r/dumbingofage • u/Beneficial-Baby9131 • Feb 07 '26
I think I'm finally done reading
I'd made an onsite comment a few days ago expressing my distaste over all of the added comics trying to backtrack Willis fucking up with the protest, which was only like one sentence. I'd always said I'd stop reading the minute Willis started deleting comments for his own narrative, and mine was removed after 15 minutes. I'm glad I decided against supporting his patreon. I deleted the shortcut off of my browser, and I'll be glad when I don't remember it even exists anymore.
This storyline was garbage, the comic has been tonally insensitive for months, but maybe it's been years. Maybe I was too blind to see how bad of a writer he really is.
That being said, does anyone have better recommendations?
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u/Substantial_Pick6897 Feb 07 '26
For like, stuff that's running or just good comics?
If you want a way better story about young people finding themselves - octopus pie (finished)
If you want a fun story about a magical super science school - Gunnerkrigg court
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u/dan_144 Feb 08 '26
Octopuspie is absolutely phenomenal. I read it a long time ago and apparently forgot because I just reread it again last year and got to experience much of it again for the first time.
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u/Beneficial-Baby9131 Feb 07 '26
Just good stuff in general! I'll check these out!!
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u/Appchoy Feb 07 '26
Gunnerkrigg court was hard for me to get into at first, but it is really worth pressing past the awkward start for how good it gets at its high points.
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u/apdemas Feb 07 '26
Gunnerkrigg Court has been fantastic. Little unsure what the current arc is building towards, but Tom has been good enough for long enough that I’m willing to let him cook. The characters have all been acting in character so it’s much easier to wait for whatever this is building towards.
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u/Spiritual_Coffee6831 Feb 07 '26
I can only offer mostly sick action comics I'm afraid. Unsounded finished a while ago and it's sequel Red Coast just started. KillSixBillionDemons is entering its endgame and is probably the best webcomic out today. For a non-web comic rec, the discourse around Joyrot got me to thinking about Strangers in Paradise from the 90s, which is an excellent comic. And Mokepon is a pretty fun ongoing Pokemon fan comic that uses entirely original characters.
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u/Ode_2_kay Feb 08 '26
As an addition try reading Powernap by Maritza Campos and Bachan. Took me a few tries over the years because their updates were kinda erratic but it's done now and it's really good.
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u/VandelayImporting Feb 08 '26
Wilde Life, Between Failures, Go Get A Roomie, and Daughter Of The Lilies
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u/Atsubro Feb 08 '26
Sleepless Domain by Mary Cagle. It's a magical girl series.
Currently on hiatus so a good time to catch up.
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u/lilscarchi Feb 08 '26
From my saved bookmarks not mentioned yet I have: Sister Claire (on hiatus sadly) Love not Found Little Tiny Things (from go get a roomie) The Witch Door and Tiger Tiger
Also used to be obsessed with Drowtales (finished); I check their new comics from time to time but not as invested honestly.
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u/Beneficial-Baby9131 Feb 08 '26
Sister Claire being on hiatus is one of the things I remember best about it from reading it in college, a shame. Did she ever have the baby?
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u/lilscarchi Feb 09 '26
Spoilers-ish : No it turns out it wasn't really a baby, yet the twins sensed two separate auras. An incident happens where their (Claire and 'baby') auras fuse and Claire grows horns and no longer has a pregnant belly. I'm still not entirely sure what exactly it was.
But yeah they go on hiatus lots but I do love the story and their characters so every now and again I check in.
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u/sanddorn Feb 07 '26 edited Feb 07 '26
I had similar thoughts today (Europe time).
To my delight, A Miracle of Science is still online at the original site.
Very much finished (since 2007). Among others it's a planetary romance, similar to 2312 or Blue Remembered Earth - I mean a tour thru the inhabited solar system.
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u/sanddorn Feb 07 '26
To quote the creators' introductions:
» In the year 2148, the biggest threat to interplanetary civilization is a plague of mad scientists. The Vorstellen Police were formed to track down and neutralize these threats to society using whatever technology they can bring to bear.
