Web comics is something Comic Vine hasn't really covered since the website's inception; however, it is an important part of the world of comics and mixed media that should not go ignored. I noticed that it's become so large that even a few of my artist friends that don't read comic books have started their own.
Webcomics are huge. If you go into Google and type it in, you get 10.7 million results. That's saying something. It's a different kind of media, one not contained within pages, so we here at Comic Vine think it's very important to cover this world, so week by week, we will pick a super-awesome webcomic and spotlight it. This week, we spotlight my favorite webcomic: The Oatmeal.
The Oatmeal is a great collection of webcomics and writing all created by Matthew Inman. The site contains comics about daily life, common frustrations, and anything in between. What makes it stand out above many other webcomics is that not only can each strip be about any topic under the sun, but it's also incredibly funny.
The Oatmeal first caught my eye at the college I work at. It's a big hit in the English department because of all the grammar related comic strips. This section drops grammar knowledge on its readers in a humorous way, and it will keep you laughing for hours, and you won't even notice you're actually learning something. There's a lot of great comic strips to check out in this section: How to Use a Semi-Colon, Ten Words You Need to Stop Misspelling, How to Use an Apostrophe, and What it Means When you Say Literally are a few of my personal favorites.
The site also has great quizzes with some cool drawings like "How Long Could You Survive on the Surface of the Sun?" and "How Many Justin Biebers Could You Take in a Fight?"
The site also features a blog and a great shop where you can buy tons of Oatmeal related stuff from shirts to stickers to coffee mugs. You can also pick up giant sized posters (many of them 18" X 24") of some of your favorite comics.
Aside from the shop, grammar comics and quizzes, The Oatmeal offers a wide variety of humorous webcomics that will have you busting a gut with laughter. One of my favorites is called "Horrible Cards." Oatmeal essentially makes some hilarious greeting cards for all occasions, and most of them somehow involve penises.
One of the on-going strips I've fallen in love with is called Minor Differences. The idea is pretty simply, Inman draws two pictures that have minor differences, like grocery shopping while full compared to grocery shopping while hungry or a woman wearing nothing but a shirt compared to a man wearing nothing but a shirt.
Aside from the great topics and hilarious humor, I've always loved the basic style for the art. It has very distinct and simple shapes with heavier outlining, yet it's what makes The Oatmeal great because it has its own style.
Now, the site does contain some profanity, and some censored penises, so it may not be appropriate for all ages. If you aren't offended by naughty words or being called an idiot because you don't know the difference between they're, their, and there, then this is the site for you. The Oatmeal's sense of humor will win you over right away and it has a unique style that will sit with you.
Make sure to check out The Oatmeal for some laughs, and all pictures contained within this article come from Matthew Inman and the Oatmeal.
Do you have or know a webcomic you think should be featured? E-mail us at comicvinespotlight@gmail.com
Mat "Inferiorego" Elfring is a comedian, writer, and host of the non-award winning show Barely Watchable. Follow him on Twitter: @inferiorego