Five Fantastic Web Comics

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The internet has become a great place for budding comic book artists to showcase their work. Here are 5 fantastic web comics that you can find on social media that will make you chuckle:

1.The Pigeon Gazette

Author: Jane Zei

Platform: Tumblr , Facebook.

Subject: Social Awkwardness, Introverts, Semi-Autobiographical

Are you a little bit socially awkward? A little bit dorky? Do you struggle to stand out in a crowd? If you answered "yes" to those questions then you will probably get a kick out of the Pigeon Gazette. The Pigeon Gazette is a semi-autobiographic comic written by Jane Zei.

Why is it called the Pigeon Gazette? In an interview with www.gocomics.com Jane explained why she chose that for the title: "I've always considered the pigeon the perfect, compassionate metaphor for the humbly average human being."



The Pigeon Gazette is about an average, slightly dumpy, unremarkable looking woman who could be any of us. This hilarious web comic really touches well on what it means to be socially awkward. It is available on Facebook and Tumblr.

2. Hedger Humor

Author: Adrienne Hedger

Platform: Word Press, Facebook

Subject: Parenting, relationships, jobs, family, being an adult.

Hedger Humor is one of my favourite comics on Facebook. It pops up in my feed regularly alongside Sarah's Scribbles and Fowl Language. This popular comic has over 205,782 likes on Facebook. Hedger Humor always makes me smile because it feels so spot on. It feels like it takes forever to grow up and then one day you're out of school and working a 9 to 5 job and then you're married and looking for a house and spending your weekends doing boring things like shopping for bathroom tiles. How does someone be an adult? It can be so hard. How do you balance work and family life and home?



Hedger Humor understands this well. Adulting can be hard. Nothing makes you feel more adult than being responsible for yourself, a house, and a kid. If you've never heard of the word 'adulting' it started off as an internet meme in 2014 on Twitter. It means 'to act in a responsible and grown up fashion' and is used in a verb in a sentence to describe doing things like paying the bills, doing chores, or having a job. It might sound dumb on paper but let's be honest. It can be hard to be an adult. It can also be hard to be the mature one around your kids and that's why Hedger Humor is funny and on point. Who doesn't hate going to the gym or cooking dinner every night? If you struggle with being a grown up you will like this comic.

Hedger Humor is written and illustrated by Adrienne Hedger. Adrienne Hedger is a writer and a cartoonist who has worked on greeting cards, cartoons and articles for online publications, and contributed to three books: these boobs could talk If These Books Could Talk, world according to toddlers The World According to Toddlers and Momnesia: A Humorous Guide to Surviving Your Post-Baby Brain.

3. Cheer Up, Emo Kid

Author: Enzo

Platform: Instagram, Facebook, Website.

Subject: Dating and relationships.

"Cheer Up, Emo Kid" is the brain child of Enzo, a Filipino-Canadian comic artist who works in Vancouver, BC. This delightful comic was launched back in 2008 and has achieved significant success since then amassing a decent sized audience of over 216,668 people on Facebook. Enzo first knew he wanted to be a comic book artist when he was 14 years old. He has been making comics for almost a decade now.

He started "Cheer Up, Emo Kid" when he was a teenager. The word "Emo" was very big in pop culture at the time. It was used in the 90s to describe teenagers who were going through an awkward phase in their adolescence.

An emo usually wore a lot of black and heavy makeup and generally looked miserable and moody a lot of the time. Enzo has expressed regret for the title choice and has commented that he feels like the comic has aged badly because of it. He has even thought about changing the title to something else more than once.



Enzo gets inspiration for his comics from real life. The comic has gone through a lot of changes in its lifetime. "Cheer Up, Emo Kid" is a semi-autobiographical work that Enzo uses as a crutch to help him get through difficult phases in his life. If he is in a good place in life then the comic will be light-hearted but if he is in a bad place the comic might contain much more mean-spirited and politically incorrect jokes. Enzo has stated that he makes his comics for himself. If he can find humour in something that is making him unhappy it makes him feel better.

Enzo started "Cheer Up, Emo Kid" when he was in high school after he went through a bad break up . He wanted an outlet that he would be able to channel all of his sadness and anger and hate into. The comic started off as a way for him to try and make himself laugh and as a public service announcement about things you should never do in a relationship. The comic has gone through its own ups and downs since then and is a little less depressing and more humorous and uplifting now.

It makes for a fun read.

4. Chief O'Brien at Work

Author: Jon Adams

Platform: Website, Twitter

Subject: Science Fiction, Parody, Bad Jobs, Space Travel, Star Trek.

I am a huge fan of Star Trek. Two of my favourite shows growing up were Star Trek Deep Space Nine and Star Trek Voyager. Chief O'Brien started off as a minor character in Star Trek: The Next Generation. He worked as the Chief Transporter Officer on board the USS Enterprise-D. After the show finished he moved over to Star Trek Deep Space Nine as the station's Chief of Operations.

Chief O'Brien has always been one of my favourite Star Trek characters. No offence to Colm Meaney, the actor who plays him, but he is not the most attractive man and that always made him feel really realistic to me. O'Brien looks and feels and acts like a real person. He's a bit on the tubby side, a little bit rough round the edges, he's a husband and a father, likes his scotch and hanging out in Quark's bar playing darts with his best friend Julian. How could you not like the Chief? He's a Mr Joe Regular. Just your average, ordinary man.



I discovered Jon Adam's comic "Chief O'Brien at Work" after the website i09 posted a review of it. The concept of "Chief O'Brien at Work" was immediately intriguing to me. It got me thinking…yeah…I bet some of the jobs on a starship would be pretty darn boring. But I guess everyone has to start at the bottom of the ladder, right? Think about how boring it must be to be the Chief Transporter Officer. You spend all day in a room manning a console. The only time people come and see you is when they need you for something. You never get to go on adventures and you feel ignored by your co-workers.

It could be a comedy set in a regular office except it's on a space ship.

In an interview with the website TrekMovie.com Jon Adams explained how the idea to do a comic about "Chief O'Brien at Work" came to him one day after he thought what a lonely, boring and hilariously bad job it must be to be forced to wait in a room until someone needs you. And thus a comic strip was born!

Jon Adams posted the first "Chief O'Brien at Work" comic strip to his website in 2013. In 2014 the comic began to gain an audience on Buzzfeed and Reddit. Jon has posted over 160 episodes of "Chief O'Brien at Work" on his website since then. He has promised to keep the comic going as long as he can keep on coming up with ideas to make O'Brien's life miserable.
5. The Gentleman's Armchair

Author: Wes Hotchkiss

Platform: Website, Facebook, Twitter.

Subject: Space, Science Fiction, Humorous Observations about Life

Wes Hotchkiss is a graphic design artist working in Salt Lake City who could probably get a job as a writer working on Family Guy if he wanted. His web comic "The Gentleman's Armchair" could easily fit into Family Guy as one of their short and often bizarre cut away jokes. "The Gentleman's Armchair" is a hilarious and sometimes plain weird web comic about space, science fiction and random observations about life like this strip about internet addiction:



My first thought after reading that strip was "Oh my god, I have a problem."

Wes Hotchkiss started "The Gentleman's Armchair" in late 2016. The comic is proving popular online. It currently has over 136, 034 likes on Facebook and 1,627 followers on Twitter.

In an interview with Unearthedcomics.com Wes said that there was no real meaning behind his comic. It was just a reflection of how silly life can be.

His motto is "Life is funny. Laugh at it."

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