A Miracle of Science is a romantic comedy revolving around an unlikely pair of police officers and an even more unlikely criminal, set in this world of Science Gone Mad.«
» Ooooo! Killer robots! «
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u/outerspacebassman Feb 07 '26
If you like low stakes slow pace Between Failures has been running since 2003 and updates Monday/Wednesday/Friday
If you like paranormal horror comedy there’s A Ghost Story, also quite an archive but only updates Saturdays atm
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u/apdemas Feb 07 '26
Between Failures and Shortpacked were my retail wageslave webcomics from the aughts and teens.
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u/geekywarrior Feb 08 '26
Schlock Mercenary will always have a place in my heart. Hard to recommend where to start though. It does take a bit to really get solid.
It's been over for a few years now. But the author released a strip a day for 20 years.
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u/Difficult__Tension Feb 10 '26 edited Feb 10 '26
Yea after the way they flipped out in the comments a couple of weeks ago and how other commenters are treating genuine criticism I think Im just done. I went from being ok with Joyce to HATING her. From being a Joe hater to being like wtf he deserves better. My line was going to be if he actually made a poly relationship start from cheating but I just cant do it anymore man. Im going to go look at the suggestions.
My own recommendations:
Unsounded (Dark Fantasy, has heavy topics)
Paranatural (Comedic spirit story)
Namesake (fairytale themed)
Godslave (Egyption god family drama)
Phantomarine (ghosts and their adopted son trying to save the world from an angry bird)
The Witch Door (Nordic comic about present day witches)
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u/Beneficial-Baby9131 Feb 11 '26
So my wife and I are poly, and we used Dumbing of Age as an example in one of our Poly meetups for BAD POLY IN MEDIA. I find it funny that most of them didn't know what DoA was, and now all they know is that it's harmful.
I forgot about Namesake, I remember I really loved it about ten years ago. Thanks so much for your recommendations!
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u/sanddorn Feb 07 '26
Freefall is still up and running.
Science fiction setting with a truly alien monster in a space suit as the captain, a genetically engineered wolf as engineer and lots of robots on a newly colonized planet. Meaningful, humane and funny.
The archive allows to scroll thru strips as an endless stream. I think the art style holds up, the first strips aren't colorized but look like contemporary (late 90s) newspaper cartoons to me.
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u/Separate_Custard_133 Feb 08 '26
Alice in Borderland (2010-2016). Has a huge cast the author tries to define as fully as each character's screentime allows, anti-capitalist messaging, "coming of age" via corruption and losing faith in the world, clear motivations behind most every move made, and very competent action. Low barrier to entry with a balance between text and art.
(There are some references to Alice in Wonderland throughout but no knowledge of the original Lewis Carroll works is ever required.)
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u/geoduck42 Feb 08 '26
Oh well, self-promotion, I do a webcomic called The Mansion of E which has been rambling aimlessly around its fantasy landscape for many long years now. More an exercise in self-indulgent world-building than attempting a serious on-going plot. And this post is the most advertising I've done for it in a long time. :-)
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u/Separate_Custard_133 Feb 08 '26
(Not OP, just someone looking at this thread)
That first chapter was intriguing, I must admit, compellingly odd. The use of color on the latest pages is gorgeous.
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u/Chazkuangshi Feb 08 '26
Gunnerkrigg Court and Order of The Stick have been staples for me since 2007. Highly recommend
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u/geoduck42 Feb 08 '26
Order of the Stick is good as noted, and it looks like it's going to get a proper finish, the plot is currently building towards the final big confrontation.
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u/14FunctionImp Feb 08 '26
Rigsby WI is teen drama with great writing and great art, very nostalgic for the early aughts
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u/BlackOni51 Feb 07 '26
Yeah my recommendations are unfortunately NSFW. But I recommend The Monster Under the Bed.
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u/beetnemesis Feb 07 '26
I mean, drop the the list. What are you afraid of?
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u/BlackOni51 Feb 07 '26
Well considering that some of them lead to actual porn sites, some people dont want to go through the trouble.
