Top 10 Funniest Webcomics
The subject of humor and what someone thinks is funny is always relative, subjective and a matter of personal opinion. But that is what this site is all about…personal opinions. With that in mind here is a list of the top ten funniest webcomics on the Internet today. Whether you agree or not, you’ll probably find something you will think is funny and add to your weekly reading. Please feel free to add your own personal favorites in the comments…they are always welcome. If you have your own top ten list, please submit it TopTenz.net.
10. Frenetic Funnies
The one-panel laughs come hard and fast, hence the name Frenetic Funnies. Jeff Swenson, both artist and creator has done a wonderful job with his webcomic. It is in it’s eighth year covering topics from superheroes to weight-loss to aliens and everything in between.
9. The Adventures of Dr. McNinja
Dr. McNinja’s story has many absurd plot twists, and often makes allusions to outside works, most prominently Dr. McNinja’s quote of “What would Batman do?” Starting with “So What Is A McNinja?”, each page also uses tooltips to add background information and in-jokes, such as the author comparing the comic’s visual style to Frank Miller’s comic Sin City.
8. Achewood
Achewood is a webcomic created by Chris Onstad. It portrays the lives of a group of anthropomorphic stuffed toys, robots, and pets. Many of the characters live together in the home of their owner, Chris, at the fictional address of 62 Achewood Court. The events of the strip mostly take place in and around the house, as well as around the town of Achewood, the fictional suburb which gives its name to the comic, and is likely a thinly-veiled Palo Alto, California. The comic’s humor is most often absurdist, generally lacking a set punch line, and sometimes branches into the surreal.
7. Dinosaur Comics
Each comic uses the same artwork, with only the dialogue changing from day to day. (There are occasional deviations from this, such as several episodic comics). It has been compared to David Lynch’s “The Angriest Dog in the World” comic, and also made references to it. The strips take on topics including ethical relativism, the nature of happiness, the secret to being loved, and so forth.
6. Toothpaste for Dinner
A new drawing is posted every day at 12:00 AM, EST. Each comic features small, simple drawings, paired with short captions or dialogue. The style of humor on Toothpaste for Dinner encompasses surrealism, irony, social commentary, cynicism, and schadenfreude, among other sub-types of humor. Each cartoon is entirely self-contained (except in certain cases of a series, such as the horoscope series.)
5. Questionable Content
Questionable Content is a slice-of-life webcomic written and drawn by Jeph Jacques. The plot centers on Marten Reed, an indie rock aficionado, his somewhat troubled and mysterious roommate, Faye, and his girlfriend, Dora. The supporting cast includes Marten’s anthropomorphic PC (AnthroPC) named Pintsize, Marten’s best guy friend, Steve, Marten and Faye’s eccentric neighbor, Hannelore, Faye’s good-natured yet vacuous co-worker, Raven, and Dora’s ex-player older brother, Sven.
4. Penny Arcade
The strip regularly features the two authors’ cartoon alter egos, Tycho Brahe and Jonathan Gabriel (“Gabe”), who represent Holkins and Krahulik respectively. Holkins and Krahulik have explained that the characters were not originally meant to represent them, thus they are not caricatures. The two characters spend much of their time playing and commenting on computer and video games, forming the basis of the humor in the strip. Another theme, albeit less common, is the use of conflicts between the two in real life. The strip also sometimes refers to other Internet subcultures, and often features in-jokes that are explained by the news posts accompanying each comic, usually written by Holkins.
3. Goats
In the beginning, Jon and Phillip were geeks and they watched TV a lot. That is, when they weren’t at the Peculier Pub, consuming great quantities of beer. Jon was particularly unsuccessful with women, suffered from amazingly low self-esteem and had little in the way of spine, job or coolness. They hung out a lot with a talking goat named Toothgnip who had a way with the Ladies (later revealed to be due to his Panties of Potency). At some stage Phillip managed to corrupt two members of an extraterrestrial species. And so Neil and Bob (pun intended) became new and omnisexual members of the cast. You can see how this comic has the seeds of humor with a description such as this.
2. xkcd
The subjects of the comics themselves vary. Some are statements on life and love (some love strips are random art with poetry), and some are mathematical or scientific in-jokes. Some strips feature simple humor or pop-culture references. Although known for its crudely drawn cast of oddball stick figures, the comic occasionally features landscapes, intricate mathematical patterns such as fractals, or imitations of the style of other cartoonists (as during “parody week”).
1. Player vs. Player (PVP)
The comic chronicles the adventures of a fictional video game magazine company and its employees. A popular but often controversial figure in the field of online comics, Kurtz is usually willing to share his opinions about comics and gaming culture in his blog, which is hosted on the same website as his comic strips.
Originally, PvP focused on video gaming and the larger “nerd culture” including comics and RPGs. Over the years, the humor has broadened to include technology jokes, relationship humor, in-jokes about and mocking of the generation gaps between the different characters, with gaming increasingly taking a back seat. Kurtz occasionally comes under fire for his satire. Sometimes Kurtz will speak of his father’s open disdain the the strip.
