Goats

Johnathan Rosenberg’s Goats is a comic about Johnathan Rosenberg, Phillip, beer, Satan, monkeys, beer, aliens, popes, chickens, Hitler, robots, goats and programming. If that’s not a formula for success, I don’t know what is.

Questionable Content

Jeph Jacques masterpiece is a look at the crunchy world of indie rock with occasional forays into death metal. The characters embody an Amherst collegesque lifestyle, which I suspect comes directly from the author. Jeph’s strips are always accompanied by a transparent and somewhat ego centric look into his mind in the right sidebar. His protagonist, Martin is a nice guy – indie rocker with nearly no aspirations except to play in his band. The hook is Martin’s wierd relationships with a handful of women with social issues that they wear like badges of honor. The tech side of indie is represented by Martin’s small, robotic sidekick, an Anthro PC called Pintsize. Jeph isn’t afraid to mock his own formula through Pintsize, or any of his characters for that matter. The complexity of the relationships alone are good for a belly laugh a week, but don’t stop there. Jeph also has a recommended listening section that is worthy of its OWN site.

Scary Go Round

If I had to rank them, this would probably be my favorite. John Allison fully utilizes the power of his cheeky British utility belt. He writes women better than anybody. Shelley Winters antics, including frequent resurrection, make her one of the most interesting women on the web. Shelley’s interests include adventuring, writing fan fiction including “The Saddest Wookie”, pushing the limits of expense accounts, judge fearing and fair judging. The comic is full of delicious political and corporate satire including insight into how the Tackleford Mayor’s office “works” and its diplomatic relations with Robotania. Shelley’s friends are interesting and range from the King of the Vagabonds to a young inventor with Indiana Jones meets Back to the Future sensibilities. John also periodically changes between analog and digital means of creation which both astound and annoy the pants off of me. I put him on a short list of web personalities that I would like to have a beer with.

Wigu

Wigu is the story of a young boy’s adventures with his family and the characters of a cartoon show that actually exists in a parallel universe. The family is beyond dysfunctional and hilarity ensures. Wigu himself is a genius and creates a spaceship called the Googel Maverick which allows him to meet Topato Potato and his colleague, Sheriff Pony. You can’t explain shit like this. Jeffrey Rowland is ridiculously brilliant, but I suspect he is one of those people who could justify cutting his own ear off and mailing it to a love interest. I pro actively filed a preemptive restraining order against him even though we have never met. In fact, I got the template from his website.

For each of these, I recommend starting at the beginning and reading a week’s worth each day. If you have read any of these, what is your take?