Quiet comics for noisy times
Todd Webb draws the daily comic strip The Poet, and performs music as Seamonster
NOW AVAILABLE
NOW AVAILABLE
424 pages, black & white interior : ISBN 979-8988920328
The gentle world of THE POET is definitively presented here, with a foreword by MUTTS cartoonist Patrick McDonnell, a new afterword, an extensive notes section and more!
THE POET Volume Two
THE POET
I started drawing The Poet in 2020. New strips are posted every day, and published in numerous book editions including small pocket-sized paperbacks, an over-sized full color “Comics Spectacular”, and in definitive yearly collections packed with extras.
The cast of the strip is small. There’s the Poet himself, who spends his days in the park looking at trees, pondering the pond, or admiring the adjacent sculpture garden before sitting at his favorite bench to write, think, and watch the clouds.
He is often joined, interrupted, or lambasted by a spirited Pigeon, who lives for donuts, crime novels, and fame, and who despises one particularly lumpy statue in the sculpture garden.
And, when left alone, the Park Bench itself has been known to dispense a few words of wisdom from time to time.
I know an artist is not supposed to play favorites, but The Poet is by far my favorite thing I’ve ever made, and I hope you’ll enjoy it too. If you do, kindly consider purchasing a book or two, and subscribing to The Poet on Substack - and be sure to share it with all of your friends!
What are people saying about The Poet?
“These comics are very lovely. I keep reading The Poet when I am ‘supposed to be doing something else.’”
— Lemony Snicket, author
“Sparse, meditative, and delightful... Like all great comic strip characters, they're fun to look at and a joy to be with.”
— Patrick McDonnell, cartoonist
“The Poet has a sense of humor about thinking hard and feeling deeply while not apologizing for such outrageous behavior. It's refreshing.”
— Hal Hartley, filmmaker
“In the same class [as Peanuts]. There's a lot going on beneath the surface, if one is looking."
— The Comics Journal “Best Comics of 2023”
“These gently funny comics strike a happy balance between dreaminess and the corporeal world... what emerges is a sense of love for poetry that's intimate enough to make space for poking fun. It also makes space for a talking bench, which is inarguably a good thing.”
— Heather Christle, poet
“The first book of poetry you won't want to punch in the face.”
— Derek Drymon, animator
“I think The Poet, as a body of work, qualifies as both comics and poetry, a decidedly rare hybrid.”
— Denis Kitchen, from his Foreword to The Poet Volume One
THE POET Color Comics Spectacular
THE POET Color Comics Spectacular
Pocket Poets
Pocket Poets
THE POET Volumes One & Two
THE POET Volumes One & Two
With the POCKET POETS Collection, there’s a Poet for every pocket!
-
![]()
Popsicle Blue Sky
The Poet tries to write a poem, muses on repetition, and watches flowers bloom.
The Pigeon eats a donut, wonders about bottle caps, and feels average.
The Park Bench brings peace to the moment and muses on elightenment.
-
![]()
Silence Has A Lot To Say
The Poet contemplates silence, walks into a spider web, and loses his hat in a gust of wind.
The Pigeon worries about failure, pretends to be the poet, and gets caffeinated.
The Park Bench enjoys the seasons.
-
![]()
Life Is A Donut
The Poet looks at trees, admires patches of sunlight on the grass, and is jealous of particle physicists.
The Pigeon makes profound statements, reads the news, and visits the sculpture garden.
The Park Bench reveals more secret knowledge.
-
![]()
Not All Apples Are Red
The Poet grapples with the loss of his notebook, the Pigeon reads some interesting stories, and the Park Bench ruminates on stormy days.
-
![]()
Busy Doing Nothing
The Poet writes about telephone poles, the Pigeon reads questionable detective novels, and the Park Bench reminds us to look at things as if we’re seeing them for the first time.
-
![]()
Begin By Being
The Poet admires art in the sculpture garden, the Pigeon befriends a snowman, and the Park Bench celebrates a new year.
