Slashy Webcomic Recs

[shadowfireflame]

[Just realized this has been sitting around on my hard drive for far too long (oops!) and I should share for those who might be interested!]

Although I follow lots of more nerdy webcomics, I recently discovered that, yup, there are slashier ones out there—lots of them boy’s love/BL/yaoi or m/m, call it what you will. And some are really excellent. So I thought I’d compile a list of the ones I enjoyed enough to follow. If you know of any others, please do let me know! Thanks to meiface for pointing out Oglaf and Teahouse to me, and to amanuensis for Roulette!

• Ace of Beasts
  In a lighthearted fantasy world with lots of human/animal hybrids, two swordsmen (Xerxes and Osric) travel the world in search of a sorcerer who cursed Osric to be a fiery demon. They’re not that concerned, though, and have plenty of very hot sex on the way—pun intended! And check out the equally good series Men + Monsters, set in the same universe.


• Artifice
  In the creator’s words, “Android soldier. Forbidden love. Aggressive therapy.” The character designs aren’t totally my thing, but the art is very clean, like a nice comic book, and the story had me hooked. The author also has an interesting publishing system where he’ll publish a bonus page once a donation target is reached.


• CyberSteel
  A very short 25-page yaoi, but the cyberpunk universe looks promising (if it’s ever updated again), and the sex is really, really hot.


• Ephemeral
  A twin prostitute with a sleeping disorder discovers all may not be as simple as it seems at his school. This webcomic has some of the best art I’ve seen, a really professional manga-style—some panels in grayscale and some in glorious color. There are sporadic grammar mistakes, but the story is intriguing, and the art is just fantastic.


• Grayscale
  Shapeshifter universe! Two shapeshifters, a dragon (Nine) and a phoenix (Dice), live in a corrupt fantasy city. Nine gets captured and taken to an evil research laboratory, where he meets Dice, a drug user who has reservations about the way the lab is being run. The relationship between the two evolves slowly and is satisfying. I like the art, which, yes, is mostly in grayscale but with splashes of color, and the newer panels are in glorious full color. The artist is great at capturing emotion.


• Kaito Shuno
  A cubicle worker decides he’s had enough one day and goes out to commit suicide when he meets a guy who prevents him. It’s the start of an epic domestic webcomic with two pretty boys and lots of sex. The art style is a very rough anime style with a bit of color that makes it easy to tell who everyone is, and the simple style allows the author to update so frequently. It’s pretty funny, too; I just raced through.


• Men + Monsters
  In a universe where humans hunt monsters, a kinky swordsman (Lex) falls in love with an equally kinky demon monster (Silas). Together with Lex’s robot companion, Akilas, they stage their deaths and travel the world looking for a place to accept them. There’s plenty of sex and a very sweet relationship between two (sometimes three) badasses. “How have you three lasted so long out here?” / “We screw in the face of death! Sometimes literally.” From the creators and universe of Ace of Beasts.


• Oglaf
  Dirty comedy, sex, and spider vaginas, this one has ’em all. There’s no story per se, just a bunch of hilarious scenes from a clever and wacky medieval fantasy universe.


• Oscura
  So far the story, about a bisexual heir to a great power, matches the title, but the art is really lovely and unusual. Each panel is more a colorful painting than a comic. There are some minor grammar mistakes, though.


• Purpurea Noxa
  Vampire gangs roam Italy in this prettily-drawn webcomic. So far the yaoi is in subtext (except in the gallery), but it looks like a promising world. My favorite is Jason, the vampire gang leader. :)


• Roulette
  Mafia and blackmail and hit men and gun play, oh my! If you like your guys muscled and cocky with long hair, this one is for you. The art is very clean and professional-looking in black and white. (P.S. There is a Kickstarter project in the works for more of this comic. Check it out!)


• Sfeer Theory
  Kind of a mix of steampunk and alchemy, Sfeer Theory (Dutch for “sphere”) is the story of a young man working as a lab technician as a university although he by all rights should be one of its scholars. Thankfully a guest professor notices his talent. Our protagonist, Luca Valentino, is absolutely delicious—and deliciously drawn—and the story is drawn in such a way that it brings out the comedy in each situation.


• Starfighter
  A gorgeous, ongoing yaoi set in space! With fighter pilots who also get it on like bunnies (albeit in a rather abusive way) in their spare time. And both the leads are so pretty and fiesty!


