This is a post about comics, so I should be able to come up with a funny title, right?

February 6, 2007 1:19 PM

The Belfry WebComics Index is a site that lists just about every webcomic in existence, and a few that no longer are. You can add any that it's missing. Even better, if you tell it which ones you like, it'll compare that to other users' picks and make suggestions. The top ten are Better Days, Sabrina Online, Faux Pas, Jack (NSFW), Freefall, VG Cats, Kevin & Kell, Peter is the Wolf (NSFW), Ozy & Millie, and Dan & Mab's Furry Adventures. If you dislike talking animals, you can set the furry-bit to off, to highlight such webcomics as Penny Arcade, Girl Genius, Dominic Deegan: Oracle for Hire, Sluggy Freelance, PvP, MegaTokyo, Misfile, Schlock Mercenary, Something Positive, The Wotch and many more.
posted by DataPacRat (46 comments total)

It's ugly, but it's wonderful! There's so much stuff out there now. Thanks, DataPacRat.
posted by cgc373 at 1:30 PM on February 6, 2007

Wow, talk about selection bias. That top 10 has nothing to do with either quality or popularity, and everything to do with furry obsession. Too bad... a general top-ten-webcomics list might be interesting.
posted by vorfeed at 1:32 PM on February 6, 2007

WARNING: DENSE FURRY CONTENT
posted by loquacious at 1:33 PM on February 6, 2007

Ahem: "you can set the furry-bit to off."
posted by cgc373 at 1:34 PM on February 6, 2007

WARNING: DENSE FURRY CONTENT
And thus why I put in the 'don't show furry comics' link.

Besides - all you have to do to reduce the density of furry comics is submit enough non-furry ones... :)
posted by DataPacRat at 1:36 PM on February 6, 2007

posted by vorfeed

And the internet has damaged my brain. I can't see this username and not wonder if it might be codetalk about a related furry subgenre that ohpleaseturnitoffbrainwormseatingmysoul I really would rather not think about.
posted by loquacious at 1:38 PM on February 6, 2007

a related furry subgenre

I /could/ post some links about that, but then you'd probably have to kill me, so I probably won't.
posted by DataPacRat at 1:39 PM on February 6, 2007

All furries? At least in the selection of links I chose. Hilarious.
posted by bhouston at 1:43 PM on February 6, 2007

Apologies. I didn't see the "set the furry-bit to off" link among all the comic links. Cool stuff. But furry.

I mean, I think I just felt my soul die a little by typing "set the furry-bit to off". Yup. There it was again. A certain dimming of awareness, life-force ebbing away. Oh well.
posted by loquacious at 1:46 PM on February 6, 2007

Damn, Sluggy Freelance has gotten even wordier since the last time I checked. How is that even possible?
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 1:46 PM on February 6, 2007

Suddenly I do not miss the image tag one bit.
posted by loquacious at 1:47 PM on February 6, 2007

posted by vorfeed

And the internet has damaged my brain. I can't see this username and not wonder if it might be codetalk about a related furry subgenre that ohpleaseturnitoffbrainwormseatingmysoul I really would rather not think about.

"vorfeed" is the name of a spaceship from Lost Universe, an obscure anime/manga. I liked the show and the name, I was in college, I needed a username of eight characters or less, QED. Nothing but run-of-the-mill nerd here, please move on.
posted by vorfeed at 1:48 PM on February 6, 2007

It does not feature my new webcomic, so it's suspect at best.

(That was sarcasm, ok?)
posted by beaucoupkevin at 1:53 PM on February 6, 2007

"vorfeed" is the name of a spaceship from Lost Universe, an obscure anime/manga. I liked the show and the name, I was in college, I needed a username of eight characters or less, QED. Nothing but run-of-the-mill nerd here, please move on.

