If you haven't been living under a metaphorical rock, you may have heard that the print media is "dying" or "in trouble" or other such rhetoric. While I touched upon the subject before, now I will strive to give an example of what competition the print media is facing, and is (in my opinion) failing to stand up to. The culprit? Webcomics.

Comics have been a staple of newspapers throughout almost the entire 20th century. For a mainly text-based medium (the newspaper) they provided a little section for entertainment via pictures. Whether they outlined an ongoing story, with full plot development, or just followed a couple of static characters through "everyday" adventures, or even just made plain political commentary between fictional commentaries or made up situations, comics provided a "short and sweet" visual format for displaying lots of information, for the all-too-common audiences in which tl;dr syndrome is persistent.

Not only were (and are) comics present in newspapers and magazines, but they're available just as standalone storybooks in comic books, or, using the more "serious" term, graphic novels. These are usually more plot-centric, and also feature better art, character development, etc. The Spiderman comics are a very good example of this.

Why do I mention all this though? Because, all the examples I've given have depended on large-scale publishing of newspapers or books to get to the reader. But with the 21st century, there is a new way to the reader: the internet.

I have found web comics (short, webcomics) of all different kinds and for all different audiences. There are some aimed mostly at college students, especially graduate students; others are aimed at computer/science nerds; others at hopeless romantics; others for general laughs at everything from poop jokes to obscure puns. Some are instantaneous humor, some are entire stories.

Sure, regular comics do that too, but because there isn't the print media restriction, the comic artists can really do anything they want with their art. Any size, any colors, any special effects, mouseovers, hidden "features", hyperlinks, etc. Also because of the freedom of the web, the comic writers can afford to cater to a particular audience, instead of trying to pander to the readers of (for example) the newspapers the comic is included in.

So far as art styles, the freedom means the result can be anywhere from stick figures:

XKCD

To poorly drawn people... things:

Cyanide and Happiness

To graph jokes:

SMBC

To more well-drawn people making nerdy jokes:

Ctrl+Alt+Del

To beautifully painted comics:

The Phoenix Requiem

But why? Why do these artists do this? For fun and profit, of course! The authors of three of the above comics (XKCD, SMBC, and Ctrl+Alt+Del) actually have maintaining their comic as their full-time job. They provide the comics free over the web, but then sell extra stuff, such as shirts with memorable scenes or phrases on them, book (paper) collections of the comics, and other paraphernalia.

What they don't need? An editor or publisher or syndicate breathing down their neck, telling them what to write. The results can be awesome - such as a ninja who is also a doctor riding a dinosaur to go rescue his gun-toting kid sidekick who got captured by a ninja mafia leader who wants to grow a moustache and take over the United States. And I didn't even mention Benjamin Frankling II (the clone) or Dracula.

There really isn't much else to say. You don't find this kind of stuff in newspapers, magazines, or sometimes even comic books. If you're not convinced, take a look at a list of what I read, and maybe sample them yourself. The comics with a * next to them are heavily story-based, so I recommend reading from the beginning of the archives, be they long or short. Here goes!

• XKCD. "A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language." Jokes, nerdy topics, new perspectives, ideas, and fun galore, despite the simple graphics. Updates: M, W, F
• The Phoenix Requiem * A "Victorian-inspired supernatural fantasy story about faith, love, death, and the things we believe in." Captivating story and stunning art. Most "serious" of the comics I read. Updates: Tu, F
• Questionable Content * "Ostensibly about romance, indie rock, little robots, and the problems people have". Ongoing adventures of a group of friends, with relatable characters, funny jokes, and something for everyone. Updates: All weekdays. Some pages are NSFW
• Order Of The Stick * The story of a group of adventurers in a Dungeons & Dragons (parody?) world full of strife. Updates: 3 times a week.
• Erfworld * Originally hosted on the OOTS site, this comic is about a War Games (or whatever he's playing) nerd who willfully(?) gets summoned into a game to act as "The Perfect Warlord". Here be dragons. Er, dwagons. Updates: 1 image / 5 days + 1 text / 5 days.
• The Adventures of Dr. McNinja * 'Nuff said. More than that, actually. Updates: M, W, F (chapters are stand-alone)
• Gunnerkrigg Court * Good friends in a weird school (or is it a school?), and age-old conflicts and mysteries. Think Hogwarts, but less happy-go-lucky. Updates: M, W, F
• Sam and Fuzzy * Sam is a taxi driver who has a weird pet(?) called Fuzzy. Suspend your disbelief and get ready for the Ninja Mafia and evil recording companies. Updates: M, W, F (chapters are stand-alone)
• Ctrl+Alt+Del * Ethan and Lucas are two roommates obsessed with video games. A gamer's dream life, chronicled in a comic. Updates: ??
• Penny Arcade . The "original" two roommates obsessed with video games. Less plot, more game reviews and nerd humor. They also host their own game expo (PAX). Updates: whenever they feel like it.
• Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal . SMBC is just a collection of all kinds of humor. Spam the Random button! Updates: Every day. Some pages are NSFW, or have crude humor
• Explosm . Another crazy selection of random jokes. Mostly crude or plain weird. Updates: Every day. Some pages are NSFW, and many contain crude humor
• A Softer World . Words with white background superimposed on images, then divided up into panels. Can be funny, sobering, disturbing, or just weird. Updates: Sporadic. May contain weird/NSFW content
• Overcompensating . The only comic here that regularly addresses politics. Dirty business, that. Updates: Sporadic.
• Flipside * The only really anime-ish comic I read. More NSFW than most other comics, but a good story nonetheless. Updates: Sporadic. Rated R, often NSFW. Not for young'uns

A lot, eh? It's actually not that many, compared to some people. And, with RSS feeds, it's even easier to just see them right as they update.

See how this might be more convenient than ordering the local newspaper to read the funnies? I mean, it has less colors, and comics I don't like!

Plus, I have to get off my chair to go get it.