Related Top 10 Lists
I have heard of some of these webcomics but the one that caught my eye was Dinosaur Comics. The premise was interesting and when I read a few I liked it. Thanks for the list although I don’t get Achewood, but you can’t please everyone.
The newest one I discovered was Toothpaste for Dinner. Just weird and honest enough to keep me reading.
I’m suprised that Cyanide and Happiness wasn’t on the list.. Say what you will of it, but it has to be one of the most linked comics found on the net
What about cyanide and happiness at explosm.net?
After two comments alluding to a webcomic Cyanide and Happiness, which I wasn’t familiar with, I watched a few of the animations and must agree it made me laugh. Thanks for mentioning it. This is what is good about this blog, sharing new information. Visit Cyanide and Happiness I think you’ll be glad you did.
I agree with everybody else that Cyanide and Happiness should be on here, although I suppose it’s not for everybody.
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal can also be amusing
It`s definitely a challenge to know which webcomic is really the most popular. What I mean is that there are a LOT of comics in a language of non-English. So maybe some Chinese webcomic is talented and the most wonderful and the best in the universe, but we will never find it, just because we are not surfing on chinese webpages every day…
Ok and what about Sluggy Freelance located at http://www.sluggy.com ?? It is the most awesome of webcomics ever and has grown so much that it will bring down guest-artist websites in an hour because of the directed traffic. Now that is power.
I should also put in a bid for Punch n Pie. It’s a newer one I Stumbled-Upon recently. I can’t recall the URL but just google it.
Joy of Tech
http://www.joyoftech.com/joyoftech/joyarchives/archivejoymain.html
Tech Comics
http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/cnews/article.php/12035_3726831_2
So glad someone mentioned Joy of Tech, that is one of my favorites. A few on this list I hadn’t seen…going to check them out.
what about bever and steve?
dude – I think the Perry Bible Fellowship SHOULD DEFINITELY be on this list.
Brian, you are so right. Thanks for including this comic. A consistently funny and quick reading webcomic. I added a link to your comment so visitors can click it.
I’m not sure it should be in the Top 10, but Dueling Analogs certainly deserves a mention here!
http://www.duelinganalogs.com/
What about http://www.darkandpink.com ?
Cyanide and Happiness should be on here. Who is making this, because http://www.explosm.net is about a quarter of all of stumbleupon.
Alright, what kind of drugs are you on? PvP as #1? Are you INSANE? PvP sucks ever since they stopped being about video games. It’s all drama, all the time. I like how xkcd made the top 3 though, although i think Questionable Content should have been at least #3…if not #1
Ya Cyanide and Happiness should definitely be on the list. It’s hilarious.
http://www.explosm.net
Also, is Perry Bible Fellowship strictly a webcomic? I would agree that it should be on this list if it is, but aren’t the comics originally in a book?
How about Sinfest? I find it funny, it can get kind of inspirational at times as well.
http://www.sinfest.net/
How about Ctrl-Alt-Del?
It’s a bit on the nerdy side. (OK, totally), but it still has it’s humorous moments, especially poking fun at the gaming community.
Those are all equally hilarious, Dinosaur Comics is my favorite on the list.
ALso, check out Married to the Sea, Pictures for Sad Children, Red Meat, A Softer World and Big Fat whale. Hilarious.
a couple of more for your list
girls with slingshots
http://www.daniellecorsetto.com/gws.html
least i could do
http://www.leasticoulddo.com/
ctrl alt del
http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/
One I stumbledupon which i liked quite a bit was
http://www.kartoen.be/wp/
8-Bit Theatre
http://www.nuklearpower.com
these comics are pretty good:
the devils panites http://www.thedevilspanties.com/index.html ,
girls with slingshots http://www.daniellecorsetto.com/gws.html ,
Salad Days http://tyshea.deviantart.com/art/SD-Page-1-78050949
and
in the puddle http://inthepuddle.com/
Easily the funniest webcomic today is DON’T FORGET TO VALIDATE YOUR PARKING. It was listed in PC Mag as one of the Top 10 Unsung Webcomics.
http://www.dontforgettovalidateyourparking.com
Perry Bible Fellowship is king.
Brad Neely’s “Creased Comics” are great as well.
Twisted Kaiju Theatre (aka Neo Monster Island) FTW!
You forgot the best one
“Married to the Sea”
The only comic worth reading since “The Far Side”
http://marriedtothesea.com/mtts-archives/mttsarchive-aug08.php
You should have Pierce Logic! Well, its called FTW *For The Win* now. But whatever. Its awesome!
this list is all wrong.
xkcd should be #1.
others:
a softer world: http://www.asofterworld.com
truck bearing kibble: http://truckbearingkibble.com/
saturday morning breakfast cereal: http://www.smbc-comics.com/
married to the sea: http://marriedtothesea.com/
and for any other warcraft nerds out there, ding!: http://www.crispygamer.com/comics/ding/
Cyanide and Happiness should be #1
http://www.explosm.net/comics/new/
You forgot 10-bit theatre
I would really like to know where 8-bit theatre is I mean that is a really good one going on since around 2001 and has to match to penny arcade.
