The first web comic that I started to read was Sluggy Freelance. When I started Sluggy, as it is colloquially known, it already had eight years of backlog reading behind it. Pete Abrams, the writer and artist known for his recurring story lines and knife-wielding bunny, will be celebrating Sluggy’s 12^th birthday at the end of this month.

Others followed, such as Penny Arcade, which celebrated its tenth birthday this year. Penny Arcade, besides being a cool comic, is a cornerstone in the gaming world. “Tycho” and “Gabe” have a comic that is often fantastic commentary on the gaming industry, they hold a highly-regarded gaming convention that anyone can attend, and they have an amazing charity called Child’s Play that donates game systems and games to children in the hospital.

Generally, my mornings start off with a bowl of knock-off Cheerios and surfing the Internet. The first thing I check are my web comic updates. Besides the two above, here’s what on my comic list.

• Anders Loves Maria by Rene Engestrom. Love and drama in Sweden. Not always safe for work.

• Octopus Pie by Meredith Gran. Grumpy half-Chinese girl puts up with her stoner roommate and devious, amongst other things. Great inking style.

• Penny and Aggie by T. Campbell and Gisele Lagace. Teenage high school drama in Canada. Some adult subjects. Also, very excellent art on artist Lagace’s part.

• Questionable Content by Jeph Jacques. Hipster and indie fun. It’s great to read the backlog and watch Jeph’s art style improve.

• Wondermark by David Malki!. He takes old-timey drawings and makes them funny.

My husband and WoWo guru, Sam, also reads some of the above (not the girly stuff), but also has a few that I think would interest people.

• Dueling Analogs by Steve Napierski

• Extra Life by Scott Johnson

• Order of the Stick by Rich Burlew

• Real Life by Greg Dean

• xkcd by Randall Munroe

There are two more web comics of note that I would like to point out before I wrap things up. First, even though it’s pretty much defunct, Zach VandeZande has left his comic Animals Have Problems Too up and you can read the backlog.  I recommend you do. It’s a riot.

I want to introduce you to Shell’s Angels by our own SOC resident artist and writer Michelle Juett. You can read her comic on her web comic site and on her deviantART site. Check out her dA site for some other amazing work, too. If want a quick sampling of her stuff, look up. She drew our lovely castle logo.

I imagine many of you read these same comics and I hope that you find some you haven’t read before. I know many of us here met through Penny Arcade via another forum, so I guess web comics even bring people together. And that’s a great thing about our wonderful geeky culture.