Regular Comics

These are comics and creators that reach out to anyone.

Roberta Gregory
http://www.robertagregory.com/
Another must-read cartoonist on the reading list, who was drawing mostly comics for women since the 1970s. Known for her eternally-angry character, "Bitchy Bitch".

Donna Barr
http://www.donnabarr.com/
Creator of The Desert Peach, Stinz and Bosom Enemies -- all having a German flavor.

School Spirit
http://www.schoolspiritcomic.com/
A story about hi-jinks at an Aussie school, with occasional appearances by a ghost (I mean, "spirit") of a little girl, produced by a real teacher who's been there (and still is). Cute and heartwarming.

Tom Beland
http://www.tombeland.com/
Creator of "True Stories, Swear To God", about a California journalist who went to Disney World, coming home with a special gift you won't find in the gift shop -- a long-distance relationship with a Puerto-Rican journalist, Lily.

Carol Lay
http://www.waylay.com/
Talented cartioonist known for her short and witty "Story Minutes".

Mary Fleener
http://www.maryfleener.com/
One of the 1980s and 1990s most-notorious alternative cartoonists, know for her Picasso-esque style.

Nina Paley
http://www.ninapaley.com/
Another must-see, Nina has done serveral mainstream and alternative strips over the years, and has since branched out into animation.

Ellen Forney
http://www.ellenforney.com/
Another Seattlite, known for her unorthodox autobiography, "I was Seven in '75".

Julie Doucet
http://www.juliedoucet.net/
Official website of the Montreal comics wunderkind, known for her comic book, "Dirty Plotte". Has lived briefly in Seattle, along with Berlin and New York City.

Flaming Carrot
http://www.flamingcarrot.com/
Created by Bob Burden, the Carrot's the "Plan 9" of comics -- the art and story's downright bizarre, but it has its legion of fans (like me).

Electric Girl
http://www.electricgirl.com/
Comic book series about a girl with a birth defect -- she generates electricity. Also, she has a gremlin who keeps pestering her.

Raina Telgemeier
http://www.goraina.com/
One of the newest, brightest stars in the small-press business with her "Take Out" and "Smile" comics. In 2006, her popularity will grow even more with a graphic novel version of "The Babysitters Club".

Nick Abadzis
http://www.nickabadzis.com/
Another British artist, known for his "Hugo Tate" and "Mr. Pleebus" series. I especially recommend the latter, as it practically resembles a children's story on an acid trip.

Pam Bliss
http://www.paradisevalleycomics.com/
http://www.livejournal.com/users/sharkipede/
Publisher of "Paradise Valley Comics", a small-presser known for her "Sparky" comics, among many others. (Her site (the first link) is very dated, but I assure you she's still in business and touring on the convention circuit. If you're interested in her items, best to write her first. Her Livejournal blog (the second link) has the latest info.)

Origin Comics
http://www.damonhurd.com/origincomics/
Publisher of Damon Hurd and Rick Smith's "Temporary", about a temporary worker who seems to take the oddest odd jobs available. Also publisher of Smith's "Shuck", about a demon living in retirement among the humans.

Matt Feazell
http://www.cynicalman.com/ (main site)
http://www.worldfamouscomics.com/notavailable/ (on-line reprints of his stories)
One of the small-press legends, and creator of a legendary character with an extremely small build that's designed for the small press (in other words, he's a stick figure), the self-opinionated "Cynicalman". Visit the "World Famous Comics" site for a small taste of Matt's stick figure works.

Carla Speed McNeil
http://www.lightspeedpress.com/
Author of her self-published series, "Finder", about a man in the eternal search of lost souls. It's a sci-fi series that's very down to earth.

Alex Robinson
http://www.comicbookalex.com/
Author of "Box Office Poison", a comic book series about lives intertwined in various facets of the comic book business; and his newest sensation, "Tricked", a graphic novel which is more of the same, but involving rock-and-roll. Both are highly recommended.

Joe Chiappetta
http://joechiappetta.blogspot.com/
Creator of his "Silly Daddy" comics -- a fine semiautobiographical series about himself and his family. And no, it's not in the same vein as "Double Cross". Highly recommended.

Tales from the Beanworld
http://larrymarder.blogspot.com/ (official)
http://www.rdrop.com/~half/Creations/BeanWeb/Introduction.html (unofficial)
An unofficial site about Larry Marder's comic about a society of beans. Any explanation of their society will tend to confuse you more, because "it's not a place, it's a process".

Jennifer Diane Reitz
http://jenniverse.com/
Author of many fine webcomics like "Unicorn Jelly" and "Pastel Defender Heliotrope".

