Yet more Superhero Online Comics to read (if you like that sort of thing)

Lately, I've gotten back into reading some more indy comics, as I found I was hitting the Marvel pretty hard and little else. The great thing about the internet age is that independent producers can do their own thing with minimal overhead, which can lead to some unique voices getting out in a crowded market. Not everything below is perfect, but there is more than enough good there to make it at least checking out for a few pages. Best of all, these are free, so you can get your supers fix guilt and cash free.

Empowered (Ongoing)

Created by Adam Warren (of Marvel and DC fame), Empowered is the story of Empowered ("Emp" to her friends), and this Dark Horse indy darling is available to read for free at empoweredcomic.com Sold as "a sexy superhero comic" the art and content of Empowered do tend more towards the adult and erotic, but there is a lot of really smart content beneath all the bondage and semi-nudity. Emp may be the holder of incredible power, but the suit which grants her power is linked to her self-esteem, which is usually pretty fragile. Add in some great supporting characters like Ninjette and Thugboy and Empowered treads the same line as Invincible in making the setting feel huge without a lot of extra continuity to follow. Just a warning that some of the sexual and violent content (as well as some sexual violence, sadly) can get reasonably intense on occasion, so maybe don't go reading this one at work?

Edison Rex (On Hiatus)

Essentially based entirely on the premise "what if Lex Luthor was right?", Edison Rex is still a pretty interesting read, even if the opening chapter is in too much of a rush to get there. I'll admit that I was a little disinterested at first, with every character and beat feeling like a "not brand-x" version of DC Comics, but as the comic goes on and finds its voice, I became interested in the protagonist and his world. Nothing I read in Edison Rex was all that brilliant on its own, but everything was at least competent and well-presented, which kept me engaged and let the unique ideas stand out. It's like how Irredeemable works when it plays things a little generic, but gets bogged down in characters, so becomes something more than a basic Superman riff. Edison is interesting enough that I enjoy the clever metafiction that is happening, rather than being a brilliant comic universe of its own. That said, I will 100% be adding the villain "Maul Santa" (something of a Joker/Green Goblin riff) to my collection and Ultimate Alliance games.

Spinnerette (Ongoing)

Man, I'm getting old, I remember reading Krazy Krow's webcomics in high school, now I discover he's been doing this for years? Ok, I read 8 Bit Theater and then went on to Atomic Robo, but I knew about that one for a while before I started reading it. Spinnerette is one of those internet-born entities that has a huge and devoted fanbase that I wouldn't want to piss off, and I do get why. Whilst I, personally, only enjoy Spinnerette as an occasional distraction to binge out a few issues of, it has a delightfully silly charm that really draws the reader in. Sadly, unlike Empowered, not everything is on the website, with some stories only in the print comics which can be limited run, so I'm not completely up on ever aspect of Spinnerette and don't think I'll be bothering with it as anything more than a distraction. That said, should 3D printing facilitate my getting a Spinnerette and Mecha Maid, I won't say no to adding them to my Ultimate Alliance roster.


Magellan (On Hiatus)

A long-running comic that I only recently discovered by accident, Magellan takes place at the titular superhero academy and reads something like a cross between X-Men and the old Star Fleet Academy books (or maybe Harry Potter? Not sure, never really got into them). Although there are broader superhero teams, drama and action, everything tends to come back to the cadets and how they're navigating the world of becoming a professional superhero. Having started way back in 2004, Magellan does seem a little "of its time" to begin with, but like many internet productions, picks up in quality once the writer and artist have had time to develop skills. Much like Edison Rex, there's not too many characters here that I'm keen enough on to want miniatures of, as many are a tad generic, but it is nice to see more Australian superheroes than you normally do, even if far too many of them are still Australian "themed" for no real reason. Seriously, we have culture beyond native animals and famous tropes, no reason we can't just have an Iron Man or Martian Manhunter, you know?