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The Celebration Of Cartoons and Comic Strip Art

By Andrew Gibson, December 28th, 2008 in Inspiration | 128 Comments | Forum

By Andrew Gibson and Smashing Magazine Editorial Team

Comics aren’t just for children, as some people might think. There are many comics written with adults in mind, and this is reflected in the depth and scope of the artwork. Comic strips are widely read around the world in newspapers, magazines, books and the internet. Some are created simply to make people laugh, some are made to entertain (often with storylines worthy of a novel) and there are some that make political or social commentary.

Comic strips have a surprisingly long and interesting history. For instance, there’s evidence of comics in China from as long ago as the 11th century BC! Comics have evolved over the years with advances in technology and the changing styles of art and graphic design, and are often at the cutting edge of design.

The culture of an artist’s country is often a big influence on their work, and consequently comic styles are different around the world. We present you over 50 examples of beautiful comic strip artwork, from places as diverse as America, Europe, Asia and Latin America. Some interesting articles and resources are listed at the bottom of the post.

You may be interested in the following related showcases:

50 Beautiful Examples of Comic Strip Art

United States Comic Strip Art

Dilbert
Dilbert is known for its satirical office humor about a white-collar, micromanaged office featuring the engineer Dilbert as the title character. Written and drawn by Scott Adams.

Calvin and Hobbes
Calvin and Hobbes is a comic strip written and illustrated by Bill Watterson, following the humorous antics of Calvin, an imaginative six-year old boy, and Hobbes, his energetic tiger.

Garfield
A classic by Jim Davis. Published since June 19, 1978. As of 2007, it is syndicated in roughly 2,580 newspapers and journals and currently holds the Guinness World Record for being the world’s most widely syndicated comic strip.

Imaginary Daughter
Imaginary Daughter is the story of a guy who we’ll be calling Father, and the kid that suddenly appears one day in his life, and who is a figment of his imagination. Created by Karchesky.

Yo & Dude
A web comic strip about a cat, a dog and a bipolar conversation. What makes this comic strip really different is the way it is designed. Very unusual forms and colors for a traditional comic strip. Created by Eric Hews.

Sourly Sweet
A serie comics that captured our attention with the way it is presented. A photo comic strip, created by [sdfv].

Emily the Strange
Fictional alternative culture character created by Rob Reger.

X-Men
A team of superheroes from Marvel Comics.

Hellboy
Created by Mike Mignola.

The Order of the Stick
Rich Burlew’s comic satirises role-playing games and the surrounding culture.

Penny Arcade
Written by Jerry Holkins and illustrated by Mike Krahulik, Penny Arcade satirises video game playing culture.

Dresden Codak
In the words of the author Aaron Diaz - ‘An illustrated celebration of science, death and human folly’.

Girl Genius
Ongoing comic book series turned webcomic telling the story of Agatha Hetrodyne, a student at Transylvania Polygnostic University, in an alternate history Victorian setting., Written and drawn by Phil and Kaja Foglio.

Family Man
A graphic novel by Dylan Meconcis, about a confused young man in the middle of the Enlightenment.

Clan of the Cats
The story of Chelsea Chattan who turns out to be a witch and a werepanther. Created by Jamie Robertson.

Rob and Elliot
A webcomic drawn by Clay Yount and Hampton Yount. Rob and Elliot are roommates.

European Comic Strip Art

European comic strip art is known for its stylistic richness and diversity.

Olle Berg
Olle Berg is a Swedish cartoonist. There are lots of comics on his website.

Gummbah
A Dutch comic.

Rogues of Clwyd-Rhan
A Dutch humorous fantasy comic.

Adventures of Tintin
This famous Belgian comic book, by Herge, has been around for nearly 80 years.

Asterix the Gaul
French comic books written by Rene Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo (Uderzo continued the series after Goscinny’s death in 1977).

Heinz
The famous Dutch comic book cat created by Rene Windig and Eddie de Jong.

Serpieri Clone
Created by Italian Comic Strip Artist Paolo Serpieri.

Milo Manara
Italian Comic Strip Artist Maurilio Manara uses the psuedonym Milo Manara and is best known for the erotic nature of his work.

The Metabarons
French comic book illustrated by Argentinian artist Juan Gimenez.

Andrea Bruno
Italian Comic Strip Artist known for his dark, apocalyptic style.

Persepolis
A French comic book written by Iranian Marjane Satrapi.

Lapinot et Les Carottes de Patagonie
Created by prolific French cartoonist Lewis Trondheim.

