One Mustn't Always Be Productive

As a child I was an avid newspaper reader.  Every morning would be spent leaning over the comics with my cereal bowl rested squarely on the horoscopes.  Though the decline of the newspaper medium is well documented, I have been pleasantly surprised to see the drawn comic is thriving in it's new electronic form.  Here are a few of my favorites in no particular order.

Penny Arcade- This is one of my old standby webcomics.  I've been reading them regularly since 2000.  Of course, they are based on one of my favorite subjects, video games.  Tycho puts out a quality blog as well, but since my duties as a father and husband don't allow me to keep up with technology most of it goes over my head.

Girl Genius- I just discovered this one, and it is quickly becoming one of my favorites.  I first heard about Phil and Kaja Foglio during my high school days where the Magic: The Gathering cards that boasted their artwork stood out from the group.  Girl Genius has a triple threat of great story, great humor, and the Steampunk genre that I find irresistible.  Plus the talking cat and Jagerkin.  I could go on.

Walking The Lethe- Definitely for grown-ups.  This story offers what appears to be a modern day take on Dante's Inferno.  The artwork is striking, and the story runs deep.

XKCD- If you haven't heard of this one, you should definitely check it out.  This is a fun one that I often share with my wife and family, and has been the source of several popular internet memes.  Randall Munroe can be funny, satirical, and touching all in a three panel format.

Sinfest- Another old-school panel comic.  This one explores ideas behind religion and morality in the modern world.  The previous sentence makes it seem a lot more serious than it actually is.

Deep Fried-  Jason Yungbluth has put out this surreal and politically charged work since 2001, but he really hit something in mid-2008 when he began to exclusively draw the Weapon Brown storyline.  Weapon Brown is a Frank Miller style action comic set in a post apocalyptic world.  It is also the name of the main character, though he sometimes calls himself "Chuck".  He is a beefed-up and pissed off version of Charlie Brown.  All of the story are parodied versions of newspaper comic characters, and identifying the characters in the background is half the fun.  Note: Weapon Brown is NOT for kids.

So every morning I still have the joy of reading my comics over breakfast.  But now I have to be extra careful not to spill my milk on the computer.  I hope you enjoy some of these as much as I do.