Last month, I complained that it was difficult to dig up enough stories to fill a full column for an “all ages” themed issue. I had no such problem this month! Of course, it’s no surprise that fantasy stories are plentiful in webcomics—fantasy comics have long been one of the most successful genres among independent print comics, from Elfquest, to Bone, to Finder. Fantasy creators continue to explore every inch of the genre, from philosophical, to action-packed, to erotic, to the downright silly.

 

While there is certainly a wealth of all-ages material out there, remarkably little of it is in the form of short stories or completed series.

It seems all-ages webcomics tend even more toward the infinitely-ongoing format than webcomics in general do.

The spirit of cooperation is alive and well in webcomics. In that spirit, this month we present five stories that exemplify the value of cooperation: Agnes Quill, Vulture Gulch, Rip & Teri, After Days of Passion and The Archeologists.

The second installment of Alexander Danner's new column bringing you selections from the Full Story directory of completed webcomics. This month we look at firsts and beginnings, with five comics by Srdjan Achimovich, Andrew Dabb/Ben Templesmith, Hope Larson, Ryan North/Josh Rosen, and Raina Telgemeier.

Introducing a new monthly column spotlighting completed webcomics. This month covers Narbonic, Cooking With Anne, The Front, The Tyger and Europe's First Smoker.

This month, Alexander Danner looks further at expressive dialogue by examining how to effectively use stammers, accents, and affectations. Um, well... I, uh... you know what? I think you ought to just go read the article.

Don't make me wash your mouth out with soap young man! Alexander Danner looks at how the proper use of expletives can add depth and complexity to character portrayal.

Alexander Danner reviews Nine Planets Without Intelligent Life by Adam Reed.

Alexander Danner tackles the writing side of making comics.

While every genre offers its own inherent challenges, especially when reworked for web publication, mystery stories offer concerns unlike those of any other genre. All stories raise the tension about what’s going to happen next, but mysteries are unique in being primarily concerned with unraveling events that have already happened. (This is the primary factor that distinguishes mysteries from other types of crime fiction, where the killer is already known, and the goal is simply to catch him or her.) This unusual structure leads to a number of complications in dealing with serialization, improvisation, and other commonplace facets of web publication.