Les Innommables (The Unspeakables)
Created by Didier Conrad, a young cartoonist who help revolutionise Belgian comic book Spirou in the eighties.

Not Funny (Nichtlustig)
Webcomic from Germany by Joscha Sauer.

British Comic Strip Art

Strontium Dog
Created by John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra and published in 2000AD, a famous weekly British science-fiction comic book.

Sinister Dexter
Created by Dan Abnett and Paul Johnson and also published in 2000AD.

Monster Club
Created by Richard Emms and Theo Bain.

Dennis the Menace
Cult comic book character from British comic The Beano, drawn by various artists since 1951.

Scary Go Round
The bizarre escapades of Shelley Winters, by John Allison.

Gunnerkrigg Court
Strange happenings at a school called Gunnerkrigg Court by Tom Siddell.

Russian Comic Strip Art

Krokodil
The Soviet comic from 1965.

Masjanja
The legendary Russian comic, created by Oleg Kuvaev.

How The Very First Medicines Were Invented
From comic book magazine Arbuz.

Where’s Daddy?
Also from comic book magazine Arbuz.

Neo Ark
Created by a Russian Comic Strip Artist known as GrimJim.

Pixon and Gigo
Also created by the Russian Comic Strip Artist known as GrimJim.

Dark Warrior
A Russian comic book for adults.

Milky Girl
The protagonists in Milky Girl are always women.

Chinese Comic Strip Art

Chinese Hero
Created by Hong Kong artist Ma Wing Shing, the artistic style of this comic book led to the modern day look of Manhua - the name for Comic Strip Art produced in China. The earliest known Manhua drawings date from the 11th century BC in the form of stone reliefs.

DevaShard
Written by a Chinese artist known as Zen, DevaShard is inspired by an Indian mythological text called the Mahabharata.

The Ravages of Time
An on-going Chinese manhua series re-telling the events in the Three Kingdoms Period of Chinese history.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Created by Andy Sett and based on the film of the same name.

Latin American Comic Strip Art

Gaturro
Argentine comic strip created by cartoonist Cristian Dzwonik.

Mafalda
Famous Argentina comic strip by Argentina Comic Strip Artist Joaquin Salvador Lavado. The first comic strips appeared in 1962 in Argentine newspaper Clarin.

La Cucaracha
Created by Mexican-American artist Lalo Alcaraz and focuses on Latino culture and politics.

Clemente
Created by Carlos Loiseau and published in Argentine newspaper Clarin.

Ariel Olivetti
Argentina artist Ariel Olivetti created comic strips in Argentina such as El Cazador de Aventuras (The Adventure Hunter) and went on to become an illustrator for Marvel comics.

Japanese Comic Strip Art

Japanese Comic Strip Art, also known as Manga (the Japenese work for comics and print cartoons), has a long and complex history. The modern version of the art form emerged after World War II.

Naruto
Written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto.

Bleach
A Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tite Kubo.

One Piece
Written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda One Piece follows the adventures of Monkey D Luffy and his ragtag crew of heroic pirates.

Kekkaishi
Created by Yellow Tanabe, the story of teenagers Yoshimori Sumimura and Tokine Yukimura who defend their school from spirits drawn to the sacred land it’s built on.

Atashi no Sentaku
A cheezy love story from Dream Manga Group.

Sinfest
A more conventional comic strip, created by Tatsuya Ishida/Museworks.

Megatokyo
A popular online webcomic (manga), created by Fred Gallagher.

Web Comics

Blaugh
The (Un)official comic of the blogosphere - colorful, satirical, and comical. Brad Fitzpatrick is bLaugh’s artist, and Chris Pirillo is its creative writer.

PC Weenies
A comic strip about computers, technology and design. Krishna M. Sadasivam (pronounced Sah-DAS-eh-VHAM) is the creator of The PC Weenies.

ExtraLife
The comic is updated three days a week and continues to this day. The comic itself sometimes features regular characters, but often is more about the subject matter and less about who is there to portray the subject. A comic strip created by Scott Johnson.

SMBC Comics
A comic about life and relationships, by Zach Weiner.

OK/Cancel
OK/Cancel is a comic strip collaboration co-written and co-illustrated by Kevin Cheng and Tom Chi. The subject matter focuses on interfaces, good and bad and the people behind the industry of building interfaces - usability specialists, interaction designers, human-computer interaction (HCI) experts, industrial designers, etc.

xkcd
A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language. Created by Randall Munroe.

