You can never outgrow comics, can you? The old newspaper comic strip has evolved into a variety of free webcomics online, and these tools will help you discover and read them.
These webcomics aren't the same as DC or Marvel comics. If you want those, we've previously told you about ways to read comics online for free. Webcomics are like the daily newspaper comic strip, usually in the same paneled format and with regular updates daily or multiple times a week.
1. Piperka (Web): Giant Directory and the Best Webcomic Reader
Piperka is one of the best ways to not only discover webcomics but also read them. The main site hosts a massive directory of comics, noting whether it's completed, abandoned, or the days of the week it is currently updated.
You can browse the Most Popular comics to discover new webcomics to read or filter the directory by tags and genres. Open a comic you like and you'll see related comics to find what its other readers like. With a free registration of Piperka, you can save comics to your list, and the last point you read.
Once you want to read a comic, open it with the Piperka Reader. It's a more intuitive interface than what many webcomics offer on their official page. When you open a comic through it, you'll see a toolbar at the top with buttons to go to the next or previous strip and an archive. The archive is a pop-out panel to quickly skip to any strip in the history of the comic, and a game-changer.
In the reader, you can also fix the height of the page. You know how sometimes you have to scroll down to see the comic because of ads and other menu options? Fix the height in Piperka Reader and it'll auto-open at that part of the site. Neat!
2. Random Webcomic (Web): StumbleUpon Alternative to Discover Webcomics
You want to read a webcomic, but you don't know which one to go for. Or you've gone through your current favorites and want to discover something new. Random Webcomic takes you to a randomly selected comic with every click, as the name suggests.
It's a bit like StumbleUpon for webcomics. Click the big blue button on the main page and you'll be instantly transported. You can also scroll down to the comments, where people are requested to submit their own webcomic to add. It's actually a cool way of discovering new comics.
One annoying part of Random Webcomic is that it doesn't open the randomly generated suggestion in a new tab. So if you don't like what you see, you either have to press Back, or open the site in another tab again. Given that you'll probably read a few pages of whichever webcomic it suggests, that's a lot of clicking the Back option, so opening it again makes more sense. It's a tiny flaw, but it does get annoying.
While StumbleUpon is dead, there are still answers to your boredom. Random Webcomic is another one of those great StumbleUpon alternatives to discover cool things to do online.
3. Inbox Comics (Email): Daily Comics Newsletter, No Ads, No Subscription
Comic strips found their home in the daily newspaper, but now that the newspaper is dying, how do you get that daily dose? Enter Inbox Comics, a free (and ad-free) service to get popular comics in your email inbox every day.
Currently, Inbox Comics offers 440 different comics. This includes classics and popular comics like Calvin and Hobbes, Garfield, Peanuts, Zits, Dilbert, Pearls Before Swine, and Ziggy. When you're signing up, you can choose as many comics as you want. You can sort the directory alphabetically or by popularity, and even search for your favorites.
Every day, you will receive an email at a designated time (it's not customizable) with the latest set of strips, all of which open in the inbox itself. That's right, no need to open a new link for each comic. It's remarkable that this is a free and ad-free service.
4. Webcomic Awards (Web): List of Awards to Discover the Best Comics Online
Much like movies have Oscars and songs have Grammys, webcomics have their own prestigious awards. The link above leads you to a handy Wikipedia article with a list of webcomic awards, both big and small, and their winners over the years.
The most lauded award is the Best Digital Comic / Webcomic category at the Eisner Awards. The Wikipedia list has every winner from 2005, and each one is a great read. The other awards worth checking are the Harvey Awards, Ignatz Awards, Joe Shuster Awards, and the National Cartoonists Society Awards.
For each of these, the winner is obviously worth reading, but these awards are comprehensive enough that you should also check out other nominees. For example, the 2020 Eisner Awards have six nominations for Best Webcomic, and they're all fantastic. Treat the Wikipedia list as a starting point, and discover more based on it.
5. Tapas and WebComics (Android, iOS): Daily Teen Comics and Graphic Novellas
The digital format gives artists more room to experiment than the confines of a newspaper comic strip. If Manga and Anime is more your style of entertainment, try apps like Tapas or WebComics. Both apps are pretty similar and the biggest in this genre, but you'll find several alternatives online too.
Tapas and WebComics both cater more to teen and romance comics and comic novellas. If you subscribe, you'll be able to read all the comics on offer. But you can also choose to buy individual comics (they're priced much lower than DC or Marvel comics) or only peruse the Free To Read section.
Finding something you will like is easy enough with filters like Free To Read, genres, popularity, and other tags. These are mobile-first apps and comics, so the reading experience is intuitive on touchscreens. And many of them follow a weekly or daily schedule, putting out one new page periodically to move the story along, just like a comic strip.
Warning: Both apps offer mature content in their subscription services.
Download: Tapas for Android | iOS (Free)
Download: WebComics for Android | iOS (Free)
Follow Webcomics on Social Media
With the world spending more time on phones than computers, it was only natural that web artists adapted to this medium. If you have a favorite webcomic, try searching for it on your favorite social network, especially Instagram. Chances are, the creator uploads the daily strip to it, which is a much easier way to follow your favorite comics.
What About DC, Marvel, and Such Comic Books?
Spider-Man was as popular in the form of a newspaper comic strip as it was in the comic book form. If you want recommendations for comic books to read, or where to find them online, head to our sister site CBR or Comic Book Resources. It's an entire website dedicated to the world of comic books, and you'll find every answer there.
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