Oh thank you. I've been missing the days when nerds had spaceship names for login names, even obsecure anime ones. Rather than, say, wanting to be a blobular, jiggling lard-mountain of a hydra-breasted mongoose swallowing a dragon and digesting it whole in a suggestive manner.
posted by loquacious at 1:53 PM on February 6, 2007

Rather than, say, wanting to be a blobular, jiggling lard-mountain of a hydra-breasted mongoose swallowing a dragon and digesting it whole in a suggestive manner.

Oh, thank you for that. Thank you so much.
posted by beaucoupkevin at 1:57 PM on February 6, 2007

Sabrina Online is STILL AROUND? I wonder if she's still a passionate Amiga user.
posted by mkb at 1:58 PM on February 6, 2007

My fav: cat and girl. I also like PVP.
posted by jeffamaphone at 1:58 PM on February 6, 2007

Wow, talk about selection bias. That top 10 has nothing to do with either quality or popularity, and everything to do with furry obsession.

posted by vorfeed

Funny you should mention that. If I remember correctly, Belfry has been around for many years, if not a decade, and back in 1998 when I first found it, it was strictly furry comics -- the logo is at least that old. The 'bias' you speak of may come from the website's past and/or user base. Not everything furry is obsessed over, and not every furry is batshit insane.

Also, if we can help it, let's NOT talk about vore. I consider myself a member of the furry genre, and reasonably open-minded about other people's tastes, but vore makes me ill.

[thereI'mdone]
posted by gc at 1:59 PM on February 6, 2007

PvP by Scott Kurtz and Girl Genius by Phil and Kaja Foglio are pretty damn awesome, and are also available in printed form (monthly in your comic book shop for the former, quasi-randomly through Amazon and others for the latter). I also highly recommend the extremely droll Order of the Stick for you RPG types.
posted by Midnight Creeper at 2:04 PM on February 6, 2007

The 'bias' you speak of may come from the website's past and/or user base.

Uh, yeah, that's sort of what I was implying. I wasn't trying to say ZOMG FURRIES GROSS WTF, more like ZOMG IT'S A TOP-TEN COMICS LIST WHERE ALL TEN ARE OBSCURE FURRY COMICS WTF. I mean, come on. Bill Holbrook's Kevin and Kell is the only one on that top-10 list that's even remotely recognized by the mainstream, and I still wouldn't put it in the top ten webcomics based on popularity or readership. If somebody had posted a different "top ten comics" list where the top ten were all obscure and had one thing in common, I'd have posted exactly what I did, only I'd have said "One Thing In Common obsession" instead of "furry obsession". Calm down.

As for the topic at hand, I second Order of the Stick. The other comic hosted there is good, too. I also really like Overcompensating and Achewood.
posted by vorfeed at 2:21 PM on February 6, 2007

Does it seem odd that Author isn't part of the data displayed about the comics?
posted by o2b at 2:28 PM on February 6, 2007

Metafilter: You can set the furry-bit to off.

Well, I joined just to de-fur (shave?) it a little. They should have more tagging choices than furry/non-furry, and there should be more mainstream comics to help people ease into what might interest them. (But as of now the site is clearly oriented toward the webcomic addict.) I had to add an entry for Funky Winkerbean!

And for being the first webcomic, Dr. Fun had only four subscribers ...
posted by dhartung at 2:35 PM on February 6, 2007

I do wish there was some sort of easy, centralized way of seeing an example of some of these comics, it's hard to get a feeling of what a comic is like from just a title.

My somewhat obscure plugs: The Whiteboard and The Devil's Panties. I'm an addict so I'll stop there.
posted by Skorgu at 3:06 PM on February 6, 2007

The fine comic Wigu and Overcompensating are by Metafilter's own wigu. Huzzah for Pioneer Valley webcomicists!
posted by LobsterMitten at 3:20 PM on February 6, 2007

Ugh, Kevin & Kell is in the top 10? That right there is enough for me to disregard any rankings this list is trying to do.
posted by antifuse at 3:20 PM on February 6, 2007

vorfeed, I think I misunderstood your tone. Sorry about that. The word 'obsession' threw me. I think you're confused, though, about the list itself. I agree with you that none of the top ten are really mainstream. The top ten is according to their audience, not the mainstream. Hell, even with webcomics alone, who could even compete with the numbers that Penny Arcade, Sluggy Freelance, or Megatokyo bring in? Within the furry genre, Better Days, Sabrina, Freefall, VGCats, and Ozy & Millie are pretty well known.