Gaping Void
“Cartoons drawn on the back of business cards”. A very minimalistic, yet beautiful comic strip that always gives you something to think about. Created by Hugh MacLeod.

The Joy Of Tech
The Joy of Tech is a comic about technology and pop culture. The comic focuses on Apple-related news and recent developments in technology. Created by Nitrozac and Snaggy.

Geek & Poke
A comic about technology, created by Oliver Widder from Hamburg, Germany.

The Laugh-Out-Loud Cats
The Laugh-Out-Loud Cats comic, regularly created by Ape Lad.

Gamebrit Comics
A comic focused on the gaming culture.

Resources

The 5 Most Unintentionally Hilarious Comic Strips
Wikipedia - Comic Books
Wikipedia - Manga
The Comics Flickr Group
Comic Art Flickr Group
Comics en español
Wikipedia - Manhua
Comixpedia
The comics encyclopedia.
Web Cartoonists’ Choice Awards
Web Japan - Japanese Comic Strips and CartoonsThe story of Japanese manga.
Comic Strip Fan Club
BBC Cult - British Comics

You may be interested in the following related showcases:

About the author

Andrew Gibson is a photographer and writer. He runs Magical Places Fine Art - a resource for fine art, travel and documentary photographers.

Published in Inspiration, December 28th, 2008
Tags: cartoons, comics, inspiration, strip

1.

gamma-normids (December 28th, 2008, 3:21 pm)

Cool, really. But.. Naruto?!?!?!?!?
2.

Vitaly Friedman & Sven Lennartz (December 28th, 2008, 3:27 pm)

@gamma-normids (#1): what is with Naruto? It is in the list.
3.

pringshia (December 28th, 2008, 3:51 pm)

Great list, but no Cyanide and Happiness? :(
4.

Gabi Butcher (December 28th, 2008, 3:51 pm)

Loved them all but I have a Web tip:
Link [web.me.com]
What the Duck is awesome!!!
5.

Kevin (December 28th, 2008, 3:51 pm)

some other great webcomics… nice illustration styles.. Link [www.theoutercircle.com] and Link [www.duelinganalogs.com]. Steve Napierski does nice work.
6.

Ozeki (December 28th, 2008, 3:54 pm)

This post is missing a bit of Berserk in the japanese section.
7.

myows (December 28th, 2008, 4:09 pm)

wow … what a showcase !
8.

max | agencyzebra (December 28th, 2008, 4:19 pm)

I’d like to add NC Winters Link [freelanceswitch.com]. I love his style !
9.

Spi (December 28th, 2008, 4:20 pm)

I think there’s a mistake on the link for the Dilbert website.
Great showcase anyway :)
10.

Matias (December 28th, 2008, 4:27 pm)

Nik sucks. He started his career copying Daniel Paz & Rudy (another argentinian cartoonists), and every argentinian cartoonist hates him. Wouldn’t make the list (if I wrote it).
Instead of him, you could say something about Liniers (http://autoliniers.blogspot.com/ , I like his drawing style even when I found his strips too “emo”) and El Niño Rodríguez (http://www.criticadigital.com/nino/ ) whose style is awesome and his humor is really caustic.
11.

Jean Marcel (December 28th, 2008, 4:28 pm)

I missed “Turma da Mônica” a very popular comic book in Brazil and “Cyanide & Happiness”
12.

Kevin (December 28th, 2008, 4:44 pm)

You are missing the peanuts
13.

pati @-;– (December 28th, 2008, 4:45 pm)

I love many of them, but Mafalda is my favorite! :)
14.

James (December 28th, 2008, 4:58 pm)

It’s easy to pick holes in any list like this, as there will always be some favourite missing, but really!! - no mention of Robert Crumb - almost certainly the greatest comic book artist of his generation.
15.

denshaotoko (December 28th, 2008, 5:11 pm)

If you like cute, check out nemu*nemu Link [www.nemu-nemu.com]. It’s really good!
16.

abdel (December 28th, 2008, 5:38 pm)

amazing showcase :-)
17.

Arystor (December 28th, 2008, 5:38 pm)

Hey, what about Mortadelo and Filemon? The best special agents …
18.

Claudio (December 28th, 2008, 5:54 pm)

What about bilo y nano in webcomics in spanish?
19.

David (December 28th, 2008, 6:30 pm)

Don’t forget about Vomit 76: Link [www.vomit76.com]
20.

Devin (December 28th, 2008, 6:35 pm)

I wish the article went a little deeper to explain WHY these are great examples…it seems to only list a name and strip. Some of them did explain the basis of the strip, but even then it was only a sentence long or so.
21.

