Ace webcomics: Lightning reviews

In the process of writing my series in ace webcomic tropes, I read an awful lot of ace webcomics. I find most of these webcomics via the LGBT Webcomics Tagpacker list, but you can also find a few in the Ace Reads Tagpacker list, or on TV Tropes.

One thing that I don’t like about the LGBT Webcomics list is that it’s not really a space for reviews, certainly not critical reviews. I will attempt to fill in that gap by providing short reviews, even if it’s just one person’s opinion. There are over 30 reviews, and you are free to add your own lightning reviews in the comments.

There are also a lot of webcomics that are tagged as aro/ace, but which appear to have no aro/ace content at all. Often this is because the author said there was an aro/ace character, but either didn’t make it clear in the story, or it just hasn’t shown up yet. I’m sure there are also times when I miss the aro/ace content because I didn’t read the whole webcomic or didn’t read it carefully.

MC = main character; BL = Boys Love (a genre)

14 Nights [nsfw]
What: Allo/ace romance about navigating sex. Completed.
Review: All-time favorite. Have been praising it for years.
Ace Content: Word not used, but main plot revolves around it.

Ace of Hearts [nsfw first page]
What: BL with an allo/ace relationship.
Review: I feel there are better BL comics out there, but how many others have an asexual MC?
Ace Content: Asexuality central to plot.

Asexual
What: A short about asexual stereotypes
Review: Short and sweet.
Ace Content: About asexuality.

Alphabet Soup
What: One-shots about various queer experiences.
Review: Not into one-shots, but the few I read were good.
Ace Content: Many comics about aces.

Always Human [sound]
What: f/f romance in the future. Has music.
Review: Read first season. Too happy/sappy for my taste.
Ace Content: A minor character is established as ace in a flashback, although the word isn’t used.

Coming up Aces [nsfw]
What: Autobiographical short about asexuality. Lots of sex depicted.
Review: Standard ace discovery story. It’s fine.
Ace content: Entirely about asexuality.

David Doesn’t Get It [csa mentioned]
What: Diary comic about David and his three siblings.
Review: One of my favorites. It benefits a lot from being nonfiction–it feels very true to life.
Ace Content: David and his sister are both ace. Comes up on occasion.

Decked Out [nsfw]
What: College drama/romance with Japanese-style art. Exemplifies the ace/hypersexual foil.
Review: Didn’t hold my interest, and some of the characterizations bother me.
Ace content: MC isn’t interested in relationships.

Demon of the underground [nsfw, sexual slavery]
What: Sassy kid falls into underground Chicago, where he’s caught between several criminal clans. Might also be BL?
Review: I don’t usually like comics this violent, but the MC fits in so poorly, it’s great. I was reading this before I knew of any ace content.
Ace Content: A minor character is mentioned to be ace.

Full Circle
What: Fantasy adventure
Review: I am persuaded that the plot and world are very well-developed, but it hasn’t gotten far enough for me to understand either.
Ace Content: None.

Heartless
What: Victorian vampires.
Review: If you like the premise, then you will probably like this one.
Ace Content: MC is ace. This is significant, in a supernatural way.

The Hues
What: A team of girl supers find each other in an alien invasion.
Review: I have issues with the storytelling here.
Ace Content: An MC is ace. It does not play an important role yet.

Hugo and Vern
What: An asexual summons an incubus and tempts him into a nonsexual relationship.
Review: Feels more like a series of Tumblr memes than a webcomic.
Ace Content: Pure asexual humor.

Ignition Zero
What: Queer urban fantasy. Completed.
Review: The watercolor art is pretty, and the characters likeable.
Ace Content: A rare instance of an ace/ace romance. But that takes a backseat to the fantasy plot.

Immortal Nerd
What: Comedy about someone in the future studying 21st century memes.
Review: It has a very consistent sense of humor, which I eventually got tired of. I read about 40 episodes.
Ace Content: None as far as I saw. Sources tell me the MC is asexual.

Let’s Celebrate!
What: Magical girls with holiday themes.
Review: For a seemingly character-focused comic, I didn’t like the characters much, and the action scenes were too long.
Ace Content: None apparent. Sources say MC is aro ace.

Les Normaux
What: Parallel romance stories with supernatural beings in Paris.
Review: I lost interest part way through. Too much courtship romance for me.
Ace Content: A minor character is mentioned to be ace. Sources tell me two of the MCs are ace and demi, but somehow I missed it.

Lovespells
What: f/f romance in fantasy RPG setting.
Review: Hasn’t gotten far, but I’m following it to see where it goes.
Ace Content: None yet but the about page says it’s an allo/ace romance.

Okotowari Shimasu
What: Comedy poking at manga tropes.
Review: Poking at tropes is pretty much exactly my thing.
Ace content: None.

Oh Hana!
What: Diary comic of an aromantic asexual.
Review: I laughed, but wasn’t motivated to keep up with it.
Ace Content: Being aro/ace is often a topic.