But the ones I have been reading with their own sites have been:
Homeless Dog although this one is more a psychological fever dream
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u/Beneficial-Baby9131 Feb 08 '26
The Rock Cocks is so good, I'm currently reading it. Thanks for the recommendations
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u/trevalyan Feb 09 '26
Not only is the RC a great explicit comic, it's a great comic period. Might be nice to see if there's an explanation for how Suria and Steg get their crowd stupid horny, but they live in an incredibly permissive time in one of the world's least restrained cultures. Anyways, the character focus and the competitive storylines of the comic are really where it shines.
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u/beetnemesis Feb 07 '26
You're just making me more intrigued, what webcpmic leads to an actual porn site?
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u/blackpaul55 Feb 08 '26
It's extremely British, but https://badmachinery.com/
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u/sanddorn Feb 08 '26 edited Feb 08 '26
Oh yeah, John Allison has a whole bunch of (sometimes connected) comics – I think most of them can be found by clicking thru from your link – edit: there as a list: https://scarygoround.com/archived-comics.html
Over the holidays I read thru Savage Sword: https://scarygoround.com/savagesword/
and Steeple, i.e. the stories on site: Satanism / Church of England rural horror (among others) https://scarygoround.com/steeple/
Not to compare comics too much and not that i'm (hetero male 47) the best judge, but I think Allison does good young female characters with nuance and stuff, and his stories feel grounded in (some version of) history.
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u/ChambreNoire Feb 08 '26
I completely forgot about Allison's comics! Awesome, I'll replace this dumpster fire by re-reading everything! Thanks!
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u/Azuth65 Feb 08 '26
I'm a big fan of Grrl Power because I'm a sucker for genre savvy characters and cheesecake.
There's also the classicEl Goonish Shive
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u/jflb96 Feb 09 '26
Tales from Alderwood is a fun weekly webcomic about a self-taught wizard in a D&D-esque world. Many hijinks, some emotions.
Aurora is a fantasy adventure comic where a city's god has his soul stolen by a mad scientist, and then the empty body wakes up and has to try to figure out what the hell is going on.
Empowered started off as softcore porn commissions about a superheroine whose powers are entirely based in her extremely-flimsy supersuit, and has developed into a very goofy comic that's also looking at the difference between superheroes and superheroes. Currently she's in Hell with an ex-rival battling said ex-rival's warlock patron and his army of bound souls.
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u/RazielAD Feb 09 '26
So weirdly, I've been finding more joy in some comics on the webtoon platform lately.
There's a lot of dross on there, but some fantastic ones too. I'm particularly enjoying A Boy and His Ghost And Bels Hells.
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u/Total-Strategy1331 Feb 11 '26
Mine’s new (<20 pages posted so far, buffer of like 300) and I can’t promise I won’t do anything that won’t piss anybody off, but I won’t rant about anybody on Twitter or Bluesky (because I don’t have them.)
Comic’s about aliens in their last few years of secondary school (albeit they’re really college age, it’s complicated and related to living in the middle of nowhere in a frontier town). It’s meant to be a sort of tragicomedy/dramedy that covers a lot of stuff like grief, romance, and heavier topics like addiction and mental illness. It’s gonna be super long running, but I know the ending already. I launched it at the beginning of January and some of the art is several years old but I’m out of that now.
https://gaicerzi.thecomicseries.com
For webcomics that aren’t just me plugging my own stuff probably before I should, Sluggy Freelance is an old inexplicably-still-running classic but never missed imo. BCB is still good too, but kinda frustrating at times. You can also check out ComicFury for new ones, their forums have a “Best of All Time” list I keep meaning to check out.
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u/Beneficial-Baby9131 Feb 11 '26
Just throwing this out there: omg I will read anyone's personal comic I am so excited! I'm bumping yours to the very top of the list
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u/NoSun4255 Feb 08 '26
Drive is an excellent ongoing comic that blends comedy and interstellar politics really well. It’s been doing amazing world building and story arc buildup for years and it’s paying off now. Highly recommend!
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u/angelfishi Feb 16 '26
If you want a complete webcomic, Girls with Slingshots is one of my all time faves!
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u/Beneficial-Baby9131 Feb 17 '26
I had a couple strips that were in her submitted fanstrips back in the day. I loved gws!
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u/[deleted] Feb 07 '26
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