MK (December 28th, 2008, 6:50 pm)

baby blues? i like that! i think the emotions are captured nicely by the authors.
22.

Nattie (December 28th, 2008, 7:06 pm)

Why is Atashi no Sentaku on the list at all? It looks amateur at best, and there are many, many other amateur and professional attempts that trump it. Plus, the art style itself is almost a carbon copy of the mangaka, Arina Tanemura and definitely not original.

Also: “the Japenese work for comics and print cartoons” & “cheezy“?
23.

eric Hews (December 28th, 2008, 7:22 pm)

Thanks for including “Yo & Dude” in your retrospective. Nice to be amongst such terrific company.
24.

Quakeulf (December 28th, 2008, 7:33 pm)

You are really walking down the plank in this post…

In before serious shitstorm from people who see Fred Gallagher included in the Japanese comic section.
25.

filament21 (December 28th, 2008, 7:38 pm)

uhhhhh…. Link [www.achewood.com]
26.

Echo (December 28th, 2008, 8:13 pm)

Can this site get back to web design? Please? I like seeing related media, but this is a stretch, and kind of pointless/uninformed. For example: you included Xmen. Dozens of writers have drawn the same characters a few thousand times to varying degrees of quality, some of which are utterly horrendous. To include the entire series seems like a gigantic generalization. There are other comics in this post that have no business being in a “celebration of comic strip art”.This is a gigantic post with the feeling of “Here are a ton of drawings I like!” This post has no right being so longwinded, and is completely without focus or relevance to web design. Can we please bring Smashing back to the days where it focused on what it was good at instead of just showing us a few .jpegs the post’s author liked?
27.

Christopher Olberding (December 28th, 2008, 9:26 pm)

While I do slightly agree with Echo above, I might as well put in mine favorite not on the list, The Boondocks comic strip by Aaron McGruder is great.
28.

jayli (December 28th, 2008, 9:38 pm)

coollllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
29.

mave (December 28th, 2008, 9:39 pm)

No Chris Ware? HUGE oversight.
30.

aneeskA (December 28th, 2008, 10:12 pm)

Hi smashing magazine,

please consider this as a humble request. When you publish a “Top 50″ or “Top 100″ listing of something please break it into multiple parts so that I can go though the list without abandoning the process midway. Some how I find it very difficult to maintain my enthusiasm before even reaching the twentieth entry.

regards
– aneeskA
31.

Eli (December 28th, 2008, 10:13 pm)

Herge’s Adventures of Tintin! Yes! Looking forward to the new film as well.
32.

Rakesh.S (December 28th, 2008, 10:40 pm)

Nice collection. I specially liked the ‘Chinese Hero’ comic art.. All are nice
33.

Alex S (December 28th, 2008, 11:34 pm)

Asterix the Gaul + Obelix ,the best comics ever in my opinion.
34.

Simon Maris (December 29th, 2008, 12:23 am)

Impressive Collection!
A smashing comic is Gaston Lagaffe aka. Guust Flater.
It’s by an orgininally belgian author but has been translated into many languages. The official site is only in french, sorry.

Link [www.gastonlagaffe.com]
Link [en.wikipedia.org]
35.

nico (December 29th, 2008, 1:04 am)

No moebius no gir=incomplete
36.

Norm (December 29th, 2008, 1:12 am)

I can sympathize with Echo’s remarks with regards requesting more web design articles. It has been a stretch indeed. I think (and this is not meant as an insult nor to disrespect Smashing), but it seems like sites such as sitepoint offer more webdev discussions while Smashing is straying more into collections of art and freebies. Nothing necessarily wrong with this per-say, but if the site positions itself as an useful resource for the web, it seems to be gearing itself more and more towards those apects mentioned above.

On the other side of the coin, I suppose I can also sympathize with Smashing in that it is probably hard to please everyone. And not to mention it is easier to discuss collections of art, movies and such than it is researching and writting about web development (again, not meant as an insult or such). I would be curious to see the results from the polls about which direction Smashing should head into in ‘09 (unless I missed something).

But for what it’s worth, one of my favorite comics (France based if I am not mistaken) is Link [en.wikipedia.org] (sadly, the volumes are not plentiful nor frequent. But excellent animal characters and story lines that touch base on racism, adultry and corruption).

Cheers

NRG
37.

Mini0n (December 29th, 2008, 1:35 am)

Nice list but you missed Cyanide & Happiness and Gone With The Blastwave.
38.

