### Author:  [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2014, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recomend-a-free-online-graphic-novel/688360/1 "2014-05-13T16:01:52Z")
I just finished [Freakangels](http://www.freakangels.com/?p=23) and I liked it quite a bit. I’ve been digging around for something similar, but without much luck so far. Any recommendations?
---
### Author:  [@Hodge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hodge)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2014, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recomend-a-free-online-graphic-novel/688360/2 "2014-05-13T20:19:10Z")
I really enjoyed [The Silver Cord](http://silver-cord.net/). Just be aware that only first volume has been published with the 2nd volume due out sometime this July.
---
### Author:  [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2014, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recomend-a-free-online-graphic-novel/688360/3 "2014-05-13T21:18:05Z")
I assume by “online graphic novel,” you’re looking for webcomics that feature continuing dramatic storylines?
[_Girl Genius_](http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20140512) is always a popular recommendation. Steampunky high fantasy set in a Europe devastated by constant wars between mad scientists.
[Magellan](http://magellanverse.com/) is one of the better superhero comics I read. It follows Kaycee Jones and her fellow classmates at a superhero academy. Kaycee herself is basically Batman-in-training: the only student on the island who doesn’t have any superpowers. On a bit of a hiatus right now, but there’s years of comics to catch up on.
This might not be quite what you’re looking for, but [Skin Horse](http://skin-horse.com/comic/tip-wore-white/) is a personal favorite. It’s not quite a graphic novel, in that it follows the traditional four-panel newspaper comic format, but it uses it to tell the ongoing story of a team of government civil servants tasked with helping the God-forsaken offspring of unholy scientific experiments find meaningful and productive roles in society. It’s a sequel of sorts to [Narbonic](http://www.narbonic.com/), which is also quite good, but is also very clearly an amateur effort, at least in the beginning. You don’t need to read one to enjoy the other, though.
[Spinerette](http://www.spinnyverse.com/) is a manga-influenced superhero parody, following the adventures of young woman who is involved in a spider-themed lab accident, and as a result, grows two extra sets of arms and can shoot webs out of her \ lower back.
[Schlock Mercenary](http://www.schlockmercenary.com/) is another four-panel comic, this one following the adventures of a mercenary fleet in a high space opera setting. Warning: it took the artist a couple of years to learn how to draw, so the early strips are really painful to look at.
[Gunnerkrigg Court](http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/) is another Steampunky/fantasy comic, this one set in an English boarding school.
And I’ll finish up with [The Order of the Stick](http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0951.html), which is currently my favorite ongoing strip. Ostensibly a D&D parody, it’s also the best epic fantasy I’ve read in a long time. If you only click on one link in this post, click on this one.
---
### Author:  [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2014, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recomend-a-free-online-graphic-novel/688360/4 "2014-05-13T23:18:36Z")
I was coming in to recommend Girl Genius, but it seems someone’s beaten me to it.
If you happen to be a fan of the Metal Gear Solid series, [The Last Days of FOXHOUND](http://www.doctorshrugs.com/foxhound/comic.php) isn’t half bad. It’s mostly comedic, but manages to tell a halfway decent history of, well, the last days of FOXHOUND before the Shadow Moses incident. (It has, of course, been completely superseded by actual canon.) Plus, you’ll get to learn all about Chronic Backstabbing Disorder.
---
### Author:  [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2014, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recomend-a-free-online-graphic-novel/688360/5 "2014-05-14T00:51:25Z")
I have no idea what Freakangels is about but I’ll recommend [Digger](http://diggercomic.com/blog/2007/02/01/wombat1-gnorf/), a story of a wombat who mistakenly digs up through the floor and into a temple to Ganesh and finds herself in a peculiar adventure. It also has the benefit of being a complete story now so you don’t get that “plow though 600 pages and then find out you need to wait two weeks between updates” thing happening. Site description:
> [@](#):
>
> Digger Is a story about a wombat.
