So. This is going to have to serve as a bit of a roundup, and for that, I do apologize. Each and everyone of these artists has something very cool to offer, and deserve much more attention than what they're about to receive.
::Cat And Girl::
Much as the title implies, it is about a cat and a girl. It is an "experimental meta narrative". It is also awesome. Cat and Girl had won my heart with Dorothy Gambrell's character's delightful cynicism, long before I discovered the first reference to Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns. Cat and Girl ably navigates the circumstances and quandaries that your typical self aware quasi hipster encounters in their day to day life with a dry and cutting wit that also hits uncomfortably close to home. But in a fun way, like Stuff White People Like -- but before the book deal, and before they officially (circled if not) jumped the shark with that Oscar Parties entry on Oscar Day. (Boo!) Also, look for Bad Decision Dinosaur, who pops up to advocate bad decisions. (Duh! Napoleon so never should have listened to him!)
Gambrell's Girl is possessed by the horror and ennui that so many of us encounter when confronted by the reality of Life In America. Sad? Buy more. Angry? Buy more. Happy? Buy more! Disturbed by the albatross that is the Iraq "war"? BUY MORE. Also, hit up the all you can eat buffet before those food prices limit us to two plates per visit!
(not the best illustrative example of the above, but an inside joke at D&C)
::Marlys Magazine::
This is not so much a "web comic", but it is the internet home of Lynda Barry and the characters that populate her fantastic Ernie Pook comic strips, and you should absolutely make the time for a visit. For those familair with Lynda Barry and the divine Ernie Pook series that was routinely found in the back of "alternative newspapers" in the late '90s (and now, too... I think?) you know that Barry writes from an unhappily nostalgic place. Barry's comics center on growing up poor and other, with her main characters covered in freckles, with outrageous hair, unattractive glasses, and seem generally isolated in their sometimes claustrophobic lives. There is a busily austere beauty to Barry's work, and I have always greatly enjoyed reading everything that she has done (and am one of the few people that I know who purchased and own a copy of her 1999 novel Cruddy), and her collection of 100 Demons can never fail to break your heart or cause you to cringe in recognition of your own failings. For we are Lynda Barry, and Lynda Barry is we.
:: Laura Park::
Laura Park is an artist residing in Chicago, who, while not publishing a web comic per se, does have a webernet home for her comics and art. I'm not sure what to say about Laura Park, other than that I am absolutely crazy about her work. Her draftsmanship is impeccable, and, while her work tends towards and autobiographical bent, I feel that her work has more of a graphic novel feel than a comic feel. Of course, a graphic novel is indeed a comic, and I know nothing about these things, but those are my thoughts. Also, look for the occasional cameo from Duck & Cover favorite Julia Wertz of the Fart Party. (It was through Wertz' work that I had the good fortune to discover Ms. Park.) Laura Park loves great music, cooking, and has a cat and a pet pigeon -- named Nixon. A pigeon! Take the time to read every single on of her comics, and you can love her as well. Laura Park also deserves a much more extensive write up than this. Perhaps sometime in the future?
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