Marko (December 29th, 2008, 1:42 am)

I like this one too Link [wulffmorgenthaler.com]
39.

STPo (December 29th, 2008, 1:51 am)

The picture you put below “Lapinot et Les Carottes de Patagonie” is the cover illustration of another comic book by Trondheim named “Walter” (Dargaud ed.). “Les Carottes de Patagonie” is a 500 pages black & white (great) graphic novel published by “L’Association”.
40.

Joan M. Mas (December 29th, 2008, 2:09 am)

Oversights can be condoned, the list is quite good. Of course everyone would change some bits to his or her preferences.
This one makes up for the lousy previous article “Showcase Of Brilliant (????)Comic Book Cover Art”.
41.

Bessy (December 29th, 2008, 2:13 am)

As mentioned before, Cyanide & Happiness belongs onto this list. Ctrl+Alt+Del and A Softer World are great, too.
42.

Ola (December 29th, 2008, 2:16 am)

You should check out Martin Kellerman also. Mostly about the story but it’s really well painted and well “directed” .. Link [www.pastan.nu]

He is huge in Sweden and Norway.
43.

ynk (December 29th, 2008, 2:18 am)

u forgot the most beautiful and fun french webcomic Link [www.bouletcorp.com]
44.

PomCompot (December 29th, 2008, 2:20 am)

Those listings are far from the best articles of Smashing. Seems like padding to fill a lack of inspiration.

Moreover, those listings are often far from being reference ones. There always are some useless debates on what is in the list and doesn’t deserve it, what is not in the list despite its worth. There are also often “Anglo-Saxon centric” (less in this one with some good European and Asiatic choices).

What would be more interesting would be some illustrations of what comics tricks could bring to design, and specifically web design. Comic layout, typography, colors, etc. are great subjects of study and a parallel with web design would be great.
45.

Jan (December 29th, 2008, 2:30 am)

Wow, not a single mention of sluggy freelance in webcomics? Thats cold.
46.

DKumar M. (December 29th, 2008, 2:33 am)

Nice collection Andrew, You can also add freelanceswitch’s comic strip in your collection.
47.

Sean (December 29th, 2008, 2:33 am)

You missed Link [www.phdcomics.com] a web comic for Ph.D students.
48.

Sebastiaan Stok (December 29th, 2008, 2:55 am)

Don’t forget glitchtown ;)
Link [www.glitchtown.com]
49.

Jimmy (December 29th, 2008, 3:04 am)

How could you leave out Cyanide & Happiness. Such a big and great webcomic.
Link [explosm.net]
50.

Anorgan (December 29th, 2008, 3:14 am)

I would mention Link [bilal.enki.free.fr]!
51.

Blogging2U (December 29th, 2008, 3:50 am)

i love emily the strange. creative yet strange in its way. lol

Link [www.blogging2u.com]
52.

Valdecir Carvalho (December 29th, 2008, 3:51 am)

I also would like to suggest What the Duck comic and FrelanceSwitch comic in this collection
Link [www.whattheduck.net]
53.

Bruno (December 29th, 2008, 3:52 am)

very nice collection but what about the brasilian comics?
54.

Jan Alvin (December 29th, 2008, 4:01 am)

I love those from Japan. MANGA!!!!!!
55.

Boris (December 29th, 2008, 4:13 am)

Russian comics suck.
56.

Jiří Sekera (December 29th, 2008, 4:18 am)

What about Link [www.wulffmorgenthaler.com] ? :)
57.

V1 (December 29th, 2008, 5:54 am)

How could you forget the Cyanide and Happiness from explosm.net

Link [www.explosm.net]

must be one of the top internet comics around
58.

Tadd (December 29th, 2008, 5:54 am)

I think Link [www.dominic-deegan.com] could be added to the Web Comics list easily. One of the best storys ever.
59.

Bramme (December 29th, 2008, 6:02 am)

I really think Explosm and Ctrl Alt Delete should’ve made it in the online comics list. They’re immensely popular.

As for the European strips: you really should have a look at Blacksad. It’s a Spanish/French production (the writer and artist are Spanish, but it’s published by French Dargaud) of 3 albums. Blacksad is set in a late 50’s film noir America. All characters are antropomorphic animals. Blacksad himself is a big black cat who’s a detective. The first two albums have been published in the US too and they’re translated in a bunch of languages, so no doubt you’ll be able to find a copy.
60.