Innies and Outties
http://inniesandoutties.comicgenesis.com/
http://www.webcomicsnation.com/lcachola/innies4/series.php
A story about a little kid and his imaginary friend, a zombie. This zombie has two things no other zombies have -- he's a vegetarian, and he has cancer, after becoming undead. (The author of this strip is a cancer survivor himself.)

Suzy Toronto
http://www.susietoronto.com/
Woman artist known for her artwork, found at finer gift shops everywhere. Rafi's favorite -- "Wonderful Wacky Women", in which all are "She whos", who are faceless and barefoot.

Kaz Cooke
http://www.kazcooke.com/
Aussie woman cartoonist and author of various books about the life of women.

Crap I Drew on My Lunch Break
http://crap.jinwicked.com/
A semiautobiographical look at Jin Wicked (the strip's creator) and her friends.

Erik Brown
http://www.e1983.com/
Author of "Harker", story about a vampire hunter in the old Victorian age. Unfortunately, that story has ended incomplete, as he's working on other comic stories, such as "Northwood".

Andrey Feldshteyn
http://www.cartoonblues.com/
A native of Russia, now living in Minnesota, Andrey has done numerous gag cartoons ad illustrations, including his weekly panel series, "Hello Goodbye".

Amelia Rules!
http://www.ameliarules.com/
Delightful comic by Jimmy Gownley about the daily life of a single-parented girl and her friends. Very recommended.

Rodney A. Greenblat
http://www.whimsyload.com/ (main site)
http://www.rodneyfun.com/ (Japanese site)
Rodney A. Greenblat is an American artist and illustrator. He's especially big in Japan, where he's responsible for the artwork for Parappa The Rapper and Puffy AmiYumi (not the Cartoon Network version).

Nyamo, The Girl From Across The Sea
http://nyamo.aswembar.net/
A Japanese girl goes to America to attend a major university -- so she thought. From the larger Aswembar site.

Dementian Comics
http://www.stylishvittles.com/
A series of comics by Tyler Page, including his current series, "Nothing's Better".

Kagerou
http://www.electric-manga.com/
A story about a woman sent to a mystical world that she didn't want to go to.

My Crappy Comic
http://www.mycrappycomic.com/
A story of life and fun with a group of British college students.

Veena
http://veena.comicgenesis.com/
Eric Theriault's story about a woman who travels through time -- with a pair of sunglasses.

Tony Consiglio
http://tony-consiglio.livejournal.com/
http://members.aol.com/doubletony/
Creator of "Double Cross", a semiautobiographical series about himself and his wacky family.

Dreamleak
http://www.dreamleak.co.uk/
A British girl accidentally trespasses into a boy's dreams.

Cat and Girl
http://www.catandgirl.com/
One's a cat. The other's a girl. 'Nuff said.

Count Your Sheep
http://countyoursheep.com/
A single mother, an only child, and a pet sheep 'Nuff said about this one, too.

Candi
http://candicomics.com/
A story about the everyday antics of a redheaded college student and her friends.

The Devil's Panties
http://www.thedevilspanties.com/
This strip has a devil and panties, but never the devil's panties. (It is also non-pornographic.) A semiautobiographical strip about a cartoonist and her everyday life.

Out There
http://www.outtherecomic.com/
A feminist version of "Cheers", it is about a redheaded bartender and her best friend, the bar's geeky owner (who's also a woman). And no, neither are attracted to each other.

Unshelved
http://www.unshelved.com/
A humorous comic strip about life at the library.

Kiwis By Beat!
http://www.kiwisbybeat.com/
A collection of drawings and strips by Ryan Armand. Most notable: "Minus", a little girl who's not only magical, she's the embodiment of magic.

Alexa Kitchen
http://www.alexakitchen.com/
One of the brightest stars in comics, who released her fourth book, a best seller called "Drawing Comics is Easy! (Except When It's Hard)" -- at age 8. Her father, one of the founding fathers of underground comics, was a big help.

Michael Leunig
http://www.leunig.com.au/
Website about one of Australia's most-creative cartoonists.

Jared Hodges & Lindsay Cibos
http://www.jaredandlindsay.com/
Orlando-area duo who created the popular American manga series, Peach Fuzz. Also written a book on how to make digital manga.

Riotfish
http://riotfish.com/
A series of eclectic comic strips and series. My personal favorite, "Newspaper Comic Strip", about a character questioning his existence in a comic strip "reality".

Create a Comic Project
http://ccproject.comicgenesis.com/
Kids say the darndest things -- by filling the bubbles in other people's comics. This is actually part of a project on literacy.

Cartoonists Across America & The World
http://www.wingedtiger.com/
A website by Phil Yeh, one of America's most-prolific comic artists, with over 80 books to his name. Yeh is also the innovator of the graphic novel.

