do we have an online comics thread? try to link to archives so it’ll still work the day after.
in trouble? don’t worry 'bout it. i’ll make some calls.
In no particular order, some I like.
Schlock Mercenary, where I got my username. Space mercenaries, with lots of humor, some drama, and cool tech.
Looking For Group, a fantasy based ( WoW I think; not sure since I don’t play that ) comic that’s quite funny.
8-Bit Theatre; featuring some of the scummiest/dumbest heroes around. Quite fun, especially Black Mage.
Goblins. A comic based on D&D, in a twisted sort of way. It starts out whimsical, and gets dark and bloody, but is pretty good at both.
A Miracle of Science; great for fans of super science and mad scientists. A finished comic.
Girl Genius; Mad Scientists in a steampunk world. Exceedingly cool.
The Order of the Stick : Another funny D & D based comic.
D’oh! Your username is “Red Shirt” backwards! I only just got that! I had always thought it was a Dutch or German word.
Lots of the ones DT mentioned (especially Schlock - never missed a single day, which, if you follow webcomics at all, you’ll know is just unreal), as well as:
Starslip Crisis - more Sci-Fi humour, set on an art gallery/battleship.
FreakAngels - an online comic by Warren Ellis. Yes, that Warren Ellis.
xkcd - the nerdiest webcomic EVAR! And funny as hell…remember to stay for the mouseovers…
Something*Positive - ultra-concentrated cynicism and bitterness on tap!
Questionable Content - music geekery, tiny robots and an ultra-neurotic neighbor.
I second Girl Genius, Looking for Group (it is based on a kindasorta WoWish premise), and Order of the Stick.
Wapsi Square is pretty good, too. There’s a lot of backstory, without which you may be floundering for a while. I’d read the archives…it started out as a typical “20-something pretty people friends in the big city” type thing and gradually morphed into an all-out urban fantasy comic.
A few of the ones I’ve been following currently, with one-sentence descriptions:
Clockwork Game – A recounting of the history of an eighteenth-century chess-playing automaton.
Erfworld – A story following the main characters on both sides of a war (in a universe where war actually works like a turn-based strategy game).
Order of the Stick – A comic that combines D&D game jokes and a long-running plotline.
PartiallyClips – Standalone individual joke comic, using dialog added to a clip-art image.
Punch an’ Pie – Sequel to Queen of Wands, following Angela’s story.
xkcd – Mostly standalone individual joke comic (with occasional short threads), stick-figure art (with exceptions) and geeky humor.
Wondermark – Another standalone individual joke comic using dialog added to existing art (from the author’s collection of 19th-century stuff).
I read Userfriendly which is techie/geek humor. Very funny strip with a great cast of characters.
Thanks to the Dope, I have been reading:
Multiplex which runs weekly.
Questionable Content
I was reading GPF, but I am not sure why I do. It use to be funny, but now it is more of a comic book style and I guess I read it because I have.
I still read Dilbert, Opus & Foxtrot online.
The ones I read that haven’t already been mentioned:
Sluggy Freelance isn’t nearly as good as it used to be, but what do you expect after 10+ years of writing a webcomic? Still, it’s always worth reading the first few years.
Casey & Andy started a little weak, but once the groundwork was established (i.e. death is an everyday occurence) it really took off.
The Adventures of Dr. McNinja – not to be missed, and make sure you check the alt-text on each page as well (except for the first issue).
I read Girl Genius, xkcd, Schlock, UserFriendly, Order of the Stick, and Erfworld, all of which are linked in other posts.
I also read
Sluggy Freelance–Sort of a buddy strip at its core, but largely defies simple description. One of the main character just got home from a Harry Potter parody.
VGCats–Video game humor, mostly, with wildly irregular updates.
Penny Arcade–Mostly gaming humor (not just video games–tabletop and trading card games come get their share, too) and randomness. They also do opinion pieces on the game industry. The language is sometimes NSFW.
