The field of comics, also sometimes known as graphic novels, is dominated by male creators and readers. However, there’s been increasing push in the last few decades by women to enter the field and make their mark. Though comics drawn by women are gaining popularity, most are classified as “indie,” distributed by small publishers that may not be able to advertise or place volumes in prominent bookstores. Naomi Nowak’s most recent graphic novel, Graylight, is designated indie, though it deserves to be appreciated by a wider audience.

Zombie apocalypse. The scenario has been reworked again and again, and has become pretty predictable. Something spreads through the population, turning almost everyone into shambling, undead creatures in search of braaaaains. A ragtag group of unlikely companions hole up together to beat back the hoard. The odds are stacked heavily against them.

Luckily, S. Dave Shabet has put a new spin on the old story. He’s got one hell of a framing device.

By Ryan Sohmer & Lar deSouza Read: March 2010 Rating: W00T!! http://leasticoulddo.com/ Absolutely love this one. A webcomic that revolves around a manslut named Rayne, the kind of guy you should hate… but I think I have a little crush on him instead. Rayne is a guy in his mid 20s, and he is a [...]

Every so often, a piece of software is created that genuinely makes the lives of its users easier. It ain’t for nothing that TVtropes.com has defined something they call the archive binge (no one ever binges on TVtropes.com, of course…). Archive Binge is when you find a new comic, blog, video channel, or any other [...]

By Sarah Ellerton Read: 2009 Rating: Lovely http://requiem.seraph-inn.com/ Considering the OMGHUGE plot turn that happened this October, I figured I should get around to reviewing this. Sarah Ellerton made her name in webcomics with Inverloch. That series has ended, and now she has two projects running simultaneously, both exquisite.

By Emmanuel Guibert, Didier Lefèvre, Frédéric Lemercier Read: October 2009 Rating: Wow There’s no other word for it than, “Wow.” Every few pages, there it is again–Wow. Didier Lefèvre was a photographer, who became involved with Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). In 1986, he accepted an assignment to enter Afghanistan with an MSF mission, [...]

By Hergé Read: September 2009 Rating: This was the very first Tintin book I ever got my hands on. So there’s nostalgic attachment to it. Published in 1936, the squabbling countries make speeches to… The League of Nations! Funnily enough, there’s not mention of communism, at all. But I suppose that wasn’t so much on [...]

By Hergé Read: September 2009 Rating: Transitional One can definitely feel the transitional quality of this volume. It FEELS like a Tintin book, but the story is quite choppy, and for good reason–originally, it was running as a serial. There is a consistent story arc, but it’s not like later books where everything is geared [...]

By Hergé Read: September 2009 Rating: Trippy I now know why this volume confused the hell out of me as a kid. Firstly, it’s the first in the series, as published widely, but it’s technically the third book. So there are references to Tintin’s past adventures, and he has a hell of a reputation. Such [...]

A note, in case anyone should care. I believe that comics are a wholly valid artform, and can be amazing pieces of literature. I also acknowledge that one page of a graphic novel isn’t necessarily equal to one page of prose, as far as ‘amount.’ Maybe ‘mass’ is the word I want? When I add [...]

When I was very young, our town had an Encore books. It was a special kind of bliss, because it was like the library, but all the books were new. It’s from this book store that I got my set of the Chronicles of Narnia. I spent hours browsing their selection of Babysitters Club volumes. [...]

By Danielle Corsetto Read: July 2009 Rating: Squee! http://www.girlswithslingshots.com GWS is one of those comics that’s been around for years and often pops up when you’re reading other comics. It took me a long time to get around to it for some reason. Something Positive is doing a crossover, though, so I gave it a [...]

By Megan Rose Gedris (art and words) Read: July 2009 Rating: Coolness I wound up at YU+ME after Megan’s brilliant guest comic for Jeph Jacque’s award-winning Questionable Content. Me and everyone else. It took me about one day to read the 600+ page archive. YU+ME: dream is an interesting comic. It’s a story of true [...]

