Historically, I don’t do New Year’s Resolutions. I set goals; I reflect on the prior year and the year to come. But resolutions? Those have always felt too hokey, melodramatic, and self-serious to me.

But heck, what are comics if not hokey, melodramatic, and sometimes far too self-serious? So this year, I have a comics-related New Year’s Resolution: To start filling in my webcomics blindspot by getting up-to-date on at least one long-running webcomic.

Why Webcomics and I Don’t Get Along … and How to Mitigate That in 2022

Mostly, it’s the fact that webcomics are on the web. Which means they’re on a screen, which means I have to look at a screen to read them. I’ve already done the “I look at a screen eight hours a day and don’t want to do it much more” rant a couple times on this blog, so I won’t go into that further here. But webcomics = screentime is a definite factor in why I don’t read many of them.

However, webcomics being on the web is clearly not the only thing that’s stopping me from reading them. Because as already stated – I am on the web every day for work. And like many of you, I imagine, I “waste” time looking at Twitter and Reddit and news articles and yes, even comics, while I am working. So why can’t I just schedule some of that time to regularly read a webcomic or two?

I think it is that word, “schedule,” that actually puts me off reading webcomics. Scheduling when I’m going to read a comic makes reading feel like work, and work is exactly what I’m trying to avoid while on my breaks. Tellingly, I have had no problem popping in and catching up on WEBTOON’s Wayne Family Adventures series since its launch – because I regularly-yet-randomly encounter links to that comic in the DC Comics subreddit. Happening upon a webcomic in this way does not feel like work. Manually typing neatwebcomic.com into my address bar each day, however, does.

So, how to mitigate this feeling of webcomics = work? I think the easiest answer is to add a comic or two to the default tabs that pop up in my web browser as I start my workday. That way, the webcomics I want to read will come to me, and I can read a page or two each morning as I’m easing into my day.

The Contenders for My New Favorite Webcomic

So with that mental webcomics-reading roadblock cleared, the next thing to do is decide what webcomic I’m going to get hooked on in 2022.

To be safe, I’m going to start by adding a few comics to my startup screen – and I’ll likely rotate some choices in and out before eventually winnowing down to one or two regular reads. I really do want to get caught up on something that is long-running (say three years or more), still ongoing (so that when I catch up, I have more pages to look forward to), and most importantly, in my wheelhouse. That said, these are the webcomics I’m considering, in roughly the order I think I’ll enjoy them:

• The Abominable Charles Christopher
• Lavender Jack
• Lore Olympus
• Kill Six Billion Demons (Pat keeps telling me I have to read this.)
• Tower of God (Wow, a lot of these are WEBTOON-based, huh?)

(I may also take some time to check out finished comics I’ve either started in the past or heard good things about, such as Check, Please!, The Adventures of Dr. McNinja, Achewood, and O Human Star, as well as newbies like Death Transit Tanager.)

However, if you have other webcomic suggestions that you think I’d love, please send them my way! Feel free to drop a link to your favorite ongoing and long-running webcomic in the comments, and I will be sure to add it to the rotation. Hopefully, one of my choices or yours will become my new webcomic addiction in 2022.