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Some webcomics depict a more mundane queer life in more general terms. Often, this type of representation can be the most powerful, showing how a character can change the attitudes of those around them in realistic situations, and demonstrating a more universal side to queer stories.

An excellent example of this type of storytelling can be found in Erin Lindsey's Venus Envy. Venus Envy tells the story of Zoe, a male to female transgender teenager. Zoe and Larson, an FtM trans character, deal with many things that are particular to a trans experience, but they also face difficulties with their families and friends that are common to anyone trying to forge an identity for themselves.

There are many other webcomics that focus on queer women, such as Why Me?, the Edward Gorey-esque story of a woman who falls for her bizarre fairy godmother, and Mundane Nirvana, which follows a group of friends in college, as well as comics which fall under the heading of “shoujo-ai” or “yuri”, meaning comics with lesbian content which stem from the Japanese manga tradition.

With any webcomic, it's important to spend some time flipping through the archived work and getting to know the characters. Part of the difference between a daily strip in a newspaper and a webcomic, is that the entire history of the work is there for you to enjoy, the reader never has to feel clueless for joining a story arc when half of it has already played out.

There is also an important distinction between comic strips which have spent years slowly building a print audience in GLBT papers and magazines but also have a web presence, such as Alison Bechdel's Dykes to Watch Out For, and webcomics which have always been a solely online endeavor. Many webcomic artists are amateurs or art students, honing their drawing style and ability to layout a panel and learning about story and character development as they go.

And while some of the most successful and popular webcomic artists make a living from ad revenue, “tip jars”, and merchandise sold through their sites, many more make only a small amount or no money at all, and have day jobs to pay the bills. It can sometimes be frustrating to run across a great comic, only to find its author updates irregularly because they're running themselves ragged at work or school, and don't have time to devote to the site.

But supporting and encouraging a queer artist as they mature and develop a distinctive style over time, seeing characters grow before your eyes, and being able to engage in a dialogue with the artist and other fans through forums more than make up for an occasional lapse in professionalism.

The webcomics audience tends to skew young--a survey done by Megan Gedris of YU+ME revealed that most of her readers were under 30--which is both unfortunate and exciting. Its unfortunate that more older readers don't know about some of the interesting stories and gorgeous art that can be found in webcomics, but it is exciting that young queer people are finding stories and characters they can relate to through these works, and hopefully becoming energized to make and publish their own work one day.

Some have criticized webcomics for being too much like traditional comic and cartoon art, and not making innovative use of the interactive nature of the internet. Perhaps the next generation of artists will take things that step further, opening up more revolutionary methods of storytelling, perfect for telling stories of revolutionary queer lives.

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