By Amy Mebberson Status: On Hiatus, Storylines Complete http://www.mimisgrotto.com/thorn It took a little while for me to notice that my RSS feed had stopped updating… and that Thorn really had gone on hiatus/retired. Thorn was a labor of love for its artist, an attempt to get syndicated, and I really wish it had. Now that [...]

By Sarah Ellerton (art) and Bobby Crosby (writing) Read: May 2009, ongoing Rating: Wow Read it at:  http://dreamless.keenspot.com/ Ordinarily I wouldn’t bother reviewing a comic that only has about a dozen pages, but my dearest Sreyaduck has been begging me to read this one. You should as well.  The art is beyond fantastic. Each panel [...]

by Fred Gallagher Read: Continuously, reread May 2009 Rating: Brills Get sucked in: http://www.megatokyo.com/ If you’ve been reading webcomics for any period of time and haven’t come across Megatokyo you’re not surfing the right comics. Ever seen the Sad Girl In Snow trope? This is where it was born. Megatokyo is a lot of things, [...]

By Gina Biggs Read: Continuously, reread April ’09 Rating: Squee Read at http://redstring.strawberrycomics.com/ I’ve been reading Red String for quite a while. The concept piqued my interest right away. Old Japanese myth/folktale says that true lovers are connected by a red string. Miharu wants to believe in true love, but her parents have arranged a [...]

By Faith Erin Hicks Read: April 2009 Rating: Squee Not as good as Demonology 101, but by no means awful. It’s very rare to find someone who has a natural talent for very long works, but Faith Erin Hicks is one of them. Her long projects, like D101, are fantastic. This book is 156 pages, and [...]

By Amy Mebberson Download it at http://www.mimisgrotto.com/asif/index.html Read: June 2008 Rating: Like, totally. I got to this one in a sort of backwards way. I found the artist’s DeviantArt page via the Disney Princess club there (shuddup) and from there got to her website, her current comic, Thorn (which is great), and then on to [...]

By Dan Hess Books at Lulu.com WWW: http://www.venisproductions.com/angelmoxie/ Read: February 2007 Rating: Qute Genre: Magical Girl, Parody, Humor Format: Four panels Style: Grayscale Published: In 3 volumes, or a compilation (link above) If you always thought Sailor Moon and Cardcaptor Sakura were too saccharine, look no further. AM is not your typical Magical Girl comic. [...]

By Faith Erin Hicks URL: http://faith.rydia.net Read: December ’06-January ’07 Rating: Spellbinding. Genre: Supernatural, Supreme Good vs. Supreme Evil. Format: Full page. Style: Black, white, and watercolor grays for shading. Published: Not yet, but I would buy it ASAP. (Hear that, Faith!?) Bonus: It’s COMPLETE!!! No waiting! Wait–it’s over?! It took me a while to [...]

Something occured to me a few weeks ago. I read an unholy amount of webcomics these days (I think I’m following over 30 right now), and I always read the whole archive first. Some of those archives are HUGE. …like, book-length. My procrastination = your review-reading pleasure. Count Your Sheep! By Adis! (Adrian Ramos) Archive [...]

By Alan Moore and David Lloyd Read: April 2006 Rating: Headspinner And you though 1984 was tough. V For Vendetta takes Orwell as a jumping point and sets everything on its ear. I haven’t seen the movie, but I really hope it makes more sense than this fast-paced graphic novel. I was given this as [...]

By Ikuko Itoh Rating: Meh Read: March/April 2006 Maybe it’s just meant for younger kids, but I found it boring and predictable. I guess most shoujo romance/magical whatnot is predictable, but this was lamentably so. Ahiru (whose names means duck) goes to an arts high school where the focus is ballet. She loves it but [...]

Story by Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir & Art by Shiei Read a sample online: Amazing Agent Luna Rating: Fun. Read: Tonight! NOTE: Amazing Agent Luna is manga- a graphic novel, rather than prose. This has all the makings of a really enjoyeable shoujo series. The characters are well-defined, the art is fantastic, and the [...]