What's Good On The Web?

[athelind]

I've recently stumbled across a trio of Very Good Comics which have quickly worked their way into my affections.

• Kid Radd
  Schedule: Concluded.
  An "Animated Pseudo-Sprite Comic". My vote for Best Use Of The Medium As Something Other Than A Paper Substitute, Kid Radd uses just the right amount of animation to keep things, um, moving. It's not a cartoon, but it's not a static comic, either. It starts off looking like a fairly standard gag-a-day sprite strip, but slowly builds into an adventure saga that genuinely rates the oft-abused term "epic". Unlike most comics, web or otherwise, this one actually has a resolution, so reading it is more like reading a novel than adding another comic to your already-long list.
  
  
• A Miracle of Science
  Schedule: Mondays & Thursdays.
  Hard SF, plus "Science-Related Memetic Disorder" (Mad Science Syndrome!), plus a "technological singularity", plus the only sympathetic human group-mind I've seen in science fiction makes this strip give Schlock Mercenary a run for its money as My Favorite Hard SF Comic. It most certainly wins my award for Setting I'd Most Like To Live In. From the pacing and the full-page comic format, I suspect that it, too, will eventually conclude.
  
  
• Dominic Deegan, Oracle for Hire
  Schedule: Daily
  Another strip that starts out gag-a-day, then builds into a series of extended storylines. Dominic, as the title says, is a clairvoyant in a classic RPG fantasy world with a little anime influence. It's frequently funny without falling into the now-dreary genre parody trap; it also manages moments of genuine suspense and drama.

I suppose, at some point, I should give a more complete rundown of the web comics I read, or, at the very least, my favorites among them. These three just happened to fall into my lap within a few weeks of each other, and all have very strong, solid storytelling, pacing, setting and characterization.