as just a few vignettes of a handful of amusing masked characters making their way through a post-apocalyptic wasteland. They've all seemingly gone insane (they're seen conversing with dead bodies and the such). And then a thing happens it hoo boy is it a ride.

Thing is, even if it's not completely good in its writing from the start, the art makes sure it is endlessly compelling. The style is like a meld between hyper-realism and outright rotoscoping, and it supports all the drama and humour perfectly. It reminds me a bit of Portal as far as its tone goes - deadly-serious, black humour with a slathering of sarcasm and bizarre scenarios. There's only 117 "issues" (pages), so it's not very long to read through - I got through it in about an hour - but it's still going, and it's definitely worth a read. It may have joined the ranks in my Top 3 alongside Dinosaur Comics and xkcd, and that's not bad going for a not-strip-comic.