The Return of Avalon

Avalon is one of those "old-school" comics on the web - something that was bright and blazing in its youth, with a powerful fan base and many friends throughout the webcomic world - as evidenced by the plethora of guest artist strips scattered throughout its archive.

But things change. And after over two and a half years of rock-solid updates, Avalon... faltered. Josh Phillips came out and created a post to tell his readers the state of the comic - he had a conclusion planned, but he simply found himself with other concerns and other issues preventing him from bringing it out. A handful of jump starts came over the next few years, but he never really got the ball rolling again.

But now Avalon is back. I've been surprised by how quiet things have been regarding this - perhaps there has just been other events in the comic world on people's minds. Yet this return is important to me, and I'm sure many others who wouldn't have expected it: Avalon is updating again, day after day, and in the creator's own words, "we'll finally get to see the conclusion the way it was meant to happen."

Avalon is and always has been a fantastic comic. While a lot of webcomics start off clearly weak - and due to the years of archives, many can see the long, long strides many artists make along the way - Avalon has been solid from the start. Clean distinct art, good self-contained stories, memorable characters - it's a comic with a tale to tell, and it does it well.

The comic takes place over several years of high school, and deals with the students who attend. There is a lively cast of characters consisting of not just the students, but often their families as well. The story consistently brings out humor and jokes - but also covers all the drama, silliness, depression, love, hate and other crazy and stupid things that are a part of life - both in high school and beyond.

I'm glad to see that it is back, if only to conclude the series properly - and I want to get the word out to anyone who will listen: Avalon has returned! Come back to remember the good old days if you were there for them... or check it out and discover a great new comic just in time to see it wrap things up.

I'm confident you won't be disappointed.