Thorin (December 29th, 2008, 6:10 am)

Under European comics you forgot a lot of good Italian comics which were very popular in Italy but in Austria and former Yugoslavian states too.
exp.
Alan Ford is definitely one of the best comics ever and I’m very sorry it is not translated in to English language

Alan Ford - Link [en.wikipedia.org](comics)
Zagor - Link [en.wikipedia.org](comics)
Dylan Dog - Link [en.wikipedia.org]
Tex Willer - Link [en.wikipedia.org]
Commandant Mark - Link [en.wikipedia.org]
Mister No - Link [en.wikipedia.org]
Martin Mystère - Link [en.wikipedia.org]
61.

sigh (December 29th, 2008, 6:21 am)

at least the posts on comic books are somewhat improved since the previous one, which doesn’t mean it doesn’t need more improvement.
62.

Sam Dwyer (December 29th, 2008, 6:22 am)

No ‘Tankgirl’ by Jamie Hewitt in the UK comics section? and no ‘Peanuts’ either? As nice as some of the comics listed are, they’re hardly as influential as many you missed.
63.

metal_falsetto (December 29th, 2008, 6:23 am)

As much as I usually love these lists on your site, I really have to take exception with this one. It doesn’t seem like too much thought was put into compiling this list outside of geographical listings. Despite all being forms of sequential art, comic strips, graphic novels and web comics are all individual forms in their own right, and you do them a bit of an injustice by just lumping them all together. I can only imagine a lot of the people who frequent our website are nerdy aficionados of the sequential art form and might take exception to the half-hearted attempt at giving some sort of recognition to the art.

And as much as I find XKCD to be hilarious, I don’t think by any stretch of the imagination you could call it “beautiful.”
64.

Cristhian (December 29th, 2008, 6:43 am)

One of the best authors from the argentinian comic books, was Hector Oesterheld, and artist Solano Lopez, that created one of the greatest comics, El Eternauta
65.

Doug (December 29th, 2008, 7:11 am)

What about Liberty Meadows?
66.

ifkaaaaa (December 29th, 2008, 7:30 am)

what about Alan Ford and Lucky Luke?
67.

Steve (December 29th, 2008, 8:01 am)

Great collection, I love this cute gay couple orientated one Link [www.adamandandy.com].
68.

Paul H (December 29th, 2008, 8:11 am)

I think you’re missing Don Rosa’s cartoon art on the list… His stuff is damn good!
I even made a video of one of his stories: Link [www.vimeo.com]
69.

C (December 29th, 2008, 9:24 am)

Link [youthoughtwewouldntnotice.com]?

And while Naruto and Bleach are good comics in their own right and very popular, there are others that are much more influential and groundbreaking. I’ll bite my tongue about the mention of Megatokyo as well…

There needs to be more explanation as to *why* these comics have been chosen - what makes them so unique to be selected out of the masses?
70.

Thomas (December 29th, 2008, 9:26 am)

Jack Kirby?
71.

Michael Bubbly (December 29th, 2008, 9:29 am)

If you’re talking art, you’ve gotta get more of the photocomics in there. Check out Night Zero - A Post-Apocalyptic Photo-Comic.

If you haven’t yet seen it, there’s some pretty kick-ass art in there (be sure to start at the beginning!).
72.

Mark (December 29th, 2008, 9:41 am)

Sandman series by Neil Gaiman.
73.

Corto (December 29th, 2008, 9:58 am)

No Corto Maltese on the list? Russian comics? How the hell did they end up on the list?
74.

Yusuf1 (December 29th, 2008, 10:05 am)

whoa, nice list, i really love asterix, my fave book!
75.

qbix (December 29th, 2008, 10:10 am)

For Latin America, I think Link [www.trino.com.mx] and Link [www.rius.com.mx] are worth mentioning.
76.

Joe (December 29th, 2008, 10:18 am)

i like the old Superman cartoons. check out some of the best ones here for free. amazing artwork…. way before computers were around, those humans do rock.

Link [tesla.liketelevision.com]
77.

jurica (December 29th, 2008, 10:35 am)

Nice list. But really, Corto Maltese should be on the first place of european comic strip art…
I know it is easy to whine… it is hard to do something… so thank you for your effort ;)
BTW my favorite is Torpedo by Abuli and Toth Link [en.wikipedia.org]
78.

angrydad (December 29th, 2008, 10:39 am)

What, no RANXEROX!?! Only the best thing to come out of the european scene in the 80’s, period! Also, am I missing something or is there a distinct lack of Moebus on this supposed “list”?

While expansive at first blush, anything with out these two just aint complete.
79.

