Future of Comics

Gabrielle Zuniga

I grew up reading manga, having been unattracted to the saturation of superhero comics (however, I still like superheroes in general, I still play superhero videogames, read occasional comics, watch the movies, etc.)  I had seen those kinds of comics a ton of times, and I was a little tired of it. My friends’ obsession with manga led me to read it. I was always drawn toward shojo manga, romantic and romantic comedies where the girl or guy always gets their girl or guy at the end.

A few years later to the present day, and I am reading webcomics. I love how different today’s webcomics are, both in visual style and in writing. The humor, at least in the ones I prefer, is wry and ridiculous, and the visual style is as individual as its author.

I read Hark! A Vagrant this week. One of the things I have loved about this comic is its wit. I love how Beaton parodies classic literature with humor that reads for a modern audience, as far as dialogue is concerned.

I usually read Hark! A Vagrant, Call of the Sentinel, and Back. Back and Hark! especially, attract me because they are dry and witty, but at the same time goofy and silly. This is exactly my kind of humor. Back and Call of the Sentinel, in particular have a lot of fantasy elements but does not follow the typical fantasy epic template. Not to say that the fantasy epics are cliché or overused, because I have certainly enjoyed them. But Back is basically a character who woke up and is told that she is the key to the fate of the world, and meets witches, and goofy, evil kings, and bored, calculating princess, all with her straight-man sidekick, a normal human boy named Daniel. It comes off as light at first, and almost silly, but there is a density to the story, as we realize that the land faces a world-ending threat. The main characters is told, repeatedly, that she will bring the end of the world. 

I highly recommend the webcomic Back, at backcomic.com. Call of the Sentinel is a lighter fantasy webcomic, good for a fun read at callofthesentinel.com/comic/ch1-cover/.