Can't Live Without

I've thought about doing a Top Ten list of comics, but that might just be impossible.  With so many different comics, deciding that 10 comics are the "best" would be very difficult.  But it's the end of the year, so I need a list.  I decided that the best way to do this is to pick out the 10 comics I wouldn't want to live without.  That means that the ranking here is basically arbitrary, so ignore it.  Incidentally, these are only ones that currently update, because I need to save something for next year after all.  Alright, so here is my 10 Comics I Can't Live Without.

1.  Sluggy Freelance - This is the comic that introduced me to the greater webcomic world and while it isn't the BEST comic on the web, it certainly holds up even after all these years.  When I was on a modem, it was the last thing I did before logging off for the night, and it remains the last comic I read even with broadband.  I certainly wouldn't want to live without it, even after I suggested ending it before.  Yeah, yeah, I know.

2.  Schlock Mercenary - Schlock is probably the best overall comic on the internet, hands down.  Oh, other comics may be funnier or better drawn or have better stories, but Schlock does all three really well at the same time.  Oh, and it updates on time and everyday, something a LOT of comics can't do at all.  If you aren't reading it, the real question is why?

3.  8-Bit Theater - 8-Bit is the only sprite comic I read, but it's also the one comic I'm guaranteed of getting a laugh out of.  Every strip makes me laugh, maybe only a little, but it's always there.  It's slowly coming to a close, but that's alright, I imagine that the ending will have me rolling around on the floor with laughter.

4.  Errant Story - I've been reading Errant Story for, well, years, it was one of my earliest reviews, and it still holds up after all this time.  There are few comics that come even close to matching it for epic storytelling.  It is certainly one of the great comics of all time and while it will eventually end, until then I couldn't live without.

5.  Gunnerkrigg Court - Speaking of comics that can stand with Errant Story, there's Gunnerkrigg Court.  The simple artwork belays a wonderful and imaginative story that is nearly peerless in it's scope and unfolding nature.  It's younger than Errant Story, but no less of a comic and certainly one of the best on the web.  Go read it already!

6.  Punch an' Pie - This is probably the most realistic comic I would keep.  There's no ghosts or aliens or gods or anything, just normal people living normal lives, and it's great.  I guess it's a "chick comic" because it's about relationships and such, but it's so well done I have to keep reading it.  Hell, one of the characters kind of reminds me of my sister.  Kind of.

7.  Nobody Scores! - While 8-Bit may be the most consistently funny comic I read, Nobody Scores! makes me laugh the hardest.  The little comic of eventual disaster has caused me to slip into uncontrollable fits of laughter for most of the day after reading some of them.  While this list has a lot of comics that are funny, when it hits the mark, nothing is funnier than Nobody Scores!

8.  Blip - One of the more recent entries on my read list, Blip is like something I want to write.  Yeah, there's supernatural stuff in it (witches, vampires, cyborgs, angels, devils, etc), but the main character is unaware of any of it and there is little evidence that she ever will be.  While other comics revel in their weird stuff, Blip keeps it away from the main character, making her reactions more like a real person's.  I just love the idea, and I really want to see how it all plays out.

9.  The Whiteboard - It's about paintball, which I know little about, and yet it's easy to get into and enjoy.  There are no 'great' adventures compared to other comics, but it still has that wild nature of a polar bear that has Mountain Dew for blood and a nuclear reactor powering his paintball gun.  It's fun and I enjoy it probably far more than I should.

10.  City of Reality - This is such a different comic than anything else I've read, and even as the story evolves it still manages to stay that way.  From updating a CHAPTER at a time rather than one page at a time, it feels more complete than most other comics.  It uses flash in ways other comics don't, the story is fun and interesting and it twists your perception of the world in a way that's really hard to describe (he actually spent a couple of chapters on that very subject).  Though one of the newest comics on the read list, I suspect that it could be here for a long time indeed.

Special nods go to Ice, Count Your Sheep and Zebra Girl, all three of which sit right on the bubble and could easily slip into this list if one of the others went dead.  I really had to debate with myself when it came to those.

Well that's my list.  Hopefully I can think of something new to write for next week.  Happy New Year kiddies.