"Nobody's Erasing!" - My Favorite Online Comics

I rarely get the chance to shop for comics anymore, but I seem to spend more and more time reading them on the web. These are some of the online comics I try to keep up with daily. It's a shame these strip images have to be so small, but they're all links that will take you to the big version. You can also follow the title links to the artists' websites. Most of these strips are free to view, but the paid-subscription one (American Elf) is definitely worth the few bucks.

Dinosaur Comics

Possibly the funniest comic on the web. Like David Lynch's "Angriest Dog In The World" strip, the panels never change; but T-Rex's inane comments to his dino pals are different in each strip. Ryan North rules people's lives with this comic.

Quote: "Lesbians! I respect their choices and don't fetishize their sexuality at all."

The Journal Comic
Even though Drew Weing kept this journal strip going for only a year or so, it remains one of my all-time favorites. The unfortunate paradox of autobio comics is that only cartoonists produce them; how great would it be to read the comic journal of a firefighter or a copy editor or... I dunno, a librarian?

Starting point: Might as well start from the beginning -- sixteen months' worth of three-panel strips goes by quickly when they're this good.

Perry Bible Fellowship

Unsettling but sometimes hilarious, these beautifully-painted strips range from dark humor to absurdism.

Starting Point: The "Random" feature is most appropriate for this one.

Achewood

Well-plotted and sweetly surreal, this Web comic follows a bunch of bizarre, anthropomorphic stuffed animals from northern California. The artist, Chris Onstad, is insanely prolific, posting new strips several times a week and even maintaining blogs for each of the main characters.

Starting point: You can browse the archives to see how the strip has evolved, or use the pull-down menu to jump to a story arc. "Volvo of Despair," in which two cats buy Trent Reznor's high school car, is a great start.

For Better or for Worse

Kind of a guilty pleasure, but I can barely stand to miss a single day of this daily newspaper strip. Yes, sometimes it's smarmy (especially the Sunday strips), but it really does seem as though I grew up with these characters.

Starting Point: The online archives only go back as far as 2003, but several of the older compilation books are still available.

American Elf

One of the best-known web comics of all (it's also published in Burlington's Seven Days newspaper), American Elf is rock star James Kochalka's daily chronicle of his own life. He's been keeping this sketch diary for years and years now. This is a subscription site, but you can check the current strip every day.

Quote: "While Amy read a story to Eli, I looked at her crotch."

Spamusement

This one is extremely silly and I wish I had thought of it: spam subject lines accompanied by crude cartoons.

Quote (from above panel): "It's time to Refill armadillo"

Bob The Angry Flower

An irritable flower takes on aliens and wheelchair basketball. Stephen Notley is the creator of this strip. He's probably the only adult male (apart from Peter Gabriel) to dress up as a flower in public on a regular basis. His movie reviews, which he posts on his site, are entertaining, too.

Starting Point: Anywhere, as long as you don't miss "Bob The Angry Flower Struggles With The Time Looker-Forward Tube."