graphic tales for graphic females

When my brother and I were young, our parents used to take us to the library every weekend or every other weekend. In general I've always been a voracious reader, due in part to my mum's passion for education and support for learning. Every time we'd go to the library, I would check out a stack of books at least two and a half feet high. My parents usually gave me free rein to check out whatever I wanted, and that was great, because it meant my literary horizons were broadened and I figured out what genres and authors I liked and which I didn't. However, sometimes this also resulted in me checking out some adult novels by authors I knew wrote YA (young adult literature), but with inappropriate or sexual content I didn't really understand. Thanks, Meg Cabot! Any way you slice it, though, I read Gossip Girl and Princess Diaries novels and lots of ""chick lit"" books, but also classic novels, fantasy books, and, yes, even my fair share of comics.

Now, comics were an interesting story for me, because my dad had collected comics since he was a young boy. Growing up in Arizona with his aunt and uncle, he earned pocket money every once in a while and bought comic books with it, slowly amassing a collection of classics that he's been passionate about ever since his youth! He's never really lost touch with comic books and graphic novels, and living in San Diego has only helped that passion to grow!

San Diego Comic-Con International is held every summer at the San Diego Convention Center, and as long as I can remember, my dad and I have been attending. When my brother and I were young, he would collect freebies for us and it would be like mini Christmas, waking up every morning the week of the Con and seeing heaps of sampler books, pencils, lanyards, buttons, little toys, all sorts of stuff piled high on our placemats on the kitchen table! When I was finally old enough to go, my mum would drop us off downtown and we'd visit all the booths with their colourful displays and I'd collect comics of my personal little-girl superheroes: the Powerpuff Girls. I even have a signed print of Blossom framed and matted from one special year with my dad that I'll cherish forever!

My love for reading eventually branched out into the comics world, and I would read Winx Club and W.I.T.C.H. and tons of magical girl comics and dream of being one myself! As I grew older, I became attracted to the "traditional" Marvel and DC comics as well, though I'm still not as well versed as I'd like to be (my favourites are Power Girl, Captain America, Ms Marvel, Spider-Man, Blue Beetle, Wonder Woman... give me some time). Then, in high school, I was completely immersed in the Internet. I made loads of friends and gained a few followers and joined new fandoms, and that's how I learned about webcomics.

bad machinery | love me nice | cucumber quest | blaster nation | oh joy, sex toy | ava's demon | monster pop! | nimona (all art by its respective artist)

I found lots of webcomic artists through their fanart for the fandoms I enjoyed, such as Adventure Time, Marvel, Disney, Harry Potter, My Little Pony, etc., and through those artists, I found more artists, and so on. On the Internet it can be tough to sort through the rubble to find the gems, but I've found a good few webcomics that I now follow with eager eyes and a voracious readership!