Dr. McNinja–He’s a doctor, and a ninja. His receptionist is a gorilla, his best friend is Ben Franklin, and his sidekick is a mustachioed child gunslinger who rides a velociraptor.
PS238–Where metaprodigies, the superpowered children of superheroes (and, in some cases, other kids with odd abilities), go to school. PS238 is the online version of an actual print comic book.
Questionable Content, xkcd, which have already been mentioned. Also Partially Clips.
The Perry Bible Fellowship – except, WHY HASN’T HE UPDATED?! :mad:
Penny-Arcade and xkcd as already mentioned, plus
Ctrl-Alt-Del, it’s about games, but most of the time has an actual storyline, athough there are a fair few stand-alone comics too. Just ignore Chef Brian.
I’m usually far too late to the thread to contribute on webcomics, but so far this one hasn’t been mentioned.
Tiny Ghosts - more of the text-on-pictures variety than a true comic, but if Partially Clips can get a mention…
Also, quite possibly the only thing left on the net that actually makes me stop and ponder anymore.
And the Pancake Motherfuckers 
I’m a big Ctrl-Alt-Del fan. I’ve heard it disparagingly referred to as “Watered-down Penny Arcade”, but I disagree. I like the fact that it has an ongoing storyline. I read Penny Arcade daily, but frankly, too many of the jokes are utterly dependent on the reader being intimately familiar with the video game being lampooned, the result being that I totally don’t get a large number of PA strips, since I’m not a hardcore gamer. Also, Ctrl-Alt-Del’s ongoing storylines make me actually care about the characters, whereas Gabe & Tycho come across as slightly freaky talking heads.
Some of my favorites:
MegaTokyo, about a pair of American friends who take a spur-of-the-moment trip to Japan and find themselves unable to pay for return tickets. Well-drawn and well-written.
Irregular Webcomic - updated 7 days a week, brilliant, hilarious, and educational to boot.
Out There is a load of fun.
The Book of Biff - simply absurd!
Diesel Sweeties - good clean sexy fun - with robots.
Yet Another Fantasy Gamer Comic - D&D-based, loads of fun, often NSFW
Hmm. That’s enough for now, I suppose.
The big names (Questionable Content, Order of the Stick, Girl Genius, Something Positive) have been covered, but here are a few more gems that haven’t been mentioned yet:
Digger: A practical minded wombat (yes, wombat) lost in a foreign land, finds herself enmeshed in the schemes of a dead god. On her side are an outcast hyena, a statue of Ganesh, a mad priestess, and a surprisingly young Old Wise Woman.
Gunnerkrigg Court: A young girl is enrolled at a mysterious school inhabited by ghosts, robots, minotaurs, dragons, mad scientists, and talking dogs. Plus some stuff that’s really wierd.
Magellan: Magellan Academy: where you go to learn how to be a superhero. For my money, this is better than any tights-and-capes books currently being put out by Marvel or DC.
Others have already mentioned Order of the Stick, xkcd, and 8-Bit Theater. I’ll also add:
Darths and Droids: The premise is that the Star Wars movies were the result of a RPG campaign (similar to DM of the Rings, but less dysfunctional). Both Star Wars jokes and RPG jokes, and they actually manage to make Jar-Jar likable.
Piled Higher and Deeper. Life (or the lack thereof) in graduate school. Like xkcd, this one often leaves me wondering where they stashed the hidden surveilance cameras that are watching my life.
Holy Cripes!!! Casey and Andy are back??? Why was I not informed???
I believe that most of the web comics that I read, I was introduced to through a previous thread like this one, so mostly they are the Usual Suspects already mentioned: Casey and Andy, Goblins, Order of the Stick, PvP, Schlock Mercenary, Questionable Content, Girl Genius.
One that has not yet been mentioned is Narbonic The story is complete but that link is to a “director’s cut” that is republishing one strip a day with commentary by the creator. More Mad Science!