My Personal Top 10 Favorite Comics I've Made [Patreon Exclusive]

Eugh- a top 10 list? Have you mistakenly wandered into the official patreon of freaking Kotaku? No, you aren't mistaken. I've made over 100 comics at this point, and thought this might be a good opportunity to share some of my personal favorites- my own tastes may vary wildly from what the fan consensus is, after all. This will also act as a good opportunity to reflect on some past comics I haven't had a chance to comment on yet. So, if you'll indulge me for a moment, here we go- the comics themselves will be hotlinked, with the commentary below. 

This was a hard list to finalize- picking favorites is tough, as I like these all for different reasons- but here we go. 

10. Philadelphia Elections [LINK] 

This is one of the few older comics to make the list- the pre-drawing tablet, pre-'guide' format, extra-bad art beany. That being said, I think the joke concept here is still quite strong. The notion of Philadelphia- brothers with Boston, NYC and Chicago in being 'dumbshit sports cities' not only holds a vote over a topic as inane as sandwich pride- then rigs the vote it would have won anyway- then celebrates this non-victory with a level of absurd, barbarian pride that only a 'dumbshit sports city' can muster- annihilating their own city. The guy brandishing the brick saying 'sangwich' is great, too. 

9. Hot Ones [LINK] 

The joke here is sort a niche one- one must be normie enough to be familiar with the minutae of the show 'Hot Ones' and also online enough to be familiar with this exact photo of Epstein. That being said, the joke here is tight, to the point, and punchy- the smiling, charismatic Sean Evans using his notoriously good research skills to flippantly surprise his guest with heinous Epstein photos, when he was instead expecting a silly photo of himself posing with a monkey, or something along those lines. Topical, absurd, satirical, no wasted fat. A good bit!

8. Guide To Whole Foods [LINK] 

A very recent one. These 'guide' type comics are filled dense with jokes- there are several good ones in the mix here- the peanut kid doing the dead Yamcha pose is maybe my favorite. Not much else needs to be said- this comic was absurdly popular on twitter and instagram, and its not hard to see why!

7. The Comic Store [LINK] 

Another iconic one. Every step of the comic works well here- the art is crisp, the flow of the text builds then pays off in a nice way, and I think the satire hits on a very specific topic that many people are deeply familiar with, but hasn't really been satirized well yet. It lampoons both western and eastern 'adult' comics, as well as the biases of the american comic book 'intellectual', but I'd like to think it does so in a way which is pointed and accurate, without getting overly mean spirited or angry. A good successor to the rap store- jokes about Limp Bizkit aren't quite as topical. 

6. Youtube Reaction Video [LINK] 

This is essentially just raw absurdism- a single, punchy joke. But it still makes me laugh in a primal, non-intillectual way. The image of the late Etika-esque youtuber, reacting in shock and amazement not at a burger king fight video or video game trailer, but at the absurd, eldritch machinations of the old testament God-- is funny! It just is. Funny face, absurd situation. Good comic!

5. Guide To Internet Misogyny [LINK] 

Another 'guide' style comic. Not only do I think the jokes and art are stronger in this one than the Whole Foods one (dog carcass, manlet cinema, hieronymous bosch), but it has a nice little ending- capping off the '''''''''simping'''''''''' with a bit or ironic sexism. This guy made a whole comic defending woman- only to flippantly tell one to shut up! What a delightful surprise. A well placed, curt "shut up" is a reliable comedy tool. 

4. Going Viral [LINK] 

Another one that doesn't need much justification- this comic was also immensely popular. I think the leadup jokes are only okay- but the final payoff is excellent. Punchy, satirical- as well as quite a bit dark. I'm a sucker for the combination of 'funny and sad'. The art is pretty solid here too, by my standards- I think I did a good job with the overall presentation. 

3. Women's Role Models vs Men's Role Models [LINK] 

People often overuse the phrase "this works on so many levels", but I think it applies here. The individual comments on both images are funny on their own- the visual of a monkey with a condom on his head is funny- and the grander, overall, 'Girls vs Guys' theme is funny, too- the contrast between women idolizing their beloved fictional role models, while the ideal role model in men's eyes is just an ape with a contraceptive stretched over his cranium, who lived and died an unchained spirit. Girls be like this, guys be like this- the formula still works!

2. Uplifting Cop Stories [LINK] 

Goofy imagery, political satire, crude internet comments, clever misdirection- this comic has it all. I'm beasting on the stick with this one. That image is so fucking good- our dear cop is completely oblivious to the fact that his own b-baller skills have unwittingly revealed his white nationalism to the world, leaving his own police department to do pop in the comments and attempt at damage control. This comic still makes me smile. 

1. Factory Farming [LINK] 

...wait, WHAT? This is number one? Who even remembers this one?

And yet, I still think it is incredibly strong. The world was not yet ready for it. The dialogue oscillates between dark realism, to goofy absurdity, then back to dark again, with philosophical monologue touching on the nature of American factory farming and animal cruelty, and finished with what I think is an extremely funny joke- a half cooked chicken, using its last bit of strength to raise its head and tell the young child in front of it to fuck off. 

Animal rights still haven't really penetrated the online left as a 'serious' issue. Which-whatever, fine. But you'd have to be an idiot not to at least acknowledge the horrors of factory farming, which is the only assumption necessary for this joke to work. Oh well! Sucks to suck, this is super funny. The comic is like a complete capsule narrative, with each character having their own individual personality, multiple good jokes, satire both of the meat industry and of bootstrap-ism, as well as a good message. It has everything! It has it all! While I've certainly refined my style and sense of humor, I'd love to get back to doing a comic that has this sort of all-over-the-place joke style and narrative.