A Guide to Webcomics: Horror, Super-Heroes and Diary Comics Kick off Comic Con

Shhh, do you hear that? Outside the Javits Center in New York, spandex-clad geeks are gathering to celebrate their annual opportunity (well, biannual, if you count San Diego) to strut around as Fat Spiderman or woo chicks as Cloud Strife. Without superheroes, comic books would have never evolved, so, today, we pay tribute to our Men (and Women) in Tights. While superheroes dominate the American comic book industry, they aren't well-represented on the Web. Which is okay, as our favorites more than make up for the dearth of spandex. In fact, we'll take the mind-melting insanity of the genius gorilla in 'El Gorgo!' or the half-vampire skateboarder detectives in Chris Sims's 'Solomon Stone' over underwear-clad do-gooders any day.

A Guide to: Classics | Humor | Fantasy | Sci Fi & Drama | Superheroes, Horror, Diary

Comic Con is not just about Superman and The Thing (though, they certainly do make their presence felt), but also about dressing up and terrifying ourselves. With the popularity of 'The Walking Dead' (soon to be a TV series), horror epics seem to be the genre du jour. Long-form horror serialization is increasingly common nowadays (thanks to 'True Blood'), making slasher and torture porn look plebeian. As our webcomic journey into the macabre demonstrates, the best horror is the slow-brewing, psychological kind, preying on the fear of what may be lurking around the next corner (or in the next panel). Sample the Lovecraftian horror of 'Lovecraft is Missing.' If brains are more your taste, enjoy 'The Zombie Hunters,' and double-down with zombies and vampires in 'Last Blood.' In case that sounds too "out there," we've included a futuristic re-imagining of the classic 'Masque of the Red Death' for creep-purists.

Let us end our webcomic journey with a step away from hyperbole and insanity to focus on "ordinary" life. As much as we enjoy conceptual mania and explorations into the fantastic, there's something deeply enriching about the best diary comics. By capturing the everyday in comic form, webcomics illustrate how day-to-day existence can be magical. Like their newspaper counterparts, great webcomics appear day after day (or day after every other day, for the more indie writers), enrapturing faithful readers with vivid, fully realized worlds -- even if they happen to be nearly identical to our own. We hope you've enjoyed the journey, and found a new favorite webcomic in the process.

Lovecraft Is Missing

lovecraftismissing.com
'Lovecraft Is Missing' is Larry Latham's gorgeously illustrated journey into the world of 1920's cosmic horror. The strip's three protagonists get pulled into a terrifying mystery when author H.P Lovecraft disappears from a locked room.

The Zombie Hunters

thezombiehunters.com
Deftly mixing comedy and horror, Jenny Romanchuck's 'The Zombie Hunters' uses both Eastern- and Western-influenced art to portray a group of survivors (including Jenny herself as the leader) in a post-apocalyptic, zombie-infected world.

Last Blood

lastblood.keenspot.com
Bobby Crosby and Owen Gieni's 'Last Blood' is classic brain-eater meets blood-sucker story. (Yes, there is such a thing.) In a world overrun with zombie hordes, vampires must rise to protect the few human survivors in order to have blood to feast upon.

Eric Monster Millikin

ericmonster.com
Eric Monster Millikin's self-titled strip (alternatively dubbed 'Fetus-X') is as surrealistically twisted as it is artistically original. Each panel is a mixed-media painting, delving into a myriad of topics from the intensely political to the pains of loving the Princess of Vampires. Familiar feelings to us all, we are sure.

Shadowgirls

shadowgirlscomic.com
'Shadowgirls' creators David A. Rodriguez and David Reynolds describe their creation as a cross between the Gilmore Girls and H.P. Lovecraft, and that's right on the money. Seemingly normal single mom Charon McKay and her daughter Rebecca confront strange beings while unraveling the mystery of their own extraordinary powers.

Masque of the Red Death

www.masque-of-the-red-death.com
'Masque of the Red Death' is Wendy Pini's futuristic take on Edgar Allan Poe's classic short story. Pini's work is unique because each drawn page is broken down into individual panels, which are then animated using Flash to create a motion-comic-type effect.

El Gorgo!

elgorgo.com
Mike McGee and Tamas Jakab's 'El Gorgo!' reaches almost untold levels of awesomeness. The comic's main character, the eponymous Gorgo, is a genius luchador, surf guitar god AND gorilla who does battle with a litany of evil beings, from cyborg dinosaurs to the sinister "Deep Ones."

Action Age Comics

actionagecomics.com
For his 'Action Age' line of webcomics, comic book-blogger-extraordinaire Chris Sim collaborates with a bevy of talents, including Chad Bowers, Benjamin Birdie and Rusty Shackles. Sims's love of all things madcap comes through in these tales of malevolent Dinosaur Ghosts, anthropomorphic Nazi ants, and Monster Plus -- a beast that's part vampire, werewolf, zombie and man.

Dr. McNinja

drmcninja.com
Trained by a clone of Benjamin Franklin, possessing superhuman strength and having an unhealthy infatuation with Batman, the eponymous hero of Chris Hastings's webcomic is as quirky as superheroes can get. Dr. McNinja explores a wild world inhabited by gorilla receptionists, Mexican sidekicks (with mustache-growing powers) and a Velociraptor named Yoshi -- all illustrated in a classic comic style.

Axe Cop

axecop.com
'Axe Cop' proves that all it takes to create a successful webcomic is one great idea; in this case, the notion combines an axe and a cop. The 29-year-old author Ethan Nicolle illustrates the ideas and stories of his six-year-old brother Malachai, and they involve the nonsensical adventures of probably the best axe-wielding character of all time. The comic also features characters such as Flute Cop, Uni-Baby and even, on occasion, Dr. McNinja.

James Kochalka's American Elf

americanelf.com
James Kochalka's name should already be familiar to anyone remotely interested in the comic book world. His dazzlingly funny and poignant diary comic, 'American Elf,' has been documenting the mundane (and not so mundane) beauty of Kochalka's life since 2002. As an exercise in the power of the comics medium -- as well as a celebration of life itself -- 'American Elf' turns the regular into the fantastic.

So Far Apart

sofarapart.com
'So Far Apart' is a unique and fascinating exercise, comprised of two strips, each written and illustrated by long-distance couple Rene Engström (of the tear-jerking 'Anders Loves Maria') and Rasmus Gran. Reading both authors' viewpoints provides an entertaining look at ordinary life and the dichotomy of perception between two people in love.

Planet Karen

planetkaren.girl-wonder.org
Karen Ellis uses her own life as fodder for her webcomic 'Planet Karen.' The diary is able to turn the daily events of life, whether banal (returning a shoe) or painfully serious (being diagnosed with diabetes), into something both entertaining and touchingly human -- all while being gorgeously rendered in black-and-white.

My Stupid Life

mitchclem.com/mystupidlife
Though more widely known for his punk-centric webcomic 'Nothing Nice To Say,' Mitch Clem's 'My Stupid Life' recounts the day-to-day ordeals of Mitch and his fiancée (and art-partner) Amanda. Usually lol-inducing, the comic is unbelievably real and strangely applicable to anyone creative, geeky and in love.

Tags: ActionAge, AmericanElf, AxeCop, Dr.Mcninja, ElGorgo, EricMonsterMillikin, features, horror, LastBlood, LovecraftIsMissing, MasqueOfTheRedDeath, MyStupidLife, PlanetKaren, shadowgirls, SoFarApart, super-hero, superhero, superheroes, TheZombieHunters, top, web, webcomic, webcomics