Married to the Sea has the dubious distinction of being one  of the first webcomics that I read with any regularity. While I no longer read it as frequently as I did back in 2006(what used to be a daily check in has turned into a once-a-month peek), it still holds a special place in my heart.

Comprised of antiqued drawings matched with little blurbs and word bubbles, each comic is roughly a panel long. There is no overarching narrative or connection between each comic, but Married to the Sea can be a lot of fun when you’re in the mood for a quick guffaw. Which is really the best descriptor for the kind of laughing that I do when I read it.

The strangely warped brain child of creators Natalie Dee and Drew, Married to the Sea has its own off-beat, nonsequitar charm. While likely to be more appreciated by those with a markedly dry and kind of odd sense of humor, it frequently drags it’s jokes from everywhere (include top 40 hip hop hits and those books you read for school as a kid). It is a bit like someone put pop culture in a blender, taught it to talk, and matched it up with art ranching from the 1880s to the 1980s and posted it on the internet. Which it very well might be, but  I enjoy immensely.

So if you’re in the mood for a two minute distraction, I strongly suggested reading Married to the Sea (www.marriedtothesea.com). It’s part of a bigger consortion of web comics that can be linked to from there.  Have fun! 

Are you the creator of a webcomic? Do you have a webcomic that you love and think more people should check out? Then drop us a line either here in the comments or shoot us an email! We’re always looking for new things to read and get excited about!

Read on for the rules and prizes!

Rules:

• The giveaway ends on May 31st, 2013.
• We will email the winner. If a response is not received within 48 hours, then we will pick another winner.
• This is international.
• Please enter via the Rafflecopter form at the end of this post.
• Since this is a twitter celebration, you’ll need a twitter account for the extra entry options.
• Please be aware that if you win, you must provide us your address so the prize can be shipped to you. We will not use your address for any other purpose, and will immediately delete it once we’re done.

Grand Prize:

• One mystery Micro Muggs Iron Man 3 figure
• One mystery Tokidoki Marvel figure
• Collection of Kickstart Comics: Witch, Headache and Book of Lilah
• Trigger Girl 6 by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray, art by Phil Noto
• Hawkeye “My Life as a Weapon” by Matt Fraction
• Captain Marvel “In Pursuit of Flight” by Kelly Sue DeConnick
• Batman Nightwing action figure
• $10 worth of digital comics at Comixology

To win, enter via the Rafflecopter form below! (If you can’t see the form, try refreshing the page. If it still doesn’t appear, then simply click here to be taken to it.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 Namor by Jesse Lonergan

Don’t touch Lola. by Markmak

And just in case you don’t follow us on twitter and haven’t seen the announcement, the meetup will be on Thursday, July 18th, at 7pm at the Manchester Grand Hyatt. It’s only a few blocks away from the convention center, and we’ll provide additional directions closer to the event for those who may need it. And RSVP if you have Facebook, so we know how many people to expect!

Now on to the cosplay!

Modern Day Multiple Man (X-Factor Volume 3)

What you’ll need:

The shirt. The most recognizable facet of Jamie Madrox’s costume in recent years has been his iconic green shirt. I’ve found it a few places online, most notably on Redbubble and Cafepress. But if you’re feeling crafty and want to try and make it yourself, this tumblr user had success making their own iron-on!

A trench coat. Jamie doesn’t always wear the trench coat, so it won’t make or break your cosplay, but it’s awesome if you can find it, not to mention badass. I’d try your local thrift store, or, if you’re quick about it, maybe you can find some sales now that the weather is warming up in most of the country. (If you’re in the U.S., that is.)

X-belt buckle. Again, I’ve found this online though a bit of searching, but you can always make it yourself!

 The easy bits. Jeans (or dark cargo pants, as Jamie is wont to wear either), and boots.

That’s your basic, easily recognizable Jamie Madrox costume. Of course, we’re hoping you guys will get a little creative. There’s always adding the “M” for mutant that Jamie acquired early in Volume 3′s run. And there’s also Reverend John Maddox, Jamie’s wayward dupe. There’s a list of noteable dupes on the Marvel wikia. (The monk dupe is one of my favorites!)

Multiple Man from the most recent run of X-Factor is probably the easiest cosplay to manage, but we’d welcome others as well! There’s old school Madrox in his shock absorbing costume, if you’re feeling really ambitious, among other costumes.

The most important thing is to have fun, go wild, and we hope to see a lot of you there in July! We’re still putting together prizes for the most creative dupes, so don’t hold back!

