"Watchmen in Webcomics" Poll Results

(links to the entrants available here)

Well, you all weighed in, and there are the results. PVP easily carried the day with its "Ombudsmen" take-off, and Unwinder's Tall Watchmen Comic also showed a reasonable following. There was no clear leader among the other entrants, although I do think Thinkin' Lincoln's contribution was particularly notable for its hilarious mouseover alt-text. But anyway.

So. I saw The Watchmen on Monday. What did I think of it? Overall, it was a basically faithful adaptation of the comic, at least in the discrete elements. All the characters are there, well-acted and faithful to their comic personalities. The plot was true enough, and comprehensible to outsiders, at least those willing to put forth a little effort to follow it. But I couldn't help but feel that the movie missed the forest for the trees.

Because it's a superhero movie, an R-rated superhero movie, and it revels in scenes of stylized sex and violence. To me, a key part of The Watchmen is how it calls into question the role of the superhero in dispensing justice. It asks what happens when flawed human beings put on the mask and undertake their own personal campaign against crime. Rorschach, with his unwavering commitment to skewed ideals. The Comedian's brutal cynicism. Ozymandias' sacrifice of "millions to save billions." Somehow, some of that gets lost in the movie. Most notably, Rorschach is portrayed as a badass hero rather than a disturbed sociopath, though there are other examples. At the end of the day, there are few people that I could actually recommend this movie to, just because it's so dark, and pointlessly so.

So, that's my take. Did you see Watchmen? What did you think? Drop a comment, or post a link to your review.

Religion Watch (and Watchmen Watch?)

So you've already noticed if you follow my Twitter, but Sunday and Monday's "Pick of the Day" both treat religious subjects. Let's have a closer look.

From over the weekend, Gill delivers a few thoughts about God as an author, allowing bad things to happen to us for the entertainment value. I found it reminiscent of the Calvin and Hobbes comics that feature theological conversations about God, the devil, and other such topics. And while I don't think God allows suffering for something so flippant as mere entertainment, I do think there's something to Shandra's observations. Aren't our choices invested with moral significance because we make them in response to suffering? What are your thoughts?

Secondly, today's Pick is Calamities of Nature, in which Aaron and Harold answer a reader's email about whether Calamities is too hard on Christianity. And in past comics, religion has gotten the short, blunt end of the stick, but I actually like this comic. It would be easy to try and make a joke at Christianity's expense off a reader email like that, but instead, the humor comes from Aaron's personality and his typically provocative response. In general, Harold and Aaron contrast well with each other, which certainly holds true when they're talking about religious matters.

(It's also worth noting that when it comes to persecution, Christians have historically gotten as good as they give. Christians were persecuted in the Roman Empire, and they were the persecutors during the Crusades.)

Saw Watchmen tonight. I'll probably deliver a couple lines of commentary on Wednesday, along with the results of the currently ongoing Watchmen comics poll. Additionally, for much of this weekend I'll be at Animation and Gaming Ohio 2009, so we'll see what I can do for Friday's post. See you all Wednesday!

Poll: The Watchmen in Webcomics

The nominees are in, and the polls can begin. Which of the following delivers the best Watchmen comic?

• Thinkin' Lincoln


• Unwinder's Tall Comics


• PVP: 'Ombudsmen' (series)


• Medium Large: 'Watchmen Week' (series)


• Ctrl-Alt-Del

Cast a vote for your favorite using the form above this entry. The poll will close on Tuesday (3/10) at 11:59 PM EST. Should you wish to vote "other," please drop a comment and share a link to the Watchmen-related webcomic you wish to vote for. And if you haven't seen it already, continue reading below for today's special feature: Recommendation Rampage Friday!

Recommendation Rampage Friday

Sometimes, when you blog about webcomics, guys who have webcomics ask you for reviews. This is a cool thing, because you like to read webcomics and say things about webcomics, and bam, here is another webcomic to read and say things about. But it can be a crazy thing too, because sometimes you get inundated up to your elbows with review requests and you're just like AAAAAHHHHH.

Because reviews take time, you know? And good reviews take even more time. You want to read enough of it to get a good feel for it, and you want to give it a fair shake. Some awesome comics are obviously awesome, but some comics have hidden awesomeness that you must uncover. Maybe the art starts off dodgy but improves over time. Maybe the comic tells an extended story that starts off slow but really finds its footing a few months in. Maybe it's great, maybe it's bad, more than likely it's somewhere in between, but whatever the case, you want to be fair to the comic. And that takes time.

