Webtoon Recommendation Time: Let’s Play!
Posted on August 10, 2020 Posted by Athena Scalzi 41 Comments
One thing you probably see on here a lot is book recommendations. I mean, makes sense, sure, but wouldn’t it be nice to explore another medium of stories? Well, have I got just the thing for you! For the past two years, I have been reading an amazing webtoon called Let’s Play; a story about an indie game developer who finally comes out with her own game, only to have it totally trashed by a popular streamer. Then, said streamer becomes her new neighbor! But it’s not just about that, oh no, there’s office drama, gaming drama, coffee shop drama, and so much more!
One of my favorite things about sticking with a webcomic for a long period of time is you get to see the artist’s style change and progress. The other day, I went back to the very first episode after reading the 125th one, and I didn’t even recognize one of the characters for a second! Seeing someone’s style change is so fascinating, and really shows you just how hard the artist is working to provide quality content each and every episode.
One of my favorite things about this particular webcomic is how real each and every one of the characters are. They have so much personality, their struggles are believable, and each of them is likable in their own ways. It’s one of those stories where the side characters aren’t just empty husks meant to support the main character, they’re fleshed out, have their own episodes, and are presented as characters that actually matter. And, some of them are super cute, which doesn’t hurt either. Yes, I know they’re a drawing, no that doesn’t make them any less hot, okay? Okay.
Anyways, this comic is so much fun! It’s hilarious, emotional, realistic, and engaging. This is definitely my favorite webcomic right now (though there are some close runner-ups I might post about at a later date). Follow Sam on her journey of navigating through her ever-changing relationships with those closest to her here. Make sure you go to the first episode! And have a great day.
-AMS
Haven’t kept up with it in a while, but I always like Questionable Content by Jeph Jacques. Interesting characters, near future tech (with some interesting editions, including sentient robots) https://www.questionablecontent.net/
QC is excellent, also Girl Genius (http://www.girlgeniusonline.com) and Spacetrawler (https://www.baldwinpage.com), and Skin Horse (http://skin-horse.com).
I love webcomics! Ever since I discovered General Protection Fault and Gene Catlow a billion years ago. I only follow a few webcomics now, though, because it’s heartbreaking when a creator abandons them mid storyline or even shuts them down outright. Over and over again that’s happened with a webcomic I loved.
If by ‘webtoon’s we mean animation: I’m quite partial to Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss (because I’m simping garbage).
I’m going to put a very hard recommend on Wilde Life. Pascale Lepas. Stories are great and the community around it is strong.
I’m always on the lookout for webcomic recommendations! During Internship Summer, as I recall, there was a post about one that I’d independently discovered but was really delighted to see here since it’s much too little known (The Bright Side). And I’d never even heard of Let’s Play.
(‘Webtoons’ are just vertical webcomics, rather than animation – especially if Korean or Korean-inspired or Korean-site-hosted. As I understand it, anyway.)
This is the first new-to-me webtoon I’ve looked at in years. I got swamped by watching too many and dumped all of them.
I’m now up to #28 and moving through them rapidly. Thank you so much for nuking my productivity for the day! :)
QC is one of the few strips i’ve stuck with for the last 10 years or so and still enjoy and look forward to on a daily basis. i read about the webtoon platform in an article a while back and surfed over because ‘lore olympus’ genuinely piqued my interest (in short, as hyped as it is, if anything it’s actually underrated, imo) and stuck around for ‘aerial magic’ (sigh), ‘athena complex’ and ‘let’s play’.
it’s a pretty cool content platform for either bite-size reading or heavy binging.
Speaking of web comics (in the American horizontal format), may I recommend one that just ended two weeks ago after having a daily strip for more than *twenty years*!
Yup, it’s Schlock Mercenary, and by gum I miss it every morning.
Thanks for a new ‘toon to read!
Thanks, I love the Webtoons interface — works on mobile or on a desktop/laptop.
@Jim Grey Fortunately Sluggy Freelance is still going strong
This is a really good web comic. Thanks for recommending!
I also highly recommend Questionable Content although, since today’s strip was #4326, there’s a lot of catching up to do. I swear it’s worth it though. Also worth a look are Girl Genius and Dumbing of Age.
Is there a link to Let’s Play that I cannot find? A google search doesn’t find me a home page for it either.
Gary, there is a link in the blog article. Last word of the third to last sentence, the word “here”:
Follow Sam on her journey of navigating through her ever-changing relationships with those closest to her here.
Thank you for this interesting and informative article! I will have to check out this Web toon, plus some of the others mentioned in the comments.
I missed the time frame to comment on your clothing size article….so please excuse me for commenting here. I saw that a couple of people suggested Thrift store shopping to you, for a variety of reasons (the environment, labor practices, etc) After reading your bog post, I wanted to let you know that I think you would love it for a very different reason. I think you may enjoy the thrill of the hunt! That satisfaction you feel when you have found the most amazing piece of clothing (or other thing) that is perfect for you! It could satisfy that craving, and it is also socially responsible too. Bonus!
Unfortunately, it is pretty difficult to do during our current pandemic, but wanted to throw that out to you. Maybe in 2022. :(
Eleanor – Thank you. I assumed there was a link there somewhere but I just couldn’t find it.
Gary, you’re welcome. Sometimes the links are hard for me to see on my phone, but this time I saw it!
The best work on that particular site is Power Ballad.