I personally find it difficult to believe they weren’t planning on picking it up anyway, and hadn’t already planned to promo the hell out of it from the time they finished shooting the pilot episode months ago. Either way, it’s worked for me because I’m super excited and don’t know how I’m going to make it until fall.

Thoughts? Reactions?  Do we think that J. August Richards is Luke Cage, like some have speculated?

Coulson lives, you guys!

UPDATE: ABC has released the FULL trailer for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which somehow looks even more amazing. The show will be airing Tuesdays, this fall on ABC.

Spoilerphobes beware: this month’s podcast contains major spoilers for Iron Man 3 and Ultimate Spider-Man and due to language and some content, is not for younger listeners.

Well, we’ve been teasing it on the podcast and we’d like to formally announce the Girls Read Comics Too Multiple Man Meet-up!

We’re still putting details together, but in the coming months we’ll have more information, including Multiple Man cosplay tips. Also we’re hoping to be able to give away a bit of swag while we’re at it. Why? Because we love Multiple Man, we love X-Factor and we love Peter David. Also, we’d really just like to see how many Jamie Madroxes we can get all in one place at the same time as well as meet some of you guys!

• When: Thursday, July 18, 2013, 7pm PDT
• Where: Manchester Grand Hyatt, San Diego
• What to wear: Your best Jamie Madrox cosplay. Current X-Factor or classic X-Factor run. Madrox Prime, or one of his dupes. Established in comics or not. The most creative Madrox may even get a prize.
• RSVP here!

We’ll have more details, costume ideas, and other fun stuff coming at you as we get closer to SDCC. Stay tuned!

The Zombie Hunters is a beautiful comic. That’s the first thing that pops into my head to describe it. It shouldn’t be beautiful, by any rights it shouldn’t even be pretty given its subject nature, but it is. From the very beginning there is a seriously cinematic quality to the style and the layout of the panels that pulls you in makes it feel like this should be something up on a much bigger screen than your computer.

Written and drawn by Jenny Romanchuk, this fantastic comic deals with ragtag combination of friends and acquaintances who ban together in a zombie-riddled Sault St Marie. But aside from that somewhat clichéd sounding one-line summary, it has a very real story at its core. These characters still have jobs. They still have things to do and interpersonal drama that gets in the way of things. They’re still very much living their lives, which just happen to also include zombies. Starting past the point where these characters have survived the initial outbreak and found a sort of haven, it explores what happens next. If The Walking Dead (and others of that ilk) are about the journey towards some place “safe” then the Zombie Hunters is about what gets done after it is found.

I know that zombies are all the rage these days (to quote Zoolander, they are “so hot right now”) so to promote a webcomic involving them seems a bit cliché and pointless, but trust me, this one is so worth it. Having been running since 2006, there is definitely a lot of backlog to get through, but with a character lists and an encyclopedia of sorts, it is easy to get situated.

If you’re in the mood for something that you might not be able to finish in an afternoon, but are willing to push forward anyways and like pretty art (and zombies), then The Zombie Hunters is definitely worth a look! It’s updated every Monday and Thursday over at thezombiehunters.com

Are you the creator of a webcomic? Do you have a webcomic that you love and think more people should check out? Then drop us a line either here in the comments or shoot us an email! We’re always looking for new things to read and get excited about!

Read on for the rules and prizes!

Rules:

• The giveaway ends on April 25th, 2013.
• We will email the winners. If a response is not received within 48 hours, then we will pick another winner.
• This is international.
• Please enter via the Rafflecopter form at the end of this post.
• Since this is a twitter celebration, you’ll need a twitter account for the extra entry options.
• Please be aware that if you win, you must provide us your address so the prize can be shipped to you. We will not use your address for any other purpose, and will immediately delete it once we’re done.

Grand Prize:

• Dear Beloved Stranger, by Dino Pai
• Richard Stark’s Parker: The Hunter, by Darwyn Cooke
• Husbands, by Brand Bell & Jane Espenson
• Sweet Tooth, Vol. 1: Out of the Deep Woods, by Jeff Lemire
• Manhattan Projects, Vol. 1 by Jonathan Hickman
• Iron Man 3 vinyl bobblehead doll by Funko POP! Marvel
• $10 worth of digital comics at Comixology

Does that sound awesome enough for you guys? If you’d like to win this, enter via the Rafflecopter form below! (If you can’t see the form, try refreshing the page. If it still doesn’t appear, then simply click here to be taken to it.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

So my crazy fun began. Below are Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Hulk. And a bonus Captain Marvel, just because.

Captain America (Link)

Red, white and blue and American as apple pie. Threw in the red as a lipstick to make it more workable as a palette.