Otherworldly
What: Magical creatures who grew up as humans discover themselves, whilst fighting fairy villains.
Review: Cartoonish and silly on first glance, but promises lots of great character development.
Ace Content: One character has been mentioned as ace a few times.

Radio Silence
What: A comic about a band
Review: I didn’t read very far because I couldn’t stand the characters.
Ace content: ??

Rechargeable
What: Queer smuggling gang in the future.
Review: I read it, but it’s way too violent for me.
Ace Content: One of the characters IDs as asexual, cast page says another is aro.

Rock and Riot
What: Queer romances in the midst of a cute 50s gang rivalry.
Review: I think it might be too light and cute for me.
Ace Content: One character clearly hinted to be ace. Cast page suggests there are several.

roomZER0
What: Man’s nightmares start invading his real life
Review: It seems like there are more mysteries than answers, and I’m not really into horror in general.
Ace Content: None.

Shades of A [nsfw]
What: An allo/ace romance emphasizing lesser known queer identities. Completed.
Review: One of the best.
Ace Content: Asexuality is the story’s main focus.

Sharp Zero [mild nudity]
What: Queer superhero BL.
Review: Comedy gold, and the BL is very cute.
Ace Content: MC is mentioned to be demisexual.

Sidequest
What: Hero’s journey.
Review: It hasn’t gotten far yet, and I don’t like it.
Ace Content: Character sheets say the MCs are in queerplatonic relationship. This isn’t otherwise apparent.

Sister Claire [nsfw on occasion]
What: Young girl leaves nunnery to pursue fantasy adventure. Accompanied by Missing Moments, a text series.
Review: Good, but hard to get into. I’m working slowly through Missing Moments still.
Ace Content: Appears only in Missing Moments, but it’s an MC and it’s important. It’s one of those stories where she has sex with her partner. Sources say the authors are gray-A.

Solanaceae [nsfw]
What: Erotica fantasy.
Review: Well, it’s erotica.
Ace Content: None.

Sunshine-Boy (aka Leftovers)
What: Queer slice of life about two boys growing up.
Review: Very cute and funny, and I like the very human depiction of the parents. I was reading this before I knew of any ace content.
Ace Content: MC is demi, according to author Q&A.

Supernormal Step
What: MC falls into alternate universe, becomes superhero, tries to get back.
Review: I am a fan. The characters are excellent, and I enjoy the political aspects of the world.
Ace Content: MC is aromantic asexual, and it seems essential to her character.

Title Unrelated
What: Fantasy adventure. Gateway to parallel universe wreaks havoc on said universe’s culture.
Review: The premise is fairly compelling.
Ace Content: None yet. Author has said at least one character is asexual.

Yellow Hearts
What: Kids make a demonic pact, which affects them as adults.
Review: It seems fine but I’m not pulled into the world.
Ace Content: None apparent. Sources tell me the MC is asexual.

About Siggy

Siggy is an ace activist based in the U.S. He is gay gray-A, and has a Ph.D. in physics. He has another blog where he also talks about math, philosophy, godlessness, and social criticism. His other hobbies include board games and origami.
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7 Responses to Ace webcomics: Lightning reviews

  1. Seth says:

    I mostly agree with your opinions of the ones I recognize. 14 Nights couldn’t hold my interest, though. And I’m surprised you think Sharp Zero is comedy gold – I like the story just fine, but I kinda wish it would stop trying to be funny because the joke panels often seem more jarring than humorous to me.

  2. Cracticus says:

    Otherwordly actually has two ace characters. The author has confirmed one of the characters is demi, but it hasn’t come up in the plot yet.
    Another comic I’d recommend is Nwain. It’s about a knight who after fleeing a disaster in her homeland finds herself in an unfamiliar land. The main character is grey-A according to the author, though it hasn’t been referenced in the comic. The cool thing about this comic is it’s animated. It also does really well in worldbuilding.

  3. Pingback: How I Recommend Getting Access to Ace Fiction | The Notes Which Do Not Fit

  4. Tabitha says:

    Shining Ascension is a webcomic where one of the two MCs is aroace. I’d say it fits into the ace foil trope, because the other MC is very flirtatious. I’m bad at keeping up with webcomics so I haven’t read it for ages, but the art was gorgeous and I liked the story/characters. I can’t remember if the one character’s asexuality and aromanticism were confirmed in the comic though, or just Word of God…

    • Siggy says:

      I checked out Shining Ascension, and I think it’s pretty good. However, it has been on hiatus for almost a year. I would love to see it continue.

      No aro/ace mention that I can see, but LGBT webcomics gives it the aro & ace tags which probably means there was a word of god at one point.

      • Tabitha says:

        Well, the hiatus will make it easy for me to catch up, at least! I think at one point the character orientations might have been included on the “characters” page, but they’re not there now, so I might be mis-remembering. But I somehow know that Bregga is the ace character (and I think aro as well).

  5. Pingback: Ace Tropes: Acebaiting | The Asexual Agenda

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