>
> More specifically, it is a story by author and artist Ursula Vernon about a particularly no-nonsense wombat who finds herself stuck on the wrong end of a one-way tunnel in a strange land where nonsense seems to be the specialty. Now, with the help of a talking statue of a god, an outcast hyena, a shadow-being of indeterminate origin, and an oracular slug she seeks to find out where she is and how to go about getting back to her Warren.
---
### Author:  [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)
#### Post date: [May 15, 2014, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recomend-a-free-online-graphic-novel/688360/6 "2014-05-15T10:49:54Z")
**Miller** is absolutely rright about Order of the Stick, and as long as you’re on the Giant in the Playground page, take a look at Erfworld. I just re-read _The Battle for Gobwin Knob_ yesterday, and it still holds up.
---
### Author:  [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)
#### Post date: [May 15, 2014, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recomend-a-free-online-graphic-novel/688360/7 "2014-05-15T13:04:27Z")
Much as I love Order of the Stick, I’ll say that it takes a little while to get rolling. The first seventy or hundred strips or so are more “RPG Joke of the Day” type strips even while following a plot. The real interesting plot development starts later on. Once it gets moving though it hooks you in with some great story telling.
---
### Author:  [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)
#### Post date: [May 15, 2014, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recomend-a-free-online-graphic-novel/688360/8 "2014-05-15T13:26:48Z")
[Errant Story](http://www.errantstory.com) is also complete and worth a read - they’re rerunning the strip at the moment, but just go to the start.
---
### Author:  [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)
#### Post date: [May 15, 2014, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recomend-a-free-online-graphic-novel/688360/9 "2014-05-15T14:28:18Z")
First off, thanks for all the suggestions. Too many are not what I am looking for, but HA!, they look pretty cool so I might read them anyway
Perhaps I mis-phrased the title. Perhaps it should be"Graphic Novels Available On Line". Think less “online” comics (which, let’s face it, usually have inferior art) and more comics that could be in print but are also online. So less _Order of the Stick_ and more _Watchmen_ or _Akira_. Good story, _great art_, a beginning and an end, and available free. (But legally off course, I don’t think you can get either of those two free online legally)
_The Silver Cord_ was a good suggestion.
---
### Author:  [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)
#### Post date: [May 15, 2014, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recomend-a-free-online-graphic-novel/688360/10 "2014-05-15T14:56:23Z")
[**When I Am King**](http://www.demian5.com/index-e.php). Really cool stuff, and takes advantage of the online format (unusual layout, some moving graphics).
---
### Author:  [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)
#### Post date: [May 15, 2014, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recomend-a-free-online-graphic-novel/688360/11 "2014-05-15T15:02:00Z")
[Here is a link](http://io9.com/even-more-webcomics-to-take-over-your-week-1537278629) that you might find helpful. 10 comics that have been completed, a link to 17 others from a previous article.
I haven’t really perused this yet. It’s been sitting as a bookmark for a while now, so I can’t speak to the other parameters you’re looking for.
---
### Author:  [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)
#### Post date: [May 15, 2014, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recomend-a-free-online-graphic-novel/688360/12 "2014-05-15T15:05:28Z")
Every comic mentioned so far in this thread, with the exception of _Last Days of the Foxhound_ and _Errant Story_, is available in print. With the exception of _Magellan_ and _Spinnerette_, I’ve seen all the titles I mentioned in brick-and-mortar stores, too.
Meanwhile, [this](http://www.dubnerdesign.com/images/cap.jpeg) used to be THE biggest name in professional comics, and still gets regular work today.
Just sayin’.
---
### Author:  [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)
#### Post date: [May 15, 2014, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recomend-a-free-online-graphic-novel/688360/13 "2014-05-15T15:10:03Z")
> [@armedmonkey](#):
>
> I just finished [Freakangels](http://www.freakangels.com/?p=23) and I liked it quite a bit. I’ve been digging around for something similar, but without much luck so far. Any recommendations?
I don’t read comic books, but I started FreakAngels just from this post and now I’m hooked. Thanks.
