Need a study break? A good way to spend this spare time is reading webcomics! Webcomics are (exactly as their name suggests) comics published on a website. The difference between webcomics and regular print comics is that anyone can write and publish one for cheap. This has resulted in a huge array of genres, and allows a ton of artistic freedom as there is virtually no censorship (yay for the internet!).
I first started reading webcomics when I was introduced to Dr. McNinja – a webcomic about a ninja who is also a doctor. It was an awesome read, and I was hungry for more since I had given up on comics when I left high school (too expensive and time consuming). I then found out about xkcd – a webcomic featuring humour about technology, science, mathematics and relationships. In other words, something most engineering students will find pretty entertaining. Now it’s been two years since I first explored webcomics and I religiously follow seven webcomics: Dr. McNinja, xkcd, Red String (life of a Japanese high schooler), Bear Nuts (zoo bears with clashing personalities), Sister Claire (a pregnant nun fighting evil), Evil Diva (a high school devil who just wants to be good), and Two Kinds (love and friendship between two enemy races).
Beware – these webcomics are to my taste! I encourage you to go out and find some that cater to your interests. For instance, if you are a gamer there are many choices – I highly suggest Penny Arcade, VG Cats, and Brawl in the Family. Many other genres are out there, take the time to explore and find what you like. My suggestion is to start from the beginning of the comic, or at least at the beginning of a new story arc so that you can have some idea of what is going on. Most webcomics are updated at least once or twice a week. Very few webcomics are financially successful, and only some are published on paper. In January 2007, there were an estimated 38,000 webcomics being published. As I just found out while researching for this article, the first webcomic was released in 1985 on CompuServe, which was the first provider for online services in the U.S. This was before the World Wide Web even existed!
So get on out there and take a look at yet another form of distraction the internet has to offer! I can’t guarantee you will find something you really enjoy right away, but I can assure you that it will at least be much more interesting than your lectures!
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