?
Yes, I'm aware that "?" does not begin with
"A". If anything, it begins with "Q". Aric McKeown just
wanted to be difficult.
?, which everyone just calls "Ashfield Online" is a
Monday-to-Friday one panel Keenspotter that
features the cut-and-paste shenanigans of Professor Ashfield, a white-skinned
cigarette-smoking psychopath in a lab coat. It currently features
“Multiple-Caption Mondays” and “Flash Fridays”. Despite the total lack of
original artwork or plot, ? still manages to be quite funny. Ashfield's callous
disregard for human life and witty, detached insights are the often quite
brilliant.
? is only marginally offensive. Yes, there is senseless
destruction of life and property, but we only know that it's going on because
of the narration. As far as I'm concerned, a good Ashfield comic is
refrigerator material.
Odd as it may seem, Professor Ashfield has been in
crossovers with Superosity,
Elf Life, and
Bobbins.
Absurd Notions
Originally published in The Signal, the newspaper of Trenton
State College, now Absurd Notions is a bi-weekly webcomic. At least, that's the theory. Kevin
Pease's updates can be somewhat erratic, so I check his site every day.
As you all no doubt remember, Barnacle Jones died in Absurd
Notions because it was too realistic to allow his skull to just pop back into
shape. To be honest, I really respect Pease for his realism. It takes a lot of
natural wit to be able to craft a funny strip without adding in talking stuffed
animals or time warps. Absurd Notions' cast of characters is endearing without
being sappy, the art is invariably good, and the plotlines are always engaging.
I should also mention how indebted I
am to the man for introducing me to ambigrams.
ADVENTURERS!
This strip parodies CRPGs like Final Fantasy. It's always funny,
but can get tiresome for those of us who have hobbies other than videogames.
Mark Shallow manages to be sarcastic without being offensive. His art isn't
great, but it's definitely improved over time. It’s daily, and pretty good for
updates.
It's like RPG World, but with less continuity.
Albion Fuzz
Formerly known as "Tooth and Claw". A distinctly (though not specifically) British furry
Keenspacer. It has an intelligent, melancholy flavour that I
quite enjoy. I think the art and the dialogue really complement each other well.
Albion Fuzz deals with class struggles between the domesticated and wild animals. The characters are
likable and it's never obscene. Very dry wit. I like that.
Alien Dice
An epic sci-fi romance in text/comic form. I recommend you read the comic and the text, as the text often
contains extra scenes that the comic doesn't, and the comic contains nuances that the text doesn't.
Alien Dice is set in a sort of sick, twisted version of the Pokémon universe, where aliens from various worlds
capture animals and force them to fight. Basically, Lexx, the dark hero, is fighting for his life, and Chel is a human along
for the ride. It's graphically spare, and the characters are a little on the shallow side, but well worth reading.
Angst Technology
A four-panel strip about a video game company. Of course, this
company, like most in works of fiction, seems to require very little actual
work. The strip is funny, smart, and slightly crude. The drawing is a little
clunky, but the readability is still pretty high.
It's a good thing that Angst
Technology is not a real company, because the Webmonkey's antics, the IT
ninjas' elusiveness, and Hugh's comic ineptitude would certainly doom it to
failure. It's more or less daily.
Smith's site rocks.
Arrogance in Simplicity
What can I say? Pencil stick figure characters and plain white
backgrounds. AiS should suck. But it doesn't. It really
doesn't. Capheine's poorly drawn little scribble is actually quite hilarious.
The characters are sarcastic,
irreverent, and malicious. Capheine's insights and ideas are the mark of a
brilliant, deranged, anti-social mind. He's my hero.
AiS is a fellow Keenspacer, and he updates
every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