• Teahouse
  A sexy, plotty, well-written, and breathtakingly beautiful story about a brothel filled with hot guys and girls who cater to royalty. My favorite is the pink-haired Linneus.


• The Young Protectors
  By the same creator of Artifice, this one is about gay superheroes and a special gay supervillain. Again, the character designs are too masculine for me, but the lines and colors are clean and bright, and I look forward to seeing how the forbidden love progresses and if the villain is, well, villainous or has a softer side.

Others I have been recommended but haven’t read yet (may or may not be slashy; I haven’t read them yet!):

—Always Raining Here
—Strays
—The Silver Eye
—Transfusions
—Black Dram
—Kirai ja Nai Kedo
—Love Love
—Rebles
—Riot Nrrd (thanks, frith_in_thorns)
—TJ and Amal
—Two Rooks
—Yellow
—Elan Meets Rafa (thanks, nana_42)
—Spectre (thanks, nana_42)
—5th and Main (thanks, nana_42)
—Tough (thanks, nana_42)

Helpful sites in finding these:

—The Slash Pile
—The Yaoi Review
—Ohfuckyaoi on tumblr
—Sebasu on tumblr
—novalis_b (has a list on the right side)

Comments

[frith_in_thorns]

Have you come across Riot Nrrd? It's a completely sweet and adorable webcomic about a bunch of queer college friends (okay, so it starts out pre-college, but they're all there now).

[shadowfireflame.livejournal.com]

No, I haven't--thanks for the rec. It looks cute. :)

[appleling.livejournal.com]

Ooohh waaahh THANK YOU FOR THESE!!

[shadowfireflame.livejournal.com]

Haha, no problem! Hope they're useful to someone. My favorites so far are Teahouse and Starfighter. :)

[appleling.livejournal.com]

*squeeze* I doubt I have time for these but thanks still! You should put up more recs!! Manga/Anime/Fanfics/Whatever...

[shadowfireflame.livejournal.com]

Ohhhh trust me, I am working on a massive reclist, but I don't think you're in the BBC Sherlock fandom, so I don't know if you will find them helpful...But yeah, that's basically where I'm at now. LOL.

[appleling.livejournal.com]

Well... I've not watched it, BBC Sherlock I mean so... yeah. I noticed we have pretty much the same interest when it comes to fics... well, almost the same. So, maybe after browsing through your recs, I'd be motivated enough to hunt down the series and watch it?

*flinty eye stare* You're not a Twilight fan are you... There won't be any... Twilight recs, will there?

[shadowfireflame.livejournal.com]

(Pardon my French, but) FUCK NO THERE WILL NEVER BE ANY TWILIGHT RECS. I did some of my RL friends the courtesy of reading the first Twilight book and watching the first and second movies, but I am so disgusted by that series that I have difficulty relating to those who like it. It's so immensely insulting and degrading to women that it vaguely sickens me, actually. So, heh, never fear about there being any Twilight recs!

I really was not expecting to like BBC Sherlock as much as I have, but there are only six episodes, and the first three are on Netflix, so I indulged and fell in love with the two main characters. There are issues with the show, but I love the two leads and their homo-romantic, coupley dynamic enough to overlook those issues. My friend told me that if I gave it 15 minutes, I would be hooked, and she was correct. :)

I'm not sure when I'll post the rec list. It's more than a little out of control at the moment, and I kind of like to feel that my lists are "complete," i.e. that I've read everything major in a fandom before I post it. And I'm not even partially there yet.

Sherlock fandom has been very strange to me because with the exception of about three stories, I haven't come across any badfic for it. Meaning that almost everything I read is long and exceptional. It's very confusing! I'm used to having to scour through pages of poorly written things to find the gems, but I...can't find any. It's like it doesn't exist... :D

[appleling.livejournal.com]

OMIGAWDOMIGAWDOMIGAWD!! *glomptacklesqueeze* I LOVE YOU FOR THAT COMMENT ON TWILIGHT!! Seriously, that series is one hell of an irritating torn in the side! I mean, seriously, sparkly vampires? Edward's way too enamored with Maybeline's Water Shine Diamonds and should tone down on it because frankly, sparkly vampires are ridiculous!

And oh, no bad fics in Sherlock fandom?! That's like... whoa... Maybe I really should try read one... or two... or more...

[shadowfireflame.livejournal.com]

Hahaha, I don't know if there are no bad fics in Sherlock fandom or if I'm just getting better at avoiding them (without even trying, it seems).

