Web Comic

Oh, there's one other thing I've been up to this last week. Russell reminded me about a web comic I had intended to read but never quite got to. For those of you who aren't familiar with web comics, imagine pages/ strips of comics posted online a certain number of days a week. Some post every day, others post every other day, or whatever they choose.

I follow a number of comics online, Sluggy Freelance, Questionable Content, Starslip Crisis and Penny Arcade, among others, but the latest one I've been reading is Girl Genius. It isn't new to the Internet. Phil Foglio and his team have been posting this comic three days a week for 4-5 years. I'm a bit late. Its really good though. It took me three days to get caught up (keep in mind I have to go to work, too). Now I'm caught up and only three comics a week is killing me.

I'm going to have to re-read the story a few times before I come to accept the three comic a week routine. I'm half way through reading it a second time now. Its just as good this time. The entire 4-5 years of comic have been establishing and moving along one enormous storyline, which is impressive. Most web comics seem to go through story arches as the writers develop bigger and grander story lines for their characters. This just feels like one enormous story that will someday come to natural end. Well done Mr. Foglio and Friends.

The comic blends steam-punk, romance, adventure comedy and awesome characters. It kind of scratches the same itch for me as Princess Bride, though the premises are totally different. Another difference is that the characters are evenly balanced between men and women if not weighted in favor of the women - before this comic I hadn't really realized how male dominated online comics are.

So if online comics are your thing, or you are willing to try one, I recommend Girl Genius.