-
![]()
I Had A Leaf Stuck To My Shoe
The Poet muses on routine as he releases a small book into the world, the Pigeon mistakenly thinks they are fugitives on the lam, and the Park Bench is a puzzle unto itself.
-
![]()
Making It Up As I Go Along
The Poet finds a tree stump in the woods, the Pigeon takes on the elements, and the Park Bench experiences a transcendent moment.
-
![]()
I Have Mixed Emotions About Storms
The Poet watches shadows get longer and thinks about pinecones, the Pigeon tries writing about kid detectives, and the Park Bench is usefully useless.
-
![]()
Life In The Slow Lane
The Poet experiments with sitting, the Pigeon critiques art, and the Park Bench contemplates the rain.
-
![]()
Today Is Your Life
The Poet and the Pigeon get lost while the Park Bench changes the world. Also: bees, wind, and a mysterious hole in the ground!
Before THE POET I made lots of other comics, here are a few of them!
-
![]()
The Goldfish & Bob (2001)
My first graphic novel, completed in 2001 and originally published by Top Shelf Productions’ online “dot comix” and in print as a tiny square-bound book. This new edition was the inaugural release of my publishing imprint Second House in 2015.
The story follows a man named Bob who talks to his pet fish.
-
![]()
Tuesday Moon (2007)
Tuesday Brooks has had a bad day. What could possibly cheer her up? An adventure with Mann, the man in the moon!
A dreamy children’s story named after an obscure song by Neutral Milk Hotel.
-
![]()
Valentine: A Cautionary Tale (2005)
A collection of short and snotty comics from 2005 about a love-blinded boy and the girl who wants nothing to do with him. Comedy!
-
![]()
Chance Operations (2015)
An experimental series originally made for Comics Workbook. I use chance operations (I flip coins and ask ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions) to compose the individual elements (words, pictures, colors, etc) of each strip.
Chance Operations was included in the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art’s “New Waves, 2018” exhibit curated by Cay Sophie Rabinowitz
-
![]()
The Woodlands (2015)
A collection of silly comic strips about a stand of talking trees originally drawn for Nickelodeon Magazine.
Several of these comics were later adapted into animation and used as bumpers for Bento Box Entertainment (makers of Bob’s Burgers)
-
![]()
Slow Down: A Minimalist Coloring Book (2016)
Do you love the idea of coloring as a way to reduce stress, but find it stressful to color in the hyper-detailed adult coloring books that proliferate bookshops lately?
SLOW DOWN is the book for you!
Color everything and color nothing on your path to mindfulness with this playful coloring book packed with just enough to keep you entertained in the present moment.
Simple minimal illustrations sprinkled with easy suggestions for changing the way you see the world make Slow Down a fun and charming way to pass the time with a box of crayons.
-
![]()
The Continuing Adventures of Katherine Mansfield (2018)
A collection of comic strips based on the diaries of New Zealand’s most internationally famous literary export: Katherine Mansfield.
Follow Katherine as she struggles to keep her creative fires burning while combating the ceaseless onslaught of the everyday. It’s funny and sad.
“Todd Webb’s comics are less about chronicling life’s events than expressing an unabashed love of living. Good medicine for anyone in a bit of a funk.”
— Jeffrey Brown
An ongoing anthology series gathering out-of-print, uncollected, and in-progress work
Long Pond Road
From 2008 - 2012
I drew the
MR TOAST COMICS series, which was written by my friend Dan Goodsell
who is a genius.
Visit my ETSY shop
to purchase books and prints directly from me
(books are also available from the usual online sources:
indiebound, bookshop.org, Barnes & Noble, etc - Amazon if you must lol)
You can also ask your favorite local bookseller and/or librarian to stock them!
And if you have already purchased a book of mine, please leave a nice review someplace like Amazon or Goodreads as that really has an impact in this virtual world!