Thor (Link)

Thor was a little tougher, but I essentially went with his color palette/lightning theme.

Iron Man (Link)

The obvious armor color are here, but with some nudes to anchor it.

Black Widow (Link)

Darkness and a touch of light.

Hawkeye (Link)

I had to go with comics Hawkeye here, because I love purples. I’m actually saving this link to buy in the future.

Hulk (Link)

Hulk is always tough because of the obvious greens/purples, but I like this palette. The lipstick and concealer (in my own shade, you can switch that out) are for those days you can’t help but hulk out.

Captain Marvel (Link)

Carol surrounded by the sky and the stars.

Iron Man: Rise of Technovore is Marvel’s newest animated movie offering, and is a fun romp with Tony Stark.  Iron Man fits the anime look very well, from sleek action scenes to quieter, more thoughtful character moments (Tony and Pepper stood out for me) highlighting what makes Iron Man such a fun character to follow. Unfortunately the anime aspect of it – such as the outlandish villain, eventual climax, and of course, Black Widow’s giant chest- feels a bit too over the top, but the beats it does hit right are great.

And hey, Norman Reedus (The Walking Dead, Boondock Saints) voices The Punisher. The quiet menace in the work he does as Frank Castle is worth admission alone.

(From Marvel Anime Facebook Page)

Iron Man: Rise of Technovore is already out and available digitally. It will be released on DVD/Blu-Ray on April 16th.

Where to Buy:
DVD/Blu-Ray: Amazon
Digital: iTunes

Facebook: Marvel Anime

On to the giveaway!

Thanks to Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, ONE winner will get a copy of the Iron Man: Rise of Technovore DVD sent to you. Please read the rules and enter in the Rafflecopter form below.

Rules:

• The giveaway ends on April 16th, 2013.
• We will email the winner. If a response is not received within 48 hours, then we will pick another winner.
• This is U.S. only, apologies.
• Please enter via the Rafflecopter form at the end of this post.
• Most of the chances to enter your name are one time things, but you can tweet daily for more entries.
• Please be aware that if you win, you must provide us your address so the prize can be shipped to you. We will not use your address for any other purpose, and will immediately delete it once we’re done.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

(If you cannot see the form try refreshing the page. If that doesn’t work, simply click on the link and you’ll be taken to it in a new tab.)

Iron Man: Rise of Technovore trailer:

And tread with caution: this month’s podcast contains very mild spoilers for Saga #11 and Age of Ultron, and due to language and some content, is not for younger listeners.

Kiwi Blitz is a seriously enjoyable web comic in a way that I can’t quite put my finger on. Yet another web comic that was recommended to me (can you tell that I love getting recs?), I have spent quite a few lunch hours reading my way through it and wishing that I had more break time to read another page. It is just the sort of light-hearted, fun fare that serves as the perfect pick-me-up during a stressful day.

Created and produced by Mary Cagle (Twitter!), Kiwi Blitz follows the adventures of Steffi Frohlich as she fights crime with the help of her good friends and her Kiwibot. Set in a not-too-distance future, there’s new technology and terms that can make it a little hard to get started, but after a few panels I hardly noticed the words and acronyms that had previously seemed foreign to me.

Brightly colored with expressive faces and tons of action, Kiwi Blitz is a comic that I found gripping me. I’m rooting for Steffi, Benzene, and 42 as they band together. I love how Steffi’s dad is supportive of her ambition to be a superhero which isn’t exactly a new trope, but is always refreshing to see happen.  At times it feels like a very small comic, taking place in this bubble of a world, but then something comes along to break that up. This is definitely a future that I can see coming to be (and even if I didn’t, realism has never been my primary reason for liking something).  Steffi is a go-getting heroine, fearless and loud and still very much a teenage girl. There are phrases that she says that give me secondhand embarrassment as I recall myself at her age. Fortunately I don’t find that to be a turn off.

Not necessarily a comic for everyone, but highly recommended if you like light-hearted future adventures, fighting robots, and/or kids without powers becoming superheros. I haven’t read enough (or watched enough) Adventure Time to speak with any authority on the subject, but there definitely seems to be a similar core at the center of both. I could totally be off-the-mark on that, since Kiwi Blitz pre-dates Adventure Time, but oh well. It’s not a bad thing.

Updated biweekly (on Tuesdays and Thursdays) I definitely urge you to check it out!

Are you the creator of a webcomic? Do you have a webcomic that you love and think more people should check out? Then drop us a line either here in the comments or shoot us an email! We’re always looking for new things to read and get excited about!