Dee (December 29th, 2008, 11:16 am)

Pardon my feminism, but I’m irritated by the prevalence of cute/sexy/erotic/pornographic female characters in this collection and the complete absence of cute/sexy/erotic/pornographic MALE characters. Perhaps you are (naturally) writing to your fanbase, but please remember that GIRLS READ COMICS TOO!

Frankly, I adore Milo Manara and I am a happy collector of Skydoll (featured on MilkyGirl’s cover), so the sexy girl-comics themselves don’t bother me. But where are the corresponding pretty boys? (I suppose you could argue that Ariel Olivetti counts, but I don’t think the mildly erotic overtones of the featured cover are on purpose.)

Maybe it’s just that the comic industry’s fanbase is overwhelmingly male, but if we’re going to use pretty girls to sell comics, can we use pretty boys too, please? And if we’re going to have a collection of diverse and beautiful comic art, can we include some slightly more alternative themes? Diversity makes the world go ’round, after all.http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-ajax-edit-comments/

This is not to say that the comics chosen for this collection aren’t great, mind you! I’m glad to see you didn’t shy away from webcomics, like Girl Genius and Order of the Stick. But you might want to check the wiki on Emily the Strange - he didn’t create it, he hijacked the character design from the Nate the Great children’s book series.
80.

borism (December 29th, 2008, 11:56 am)

Nice List… but since it is “limited”, I would like to add some of my personal favourites, which, unfortunately, do not appear in this list:

CORTO MALTESE: Link [www.cortomaltese.com]
… and of course, his inventor, Hugo Pratt: Link [en.wikipedia.org]

Belgian Comicartist FRANQUIN - Link [www.franquin.com]
Link [www.franquin.com]
81.

Gwenn (December 29th, 2008, 12:25 pm)

Nice showcase but just 2 little erros ;-)
The illustrations of russia comics Dark Warrior and Milky Girl it’s not good.
The ilustration of Dark Warrior it’s “Link [www.editions-delcourt.fr]“, a french comics and Milky Girl, it’s in reality “Link [www.soleilprod.com]“, a amasing comics by 2 italians.
:-)
82.

Gwenn (December 29th, 2008, 12:28 pm)

Oups, an error in my comment….
Dark Warrior its Les Cercles d’Akamoth and Milky Girl it’s Sky Doll…
Sorry, but i can’t edit my comment….
83.

Landaus (December 29th, 2008, 2:15 pm)

What! How can you not include the greatest strip of all time (next to Calvin and Hobbes) THE FAR SIDE !
Gary Larsen Rules period.
No way you can argue with that.
84.

Monkey Boy (December 29th, 2008, 2:34 pm)

What about Condorito for Latin American Comic Strip Art? It’s the most popular comic strip in Chile, and well known across South America.
Condorito [Wikipedia Entry]: Link [en.wikipedia.org]
Condorito [Offical Web Site - Spainish]: Link [www.condorito.cl]
85.

Mario (December 29th, 2008, 7:35 pm)

Much better list than SM’s last twirl around the spinner rack. Might I recommend: Link [celebrityskinned.com]
86.

Tomek (December 30th, 2008, 5:37 am)

Hmm, I don’t want to whine too much but ommiting Corto Maltese or anything from Frank Miller is quite “weird” :)
87.

JamieCOTC (December 30th, 2008, 2:10 pm)

What? No “Little Nemo?” Link [en.wikipedia.org]
88.

Allen (December 31st, 2008, 4:21 pm)

Uh, Megatokyo really shouldn’t be on the Japanese list. Since, you know, the creators are Caucasian americans.
89.

Hitesh Mehta (January 1st, 2009, 1:43 am)

i did attempt on comic blog here Link [www.comicstick.com]

Wish it was published here :)
90.

Lee Morrison (January 3rd, 2009, 6:53 am)

Pity the British section doesn’t mention Striker, which is definitely the best serial newspaper strip in the UK today. It’s nominally a soccer story, but it contains enough drama and humour off the pitch to keep even a non-sports fan like me enthralled.

And no mention of The Perishers either, which in its day was the quirkiest and best-drawn humour strip possibly in the world. How quickly they forget.
91.

WilhelmR (January 3rd, 2009, 7:31 pm)

The japanese category leaves a lot to be desired, specially if you put naruto there in the top of the list, yuk. Also, you are missing Takehiko Inoue’s work (http://www.itplanning.co.jp/whate.html), and Hideki Mori, who illustrated “Bokko”, a manga in an unusual drawing style (for manga that is)

All in all a good list, it was interesting to see Masjanja there, i’ve been curious about it since i saw the Discovery Channel’s short featuring it.
92.