Another vote for Questionable Content, but having recently done a re-read, it is *definitely* a webcomic where the improvement in artwork and writing is profoundly noticeable over time. It’s gotten so good, but you have to just power through a lot of the early stuff. Jeph gets over the annoying inside joke indie music stuff, honest!
I always recommend the webcomic Questionable Content
(regarding the second to last paragraph) Well, of course cartoon characters can be hot. This week I saw the first episode of Star Trek Below Decks, and to my surprise it came with a scenes of nudity warning. (The holodeck fitness room)
Also, lots of folks buy anime statues, right?
In the Webtoons ongoing section, I’d like to recommend Lore Olympus, Purple Hyacinth, and Lavender Jack. In the completed section, there are so many excellent ones, but I particularly like Ecstasy Hearts (best art) and Under the Aegis (best story, worth making into a movie).
Thanks for highlighting this! I’m through the first 9 episodes and am hooked. Great fun.
Not like I used to back in the day; remember Sluggy Freelance? Punch and Pie? I still follow Something Positive and The Devil’s Panties; XKCD to fulfill my nerd needs.
I really enjoyed “check please” by Ngozi Ukazu. Tried to expand into other webcomics but it was also the community around the webcomic that drew me into that one. Enjoy reading your recommendation and things to loom for.
Well, this is extending my horizons.
What have you done?? XD Let’s see… I don’t know when I started reading this thing, but now I’m on episode 68, and I need to go to bed. ;____; Seriously, though – thank you for the recommendation! This is absolutely wonderful and impossible to put down!
Sounds interesting, thank you!
And, speaking of Webtoon, I recently discovered Tower of God thanks to its anime adaption, and couldn’t avoid binge-reading it once the anime ended. It’s been a while since I read such an interesting series, with great lore, interesting magic system, mysteries, political plots and a great cast of unique grayish characters!
Digger, by Ursula Vernon (T Kingfisher) is a comic story, and is absolutely superb, a must-read. I was gutted when I reached the end.
I used to read UserFriendly until it shut down – the daily comments page and community was as good as the comic.
I must try Questionable Content, it seems. I check smbc and xkcd daily. I’ll take a look at Let’s Play today.
Thom Zahler (Love and Capes) has two great series on Webtoons, Warning Label (https://www.webtoons.com/en/romance/warning-label/list?title_no=1051&page=1), finished, and Cupid’s Arrows (https://www.webtoons.com/en/romance/cupids-arrows/list?title_no=1538&page=1), ongoing. Two different flavours of fantasy romantic comedy, with lots of fun geek jokes.
I also like Messenger, from Paul Tobin and Ray Nadine, https://www.webtoons.com/en/fantasy/messenger/episode-1/viewer?title_no=1382&episode_no=1. Finished, but I’ve been rationing the last few episodes, so I’m not quite done.
I discovered Sluggy Freelance when John Ringo showcased it in one of his Posleen Invasion books. One of the Supertanks in the book was named “Bun-bun”.
Another recommendation for Questionable Content, I’ve read about 10 webcomics over the years, and QC is by far the best. My other current favorite webcomic is “Between Failures”.
The realism with the characters is on point. For three reasons: problems, personalities and the many layers they have.
They have aspect that you can find in people around you, the manners, likes and dislikes, struggles and personalities, it can remind you a friend, a familiar or a coworker. In my personal experience, I have stumble with places that remind a character. Mongie has a huge power creating this memorable characters not only because for the realism, but because of their personalities that captive us and we engage as with another person in the real life.
However, not all the time is realistic, a few times it has exaggerated the situation, but it servers their dramatic or comedic purposes in the story, sometimes in servers for the purpose of the story itself.It never affect the characters and their development.
As any person, all they have their own story to tell. We’re seeing just a little inside of the world of Let’s Play, in this case of Samara and Marshall. And as you say, we can learn also about the people around them, but because of the info that she gives us in the story, giving us a profound understanding of them far from the interaction of the main characters. They have their own problems that doesn’t involve Samara or Marshall. In addition, their realism relies on the problems that many of us deals every day.
That’s one of the many thinks that makes wonderful Let’s Play.
> Alan Dudderar: I discovered Sluggy Freelance when John Ringo showcased it in one of his Posleen Invasion books. One of the Supertanks in the book was named “Bun-bun”.
Hahaha, same here!
I’m enjoying Let’s Play, so far. Thanks for the recommendation.
I’ll put in a plug for Real Life Comics; it’s been on hiatus for a while as the creator was struggling with coming out as trans, but it’s back!
https://reallifecomics.com/index.php
Stayed up way late reading and enjoying the story, characters, and art. Thanks for recommending this!
This is excellent! Thank you for the recommendation, Athena.
In case you haven’t caught it already:
https://www.darthsanddroids.net/
I am really REALLY enjoying Sleepless Domain (https://www.sleeplessdomain.com/), a magical girl story with both stunning art and engaging characters (with depth!).
It’s officially a Tuesday-Thursday webcomic but it updates so late in the day I usually just read it on Wednesdays and Fridays.
Ruined my productivity yesterday to binge everything to date. Great recommendation!
Thanks for recommending this webtoon! I needed a new one in my life after Schlock Mercenary finished (so sad). Now, I’m busily making my way through the backlist, chuckling out loud on a regular basis. I love how real the characters feel, in both positive and negative ways. You hit it out of the park on your first recommendation!