Online comics represent the best opportunities that the web has to offer. Anyone with an idea, talent, a scanner and an Internet connection can post their creations for all to see. And once they get going, many of these webcomics continue for years, allowing readers to watch the story and the art slowly develop.
Of course, each artist has their own reasons for choosing not to continue: time constraints due to work, school or family, lack of funds for web hosting, artistic burnout. Most cartoonists worked on their webcomics as a side gig. Of course, some comics have simply come to a natural end. Take a look at five brilliant online comics that are now either completed or on a permanent hiatus (click on the images at the bottom of the page for links to all of these comics).
Mac Hall: Another Classic Gaming Comic
Even though it started out as the product of a bet, Mac Hall grew to become an immensely popular webcomic about gaming and life as a university student. As with many webcomics, it got its big break when such heavyweights as Megatokyo and Penny Arcade linked to Mac Hall from their sites.
During its 2000 to 2006 run, Mac Hall introduced readers to the alter egos of creators Matt Boyd (writing) and Ian McConville (art), and their roommates, classmates, friends and girlfriends with heavy doses of Penny Arcade-style commentary and manga-influenced art. The strips are usually episodic, but in-jokes abound and creators from other webcomics make frequent appearances.
Eventually, Boyd and McConville ended the strip, stating that they no longer found it fun, and have since started up a new project, Three Panel Soul, featuring many of the same characters that appeared in Mac Hall.
Return to Sender: Snarky Webcomic Fun for "Stick-in-de-muds"
"Quirky" is the word this unfinished online comic probably gets a lot. Upon settling into his new apartment, our hero, Often, and his string-cheese loving friend Colette, discover a mysterious sealed mail slot in the wall. Alright, that's not so odd. But when a letter arrives through it, things take a turn for the weirder.
Artist Vera Brosgol (a.k.a. Verabee) began Return to Sender as a high school student in 2002. Five years later, she ended the half-finished webcomic because of time constraints due to school and then work. It's a shame that she dropped this tantalizing story, with its dark sense of humour and expressive blue-toned art. Luckily, fans of her work can expect a graphic novel from her very soon. Brosgol also contributed to multiple issues of the Flight anthology of comics, and was a story artist for the 2009 animated movie, Coraline. The Return to Sender comics archive can still be found online.
As If!: Comic Strip Nostalgia at Its Best
Set in and inspired by the '80s, this webcomic ran from April 2001 to March 2005. It follows two friends, Hunter and Angela, in high school in four-panel, slice of life episodes. Alongside of all the drama that such a setting implies, As If! also features more references to The Bangles and feathered hair than you can shake a stick at. And, like any good John Hughes movie, there are regular teen traumas (gym shorts, locker politics, etc.) but seen from a pink-tinted, nostalgic point of view.
Although creator Amy Mebberson ended the series years ago, she has created an archive of all 400 plus As If! comic strips on her website. Mebberson has moved onto other things (i.e. Divalicious!, a comic book series published by Dark Horse), but As If! lives on in the hearts of Molly Ringwald fans everywhere thanks to the long memory of the internet.
Demonology 101: "An Online Comic About High School & Other Evil"
From 1999 to 2004, this dramatic tale of demons, immortals and humans is an early project by Faith Erin Hicks. Hicks is now well-known for her published works, Zombies Calling and The War at Ellesmere, as well as her other online works.
Demonology 101 (or, as Hicks puts it, "how I learned to draw") is the story of Raven, a teenager who happens to be a demon, her guardian Gabe, and the secrets that come to light when she enters high school. Hidden demon heritage, a mysterious anti-evil organization, after-school detention, and her very own Scooby gang—it has all the elements of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but Hicks' story is no mere retelling. The story is original and engaging, which is all the more impressive considering that Demonology 101 was Hicks' first storytelling effort through comics.
Bruno: A Comic Strip Masterpiece (Seriously)
A coming-of-age comic strip about a young woman named Bruno as she navigates life. It's a simple idea, but the stories that have come out of Christopher Baldwin 11-year-long work are compelling and meticulously crafted. It's an epic in more than just its length: it follows Bruno as a frustrated college student, then as a dropout, a traveler, a mentor, a writer, and more. The comic, published three times a week from 1996 to 2007, is firmly rooted in reality: major events, like the September 11th attacks, presidential elections, the death of Matthew Shepard, are seen through the perspective of various Bruno characters.
Bruno's emotional, spiritual and intellectual development are expressed as much through her words as by her actions: the exceedingly wordy speeches in Bruno are testaments to Baldwin's writing as well as his artistic abilities (how he manages to fit all that text alongside the art in front of a stunning background while maintaining the flow of conversation and visuals is a mystery). It takes concentration and plenty of time to read all the comic strips in the Bruno archive, as well as effort to get through Bruno's more painful moments, but Bruno is absolutely worth it.
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Liane Tsui - Liane Tsui is a publishing professional in Toronto, Ontario. As a graduate of the publishing program at Centennial College, people often ...
