Webcomics for Middle School Literature

[Valerie]

Aww, spoilsport. *deletes URL*

If, CJ, you get permission of some kind from the author, lemme know and I'll send it to you, I guess?

[mindstalk]

Speaker for the Dead was a good sequel to Ender's Game, or so I recall. Xenocide, um, it had some good lines?

Reynard as a scary monster is okay, but Reynard as a possessing spirit is verboten? Can this be explained in sane person terms?

I note that copyright is a legal construct created by society to help reward creators, for a limited time. Spelled out in the Constitution, even. This doesn't necessarily translate to a moral right to cut off something people enjoy.

Safe webcomics... um... Digger, Freefall, Phoenix Requiem (probably not). Dumbing of Age? Doubt it.

[NobodySpecial]

Perhaps Bear and Tiger? But it's been a while since I checked it.

[oenone]

Haha I'm not sure enjoying someone's work is a protected right.

[bunnyThor]

Speaker for the Dead was a good sequel to Ender's Game, or so I recall. Xenocide, um, it had some good lines?

If you do the bad thing and read all the way through Xenocide, go ahead and read Children of the Mind. It almost justifies the two previous books. Just skip the last page or so, as OSC takes on of the main characters of the book and makes her act way way out of character just to satisfy his need to force his worldview into the story in a place it doesn't fit.

I hate it when an author screws up the end of a really good story so much that he turns the whole story, retroactively, into irredeemable crap.

[sgtrock]

I note that copyright is a legal construct created by society to help reward creators, for a limited time. Spelled out in the Constitution, even. This doesn't necessarily translate to a moral right to cut off something people enjoy.

Believe me, I'm not very fond of the current state of affairs. I would FAR rather see, at most, copyright reduced to the minimum initially defined in the Constitution (14 years with an option to renew for another 14). I think even less would be more appropriate.

That said, though, in my view any creator has the right to do whatever they want with their material. I am more than willing to take their position into account when I choose what products to use. Over the past several years, I've developed a set of purchasing habits and a philosophy that suits me.

For example, my primary computer toolset is based upon FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) and my primary reading material comes from a wide variety of free sources. I haven't bought a CD in probably 4 years. Before that, I think it was about 15 years since my last purchase.

What proprietary software that I do use, I buy. That includes games, btw, which seems to puzzle some people. <shrug>

The movies that I want to keep to watch again and again, I buy on DVD. One time viewing, Netflix rent.

When a company implements a solution that I think takes away my right to consume material that I did buy, I don't use them. That's why I don't own an iPod or use iTunes. If I want to play my legally purchased music on something other than an Apple blessed device, I will.

Make sense?

[neru]

I can't believe no one mentioned Sandra and Woo. I think that it would be perfect.

http://www.sandraandwoo.com/

[griffon8]

Thought of that one myself, but I wasn't sure a talking raccoon was acceptable.

Hobbes is different; that's just Calvin being insane.

[Valerie]

Regarding the copyright thing, I've always been under the impression that, as long as the author of the work isn't losing money from someone downloading the work, it's fine. With a quick search, I can't find any way to buy "As If," so, to me, personally, that says it's fair game. (For having and reading. Not for selling or claiming as my own or something.)

Dumbing of Age? Doubt it.

Nnnnnot "Dumbing of Age." One of the main characters is a very Christian girl who's almost constantly being made fun of by the author.

In one comic, she apologizes to a friend she made (she had previously had a brain-freeze when the friend was revealed as being an atheist). The apology was actually very sweet and I'm glad the author went that route. It was something like, "It scares me that you're an atheist, but you're a nice person, so I'm going to be nice, too," which is outside of the stereotype normally given to super-religious Christians.

...Then a panel or two later, the atheist girl says, "You're not just trying to convert me, are you?" And the Christian girl says, "Fine, I'll dump out all my Chick Tracts if you leave your biology textbook." I could see that annoying a lot of the people in CJ's friend's class, or at least some of the parents.

There's also the part where it's about college life, so you know. >_> Sex, alcohol, evil RAs, etc.

[TCampbell]

Joyce Brown gets really interesting if you know that her background is actually much closer to David Willis' than that of any of his other major characters.

[Mr. Brightside]

In the first few months of Roomies, Joyce was actually meant as a mouthpiece. His freshman year got his feet on the ground enough that she turned into an instrument of self-deprecation, and then came her mind-wipe and her IW character arc.

[Snarfle]

I didn't check back to see what's been mentioned or not, but I've got two to add!

Dreamless is a pretty good one following an American woman and a Japanese man whose lives are connected through their dreams, set in the years leading up to the US involvement in WW2. It's also completed and not too long.

Johnny Wander is a slice-of-life biographical type comic that's really funny and pretty kid-safe.

[Valerie]

Dreamless is a pretty good one following an American woman and a Japanese man whose lives are connected through their dreams, set in the years leading up to the US involvement in WW2. It's also completed and not too long.

*Gasp* YES. I loved this one! I'm pretty sure it's appropriate in just about every way, if I'm remembering correctly. CJ, make your friend choose this one.

[Bo Lindbergh]

http://occasionalcomics.com/ Max Overacts.

Considering the true story of X-mas installment, no.

[CJ]

Dreamless is a pretty good one following an American woman and a Japanese man whose lives are connected through their dreams, set in the years leading up to the US involvement in WW2. It's also completed and not too long.

*Gasp* YES. I loved this one! I'm pretty sure it's appropriate in just about every way, if I'm remembering correctly. CJ, make your friend choose this one.

I cannot believe I forgot this one! This is such a gorgeous story. I just sent it to her. I think that it's pretty much perfect.

Thanks so much, Snarfle! I'll let you guys know what she says.