The girl of your dreams barely knows you exist. Your friends can’t help. Your family is clueless. So where do you turn for love advice? Who can provide you with that essential assistance for the lovelorn? If you’re an average everyday teenager like Paul, you summon a powerful demon from the deep recesses of Hell, and frankly, hope for the best. This volume collects episodes 1–45 of the devilishly funny WEBTOON comic Love Advice from the Great Duke of Hell.
The comics I grew up reading were those in the newspapers, and they were called the funny pages for a reason. Every morning, I’d read the comic sections in the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times. Foxtrot, Calvin & Hobbes, the Far Side, and Off the Mark were my bread-and-butter comics growing up. I knew about superhero comics and graphic novels/nonfiction but I liked my one to four-panel comics.
In college, I found myself drawn to webcomics, which were like the newspaper comics but edgier and more diverse in all senses of the word. I fell for DieselSweeties, Order of the Stick, Templar, and Arizona, to name a few.
So when I went to my first comic book convention, I did feel a bit of a fish out of water. I thought I knew comics but it was clear that I knew very little. It was a little daunting to realize that these short-paneled comics, whether in the newspaper or online, were just a small fraction of what was out there.
In time, I began exploring the wider world of comic books, covering a wide variety of genres from superhero comics to horror. But I do have a fondness for the seeming simplicity of one to four-panel comics in the newspapers and webcomics for humor. I’m glad that Far Side is back and that Off the Mark is still bringing their twisted humor in single-panel comics.
For this list, I’ve put together my tribute to the funny pages. Most of the comics are short form comics, but a few are a little longer narratives.
Woe: A Housecat’s Story of Despair by Lucy Knisley
In my opinion, Knisley has some of the best nonfiction comics out there, drawing from her own life. Her most recently published comic is in memory of her cat, Linney, who passed away a few years ago, who showed up in her daily blog comics. We know that cats and comics go together like peanut butter and jelly and this volume does not disappoint. It’s a window into the life of a cat in a house with a former toddler and two doting cat/baby parents.
Bunt! Striking Out on Financial Aid by Ngozi Ukazu and Mad Rupert
Molly Bauer’s dream comes true: she gets into an incredibly rich and prestigious art school with a full ride…or so she thought. When she shows up for her first week, she finds out that no one has any idea about any scholarship. Molly wants to keep part of her dream going and ends up finding a loophole for financial aid: if 10 students can win a single softball game, they’ll get an athletic scholarship. Easy? Not even, but Molly wants to give it the old college try so she can stay in, well, college. It’s a send-up of art school and higher education with a lot of love for friends and artists. Most people may know Ukazu’s other work, Check, Please!
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl by Ryan North and Erica Henderson
Squirrel Girl is one of my favorite comics ever thanks to the dynamic duo of Ryan North and Erica Henderson. Doreen Green is my ideal superhero — all the powers of a squirrel and is unbeatable. And there are lots of footnotes. Very funny footnotes. It’s got a wonderful cast of characters, from Doreen’s friends who are superheroes (or practically superheroes) in their own right to the supervillains that Doreen defeats in unconventional ways. Plus you’ve got 12 volumes of Squirrel Girl, a standalone comic, and a one-season podcast that is joy. She kicks butts and eats nuts. What else is there?
She-Hulk: Jen, Again by Rainbow Rowell, illustrated by Rogê Antônio
For fans of the delightful fourth-wall-bursting Marvel Universe TV show of the first name, here’s the comic where Jennifer Walters tries to rebuild her legal career after becoming the Sensational She-Hulk. But returning to your old life is never easy, especially when you are a Hulk. And if you can’t get enough legal and superhero humor (because we need more of it, no seriously), there are five volumes!
Poorly Drawn Lines: Good Ideas and Amazing Stories by Reza Farazmand
Poorly Drawn Lines brings absurdity and profundity to life with animals including a bear, a snail, a turtle, and a crow. Animals pontificate on life and friendship. A scuba diver interviews a sea horse while two pigeons contemplate the future and six cashews. It’s irreverent and silly at times. Plus there’s even a season of the animated comic strip on Hulu. There are four collections of PDL, with the most recent one published in September: Hope It All Works Out.
Phoebe and Her Unicorn by Dana Simpson
When I first heard about Phoebe and Her Unicorn, someone compared it to Calvin & Hobbes except the main character doesn’t have an aversion to members of other genders. That hooked me. I loved Calvin and Hobbes and so I was pleased this webcomic came into my life. Phoebe is a young girl who helps a unicorn named Marigold Heavenly Nostrils who is transfixed by her own image in a pond. When granted one wish, Phoebe asks the unicorn to be her friend. Thus a friendship born out of wishes was born and it’s been great to see how both characters have grown. Also, in this world, people can see Phoebe, which adds a whole new level of fun watching Marigold interact with Phoebe’s parents, friends, and more. There are 20 books published, with the 21st installment, Unicorn Book Club, coming out next year.
Sarah Scribbles by Sarah Andersen
Andersen brings all the delights and anxieties of adulthood to life in her webcomic. They are semi-autobiographical including her cat. They show the absurdity of being an adult but in a heartfelt, affirming way. Also, Cryptid Club, her 2022 collection of all comics cryptid, is such a perfect collection of books.
xkcd: volume 0 by Randall Monroe
Yes, it’s another web-based comic but it’s hilarious. Who knew that it only took a few stick figures and a heck of a knowledge of STEM to make even the most niche things hilarious? I love how broad the topics covered are, from physics and geology to romance. Granted it can be very funny and break your heart at the same time. If you hover your mouse on the comic, you’ll get hover text that adds another layer of humor to it all. He’s also written What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions and Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words, which are also hilarious.
So that’s just eight comics that embody the legacy of the funny pages! If you want more webcomics, here’s a list of 50 webcomics I put together a couple years ago. Or if you want some lighthearted comics, here’s another Book Rioter list.
