Calvin & Hobbes is lost in comic rerun without any chance of revival. Peanuts died with creator Charles Schultz. It’s doubtful that anyone really even reads Family Circus anymore, or if anyone ever did. The state of current comic syndication is pretty stagnant, save for a few Mutts ‘toons every now and then. So what are we supposed to read on a blustery Sunday morning while sipping a cup of joe? Well, like most everything else these days, it’s necessary to turn to computers for the answer. When newspapers went online, so did the funnies.
As if we all don’t spend enough time in front of the computer, a burgeoning group of art and design kids have attracted comic fans to the vacant glow and high-pitched hum of the screen for laughs. Employing the simple ethic of producing comics to entertain their peers and satisfy their own creative urges, the following sites are some of the best in new electronic comics:
Bruno (brunostrip.com)?Written by nomadic college dropout Christopher Baldwin, Bruno chronicles the quirks of life as a twenty-something woman. Its clever use of space and shading make it seem more like a down-to-earth illustrated biography than a comic strip. From battling depression to exploring the world of exotic dancing, Bruno is like a soap opera with less makeup.
Diesel Sweeties (dieselsweeties.com)?Part of the charm of this 8-bit comic strip is that it is short and sweet?each “strip” runs four squares long and comes packed with a perfect punch line each time. The strip concentrates on a revolving cast of characters, each a stereotype of a youth subculture, Metal Steve, Pale Suzie, Indie Rock Pete, save for Clango, a robot. The site also sells T-shirts with slogans such as “Jesus helps me trick people.” They would know.
Cat and Girl (catandgirl.com)?The best quality of over-intelligent, disillusioned cartoonists is that they craftily invoke humorous cynicism in every strip. Cat, an oversized feline with glasses, and Girl, a Catholic school uniformed pariah, challenge “the system” through their academic speech bubbles (see “Cat 1, Girl 0”) but also don’t take themselves too seriously (see “Wait For Polka’s Big Comeback”). Their encounters with other characters such as Grrl, Death and Beatnik Vampire are equal parts as entertainment and fatalism.
Explodingdog (explodingdog.com)?This site does not follow the traditional comic strip guidelines because it is interactive. The creator, Sam Brown, began making simplistic stick figure drawings using phrases that friends sent in. Using only basic drawing tools in Adobe Photoshop, Brown’s comics are rectangular interpretations of these phrases. The strip is truly interactive: Readers can submit their own phrases for an original cartoon. Favorites include “I’m building a world for you” and “I opened my heart and there she was.”
Get Your War On (mnftiu.cc)?Like Office Space gone political, this strip declares war on the War on Terrorism. Slinging obscenities like grenades and drawn in blood red ink, GYWO is a satire of repressed businessmen and women venting their cubicle aggression on Osama. If you’ve ever needed to laugh about Bush’s armchair warriors this crew does it best.
So, if you’ve ever felt that there was actually nothing left to do on the Internet, here’s your solution. Most of these sites are updated daily, Monday through Friday, and there are always back issues if you happen to have that much time on your hands. And, if possible, try to support the artists if you really dig their drawings because most of them probably won’t ever make it to Hallmark cards Ziggy-style.