Okibi (January 4th, 2009, 2:49 pm)

A few I expected to see on the list were MAD Magazine, The Maxx and my online favourite Little Gamers.
93.

anne_nime (January 4th, 2009, 11:24 pm)

pon and zi?
sandman?
peanuts?

Atashi no Sentaku over — say, Hunter X Hunter or Rurouni Kenshin? Or Astro Boy?! Or any of the CLAMP titles? No freakin’ way!
94.

Paul (January 5th, 2009, 7:57 am)

Great list, thanks! :)

Asterix & Obelix, Titin and Link [en.wikipedia.org] My Favourites!
95.

Ressa (January 5th, 2009, 11:57 am)

Thanks for focusing on comics. Fun read. Here is another one:
“The Office” meets Disney. The animals have taken
over the IT Department due to budget cuts at the
zoo. Well drawn and funny.Link [www.zoodotcom.com]
96.

Wilford Brimley (January 5th, 2009, 11:58 am)

Rob and Elliot, Hell yeah!
97.

hey man (January 5th, 2009, 3:34 pm)

You think ‘dilbert’ , ‘garfield’ etc. are beautiful?
this site is so godawful
98.

Felix (January 5th, 2009, 10:29 pm)

Cute + funny comic strips as well:

Link [www.wantoon.com]

Currently there are about 38 comic strips, please check it out under Comic Strips section
99.

Jiv (January 5th, 2009, 10:48 pm)

Great list, but you missed Enki Bilal, you know… the nikopol trilogy
100.

Arnold (January 6th, 2009, 2:27 pm)

Great list, though I really missed Corto Maltese (http://www.cortomaltese.com/). Hugo Pratt’s work is absolutely stunningly beautiful.
101.

Roger (January 14th, 2009, 7:15 pm)

No Platinum Grit?
102.

Jamesb (January 16th, 2009, 1:58 pm)

I nominate the increasingly popular soccer comic Studs Up

Link [www.studs-up.com]
103.

FoxArris (January 17th, 2009, 7:53 pm)

Neither Sinfest nor Megatokyo are Japanese. Megatokyo is exclusively an american comic by an american artist, and Tatsuya Ishida is Japanese-American not Japanese
104.

harsha rao (January 18th, 2009, 6:37 pm)

if u want great web comics u should check out stuff by kris wilson at
Link [kris-wilson.deviantart.com]
105.

Steave (January 19th, 2009, 1:05 am)

must be one of the top internet comics around
Steave,
106.

Rodrigo Araújo (January 25th, 2009, 10:08 am)

Hey!
You should’ve included Nerdson!!!
Link [nerdson.com]

It’s a GREAT comic strip from a brazilian artist!
107.

dreamy (January 26th, 2009, 7:26 am)

yay, i love dilbert, calvin n hobbes, naruto, bleach and one piece! Has anybody ever heard/read of Kampung Boy by LAT (Malaysian)? Highly recommended!!!
108.

Pippi (January 27th, 2009, 6:39 pm)

Maybe you could have done a little research. Given that Japan has one of the biggest comics industries, your selection of Japanese comics can hardly be called a “celebration” of it.
109.

Gautam (February 6th, 2009, 1:20 pm)

Seriously…no Sandman???? or even Watchmen???
110.

joey (March 7th, 2009, 6:53 pm)

Of course we all have a lot a titles and authors to mention, but the most important missing one is (as said before) the Peanuts.
C’mon, Snoopy is one of the oldest, best selling, world famous… and smartest comics in the world.

Personally, i love “Donjon” Link [en.wikipedia.org](comics)
111.

tom@plasticprinters (April 9th, 2009, 7:24 am)

a lot of great ones were missing, especially web comics. i discovered a few new ones though. i’m excited to check them out.
112.

Ysoo (May 15th, 2009, 10:26 am)

and Code geass ?! (for the Japanese Comic)
113.

Mark Caudill (May 17th, 2009, 7:51 am)

I’m really surprised that Fables isn’t in this list and no one has mentioned the comic. Not only because the story rocks (and won 12 Eisner awards), but because the artists are great and also won 13 Eisner awards for their work on Fables themselves. It is the epitome of adult comic books.
Link [en.wikipedia.org]
114.

dollslikeus (May 19th, 2009, 12:57 pm)

I love your cartoons most of them are made the old way the way cartoons have been made for the last two hundred years by drawing .