I fell into the world of webcomics with Nimona, and it’s safe to say I’ve been in love with them ever since. I’m constantly astounded by the magnitude of talent and artistry you can find in these comics which are often posted online, in full, for free. As with fan fiction—another great, free online offering—there are infinite styles and genres and subjects to choose from. Some of these comics have proved so popular they’ve even been picked up for print publication or funded by popular Kickstarter campaigns. You can follow along with these queer webcomics for free on websites like Tapas and Webtoons—either way you’re in for a treat full of patriarchy-fighting rebels and swoon-worthy romance.
Cosmoknights by Hannah Templer
This rag tag band of space gays is here to overthrow the patriarchy, one joust at a time. After helping her childhood friend—who just happened to be the planet’s resident princess—escape off world, Pan was ostracized. But when an injured cosmoknight shows up on her family’s doorstep, she finally sees a chance to escape and do something important with her life. Now she just has to convince Cass and Bee her help is worth it—before any of them are caught. Read it here or treat yourself to a physical copy from your favorite bookstore.
O Human Star by Blue Delliquanti
A heartwarming comic featuring gay and trans characters in a future where robotics has advanced such that some robots are indistinguishable from humans. One such android, Alastair Sterling, wakes to his new life particularly confused because he’s fairly sure he just died. And before that, he was working on the very technology that would make this sort of thing possible. Read it here.
Alien Heart by Anna Fitzpatrick
What’s an awkward alien girl to do when mere hours after her crush finally talks to her, said crush is snatched. Supposedly she ran away from home, but Ivy just knows that can’t be true. Along with Rosa’s left-behind dog, Smudge, Ivy sets off on a mission to find her friend before the strange aliens that roam the earth—or worse, the soldiers that hunt them down—get to her. Read it here.
A limited run print edition was also recently funded by backers on Kickstarter.
Heartstopper by Alice Oseman
You’ve probably seen this adorable graphic novel around, but you might not know it started out as a webcomic. And you can still read it as one! Set at a British all-boys grammar school (I mean, come on) and just heart-meltingly sweet.
Read it here.
Blackout City by Jaye
A sci-fi crime procedural-esque comic. The secretary at a corrupt police precinct and an underground street fighter team up to find the missing people the cops refuse to even look for.
Read it here or on Tapas.
The Flying Ship by Jem Milton
A stunning webcomic inspired by Russian folklore. The daughter of a bounty hunter returns to her homeland following the Tzar’s decree that whoever can build a flying ship will win the hand of his daughter.
Read it here or on Tapas.
Ingress Adventuring Co. by Kay Rossbach
An absentminded adventuring professor gets in all sorts of trouble, from misguided quests to accidental hauntings, in this incredibly fun D&D inspired webcomic.
Read here or on Tapas.
Buuza!! by Shazleen Khan
An award-winning urban fantasy webcomic about found family. A misdialed number on New Year’s Eve 1997 leads to an unexpected long distance romance.
Read it on Webtoons or Tapas.
Casual Hex by Ria Martinez and Taneka Stotts
An aspiring ghost hunter and a hexorcist’s fates become tied together after a summoning gone wrong. Too bad one of them is trying to reboot the apocalypse…for the third time.
Read it here or on Tapas.
Liatris by Char
An adorable little sapphic sci-fi comic about two rivals fighting robots and fighting feelings. The illustration style is lovely and the story is so sweet. Love me some enemies-to-lovers vibes.
Read it here.
Gutless by Rose Bousamra
An enchanted nonbinary knight, a sorcerer princess, and a mysterious mermaid star in this gorgeously illustrated comic. Keep an eye on Bousamra who is also teaming up with Claribel Ortega (author of Ghost Squad) on a 2022 graphic novel about a Latina girl learning to love her curls, Rizos.
Read Gutless on Tapas.
Project Nought by Chelsey Furedi
Careful with the fine print—otherwise, you might just find yourself part of a time travel experiment, brought to a future university to help students learn from the living past. That’s what happens to Ren, anyway.
Project Nought is slated for print publication in fall 2022 from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, but you can still read it online here.
Need even more great webcomics? Check out these 12 queer webcomics, magically queer webcomics, SFF webcomics, and 10 webcomics for newcomers.
