I've been a fan of comics for a long time, and I believe strongly that creator owned comics, where the creators have the freedom to customise their schedule, the choice of what taboo subject matters to explore, and even the ability to select the type of paper they want to be used in different editions, has a overwhelming impact on the product. Lazarus is a good example, where in the letter column the writer actually receives and acknowledges critique and corrections of certain things included in the issues. It's good giving more money to the creators, and not big businesses like DC or Marvel. Opinions and recommendations?

I see what you mean, creative license is very important, but its good to have someone to bounce idea's off of, there are some good comics on the snafu site.

Just checked out Snafu, is it like web-comic fanfiction? it obviously takes more actual talent than your typical fanfic shite, some of the art I'm seeing is amazing! Recommendations?

If you like old cartoons; try out Grim Tales.

>>3 As >>4 said, Grim Tales is a really good one, especially if you like older cartoons, and so is Powerpuff Girls Doujinshi, it has a similar setup to Grim tales, except it has more of the lighter hearted or good guy characters from chartoons. Everything from Samurai Jack to My life as a Teenage Robot all mixed into one shared universe, it's epic.

>>1 I agree with you, though I don't have too much experience with comics and creator controlled/independent comics. I think it's partly to do with the internet: lowering the cost and boundaries between creators and consumers means the traditional publishing company can at times be sidestepped and their hassle and agenda can be avoided, see kickstarter.

That being said Marvel and DC seem to have almost reinvented themselves in recent years with the rise of the movie tie-ins and so still remain relevant. It also is important in the sense that those companies hold a lot of the "golden eggs" of comic characters and it's easier for them to keep on creating stories for them than it is for new authors to convince the world their character's story is worth reading.

So I think for better or worse, the big companies are here to stay. That being said, the small guy is making a waves.