Webcomic Wednesdays is a weekly feature here at Girls Read Comics Too. Each week, we like to shine a spotlight on one of the webcomics that we happen to keep up with on the interwebs.

I’m such a fan of all the little comics that are popping up nowadays in places like tumblr. I highlighted Horse_eComics  a few months ago, and I have something similar this week.

As described by the artist of most of the comics,  Mike Rosenthal, (@vectorbelly), Twitter: the Comic is “a collection of comics based on the greatest tweets of our generation. The source material is used verbatim, typos and all. Despite the seemingly random nature of the tweets, the comic has reoccurring characters and story arcs that aren’t fully understood unless experienced through a single reading. ”

I came across this comic sometime about a week ago (after I kept seeing it reblogged on my tumblr dash) and while it seems to be relatively new, the concept is hilarious. Much in the vein of Horse eComics, Twitter: The Comic is inspired by ridiculous tweets (though they’re not provided by a twitterbot).  The art is fun and colorful and I love that it’s become more and more common for webcomics to sometimes add a bit of animation to them for emphasis.

But as demonstrated by the comic below, it’s not recommended for younger readers, as it’s just as unfiltered at times as Twitter itself can be.

Are you the creator of a webcomic? Do you have a webcomic that you love and think more people should check out? Then drop us a line either here in the comments or shoot us an email! We’re always looking for new things to read and get excited about!

Superfamily by missveryvery.

A few ladies of Marvel by kambadias.

As much as I love being the one to discover a webcomic on my own, I also love getting recommendations for which ones I should check out. That might be kind of obvious, given that part of these posts is to share the love and hope that others will pass along what they get a kick out of. So this is my first time talking about a comic that I didn’t know existed until I started doing these posts. Let’s just say that I’m really glad that I asked for input.

Paranatural came to me as a rec from a good friend of mine, whose taste I happen to trust which made me a lot more willing to just jump on in. Now that I’ve been reading it for a couple of weeks (and caught up on it), I’m seriously regretting that I didn’t find it first. Which is some seriously high praise.

Written and drawn by Zack Morrison (who can be found here on Twitter), Paranatural follows the Activity Club at Mayview Middle School and the adventures that they have. That description in no way really sums up what this comic is about. You see, the protagonist is 12-year-old Max who happens to both be the new kid at his middle school and the new kid when it comes to being able to see ghosts. It turns out the Activity Club is chock full of kids who can see ghosts and happen to have objects or skills that allow them to do extraordinary things all while participating in a school-sanction after school club.

Have I got your attention now?

Well drawn and populated by a variety of fleshed out characters, there’s action all over the place and plenty of adventures to follow. But what makes this comic really special is the way that it balances the paranormal elements with those that are just plain normal. There are plenty of characters without any special skills who still get in on the action. Middle school rivalries and grudges, teachers exasperated by their students, and family members who don’t seem to be operating on the same wavelength are all hanging around, adding to the story. It provides a good balance, a lot of levity and a puts in a sense of realism. Not everyone can be in on the big, crazy, otherworldly mystery and I like it better when stories include that.

It’s fun reading, perfect for catching up from your mobile device during a long commute after an even longer work day (aka how I read it). It’s now being updated twice a week which is always fun. I encourage everyone to check it out. Sure, some of the characters can be a little annoying, but I think that’s a complement since most middle schoolers are somewhat annoying to anyone outside of middle school. Check it out today!

Are you the creator of a webcomic? Do you have a webcomic that you love and think more people should check out? Then drop us a line either here in the comments or shoot us an email! We’re always looking for new things to read and get excited about!

Samantha Tate gave up a promising design engineering career for a chance to pursue her first love: fashion design. But her more geek than chic personality is a liability in the larger than life world of haute couture, where the weak are ripped to shreds like cheap charmeuse.

With the help of a physicist friend, she creates the answer to her dilemma: a funky, time traveling device that allows her to venture seasons ahead in time, a place any designer would sacrifice generations of unborn collections to see. Further complicating matters is the dawning of the biggest fashion war in history, at the center of which is Samantha’s mega successful boss, Ivan Fellippe.

Sam finds herself further ahead than she ever imagined on a reckless adventure that may jeopardize New York’s most elite and change the future of fashion forever.

Fashion Forward: Volume 1 is a 28-page, black and white illustrated adventure. Genre:  Young Adult.

Review:

Fashion Forward is many things, and the best of those? Fun. The jabs and humor about the fashion industry may not be the most original in this volume, but it’s witty, quirky, and fun to read. The set up of the greatest couture war the fashion world has ever seen made me giggle more often than not, and it set the scene for the entirety of Sam’s world in a few pages.

