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?

5 More Superhero Online Comics to check out

As I attempt to expand the 'Superhero Media' which I consume beyond the expected comics, film and television into new territory, I've taken another look at webcomics and what they can offer. I've cheated a bit with this list, as a couple of the entries are actually comics that have seen print, but are now available to read for free online, but I promise I only cheated so that you can know about some good reads. Some of these comics are ongoing, some are completed, so you can pick your poison, just like last time. I've found even more than what's here, so look out for another one of these down the track.

Dragon Ball Zeroverse 
http://thedaoofdragonball.com/manga/dragon-ball-zeroverse/

(Completed) 

Bit of a strange history to this one. The Dragon Ball Z manga was a huge hit in China and once it finished, the publisher was inundated with demands for more. The publisher hired some artists and writers and got to work making a new series, Dragon Ball Zeroverse, which has gone on to have a huge following in the Dragon Ball fan community, with some fans saying that it's the best follow-on from DBZ, even better than Super or GT. I'm still partway through reading Zeroverse, but I don't actually think it's better than anything else, though fun moments like Majin Uub make it worth a read anyway.

The Non-Adventures of Wonderella
http://nonadventures.com/

(On Hiatus) 

I highly recommend a close reading of the Wonderella comics if you have the time, I haven't seen satire this cutting and hilarious in years outside of anything Tina Fey is involved in. In fact, if Tina Fey was in charge of a Wonder Woman television series, the result would probably be something like The Non-Adventures of Wonderella. If that's not enough reason to check it out, the parodies of broad superhero tropes and constant sniping at the absurdity of Batman should tide you over. 

 

Atomic Robo
http://www.atomic-robo.com/ 

(Ongoing) 

Yeah, Atomic Robo is available to read online, for free. What more could you want? Are you not reading Atomic Robo yet? You should be, just look at these panels and tell me you're not keen to find out what's going on. Stop reading my tiny blog and go read Atomic Robo for a while.

Strong Female Protagonist
https://strongfemaleprotagonist.com/ 

(Ongoing)

This comic is pretty damn amazing, so much so that I actually regret putting Bob and George on the last one of these lists. Alison Green is a retired teenage superhero trying to make the world a better place with more than punching. In the world of Strong Female Protagonist, superhumans are a new occurrence, with none being over 25 years old and a series of new laws and social structures having been rushed into existence. As well as having to live with the struggle of being one of the most famous people on the planet, Alison has a complex relationship with her former villains and the US government. There's a great conspiracy element as well that really marks SFP as different from a lot of superhero fare.

 

JL8
http://jl8comic.tumblr.com/ 

 

(Ongoing)

"What if the Justice League were all eight years old?" sounds like a pitch that would wear out its welcome pretty quick, but there's a charm to JL8 that keeps me coming back. Think Justice League Unlimited by way of Bill Watterson. The jokes land mostly around the style of daily newspaper comic strips, but, again, the charm makes you stick around for more. Be warned, you can easily run through all of JL8 in an afternoon and be wanting more, but waiting for updates for quite a while. Probably the best new take on Batman in the past decade. 

Thinking Out Loud: Stardust in their Eyes

Regular readers will probably already be aware of my affection for the comics of Fletcher Hanks, especially Stardust the Super Wizard, a unique and inscrutable relic of the Golden Age of Comics. Hanks himself was a drunk, abuser and probable murderer, but his works, especially Stardust, evoke a sense of almost-divine justice and American Fascism that used to be found only in the inter-war period. Stardust, the character, is often compared to the Superman of the period, having such a vast array of powers that he strides like a god through his comics, rather than ever struggling or fighting to have to right wrongs. Stardust often turns up after the damage has been done, when bodies lie broken, wealth has been stolen or cities razed, he brutally punishes the wrongdoers before setting things right with a wave of his hand and vanishing into space again. The comics are quite singular and bizarre, I highly recommend reading a couple, they can be found online without too much difficulty as the character is now Public Domain. I own the complied works of Fletcher Hanks, Turn loose your death rays and kill them all! which is worth a look if you like Golden Age comics. 

