4 Webcomics for Your Inner Fantasy Lover
We here at Panels are taking some much needed time off; in the meantime, we’re revisiting some favorite old posts from the last 6 months! We’ll see you back on July 11 with all new posts for your enjoyment.
This post originally ran on January 18, 2016.
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This may not be much of a surprise, but I think webcomics are some of the most underutilized gems within the comics community. And it’s my personal goal to see that more readers know about them in the new year.
I wrote before about why I think webcomics are all-around awesome, but finding specific recommendations can be a bit overwhelming. I find myself drawn to the fantasy genre more than most, and I’ve found quite a few titles that have stood out to me for being imaginative, funny, and embracing diversity in all of the best ways. Here’s a few of my recommendations for webcomics that any fantasy genre lover will enjoy:
Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu
I was first drawn to Mooncakes from seeing co-creator Xu’s tweets about it. Since then, I’ve been hooked! Created in 2015, this series focuses on merging the magical and the everyday. And it’s super entertaining to read.
Xu’s Patreon page: Long-lost childhood crushes Nova Huang and Tam Lang have reunited for the first time in ten years. They have a lot more to deal with this time than just being the only two Asian kids in school (who also happen to both have magical abilities). The comic focuses on their relationship as they struggle through bills, family, and weird horse demons in ways that only a witch and a werewolf can.
There’s such an excellent blend of a myriad of genres, so there’s easily something that everyone can enjoy. There’s romance; there’s drama; there’s understanding the struggle of navigating life as a witch and a werewolf, respectively. Interested? You can check out the comic over on Tumblr.
Broadside by Noella Whitney
Queer. Lady. Pirates. Do I even need to say more?
From the Broadside Tumblr page: Nora gets a little bit more than she bargained for when stowing away on a ship at Port Royal, Jamaica; she’s boarded a pirate ship! The crew strangely has more women than men, not to mention captained by a fierce woman named Frei. Fitting in with these rough sailors isn’t the worst of Nora’s troubles though, as she begins to find out the truths of the ocean she will begin to call home…
We see Nora struggling to make the best of the situation that she’s gotten herself into, and its her humanity and rawness that helps the story turn. Though there’s only four chapters currently available, I’m still interested in the way that Whitney shows us a different side to your typical pirate story.
Kamikaze by Alan Tupper, Carrie Tupper, and Havana Nguyen
From the Kamikaze site: In a desolate future, feudal corporate houses hoard the last patches of fertile crop land. A young courier is unwittingly thrown into a life or death game of espionage and sabotage from which she might never escape.
If you enjoy science fiction stories with a bit more grit to them, then Kamikaze should be your next read. With three co-creators working to develop the complex futuristic story, it’s a bit of a no-brainer how much I enjoyed reading this. Post-apocolyptic wastelands, conspiracies, and multilayered plot development – there’s a lot to enjoy in this webcomic.
Princess LovePon by Shauna Grant
I have a soft spot for magical girl comics – there’s no doubt about that. But when I came across Shauna Draws’ biweekly comic, Princess LovePon, I fell in love. It’s very pink and very feminine, but reading about heroine Lia Sagamore’s adventures inspires me to embrace the cute and bubbly. And of course, Shauna gets extra points for showing us how magical Black girls can be on the pages of a webcomic.
You can check out Princess LovePon on Tumblr.