Yes, I dislike the idea of sparkly vampires (LOL at your Maybeline's Water Shine Diamonds!!), but really, other than the generally poor writing, the thing that bothers me most in Twilight is Bella's extreme passivity and lack of character. She gets to make, what, like one or two decisions throughout the entire course of the series? And that's it?

But if you like non-sparkly vampires, Sherlock fandom has a metric ton of well-written AUs, including vampire fic. In fact, I just finished a long one called Stranger at the Gate that was fantastic. I don't know if it makes sense without watching the series since I watched the show before reading it, but I suspect it would hold up. Just if you're bored or something! :D

[appleling.livejournal.com]

Well... honestly, if I were to ever meet Edward one day (hope not!) I'd so tell him, "Dude, you're doing it wrong! The Water Shine Diamonds only go on LIPS damnit! Not your body!! If you want that glowy effect on your body, HARLOOWWW... ever heard of tanning salons?! Bronze body make-up?! *scoffs* Sparkly vampires are soooo last century! And what's with the droopy eye bags? Ever heard of kohl?! Even Dracula knows kohl! What is wrong with you?!"

Psst! Look what I found: Edward's creepy love for Maybeline

Yes! I have a weakness for vampire or werewolf fics - er, well-written ones. Can't stand those that are too sappy or too soap opera-ish - because that makes it almost like some sort of bad romance/erotica novel. Thanks for the rec though! I'll get to it... when I can. I'm so busy lately, I don't get more than 5 hours of sleep most weekdays (>.<)

[shadowfireflame.livejournal.com]

Oh, dear, now thanks to you I have visions of Edward starring in this commercial and going, "Maybe he's a vampire. Maybe it's Maybeline!!" :D

Can't stand those that are too sappy or too soap opera-ish - because that makes it almost like some sort of bad romance/erotica novel.

Yes, I couldn't agree more. We do have very similar tastes in fic, don't we?!

Oh, and don't worry about making time for reading it, it's really long and just something I suggested if you were ever bored and looking for some well-done vampirism. I do think it would read more enjoyably if you've seen the show, and I totally understand about being too busy to get enough sleep. Classes/work will do that, ugh. :(

[appleling.livejournal.com]

*nods* We do have very similar tastes in fics!! Speaking of fics, there's hptimetravel's fest!! I'm so excited that I posted FIVE prompts! *le sheepish* I do so love time travel!fics...

[shadowfireflame.livejournal.com]

Interesting! That's one fest I don't think I've ever heard of! I'll check it out. :)

[melusinahp.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank you for this!

[shadowfireflame.livejournal.com]

No problem! Hope it's helpful! I would rather prefer if some of the storylines were...a bit deeper or the characterizations a bit less obvious, but I'll certainly take what I can get, and the art is very pretty. :)

More good webcomics

[nana-42.livejournal.com]

I Highly recommend Starfighter, TJ and Amal (I laughed, I cried) , Starfighter, Teahouse (freakin hilarious!) and Artifice.

Here are some more webcomics I recommend:
-Elan meets Rafa. A love story between a rich boy who gives up everything and a poor boy.
-Spectre. A Scifi tale. Not sure what it is about yet but it is very interesting. warning: graphic.
-5th and Main. About a prostitute and a down and out mechanic. Love this one but the updates are Really irregular. It drives me a little insane.
-The Young Protectors. Same author as Artifice. About gay superheros.
-Tough. Also by the same author as Artifice. About a phillipino american boy whos is dragged into gay bashing by friends. He ends up going against his friends and becomes friends with the guy being bashed.

They are all BL.

Re: More good webcomics

[shadowfireflame.livejournal.com]

Sweeeeet! Thanks so much for the recs! I will add them to the list! (And the more graphic the better, in my opinion, lol!) :)

Oh, I forgot to say that I've been following The Young Protectors! I should add it to the list! :)

Suggestion

[toxic kage (from livejournal.com)]

Hey don't know if anyone suggested this but Transfusion is a pretty good webcomic if you haven't read it yet. It's a BL, by the way.

Re: Suggestion

[shadowfireflame.livejournal.com]

Ooh, thanks very much for the suggestion! I will add it to the list!

Great list

[elizabeth r. bryant (from livejournal.com)]

Thanks for the amazing list! I guess you all need to check this awesome list of top 100 webcomics (http://webcomicshub.com/webcomics/top_100) of our times.