But there are other things going on in your life. And even though you want to support great cartooning, you can't always review every single comic you get told about.

So, I've got a compromise.

What follows is a list of comics whose creators and/or fans have requested a review from me. I've taken some time to look over each of these comics, and I've boldfaced my top recommendations from the list--titles that represent high-quality cartooning regardless of my subjective preferences. Some of the creators have even provided a short summary of their comic.

So, take a look at a couple of these. Check out the summaries, and if a given comic sounds like your style, give it a read.

And if you yourself want to recommend a comic? Just drop a link in the comments section. After all, it is Recommendation Rampage Friday.

Capes 'n' Babes: The everyday adventures of comic-book store manager Marc and his friends working at neighboring stores in the strip mall. Capes 'n' Babes features comic book fan humor, workplace humor, and a werewolf.

Road Crew: a comic about the guys behind the scenes of a touring rock band, "Road Crew" follows the adventures of a sound engineer, a lighting engineer, and a roadie as they fall through the gaps of rock-and-roll excess. (WARNING: occasionally NSFW)

Addanac City: Seven-year-old Hank Addanac, a rambunctious 2nd-grader, constantly finds himself in hot water with his parents, friends, and school officials.

The Superfogeys: Where do old superheroes go when it's time to out of the game? To Valhalla--Home for the Supertired.

Someday Hero
The Pursuit of Mandy

Clementine Beauvais

The Original Nutty Funsters: Three friends wax sarcastic, put up with annoying neighbors, and barely put up with each other.

The Home World: Garrett and his dog Speedy's ordinary suburban life quickly took a turn for the weird when the Smiths showed up. For starters, they're gray, have triangular heads and large almond-shaped eyes, and tend to attract Federal Agents and tabloid reporters...

Marooned: Stranded on the hostile red planet of Mars, Captain John and his robot companion Asimov find unlikely aid in the form of Ugo the Martian. In order to survive and find a way home, John and Asimov must face the dangers of stupidity, sarcasm and starvation.

Galaxion: The crew of an interstellar survey ship, the Galaxion, tests a new experimental hyperdrive engine.

Astray3: Emily Hargrove, a daydreamer who works at the local Burgerville restaurant, suddenly finds herself transported to a confusing alien world of intrigue, danger, and strange creatures.

Watching the Watchmen

As you are likely already aware, The Watchmen opens tomorrow--the movie based on the groundbreaking 1980s comic book that deconstructed the superhero genre. But if you weren't already aware, then perhaps you've heard about the movie by reading webcomics.

That's right: webcomics are breaking out the Watchmen parodies and tributes, just in time for the big release. Here's a few I've come across.

• Thinkin' Lincoln takes the title literally


• In Unwinder's Tall Comics, Unwinder reflects on the discrete moments of his life, including a rather poor choice of Halloween costume last fall


• At PVP, Scott Kurtz takes the opportunity to provide criticism of the newspaper comics industry

I'm certain that more Watchmen-related comics will surface as the movie is released. If you come across one, please drop a comment and share the link with us. Come Monday, there will probably be some kind of poll thing again.

SFIV Poll Results

Well. The results of the poll...are the results of the poll.



It's perplexing, because even though "Other" won out, no one wrote in any alternates whatsoever on the original entry. I can only conclude that the three voters for "Other" simply found the available options thoroughly unfunny and voted "Other" in protest. Personally, I thought the CAD strip was unusually well-paced humor for CAD. But that's just me. At any rate, 2P Start carried the day, with its strip poking fun at Chun Li's disproportionately large hands.

Matt Moylan's Lil Formers also weighed in on SFIV this past Monday, but unfortunately, it was too late to change the poll. A shame, too, because Moylan's comic is actually fairly amusing.

Also, on an unrelated note, here's a blog that you may enjoy if you enjoy This Week in Webcomics. It's called "Webcomic Finds," and essentially is about reading good webcomics and talking about the good webcomics one comes across while traveling the internet. The blogger, Ping Teo, appears to be a savvy humorist with a few comic projects of her own. If you're looking for some insightful webcomic recommendations, be sure to give it a look.