by Brian Gott
LINKS PAGE
WEB COMICS
My Webcomic reading list changes over time. This reflects those comics with which I was making some effort to keep up as of the last time I edited this page.
WARNINGS:
1) While I try to keep Way of the Dodo rated PG, I make no promises about the contents of any of these links.
2) Most of these guys put my paltry little efforts to shame!
3) This list reflects my preferences, not those of my readers. Please don't email me demanding to know why your favorites aren't here!
Barkeater Lake by Corey Pandolph
Welcome to the small town of Barkeater Lake. Population: One transplanted New Yorker, one talking dog, and a host of colorful locals.
Bogworld by Joseph Pillsbury
Transported from his era to ours, Bog the Dinosaur hangs out at a museum and provides a unique commentary on modern times.
Copper by Kazu Kibuishi
This is a "Little Nemo in Slumberland" for a new generation. It's imaginative, beautifully drawn and HUGE! My fellow dial-up users better have a good fast connection. I promise you it's worth the download time. For the rest of you, it's worth the month-long wait between updates.
Dreamland Chronicles by Scott Christian Sava
This fantasy comic boasts an intriguing storyline and some very professional looking CGI work. This is good stuff -- and I say this as someone who's not normally all that big a fan of sword and sorcery.
Freefall by Mark Stanley
This has everything a sci-fi comic could need. It's got a bold, fearless hero . . . oh, wait, no, that should read, "a shifty, conniving alien scoundrel." It's got a superintelligent robot . . . whoops, wrong again, that should be, "a robot with the intelligence of cauliflower." Anyway, join Sam, Helix and Florence as they boldly seek out new life and new . . . um, as they seek a quick buck.
General Protection Fault by Jeff Darlington
The staff of GPF Software have been through a lot in the last few years. When your network administrator turns out to be a secret agent, your lead programmer has a mysterious Inventor's Gene, and your ex-Marketing specialist tries to take over the world, that's an understatement. And I haven't even mentioned the talking slime molds or extradimensional observers! Go back and read the archives if you're not familiar with them. There's going to be a quiz.
Kevin & Kell by Bill Holbrook
One of the pioneers of the webcomic medium, K&K follows the adventures of a rabbit and wolf who met on the Internet, married against all odds and are raising a mixed-species family. Bill has done a great deal of detailed world-building over the years. I'd suggest a visit to the K&K FAQ page. Things will make a lot more sense.
Medium Large by Francesco Marciuliano
Medium Large takes a chainsaw to the funnies page, TV, politics and modern life in general. This is another of those comics I've enjoyed for some time before finally whacking myself over the head and saying, "Hey dummy, link this! Share the Funny!" Remember, it's not a copyright violation, it's satire!
Order of the Stick by Rich Burlew
I found this one at a time when I desperately needed a laugh, and it more than provided. It's been many years since my brief adolescent flirtation with Dungeons&Dragons, but I still remember enough to get a kick out of this RPG-spoofing comic. Simple art combines with good, funny writing and strong character development.
Ozy and Millie by D.C. Simpson
Ozy is a philosophical fox with a dragon for a dad. Millie is a rambunctious tomboy fox and Ozy's best friend. This one was my introduction to the world of Web comics. It's still one of my favorites.
PC Weenies by Krishna Sadasivam
Modern technology and the manic pace of today's society are ripe for parody in Krishna's talented hands. Fun fact: he used to work for the Savannah College of Art and Design, where my brother studied for a time before transferring elsewhere.
PvP: Player versus Player by Scott Kurtz
This one follows the staff of PvP Magazine, their lives and loves, with a heavy dose of '80s nostalgia and obscure geek references.
Scary Go Round by John Allison
Ghosts, goblins, and things that go "RAAAARRRAAAARRRagghsnort" in the night, served up with a healthy dose of English humor.
Skinny Panda by Phil Cho
So there's this panda, see . . . and he's skinny! No, seriously, there's a lot more here than that -- there's an antisocial gopher, a robokitty (you'll have to see it for yourself), a bunch of stick figures in bizarre situations, and lots of discarded heads on the floor where people laughed them off.
Sluggy Freelance by Pete Abrams
I never did get around to finishing the archives for this one, so it's a little hard to describe at the moment. (It's possible that after I've gotten caught up, it still won't make sense!) Riff is an inventor whose gadgets don't seem to work well (except for the laser cannon on his truck). Torg is a freelance Web designer living with a homicidal rabbit named Bun-bun. Zoë is a walking bad-luck magnet. Strangely enough, there don't appear to be slugs anywhere. (Though there are vampires, sci-fi parodies, and vengeful holiday icons. I'm still not sure what Santa Claus has against Bun-bun.)