John Callahan
http://www.callahanonline.com/
A quadriplegic cartoonist who, despite his drawing capabilities, has a witty sense of humor.

Maitena
http://www.clubcultura.com/clubhumor/maitena/ or
http://www.maitena.com.ar/ (in Spanish & English)
Woman cartoonist from Argentina who's getting worldide acclaim for her "Women On The Edge" comics.

Jim Woodring
http://www.jimwoodring.com/
Seattle artist with a line of "Frank" (a squittel-like creature) comics, plus a line of unusual novelties.

Michel Gagne
http://www.gagneint.com/
Quebecois animator and cartoonist now living in Washington state with his cute characters, including his cute alien, "Zed".

Scott McCloud
http://www.scottmccloud.com/
Artist with a thorough knowledge of how comics work. Also known for his superhero series, "Zot".

Phoebe Gloeckner
http://www.ravenblond.com/pgloeckner/
Stylish artist who has done art for various fields; also notable for her semiatobiographies.

Tom Hart
http://www.tomhart.net/
Another Seattle artist, featuring his antiestablishment hero, Hutch Owen.

Shary Flenniken
http://www.sharyflenniken.com/
A legendary woman cartoonist, most-noted for her long-running National Lampoon feature, "Trots and Bonnie".

Angus Oblong
http://www.angusoblong.net/
Writer and artist of children's books that are not really meant for children, such as "Creepy Susie". Also was the creator of the short-lived animated series, "The Oblongs".

Doug Allen
http://www.dougallencomics.com/
Cartoonist featuing his commandeering, self-centered star, "Steven". (No relation to David Kelly's "Steven's Comics".)

Kyle Baker
http://www.kylebaker.com/
African-american cartoonist with various works, such as "Why I Hate Saturn", "The Cowboy Wally Show", his semiautobiographical "The Bakers", and, of course, some "Rugrats" newspaper strips.

Voids
http://www.shaynamarchese.com/voids/
Comic about a woman who collects pennies from the sidewalk -- and eventually finds something else.

319 Dark Street
http://www.319darkstreet.com/
A comic strip about a former female boxer living her life in a gritty neighborhood.

Brendan Keeley
http://www.brendankeeley.co.uk/
British artist and creator of two fine adventure web comics, "The Chian Empire" and "An Age of Steam".

Astronaut Elementary
http://www.webcomicsnation.com/daveroman/ae/series.php
Adventures of a group of schoolkids in space, by Dave Roman.

George
http://www.george-comics.com/
A story about a former DJ-turned cartoonist -- and his friends.

Anywhere But Here
http://www.abh-comic.com/
A college strip -- set in North Dakota.

Sh*t Happens
http://www.raincannon.com/
A story of a couple of roommates at a British university -- and their struggles to get along.

Subculture of One
http://www.subcultureofone.com/
Various comics created by "Rachel the Great".

Millennium
http://www.senshuu.com/
A story of a couple of Mages in search of gems that may hinge on the survival of the world.

Progressions
http://www.webcomicsnation.com/progressions/
A romantic science-fiction story. And then some. Also try "Spark-Tower Wilson's Silent Song", a story about blues -- in outer space.

Masters of the Art
http://www.mastersoftheart.com/
Pixler and Johnson's websitrip about a bunch of young adults having fun.

As If!
http://www.mimisgrotto.com/asif/index.html
A humorous story about a group of high schoolers and young adults. Has since ended, but still up as part of the "Mimi's Grotto" site.

Zeu U
http://zeurinu.comicgenesis.com/
A strip about a group of college students -- of various species.

Skitzoman
http://www.skitzoman.com/
The life of a stick figure who refuses to play with a full deck.

Mine's Bigger!
http://www.save-novablade.com/minesbigger/
A comic for mature readers only -- it's a story about two elves -- a man and a women -- and a battle over their towers. Of course, there's much more to this -- see for yourself.

Angel of St. Thomas
http://angelofstthomas.com/
A story about an angel in the Virgin Islands, who works for the police department. Her mission -- to defend St. Thomas.

Penny and Aggie
http://www.pennyandaggie.com/
Two high school girls who are each other's best friends. But it's not always that way.

Striptease
http://www.stripteasecomic.com/
A group of people work on a comic book -- but much of the action is behind the scenes.

Todd and Penguin
http://www.toddandpenguin.com/
A story of a family with a mother, a father, a baby, a cat -- and a penguin.

Platypus Comics
http://www.platypuscomix.net/
A site with original webcomics -- and then some.

Shaenon K. Garrity
http://www.shaenon.com/
Creator of several web comics, including a couple of my favorites, ''Narbonic" and "Li'l Mell".