Sprite comics are webcomics that consist primarily of computer sprites from video games. Art assets are ripped from various classic games such as Mega Man and Sonic the Hedgehog, are edited and combined by amateur cartoonists, and are posted on the internet. Popularized by Bob and George in the early 2000s, the style is considered relatively easy for beginning cartoonists to get involved in, but sprite comics are generally looked down upon for being of low quality.
8-Bit Theater is sprite comic created by Brian Clevinger that ran from 2001 to 2010 and consisting of 1,225 pages. It is a sprite comic, meaning the art is mainly taken from pre-existing video game assets. The webcomic was at times one of the most popular webcomics, and the most popular sprite comic.
College Roomies from Hell!!! or CRFH!!! as it is known to fans, is a webcomic strip by Maritza Campos-Rebolledo. It started January 1, 1999. Since 2010 it updated only sporadically and went on hiatus between January 2, 2012 and March 30, 2012, when irregular updates resumed. The comic depicts the lives of six college students living together in an apartment building.
Ozy and Millie is a daily comic strip that ran from 1998 to 2008, created by Dana Simpson and syndicated by North America Syndicate and Andrews McMeel Syndication. It follows the adventures of assorted anthropomorphized animals, centering on Ozy and Millie, two young foxes attending North Harbordale Elementary School in Seattle, contending with everyday elementary school issues such as tests and bullies, as well as more surreal situations.
Chopping Block is a webcomic by Lee Adam Herold, hosted on Keenspot. The strip takes a one-panel format with a text caption underneath the picture, and is updated sporadically; Herold admits that he will "update from time to time, then... disappear for even longer."
Keenspot is a webcomics portal founded in March 2000 by cartoonist Chris Crosby, Crosby's mother Teri, cartoonist Darren Bleuel, and Nathan Stone.
VG Cats is a webcomic written and drawn by Canadian cartoonist Scott Ramsoomair. Published on its own website, it featured the adventures of a pair of anthropomorphic cats, who often played the roles of characters in popular video games that are parodied in the strip. Strips were usually presented in a large format and in full color. The author generally set Mondays as days for updating the comic; however, the update schedule had a reputation of being incredibly sporadic; he frequently mocked his tardiness in updating in various strips due to personal reasons, drawing nude drawings on Patreon and frequent convention appearances. As of March 2018, the site had approximately 380 comics listed in its main archives. Based on this archive alone, VG Cats averaged 25 comics a year while it was at its peak. During 2017-2018 that average has gone down to 5 comics a year. Ramsoomair updated the comic on May 22, 2020, adding a completely different website. Later changes included comic #381, which was planned to be released in February 2020, and the removal of ads, because he felt internet advertising had become "information peddling", stating that he "[doesn't] think I'm okay with what they are anymore". The comic is now very irregularly updated, with only 4 comics being posted since 2018, the most recent update being comic #384 on February 22, 2021.
Scary Go Round is a webcomic by John Allison. Running from 2002 to 2009, it is set in the fictional North Yorkshire town of Tackleford and follows university students battling fantasy and science fiction threats to the town. The comic was a successor to Allison's first comic, Bobbins, and was followed by Bad Machinery, all of which take place in the same general setting.
Loxie & Zoot is a webcomic by Australian artist Grace Crowley that ran from 2000 to 2006. The webcomic, which was originally intended for a niche audience of naturists, follows the inhabitants of a fictional nudist resort. Loxie & Zoot became somewhat notorious for the "pleasant" and realistic manner in which it presents its subject matter.
A Lesson Is Learned But The Damage Is Irreversible (ALILBTDII) is a webcomic drawn by David Hellman and written by Dale Beran. Ted Rall described the comic as "explor[ing] the limits of pessimism and fatal consequence in a universe that would be difficult to imagine on the printed page." David and Dale are the primary characters, although they do not appear in every episode, and there is a small cast of real-life supporting characters, including schoolfriend/mad scientist Paul, Dale's sister Sally, and David's mother, Debby Hellman.
Webcomics Nation was a webcomic hosting and automation service launched on July 29, 2005 by Joey Manley. Unlike Manley's previous webcomic sites, Webcomics Nation was based on user-generated content and relied on online advertisement revenue, which increased in viability in the second half of the 2000s. Webcomics Nation quickly became Manley's most financially successful website, and encouraged him to turn his Modern Tales sites partially free as well. Manley began merging Webcomics Nation into Josh Roberts' ComicSpace in 2007, but this process took longer than hoped and Webcomics Nation eventually closed down in 2013.
Michael Poe is a webcomic artist known for creating the webcomics Babylon Jones, Exploitation Now, Errant Story and Does Not Play Well with Others. He majored in art at the Savannah College of Art and Design.
Chris Crosby is a co-founder and the chief executive officer of Keenspot, a company providing a platform and network for webcomics. He is also a comics writer and artist, with works including Superosity, Sore Thumbs, and Snap, the Punk Turtle.
David M Willis is an American web cartoonist currently living in Columbus, Ohio. He is best known for his interconnected series of webcomics Roomies!, It's Walky!, Shortpacked!, and Dumbing of Age. Willis is also known online for his chatrooms and forums including "ItsWalky". KUTV in Salt Lake City calls him a satirist who is "a little bit edgy."
John Allison is a comic writer and artist. He has been producing comics since 1998 and his work has won multiple Eisner Awards.
The Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards (WCCA) were annual awards in which established webcartoonists nominated and selected outstanding webcomics. The awards were held between 2001 and 2008, were mentioned in a The New York Times column on webcomics in 2005, and have been mentioned as a tool for librarians.
minus is a webcomic created by Ryan Armand that ran from February 2006 to July 2008. It was a member of Koala Wallop, a webcomic collective that also included Dresden Codak and Rice Boy. It was nominated for an Eisner Award in 2007 in the category of Best Digital Comic. New strips were usually released weekly on Thursdays. Many of the strips are standalone stories, though several follow a longer story or theme over the course of several weeks.
Theater Hopper is a semi-autobiographical webcomic based on the escapades of characterized versions of author Tom Brazelton, his wife Cami, and buddy Jared, as they discuss, attend, and purchase films. It is the self-described "longest-running movie-themed webcomic", having run for over ten years from August 2, 2002 to December 31, 2012.
The history of webcomics follows the advances of technology, art, and business of comics on the Internet. The first comics were shared through the Internet in the mid-1980s. Some early webcomics were derivatives from print comics, but when the World Wide Web became widely popular in the mid-1990s, more people started creating comics exclusively for this medium. By the year 2000, various webcomic creators were financially successful and webcomics became more artistically recognized.
Notable events of the late 1990s in webcomics.