Concerning Webcomics

There are probably more webcomics than failed webcomic artists in the world now. There is no best one and I can only speak with authority on English language webcomics. However, if I am going to be honest I might as well say I am no expert on the matter. I am not even like one of those self-named experts who show up on news shows to talk about social media and internet society. Therefore, I will keep my focus on webcomics I have come across in my too-long sojourn on the internet.

One of the first webcomics I came across is one familiar with many people in or adjacent to the 'gamer subculture', Penny Arcade. Their artwork is distinctive, their jokes are often decent, and their content is extremely topical. I am fairly certain (but do not want to check) that Penny Arcade is the most important or at least the biggest gamer webcomic in existence. For this reason I usually forget to visit it for months at a time, and then only to check up on the Twisp and Catsby numbers, some of which are among the best things I have ever found on the internet. Penny Arcade is well-known enough that I refuse to link to it.

In the early years of the first decade of the second millennium, say 2002 or so, there was a dreary webcomic about teenagers in a mall, which I think was titled Mallrats (not the Kevin Smith movie) which included jokes about dolphin ejaculate and sluts. I can't find any evidence of this webcomic anymore, so I guess it stopped existing. The slut's name was Missy. The dolphin was a rarely used character. Pity it's not around anymore, for nostalgia's sake.

Lately, however, with social media attracting previous non-users of the internet (larger numbers of socially healthy girls and popular boys - especially those in universities, 75% of mature non-nerdy adults, 80% of new marketers and social trendsters) the scope of webcomics has remained approximately the same. Damn. I really thought there was a demographic revelation in that. Still, there could be

"Hark! A Vagrant" is the name of a witty and sophisticated (yet still remarkably grounded) webcomic that may or may not be Canadian, and occasionally publishes strips about Edgar Allen Poe (this is a sign of quality and refinement) or H.G. Wells or even Fitzgerald. The art style is fantastic and the comics are of highest quality.  If you enjoy offbeat, literate humour, this webcomic will serve you well.

The art of captioning pictures is hardly new, but it has found popularity on the internet as well. One example Superpoop, has some of the funniest nonsensical compositions I have ever come across. It is part of a cluster of webcomics that are probably more popular than this blog will ever be.

Finally, the art of political dispute has spread all over the world, with various infectious strains remaining prevalent and resistant to eradication by measure of reason or hygiene. Political cartoons emerged with print media in the 1800's and were epitomized by such publications as "Punch", although caricatures were probably made of Caesar Augustus and other ancient politicians and leaders. In fact, the verbal art of caricature, in my opinion, probably started before the current iteration of dominant sapient hominids.

Why did I discourse so much? Because this final webcomic has some of the best perspectives about U.S. politics (and occasionally global matters) that I have found. It may strike some as radical or whatever, but ever since I heard someone on TV verbally steal one of their strips, basically verbatim, I have understood the need for greater exposure. This Is Historic Times is the best political cartoon I have run across, even though it can be heavy-handed, and even though I don't really care too much about political comics in general. The drawings are great and the artist is a definite up-and-comer.

Internetting Et Cetera

I want this blog to succeed but I also always want to throw a few curses into it. Then again when you curse and swear you alienate a certain amount of the population who have neither a sense of humour nor a sense of opprobrium. I mean a proper sense of opprobrium, which means not writing off the vulgar for the simple reason that it makes you uncomfortable. Some opprobrium is rightfully shunned, and other types are funny. I have no examples but a good fart joke goes a long way to settling who understands humour and who is afraid of scatology.

A while ago I read something by Douglas Coupland, in a newspaper (a good liberal intellectual paper, and yes I read newspapers), in which he describes "The Red Queen's Blog"  as a concept that, the more someone 'races onto one's blog to assert one's uniqueness, the more generic one becomes'. I am paraphrasing somewhat, but that's what he means. This is an important statement but Coupland is becoming a bit derivative.

In other news, well you no doubt know your own news, so I don't have to write about that. I just celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving for the umpteenth time, and it gets a bit better each year even as the weather gets crazier. I almost got hit by lightning, to the point where I heard it sizzle the raindrops around me. That's my bit of personal revelation for today's post.

Coupland's blog post in the newspaper was important to read. It was titled "The Radical Pessimist's Guide to the Next Ten Years" and covered a range of important things that are worth considering even if you don't believe in pessimism or the future. Maybe I'll delve into it and post some more things here, assuming that's not a form of intellectual piracy (but how could it be when I acknowledge that it's Coupland's). Basically it was all 'bout the depersonalization and alienation and internetization of our so-called era. I wonder if Coupland has a twitter account? I will research this...

I did promise some dwellings on the Best Things of the Internet and I mean to follow through on that, even though it happened a year ago or more. The first thing I'll list is "Web of Trust" or WoT, at this link, which you can click/see for yourself.
 The important thing is that you can type in any website address into the bar on the WoT site and then it will show you how the internet feels about that page. A lot of bad pages are given good ratings, probably because the bad page operators are ganking the WoT site, but the comments usually are balanced out with truthful and concerned internet judgements. If you enjoy finding new sites or free video of whatever (which is illegal and shouldn't be done) and try to keep your computer in good condition, this site is pretty useful. Of course you could install script blockers and security software, but that takes more work than copying and pasting an web-address into a website to tell you if it's trustworthy. 


Spoiler alert: most websites are pretty shady.