While I was at work today a thought suddenly dawned on me. Everyday after I clock the first thing I do is read my daily web comics. It is a ritualized activity for me that I do like most people have breakfast or a cup of coffee to start the work day. But I realized a very important fact I never thought about before. I don’t really know anything about the web comics community nor have I ever really participated in that community despite reading web comics quite religiously.
It is odd because even if I do not immerse myself in a hobby I usually have some idea of the inner politics of a fandom due to nerd osmosis. (Nerd osmosis being the process in which you just passively pick up information about other nerd hobbies without much effort due to nerd interests intersecting on a fairly regular basis). But despite reading Sluggy Freelance for over a decade I don’t really participate in comic forums or even follow any of the artists of comics I read on twitter. I do follow several web comic artists like Kara Dennison, Magical Emi, and Anatole_serial but never because they are web comic artists. What about webcomics let me be so cursory about them when I usually get into the meta details of any fandom I am a part of?
Usually when I enter a fandom I go to research the heck out of it. I look at the history of the hobby, what people like and dislike about various titles, who are the king makers and the pariahs, and what trends shape up the medium. But for some reason I log in every day with my web comics, enjoy what I read, and then think no more on it. Is it because web comics are just a diverse medium that I don’t see it as a monolithic fandom, is web comic fandom just a quiet fandom in general, is my daily time with each strip so short that I don’t feel the need to dig deeper, or is it something else? There has to be a difference but I just can’t put my finger on it. If any one has a clue please let me know.
Before anyone asks I will say that the web comics I regularly read are:
- Sluggy Freelance
- Girl Genius
- Penny Arcade
- Something Positive
- Errant Story/Does Not Play Well with Others
- Atomic Laundromat
- College Roomies from Hell
By the way if you want to plug your own comic, recommend me something, or just talk about the web comic community then leave me a comment below.
Reverse Thieves 
I never manage to follow a webcomic. Instead, I’ll catch up through the archives every year or two. I read XKCD, Buttersafe, Fanboys, and Castle Vidcoms.
If I read web comics like that I would be less mystified why I react like this. But considering the way I consume the medium I am oddly detracted from the fandom.
– Hisui
I haven’t updated in a while due to technical problem (All my workfiles are being restored from a now-non-functioning hard drive), but here it is:
http://www.anatoleserial.net/puntociego
Also, some other webcomics I read are:
http://www.powernapcomic.com/
http://gunshowcomic.com
http://www.casualvillain.com/Unsounded
http://gastrophobia.com/
http://wondermark.com
http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/
http://www.smbc-comics.com/
http://www.mspaintadventures.com/
The webcomics community is so broad and varied that it’s kind of hard to say something about it without feeling like you’re speaking for a small pocket of it. To answer your questions you asked near the end, I think the fandom is as deep as you want it. Some comics have a large influence, like Jeph Jacques Questionable Content (http://questionablecontent.net/) and Andrew Hussie’s MS Paint Adventures(mspaintadventures.com). Those act a little more like your usual fandom, but there are also a lot of Kate Beaton (harkavagrant.com/) fans that you don’t see in a strict group until you go to a convention she’s appearing at. Most webcomic artists tend to emphasize the individual creator rather than a series/franchise, so like how there are a ton of Miyazaki fans out there they don’t exactly behave like Naruto fans.
Also I think it has something to do with how each comic is set up. A lot of webcomics used to have forums, but they tend not to now. Usually they just have comments and their twitter/tumblr/G+ accounts. I think this breeds a different type of fan.
And for my recommendations (besides the ones above):
If you’re down for slice of life:
Octopus Pie (Slick art, humor, deep characters)
http://www.octopuspie.com/
If you’re down for action:
Dr. McNinja (Ninjas, humor, dinosaurs)
http://drmcninja.com/
If you’re down for fantasy:
Rice Boy (Deep world, wonderful characters, great dialogue)
http://www.rice-boy.com/
Oglaf (NSFW, humor, boners ahoy)
http://oglaf.com/
If you’re down for whimsical fun:
Nedroid (Wonderful art, cute humor)
http://nedroid.com/
And let me say there’s a fancy webcomic made by some guy named Kevin Wilson called Titanzer. It’s about a giant robot pilot getting his life back together I’ve heard it has the power to cure wounds but that may be an internet legend: http://titanzer.com/