Some Nerd Girl

Okay, let me start by saying that I read a lot. And by that I mean… A LOT. I read a metric f*ck ton of stuff. Blogs, novels, comics, books, graphic novels, webcomics, tumblrs, twitter. A lot!

I read a shocking amount of online comics. And if you want more recommendations than what I am listing here just let me know. I am just going to specifically talk about some feminist and nerdy ones right here and now.

Maybe you have already heard of some of these online comics. And if you haven’t; then I hope you give them a chance and grow to love them as much as I do.

1. XKCD: I honestly feel like I HAVE to include XKCD in any mention of nerd webcomics. It is probably the most well known and poorly drawn. [https://xkcd.com/385/]

Here’s why you should love it: What it lacks in artistic skill it makes up for in general nerdiness. This is created by a guy who gets it right about women in geek culture pretty often. He’s what I call hard nerdery. Math jokes abound.

Here’s a favorite of mine:

2. Questionable Content: This one is outwardly just a great comic about relationships and dating. However, the creator of this (a guy) has recently done a great job of including all sorts of relationships, genders, ethnicities. [http://questionablecontent.net/]

Here’s why you should love it: The thing that puts it on my list for sci-fi is the development of artificial intelligence in this world. The AI are some of my favorite recurring characters. It’s also very interesting to watch the progress of his artistic skills as time has gone by.

My favorite quote from the comic:

3. Hark! A Vagrant!: This is another comic that is hard nerdery and generally super dorky. The creator is a Canadian and a woman. [http://www.harkavagrant.com/]

Here’s why you should love it: She makes jokes about historical stuff and I really can’t even explain what is going on with her except that she’s hilarious. I own a print and t-shirt of hers and I want more. She is a f*cking genius!

A favorite drawing of hers (and the glow in the dark shirt I own!):

4. The Hues: Okay, this comic is the sh*t! It is created by a very sweet woman I follow on Twitter. [http://thehues.alexheberling.com/]

Here’s why you should love it: Besides having a mostly female cast, multiple genders and sexualities presented and a POC main character. How about women with superpowers fighting robot alien invaders? I feel like this creator basically took that advice that if you want something to exist you should make it yourself.

BEWARE! (Or be excited), thar be adult content ahead!

5. Oglaf: This one is 100% NSFW. Seriously. It starts out pretty slow with an ongoing storyline that I don’t really like. But it soon becomes one of the funniest webcomics I have ever read. [http://oglaf.com/sextiles/]

Here’s why you should love it: It is smutty fantasy, and not like sex fantasy (though it has a lot of sex). More like dragons and magic and shapeshifter fantasy. It is created by a woman. Lots of homoerotica too. The below image is one of the better ones that was not ridiculously indecent. It was tough to find one.

Here’s a favorite of mine:

6. Starfighter: This one does not do so well with the feminist aspect as it appears to take place in some all male dystopian future in space. [http://starfightercomic.com/comic.php]

Here’s why you should love it: There is a ton of homosexual relationships and encounters depicted in this one. Which I excitedly endorse. I can’t really tell where this comic is going. It is fascinating and interesting and I wish it updated more often. I also have no clue who created it. The whole thing is very mysterious and beautiful. A LOT of graphic adult content, yada yada.

7. Chester 5000XYV: Have I spoken about the art of any of the other comics yet? No? I guess I was saving it for this one. This is a NSFW romantic comic set in Victorian times about a woman and a robot. It is created by a woman. [http://jessfink.com/Chester5000XYV/?p=34]

Here’s why you should love it: It is beautifully drawn. There are no words, only gorgeous art. It has a compelling story. I love her use of borders and perspective in her storytelling. And in case you missed it, robot sex!

So there you have it. Yes, I do read more online comics than this. Think I am missing out on something good? Let me know in the comments! I definitely don’t have enough to read in my life.

Maurnas is the barely anonymous alias of a reclusive Floridian fangirl. She has an alleged humor blog at cursitivity.WordPress.com and can also be found at maurnas@cursitivity on Twitter. She writes almost as much as she reads but has done nothing with her debatable talents thus far other than all the blogging and tweeting and writing.