Webcomics

[Tom B]

Thanks to Kathy, andygates and others for introducing me to xkcd 

Any other webcomics that one feels are worth a look (read: 'forgetting work for half the afternoon to look at every single one')?

[domesticated ape]

Questionable Content and xkcd are the two that I read regularly. QC is a bit of a soap opera, and there have been some storylines that have taken weeks to pan out, so I'd recommend reading it from the start if you like the look of it. This will take ages though as there are nearly 1400 pages!

[Kathy]

The Order of the Stick is ver' good - it's based around Dungeons & Dragons but you don't need any knowledge of RPGs to get the jokes. Probably best to start with the early strips, as there is a running plot.

Similarly, The Battle For Gobwin Knob, also hosted on that site is good, and full of internet meme based gags, but it's more of an online graphic novel, so read it from the beginning.

Sluggy Freelance is worth a read. It has long-running plot arcs (some of which are better than others) interspersed with happy one-off gags. It's best to start with earlier strips to understand who the characters are, and quite why there is a psychotic mini-lop rabbit with a switchblade and a ferret with attention deficit-ooh, hey, shiny!

Sample strips:

http://sluggy.com/daily.php?date=010416
http://pics.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=010417
http://pics.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=010418
http://pics.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=010419
http://pics.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=010420

Otherwise, for pant-wetting had-me-laughing-out-loud-at-work-and-getting-funny-looks, can I recommend DM of the Rings? Someone has taken screenshots of the Lord of the Rings movies and re-scripted them as a D&D campaign, and it's hilarious!

There. That should stop you getting any work done by mid-May.

[αdαmsκι]

For academics / grad students, there's Philed Higher and Deeper comics, aka PHD comics.

Some things to suck you into the vortex of unproductivity

PHD Comics: Vortex of unproductivity
PHD Comics: Newton`s Three Laws of Graduation
PHD Comics: How to look busy
PHD Comics: Light at the end of the Thesis - Can you see it?
PHD Comics: The Lab/Office Fridge

Worryingly, it hits the nail on the head a few too many times....

[mattc]

Otherwise, for pant-wetting had-me-laughing-out-loud-at-work-and-getting-funny-looks, can I recommend DM of the Rings? Someone has taken screenshots of the Lord of the Rings movies and re-scripted them as a D&D campaign, and it's hilarious!

I lost a large chunk of my life to that. And I'm not proud.

[PrettyBoyTim]

I really like the Perry Bible Fellowship.

No plot or anything, and he's stopped making them now.

You can get them as a coffee table book now, though.

[rower40]

I look in on http://irregularwebcomic.net/ every now and again.  What with it being all lego.

[Tim]

I'll chuck User Friendly into the mix. Updates daily and has been going for many years, so it'll take a while to read the entire back catalogue.

[marna]

Dinosaur Comics - qwantz.com - dinosaur comics  - April 28 2009 - is much-beloved in these here parts.

[TimO]

Sherman's Lagoon
Happy Sad
Garfield (Heah, no one said it had to be available just online!)
Yehuda Moon of course!  (...although this is having a rest at the moment. )

[mattc]

Cyanide & Happiness #2317 - Explosm.net

(I suspect that's the only one about bikes)

[clarion]

You never told me it was a horror comic!

[Flying_Monkey]

<unecessary name drop> The guy who created xkcd is getting married to the daughter of a colleague of mine. </unecessary name drop>

I like Tom the Dancing Bug, which reminds me a lot of BIFF, that used to run in The Guardian.

- Boing Boing