So, we cool now? Hug it out? Let's hug it out.

Also, Achewood and Overcompensating are fantastic.
posted by gc at 3:24 PM on February 6, 2007

Shouldn't belfry.com qualify for a batshitinsane tag?
posted by wendell at 3:27 PM on February 6, 2007

Is that a bat pun, wendell? I'm not sure I like the direction this is heading. I think it may not . . . end well.
posted by cgc373 at 3:35 PM on February 6, 2007

This Overcompensating seems appropriate.
posted by anthill at 3:42 PM on February 6, 2007

Hell, even with webcomics alone, who could even compete with the numbers that Penny Arcade, Sluggy Freelance, or Megatokyo bring in?

Well, yes. Thus why any top-ten list without PA, SF, or MT in it smacks of selection bias. Hell, "the top ten is according to their audience, not the mainstream" would make a pretty good definition for one type of selection bias. Which is not necessarily bad, but I'd find more interest in a general top-ten comics list than such a super-specific one. That's all I was sayin', we're cool now. :)
posted by vorfeed at 3:45 PM on February 6, 2007

Two of my mad-science (pardon me, science-related memetic disorder) related favorites are ended, or nearly so.
A Miracle of Science
Narbonic

I read far, far too many of these things, though.

My favorite new parasitic lung-shrimp themed comic is Gnoph.
The art is amazing.

And then there's
Questionable Content
and
Scarygoround.
posted by sebastienbailard at 3:52 PM on February 6, 2007

You know, I tried real hard to care about scarygoround, but I just couldn't get into it. What's the attraction there? It seems long-winded and jumps too much between strips for me to know what's going on.
posted by jeffamaphone at 3:57 PM on February 6, 2007

VG Cats?

Scott Ramsoomair hasn't been funny in like a year.

For that matter, Ozy & Millie has pretty much sucked since the hiatus. Simpson's other comic isn't bad, though.
posted by Target Practice at 4:15 PM on February 6, 2007

Maybe I'm looking for the wrong thing in my claims-to-be-funny webcomics, but it seems like a lot of those comics up there kinda, er, forgot the joke. And I'm a guy who reads White Ninja, so I'll take any joke out there, great or small.

Is there something that happens to webcomics when they pass their second "hiatus" (a required stage in all webcomics development) that they all shift to Mary Worth mode?
posted by robocop is bleeding at 4:21 PM on February 6, 2007

Aww, jeffamaphone, I have to jump on the Scarygoround bandwagon here. Go back and and read the backstrips or give the man a few bucks and buy a collection. It really is one of the best webcoms out there. It's very British-centric though, so if you're a Yank like me, it can be acquired taste.

Personally I also laud The Order of the Stick (the recent one making a comment about Treasure Type O had me laughing all day). PVP is great as well.
posted by elendil71 at 4:30 PM on February 6, 2007

Questionable Content is great. The artist has learned to draw well during the comic's run. Another thing I like about him is that he doesn't seem to be doing comics as therapy; too many of these things make me feel icky, and not just the furry ones. also he draws fine boobies
posted by fleetmouse at 4:43 PM on February 6, 2007

I'm fond of Scarygoround mainly because the dialogue is fantastic. I don't even care that much about the stories half the time but the characters all have such a dashing way with words. So, jeffamaphone, just pretend you're reading a really weird, colorful poem!

Ultimately, though, the only webcomic that's ever inspired me to shirt-buying is Achewood. Wigu came close, but I didn't have any money when the inspiration struck so it didn't get nearly as far.
posted by crinklebat at 4:57 PM on February 6, 2007

Holy crap, Triangle and Robert is still out there? I think I might cry.

