8 Teen-Friendly Webcomics Coming to Print

I have a minor obsession with webcomics.  Okay fine, with comics in general, but webcomics hold a special place in my heart for how easy they are to sell to teens.  Oh, you love your phone, but want something other than social media to look at?  BOOM, webcomics.  I am also always pumped to hear that a webcomic will be making it's debut as a print book and over at SLJ Brigid Alverson has compiled a useful list of 8 teen-friendly webcomics joining the world of print in 2018.

The list includes:
Homestuck (Andrew Hussie), a detailed fantasy about what happens when internet friends embark on a game together.

Space Boy (Stephen McCranie), where our protagonist, Amy, leaves the space colony where she grew up to attend high school on the Earth she has never seen.

Check Please!: Hockey (Ngozi Ukazu), in which Eric "Bitty" shares in mostly first-person narrative his shift from figure skating to hockey.

Check out the whole article and book list HERE.

Webcomics Wednesday

Let's read comics online!  For those who don't know, webcomics are just what they sound like, comics you read online.  Webcomics are a great resource to share with reluctant readers, graphic novel enthusiasts, and educators.  With the rise of 1-to-1 technology, it is important for librarians to have some great online reading resources to share with teachers.

If you are just getting started in the wonderfully diverse world of webcomics, I recommend taking a peek at The Booklist Reader's weekly webcomic highlight, Webcomics Wednesday.  Sarah Hunter is a rock star, tracking down awesome webcomics from across the great internet expanse and sharing them each Wednesday.  Check out her most recent highlight HERE.

What About Webcomics?

"What in the world is a webcomic?"

Recently, I posed this query to one of my TAG teens, and the responding look is one that I am growing incredibly familiar with.  It was a look of "Oh man, this lady is SO out of the loop."  Anyway, when we finally got past the significant disbelief in my apparently flagrant lack of knowledge on the subject, I was informed that webcomics are like, a Thing (yes, with a capital "T").  A webcomic is simply that, comics published on a website.  They can take various forms, from comic strips, to comic blogs, to full graphic novels.

Not sure if this format for comics really matters?  Well, Gene Luen Yang's Printz and Eisner winner,  American Born Chinese was originally published as a webcomic.

Not sure where to start exploring webcomics?  Here are some interesting intro sites and articles to get you started:

Webcomics World

The Booklist Reader: Webcomics Wednesday

Hey, Women! Comics!: Webcomics

BuzzFeed 

Want to read a webcomic?  Try one of these:

Unshelved

xkcd

Princess Princess

Hark! A Vagrant