What surprised me slightly was the love for Stardust that can be found online, with fan-comics, fan art and several archives of the original comics all out there to find. Check out some of the work at Super Wizard Universe, it varies in quality, but the passion is admirable. Even Image Comics, in their "Next Issue Project" published a new Stardust story, so there's still some genuine affection for the character even though he was last published in 1942. What bothers me is that I don't think the people writing "new" works with Stardust really get the character. Now, I don't mean to sound dismissive of the people that put a lot of work into their comics, but the tendency is to paint Stardust as a kind of Superman figure, compassionate and just, which is simply not indicative of Fletcher Hanks' work. Stardust does not seem to care too much about people getting hurt, only turning up to set things back to status quo after people are already hurt or dead, despite being omniscient and capable of both faster-than-light travel and teleportation. So long as the evil fifth-columnists and mobsters are dead or otherwise punished by the end of the comic, Stardust has done his job and off he goes. 

If I had to put it down to something, I think the appeal of writing Stardust stories isn't so much the character himself, who is highly problematic as a "hero" archetype, but in having a blank-slate version of the Superman "Paragon" to work with as a writer. The Stardusts that can be found in "Attack of the Super Wizards", "Super Wizard Returns" or "Next Issue Project" have more in common with Hyperion, Plutonian or Mister Awesome than they do with the original Hanks creation, which I find a bit of a shame. Sure, I'm very much in favour of postmodernist takes on classic superhero archetypes, but there is so much potential in Stardust as he was written by Hanks, as a mad god with a skewed idea of justice, that it feels like a shame to make him just another take on Superman. Superman has shifted with the times to be something that fits in with the society we have now, whereas Stardust has been frozen in time since the 1940s, an anachronism from a time gone by, that's what makes him interesting and the comics of Hanks unique.

5 Online Superhero Comics worth checking out

Need a quick supers fix and don't like the attention that the latest issue of Atomic Robo brings you in the lunchroom? Well whip out your phone and give these a go. None of them are Watchmen, but you'll scratch that Supers itch just fine. 

The Gutters 
http://www.the-gutters.com/ 

(Completed) 
Actually a series about the comic book industry, The Gutters can require some "insider information" at times to enjoy the gags, but the jokes are clever enough that you'll get a snicker anyway. If you're the kind of comics fan that likes taking shots at Rob Lyfeld and the amount of times the Flash has died, this one is for you. 
 
The Specialists 
http://thespecialistscomic.com/ 

(Ongoing) 
A WWII superhero comic set in a world where German super-humans have kept the war ticking over through 1945. The line quality of the art and the broad Golden Age cliches belie a pretty interesting comic that delves as much into the social and racial issues of the time as it does the necessity to have super-humans wage a war that's spinning out of control. At one page per week, The Specialists may seem slow, but I know I'm hooked already. 
 
Dragonball Multiverse 
http://www.dragonball-multiverse.com/

(Ongoing) I've mentioned DBM before, but if you're like me (a DB fan sick of Goku power-creep), give it a go. The story is a tournament between all of the parallel universes of DB, but that's just a device to explore the possibilities of the universe, all the "what ifs?" (Yes, that's Videl doing a Kaioken and wielding the Z Sword!) The quality varies, but characters like The Namekian and Android Yamacha keep me coming back to check out the new story lines every couple of months. 
 
Bob & George 
http://www.bobandgeorge.com/

(Completed) 
Man, I used to read this in High School. So, the original idea behind this was a superhero comic, but the creator couldn't draw very well, so he did a Megaman sprite comic to fill in while he practiced. The fill-in became so popular that it took on a life of it's own and ran for years. It's silly, it's played for laughs, but in-between the jokes about Megaman being an idiot or industrial strength ice cream, there can be some pretty good action. Time travel, multiple dimensions and an apocalypse speak well to traditional supers tropes. 
 
Super Stupor! 

http://somethingpositive.net/#superstupor 
(On Hiatus) 
Created as a side project by Randy Millholland of Something*Positive, Super Stupor is another parody comic, this time focusing on the traditions and history of comics rather than the industry itself. Not it fails to take, well-deserved, shots at women in refrigerators and One More Day. Again, not much of it there to read, but worth your time.