Considering this is the first printed volume of  a web comic, it’s a bit tough to get into Samantha Tate’s head at first, and it’s not until the last third of the volume that we really get a feel for who she is. But once we do – once we meet her boss, her father, her friends – we get a great feel for the nerdy girl who loves fashion and just wants to be a designer. The volume ends just as the main premise kicks into gear and things start to get really interesting.

Fashion Forward is a fun, upbeat comic, great for any girls out there. You don’t have to love fashion to get into it, though you’ll probably get a huge kick out of it if you do.

Fashion Forward currently updates every Friday.

Find them elsewhere:

• Website
• Facebook
• @gofashion4ward
• Book Trailer
• Goodreads

Giveaway:

Thanks to the wonderful creators of Fashion Forward, we were able to not only review the book, but bring you guys a giveaway! TWO winners will get a copy of Fashion Forward: Volume 1 sent to you. Please read the rules and enter in the Rafflecopter form below.

Rules:

• The giveaway ends on March 9th, 2012.
• We will email the winners. If a response is not received within 48 hours, then we will pick another winner.
• This is international.
• Please enter via the Rafflecopter form at the end of this post.
• Most of the chances to enter your name are one time things, but you can tweet daily for more entries.
• Please be aware that if you win, you must provide us your address so the prize can be shipped to you.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

(If you cannot see the form try refreshing the page. If that doesn’t work, simply click on the link and you’ll be taken to it in a new tab.)

More about Fashion Forward:

About the publisher, Bopsee Books: It is our mission to reach young adult women, who aren’t typically courted by major publishers of comic books and graphic novels. Our goal is to continually create Illustrated works that engage contemporary young women.  We would be honored, to have you consider reviewing and/or sharing our work with your audience.

Writers/Creators: Shawnee’ Gibbs and Shawnelle Gibbs are writers, television producers, closet fashionistas and general workaholics who enjoy writing, traveling and decorating in their LA hideaway. Shawnee’ likes films starring Carey Grant. Shawnelle is mildly obsessed with scented candles. In another life they are The Rodarte Sisters.

Illustrator: Linda Chung is a Southern California native currently residing in the San Francisco Bay Area where she works in animation. She’s a graduate of Art Center College of Design in Pasadena and is passionate about Mid-Century Art and horror movies.

Damian Wayne, by Doretetsu.

Spider-Man Peter and Miles, by Polly Guo

It’s early days yet and we’re still working all the kinks out of things (especially on the technical side, so bear with the few audio blips this go-round) but we’d love any feedback that you all have for us!

And tread with caution: this month’s podcast contains spoilers for Saga #10, and due to language and some content, is not for younger listeners.

That is, until I got to my comic book shop the Wednesday it was released, and found that it had sold out. There were no copies on the shelves.

They offered to hold a copy for me, and asked me if I wanted to start a reserve bag. And that’s where everything went downhill.

My name is Angel and I’m a comic book addict.

Dear God, why?

Three titles on my list turned into seven, then ten when I realized I’d get a discount for having ten titles in my bag a month. I added another, and another until no person without unlimited free time would be able to read all of these titles. At this point, my pile of to-read comics is nearing 100 strong, and yet I still haven’t stopped buying. Because what if I finally catch up with the New 52′s Catwoman and I love it? Then I’d regret taking it off of my list.

But as my pile of comics continues to grow by the month, it makes me wonder whether some people I know, who have been making the switch to digital only subscriptions have got the right idea. Thanks to sites like Comixology, it’s becoming easier and easier to keep up with titles without even having to go to a comic book store.

But here comes the dilemma. Those of us who are comic readers more so than collectors– I’m somewhere in the middle– might think this is super convenient, but is it actually hurting local comic book stores? That fear is part of the reason I’ve resisted going digital-only (that and I’ve recently gotten into collecting variant covers and getting my favorite artists to sign my favorite issues). I love my local comic book store. I’ve been going there on and off for about ten years now (only regularly in the past two years or so) and I’d hate to contribute to any business they might be losing.

So while I’ve got this unwieldy stack of comics that just keeps growing, it makes me hesitant to stop pulling titles, because honestly, without a reserve bag, I’m afraid I wouldn’t make it to the comic book store but once every few months. And I do love the convenience of having my LCS keep a list for me and not only keep track of what I’m reading, but periodically pull titles similar to what I’m already reading.

But holy crap, you guys, the stack just keeps growing.

What do you guys think? Where do you stand on this?  Are you pro or anti-digital? Please tell me I’m not the only one with an out of control pull list.