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Webcomic recommendations: Galaxion and Dresden Codak

By Dave Menendez
Tuesday, December 26, 2006, at 11:28 PM

Summary: The world of webcomics is far too vast for any one person to survey. Included are two which I’ve come across in recent months and recommend.

The world of webcomics is far too vast for any one person to survey. Included are two which I’ve come across in recent months and recommend.

Galaxion

Tara Tallan’s Galaxion was the first American comic book I ever followed. Back in college, I occasionally accompanied friends of mine to the local college shop, but at the time I was only really into translated manga (this being 1997, that primarily meant Ranma ½). One week, based on an in-store promotion, I picked up the first few issues of Galaxion, a black-and-white, independent, science fiction comic with a vaguely manga-influenced style. It was a great: interesting characters, a slowly growing mystery, occasional action, and an whimsical sense of humor.

Unfortunately, the series didn’t make it past twelve issues, plus a special. I have, in the intervening years, occasionally thought about Galaxion and wondered if more issues had ever been published, but I never actually found anything.

Well, it turns out that Galaxion is back, as a free one-page-a-week comic at Girlamatic. Thus far, Ms Tallan has reprinted the special (set when several of the characters are in college), some new material set before the start of the original series, and is now retelling the original series.

Dresden Codak

Aaron Diaz’s Dresden Codak combines a surreal outlook on the world, obscure physics humor, and some of the more beautiful art I’ve seen in the webcomics world. A particular favorite of mine involves a graveyard for forgotten civilizations, a bear that steals ideas, and the line “He’s headed for the Einstein-Rosen bridge!”. (Don’t worry about jumping into the middle of the series: there is no continuity between episodes.)

Other recommended episodes involve an explanation of why the Egyptian pantheon dislikes the Schrödinger cat experiment, a lesson on Toltec mythology, and a different kind of dream job. (It’s hard to come up with a good sample; I keep wanting to include everything.)

Anyway, the archive is pretty short, so feel free to work your way through the whole thing.