Sheldon by Dave Kellett
Ten-year-old billionaire Sheldon is the CEO of his own software company. Arthur is his pet talking duck. Gramps is his grandfather (okay, that one was kind of obvious). Go. Is funny. Is good.
| Jeff Darcy (Editorial cartoonist for the Plain Dealer) | Filibuster by JJ McCullough |
| Mark Fiore's Animated Political Cartoons! (Requires Flash) | Bruce Hammond (Requires Flash) |
| Know Your Place! Shut Your Face! | Ted Rall |
| This Modern World by Tom Tomorrow | Tom the Dancing Bug by Ruben Bolling |
| I Drew This by D.C. Simpson | The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists |
| Working Daze by John Zakour and Kyle Miller | Bo Nanas by John Kovaleski |
| Boondocks by Aaron McGruder | Doonesbury by Gary Trudeau |
| Out of the Gene Pool by Matt Janz | Frazz by Jef Mallett |
| Get Fuzzy by Darby Conley | Lio by Mark Tatulli |
| On the Fastrack by Bill Holbrook* | Safe Havens by Bill Holbrook* |
| Spot the Frog by Mark Heath | Zippy the Pinhead by Bill Griffith |
They only post the first week of each month, because they're trying to get you to sign up for their new subscription service rather than read the strips for free on their Website.
RANDOM BITS AND THINGS
I bookmark everything. This is just a small sample of the links I've collected in my travels on the Net. Peruse and enjoy, learn something, and tell a friend.
Archaeologyinfo.com: Archaeology and ancient history have always been interests of mine.
Astronomy Picture of the Day: I can't believe I forgot to link to this astronomically cool site. Each day, this page displays a different snapshot from our explorations of the Universe.
Artwork of Jin Wicked: I stumbled across the websites of this talented artist, writer and cartoonist some time ago. (That's how I find a lot of interesting sites!)
Barry Gott Illustration: This is my twin brother's site. He does freelance illustrations for children's books, greeting cards and the like. He also has a sketchblog, which he updates infrequently.
Book of Habidabad: This is a very well done fan site for the 1982 Jim Henson film, The Dark Crystal. Habidabad has collected more Dark Crystal info than I knew existed!
Bush Watch: Someone has to watch this guy, and I'd say that Politex is doing a good job of it. Find out what's REALLY going on in the Bush administration. (Watching George Bush play Everybody-Pretend-I'm-The-President has given me a new understanding of how the Republicans must have felt during the Clinton years!)
CareerJournal.com's Cubicle Culture column: Jared Sandberg writes a regular column on issues affecting the workplace. This column has already spawned a few Way of the Dodo ideas for further down the road.
Cassini-Huygens Mission: This is the official site for the space probe now orbiting Saturn. NASA and the European and Italian Space Agencies are jointly operating this mission.
Chilling Effects Clearinghouse: This is a very informative site about First Amendment and intellectual property issues and how they affect us online.
Chronos: Everything you ever wanted to know about time travel, but were afraid to ask for fear your friends would look at you like you were nuts.
Cleveland.com: News and all sorts of stuff for the Cleveland area.
Coalition for Christian Outreach: This Christian organization works with college students in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Truly a great bunch of people!
ComicStripFan.com: This Hawaiian comic strip fan is in the process of creating his own online gallery of comic strip art, both online and syndicated. Already it's a sizeable and impressive collection.
Commercial Alert: Is it me or is advertising slowly taking over every flat surface in our society? Apparently it isn't just me. I'm glad to learn that some people are resisting the relentless tide of ubiquitous product plugging.
Comixpedia: This online magazine covers comics in general and Webcomics in particular.
Doctor Who -- the official BBC page: This is the official home page for the longest-running, and in my opionion one of the best science-fiction programs in television history. (I like Dr. Who. You can tell, can't you...)
Fellowship of Merry Christians: Christians in our society are seen too often as dour, unsmiling people who think that the eleventh commandment is "Thou Shalt Not Enjoy Thyselves." The FoMC is helping to draw attention to the humor and joy in the Christian life.
Gateworld: Everything you ever wanted to know about the television show Stargate: SG-1 and its spinoff, Stargate: Atlantis.
HubbleSite: Pictures from the Hubble Space Telescope.
NASA: The website of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
National Novel Writing Month: Can you write a 50,000 word novel in one month? (I haven't succeeded yet, but I've had fun and met some good people trying!)
News of the Weird: If you want proof positive that we live in a mad, mad world, this weekly column is what you need to see!
Stardust Mission : Visit this site to keep tabs on NASA's first comet sample return mission.
Stop the International Library of Poetry: A quick caveat for those of you who've considered entering that $10,000 poetry "contest" you see advertised all over the Net.
The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression: This is a nonprofit organization dedicated to opposing not only censorship by the government, but censorship by private citizens and organizations that think that their own freedom of speech includes the right to silence others.
The Tragedy of the Dodo (1598-1681): David Reilly has put together a treasure trove of information about the dodo bird. ("Gee, why've you got a dodo link on your site?")
Tucker Automobile Pages: "Keeping the Legend Online": These good people have collected a lot of background information on the Tucker Torpedo, an innovative car produced in 1948 by Preston Tucker before the Big Three drove him out of business.
The Upper Room: A nondenominational Christian organization based in Nashville. Among the ministries they perform are a daily devotional guide and a 24-hour prayer line.
W.M. Keck Observatory: The observatory's official Web site. You'll find news, information, and photos from the observatory and its discoveries.
Working Wounded: A website and associated weekly column about coping with the Bedlam that is twenty-first century corporate America.
The Workplace Bullying & Trauma Institute: Unfortunately, growing up doesn't mean you escape the bullies! If you are being bullied by a coworker, if your workplace is needlessly traumatic, this is the site for you.