Cafe Alpha

If you have time or need something calming and tranquil, I highly recommend downloading and reading Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou (Record of a Yokohama Shopping Trip). It's a manga (Japanese comic book) by Ashinano Hitoshi and has been running in a monthly Japanese manga anthology for years.

I think I'll quote the site where the translations are found: "YKK is a remarkable series. Quiet, thoughtful, and meticulously constructed, the story unfolds with grace and elegance. It became a favorite of mine almost from the second I first set eyes on it." And since it is a manga, gags common to Japanese comics abound, so YKK has lots of humour too. Note that the website I've linked to is a fan translation of it, as YKK hasn't been picked up by any North American companies for official English translation.

To be honest, I prefer it this way. The site does a great job translating, it's more accessible than official (expesive) releases, and it offers incentive to buy the series in the original Japanese by allowing you to sample the storyline in advance. But now that I've started re-reading it, I can't stop. Oops.


Bruno

"Widely regarded as one of the best realized comic characters on the World Wide Web." - Newsbites Magazine

On the other end of the comic spectrum, Bruno is an American comic strip that ranges from funny to depressing, from political to inane but it's always interesting. I don't agree with many of the things that the title character talks about (who is a girl by the way), but it's a refreshing change from comic strips that are constantly fluffy and pointless in content.

Good stuff.