Digital Strips

We don't do news items that often any more, but John Allison updates are worthy of our attention! After we get excited about Wicked Things, his upcoming expansion of the Scarymachinerydaysiverse, we take to the skies and give love a chance with the hopeful comic, Michael Sexton's Everblue. Once you see the progress this story and artwork have made in the last decade, you'll agree that it's a must-read comic.

Is it a journal comic? Is it a memoir comic? It doesn't matter, because Ryan Made Mistakes is yet another good, good Ryan Estrada comic. Delve into Ryan's sordid past with tales about school shower apprehension and melting clothes, it's all there, laid bare, for you and I to consume and judge. BONUS: Given the subject matter of the comic, we included a small taste of our other show, Today I Learned Nothing, as Jason recounts his own problems with showing off his bits at school.

Welcome to Zero Game, where you can earn a second chance at living the life you lost or wasted, but must sit through unbelievable video game conceits and unnecessary exposition to earn it. Also, in the course of detailing the story of this comic, Steve reminds Jason of the lore behind the vehicular combat game franchise, Twisted Metal, and he is not happy about it.

Are you ready to laugh? Like, seriously LAUGH? Then click through to Neil Kohney's The Other End and let the guffaws begin! His comic, which mostly uses children to give hilarious commentary on everything in our modern society, has biting wit and dark comedy that should have you laughing with each click. If not, you're a robot, and we request that you answer this CAPTCHA to proceed.

We're calling back to days of yore with a Horizons Watch-esque episode! Hear our thoughts on the short but excellent comics Threader by Liz Kramer and The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh and Silvester Vitale. Check them both out!

Motion comics can be stiff reading experiences, but what happens when they pay homage to a cartoon era that was likewise simple and stilted? Cyko KO! takes a swing at that question with a Webtoons, online-only comic that has plenty of fun hijinx but might be lacking in heart and depth. Listen to our thoughts, turn down your volume, and give the comic a look for yourself.

This week features a comic with time travel that's so fun, your nose will bleed! Or your older self might die! But don't worry, he'll come back. Shen, with help from Megan McKay and Dave Mercier, brings us Live With Yourself, a Multiplicity-like with heart and zany, doppelganger-infused hijinx that tells the story of Todd and his three friends, himself, himself, and himself. You don't need more than one of yourself to enjoy this comic, though!

Plum: it's like Pokemon, except instead of monsters living in balls, it's fruit, and instead of making them fight each other, you stack them. Like, really high. That's the idea behind our comic review this week, Plum! Come for the silly conceit for a story, stay for us brainstorming modern disagreements that could be solved with fruit stacking matches.

The world of Ty Dunitz and Jenn Lee's Rising Sand is desolate, hopeless, and treacherous, fully-realized and under-explored. Follow along with a small but lively group of the survivors of this dangerous land and hear why the art style reminds us of a Don Bluth cartoon and how you might need to give this slow-paced but engaging comic some breathing room in between views.

Monsters live among us and, as usual, kids are the only ones with enough chill to keep them happy and alive. Drew Weing's The Creepy Case Files of Margo Maloo will entertain and delight you, even as Steve and Jason use it's immense quality to discuss the days when webcomics weren't necessarily so good. Enjoy both, please!

The guys take advantage of a comic still finding its footing in iZiAHZAY's Comic Strips to look back on the early days of webcomics and to explore the origins of a Digital Strips legend.

Lee Keegan has taken the wide open, detailed world of Dwarf Fortress and added his own story and characters to it with Bridgedflickered. Jason doesn't pretend to know a thing about it, so Steve leads the way on why all dwarves are so expendable and who comes up with these goofy names. It's a fun ride!

Learning can be fun, and Aztec Empire is here to show us just that. This expertly crafted comic about history informs just as much as it entertains, with plenty of behind the scenes trappings for those of you who always want a little something extra in their entertainment.

Jason loves romantic comedies and tolerates dumb science. Steve loathes both things. This makes their tandem review of LUFF by Arechan a contentious one, indeed! Listen as they come to a consensus of disbelief and enjoyment for this questionably-nominated comic.

The internet is a historical oddity, full of old browsers and search engines that rise to fame in a day and burn out just as quickly. But, did you ever want to see what it looks like if they were all represented by magical anime girls? Then boy howdy, do WE have the comic for YOU! Check out our review of the inscrutable Internet Explorer by Merriweather and Princess Hinghoi and pick your favorite anthropomorphized web browser!