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Good Comics forThe Creepy Casefiles of Margo Maloo
Brigid Alverson, editor of SLJ‘s “Good Comics for Kids” blog, recommends 13 webcomics for young people. What’s your favorite webcomic? Tell us in the comments section.
The Creepy Casefiles of Margo Maloo by Drew Weing
Gr 3 Up–Charles Thompson’s parents have uprooted him from his comfy home and moved to a dilapidated hotel in a strange city, where there’s a troll in his closet. First Second will publish a print edition this year.
Princess, Princess by Katie O’Neill
Gr 3 Up–A 46-page story about a princess in a tower who is rescued by…another princess. There’s a low-key romance and a strong message about self-confidence in this charming fairy tale. A book is due out from Oni Press this year.
Sheldon
Sheldon by Dave Kellett
Gr 5 Up–The humor is goofy, topical, and perceptive in this gag-a-day comic with a loose cast of characters: Sheldon, a 10-year-old billionaire, his friends Emily and Dante, his grandfather, a talking duck, a dog, and a lizard.
Breaking Cat News by Georgia Dunn
Gr 7 Up–A trio of cats report breathlessly, CNN-style, on the doings of the people in their house in this hilarious gag-a-day comic. Andrews McMeel will publish a version this year.
Gunnerkrigg Court
Gunnerkrigg Court by Tom Siddell
Gr 7 Up–This long-running comic follows the supernatural adventures of Antimony Carver and her friend Kat Donlan at a most peculiar boarding school. Archaia has published several volumes.
As the Crow Flies by Melanie Gillman
Gr 8 Up–Charlie is sure she won’t fit in at Three Peaks Camp, a Christian backpacking camp for teen girls. She’s black, she’s queer—and she’s in for a few surprises.
M.F.K. by Nilah Magruder
Gr 8 Up–A fantasy about a girl traveling through the desert to scatter her mother’s ashes who encounters a cast of characters with their own agendas. Winner of the 2015 Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity.
Wonderlust
Wonderlust by Diana Nock
Gr 8 Up–Launched in January, this is a slice-of-life story about a schoolgirl who “learns the true meaning of Halloween.”
xkcd by Randall Munroe
Gr 10 Up–This popular webcomic covers a lot, from geeky in-jokes about Unix or quantum physics to satire on personal relationships. While that makes it hit-or-miss for teens, Munroe has excellent visual representations of quantitative data, such as his money chart. His blog, “What If?”, tackles absurd questions about science.
Hark! A Vagrant by Kate Beaton
Gr 11 Up–Kate Beaton’s wry gags riff on history, literature, and pop culture, taking on everything from Wuthering Heights to Joan of Arc. The print collection Step Aside Pops! made the 2016 YALSA list of Great Graphic Novels for Teens.
Homestuck by Andrew Hussie
Gr 11 Up–Homestuck, with a lot of game-ish elements, starts with one character and builds into a complicated plot about kids playing a video game to save the world. More than 7,000 pages, it’s epic, with a huge fan base.
One-page comics
You Say Latino by Terry Blas
The author, who is half Mexican, explains the difference between “Latino” and “Hispanic.”
Threads. The Calais Cartoon. by Kate Evans
Evans recounts her experiences as a volunteer at the refugee camp in Calais, France.