---
### Author:  [@Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrogance_Ex_Machina)
#### Post date: [May 15, 2014, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recomend-a-free-online-graphic-novel/688360/14 "2014-05-15T16:23:38Z")
> [@Miller](#):
>
> [Magellan](http://magellanverse.com/) is one of the better superhero comics I read. It follows Kaycee Jones and her fellow classmates at a superhero academy. Kaycee herself is basically Batman-in-training: the only student on the island who doesn’t have any superpowers. On a bit of a hiatus right now, but there’s years of comics to catch up on.
Thanks for this link, been reading it all day. There’s quite a few of these superhero academy comics I’ve seen but this one is better than most. 😃
---
### Author:  [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)
#### Post date: [May 15, 2014, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recomend-a-free-online-graphic-novel/688360/15 "2014-05-15T17:44:58Z")
Just to rattle off a few real quick…
[http://www.dominic-deegan.com/](http://www.dominic-deegan.com/) - 12 years of daily updates in a humor/fantasy/drama thing. Very great story. Artwork could be better. Finished. Give it a look, it’s easy to lose a day or two in there.
[http://goblinscomic.org/](http://goblinscomic.org/) - Back to updating, I guess. Gets dark quickly, but it’s not for nothing that this webcomic has gotten a lot (and I mean _a lot_) of awards. It’s really, really good.
[http://powernapcomic.com/](http://powernapcomic.com/) - Was recommended by a doper in another thread. Slow as hell to update, but incredibly engaging and visually stunning. Absolutely worth a look. I just wish they had more than a page every few weeks.
---
### Author:  [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)
#### Post date: [May 15, 2014, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recomend-a-free-online-graphic-novel/688360/16 "2014-05-15T18:13:09Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#):
>
> [http://powernapcomic.com/](http://powernapcomic.com/) - Was recommended by a doper in another thread. Slow as hell to update, but incredibly engaging and visually stunning. Absolutely worth a look. I just wish they had more than a page every few weeks.
My problem with Power Nap’s update schedule isn’t that it’s slow, it’s that it’s _erratic_. I’ve ended up following it on Tumblr, so I can catch up when it pops up on my dash.
[The Less Than Epic Adventures of TJ and Amal](http://tjandamal.com/) has just recently wrapped up. Amal is a gay man who’s just stormed out of his parents lives after breaking off an arranged engagement (his fiancee took it better than they did). TJ is a stranger with a troubled past, who offers to car-share to get Amal to the other side of the country so he can attend his sister’s graduation. It follows the two of them, slowly developing their relationship, and showing us Amal’s family, and TJ’s past. It can be quite NSFW (Amal and TJ are horny little dudes), so, y’know, tread at your own risk. \>\_\>
---
### Author:  [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)
#### Post date: [May 15, 2014, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recomend-a-free-online-graphic-novel/688360/17 "2014-05-15T20:31:45Z")
> [@armedmonkey](#):
>
> I just finished [Freakangels](http://www.freakangels.com/?p=23) and I liked it quite a bit. I’ve been digging around for something similar, but without much luck so far. Any recommendations?
I’m loving the art and story so far on this, but this is possibly the worst UI I’ve ever worked with for reading a webcomic.
---
### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [May 15, 2014, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recomend-a-free-online-graphic-novel/688360/18 "2014-05-15T22:42:20Z")
> [@Miller](#):
>
> And I’ll finish up with [The Order of the Stick](http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0951.html), which is currently my favorite ongoing strip. Ostensibly a D&D parody, it’s also the best epic fantasy I’ve read in a long time. If you only click on one link in this post, click on this one.
Seconded.
---
### Author:  [@Achren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achren)
#### Post date: [May 16, 2014, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recomend-a-free-online-graphic-novel/688360/19 "2014-05-16T00:28:58Z")
[Unsounded](http://www.casualvillain.com/Unsounded/comic+index) (NSFW) has some fantastic art, but is not finished. The first chapter is more like a short story that has the same characters than a real first chapter - if you’re not enjoying the characters/story, give the second chapter a try.