I think these 2 also deserve mentions
Least I Could Do
http://www.licd.com
Looking for Group
http://www.lfg.com
Theses are great comics by the same creators and a hilarious. LICD is especially funny
http://www.rivalangels.com
What about Perry Bible Fellowship???
This topic is a tad foreign to me – which is odd considering the cartooning that I did when I was younger. I have to admit that I audibly laughed at the xkcd bobcat joke. “Would not buy again” indeed! I’m glad that there is so much feedback on this topic because I’ll be wasting even more time chasing all of the links down!
That’s the sign of a good list – lots of feedback based on opinions not on the value of the list itself.
Good list. If I may, I’ll add two more:
http://www.basicinstructions.net
http://garfieldminusgarfield.tumblr.com/page/1
I read a lot of webcomics, and I’ve only heard of two of these. One of them, Penny Arcade is only funny every once in a great while. PVP on the other hand is consistantly good.
You forgot Daisy Owl
daisyowl.com
I like all of these on your list. I do like Garfield without Garfield though. It is very surreal. I am not sure if it belongs on the list however. It is not for everyone!! There is another one that I run across every once and a while, yet I am unsure of its name. I like dark and surreal cartoons/webcomics. Ah well.. Very good list.. I enjoyed it.
My favorites are:
‘Shiny Happy People’ at http://www.artofshen.com/blog
And I’ve been a long time fan of Sinfest and Chainsawsuit!
Sinfest. Purely amazing, with a mysterious author to boot.
Girls with Slingshots!
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal!
No Need For Bushido started out absolutely hilarious. Not as much recently.
I have read a few of the comics mentioned here however my favorite is User Friendly which is about life in a Canadian ISP office. Most references mentioned are pure geeky though.
http://ars.userfriendly.org
I have read a few of the comics mentioned here however my favorite (which is not here) is User Friendly which is about life in a Canadian ISP office. Most references mentioned are pure geeky though.
http://ars.userfriendly.org
CYANIDE AND HAPPINESS……
What a horrible list.
How can you just forget about Cyanide & Happiness, Thingpart, Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal, Amazing Super Powers, Warehouse and The Perry Bible Fellowship?!
http://www.explosm.net
http://jsayers.com
http://www.smbc-comics.com
http://www.amazingsuperpowers.com
http://www.warehousecomic.com/
http://pbfcomics.com
Those are really tops for me.
Cyanide & Happiness for president !! ;-P
Cyanide and Happiness!
It’s not quite as funny these days, and it bothers me that Kris’s stick figures’ head heights keep decreasing (soon they’ll be just heads with no bodies), but it’s still random and funny as hell! Honestly, it takes a genius to be as random as these guys are.
I’m gonna try out each of the comics on this list! I could use some laughs, and if these are any good I know I won’t regret it!
Well a good collection…but a few are still out there
http://www.citiestrit.co.uk/comic/12052009/
http://www.amazingsuperpowers.com definitely needs to be on this list. As an added bonus it even includes a secret comic. Every single one is pure win.
How could you leave out Subnormality? It’s pure genius!
http://www.viruscomix.com/subnormality.html
The Order of the Stick deserves #1 spot. dispute this and i will impale you
Well, Cyanide and Happines is THE BEST.
Wow, when I posted about C&H on here, I didn’t realize how many had already mentioned it. Sorry about that! It must be getting annoying and repetitive…
Oh, and I’ve been reading Dr. McNinja and Dinosaur Comics, I really like them!
Userfriendly.org is another web comic that is really good and one that should be added to your list. With archives going back years, its the story of a small ISP in Vancouver and the problems and issues that occur. Really good and well recommended.
lovely comics
I am glad SU sent me here. So many new comics to see.
Thanks everyone. My submissions aren’t webcomics necessarily (except SUBNORMALITY) but they are on the inter-webs, so – -um, enjoy!
HOOPLEVILLE
http://www.hoopleville.com/
This Modern World by Tom Tomorrow
http://www.thismodernworld.com/
SUBNORMALITY
http://www.viruscomix.com/subnormality.html
And I’ll repeat Amy’s link (30July2008) for Big Fat Whale too
http://www.bigfatwhale.com/
Keep scribblin’
how is Cyanide and happiness not on this list??
I was very surprised Cyanide and Happiness wasn’t on here like a lot of people. The comics are often very crude, offensive, and filled with warped dead-baby comedy… but they are definitely hilarious.
Another webcomic I find funny is Do You Work Here: http://dywhcomic.com
Anyone who has ever worked in retail can relate. (And if you like that, although it’s not a webcomic, you should check out http://notalwaysright.com/ for hilarious stories of when the customer… isn’t always right.)