"Your lack of pudding knowledge will downfall you!"
"Downfall isn't a verb."
"It begins!"
posted by Eideteker at 6:10 PM on February 6, 2007

Ah, I found the actual dialogue.
posted by Eideteker at 7:02 PM on February 6, 2007

Ditto on Questionable Content. Although I still don't agree with the idea the Faye is overweight when clearly he just draws her as having hips and bigger breasts than the rest of the rail-thin female characters, it's awesome fun to watch him evolve as an artist and he's got the right sense of overliterate (or just extremely verbose) geektastic humour for my tastes.

Scarygoround was really fun at the beginning; I highly enjoyed the whole "Shelley is a zombie" storyline, and I think I liked the drawing style better back then as well.

The only webcomic I've ever bought a t-shirt for? Diesel Sweeties. Specifically the Johnny Toaster shirt, because you're either with Johnny Toaster or you're with the terrorists. I would've splurged for the "She Blinded Me With Library Science" QC t-shirt too, if the actual shirt didn't look like ass.
posted by chrominance at 9:12 PM on February 6, 2007

I second the Girl Genius love. It's a strip that really seems much better as a webcomic than it did in print. When it came out as a periodical pamphlet, the lack of inks on Foglio's pencils compounded with that garish over-the-top Image-style digital coloring ruined it for me completely. But now it seems that Kaja and Phil have really figured out how to make their current format play to their strengths. It's a fun comic and well worth a look.

Other favorites include anything by Neal von Flue, as well as Roger Langridge's "Fred the Clown."

While I have used Belfry to find new stuff, their furry bias has always bugged me. Interested comics fans might also try taking a look at Comixpedia's list of webcomics sorted by genre. It certainly isn't encyclopedic, but there are some great strips listed there.
posted by Adam White at 12:42 AM on February 7, 2007

Also, I should add in Simulated Comic Product, as I loves it. And XKCD is wonderfully nerdy.
posted by antifuse at 2:55 AM on February 7, 2007

Another really useful webcomics listings site is Piperka, which also keeps track of where you have read up to in each comic.
posted by motty at 4:48 AM on February 7, 2007

vorfeed: Thus why any top-ten list without PA, SF, or MT in it smacks of selection bias. Hell, "the top ten is according to their audience, not the mainstream" would make a pretty good definition for one type of selection bias.

PA, SF, and MT are mainstream? These three strike me as fairly blatant geek wanks. Of course, I'm a Sluggite, and bought one of the shirts, but I have no illusions that other comics-lovers in my family would appreciate my Sluggy collections.

Which is IMNSO one of the big advantages that webcomics have over print. It is possible (not always, but possible) for artists to make enough money targeting specific populations to make it seem worthwhile.

in general on the furry theme

Somehow, I got sucked into Jack yesterday which led me to an interesting series of graphic rants by a furry artist bitching about the overemphasis on porn, poorly-socialized perverts and plagiarism. (All three links NSFW due to cheesecake, discussion of sexuality, and suspicious domain names in cache.)

Discovering this was rather comforting as someone who appreciates anthropomorphism as a motif of science fiction, comics and animation, but is squicked by the idea of people dressing up in costumes and yiffing, or boinking their plushies.
posted by KirkJobSluder at 9:41 AM on February 7, 2007

Adam White-- have you seen the new(er) printings of Girl Genius? I'm not sure what you mean about the "pamphlets", but the stuff they're selling now is full on graphic-novel goodness. Quite good looking.

Also, what is it about furry culture that brings out the hate? Is it just that it's so intimately associated with a non-mainstream sexual fetish? It's pretty common to see visual references to, say, S&M all over the place, but folks don't get too squicked / disgusted by it...

Is it a bestiality thing?
posted by Squid Voltaire at 2:05 PM on February 7, 2007

Squid, I think it's probably pretty safe to say that yes, it's the bestiality thing. At least with S&M, it's still about sex with a *person*. At least, that's why furry culture squicks me out.
posted by antifuse at 2:25 AM on February 9, 2007