The Poet Quarterly

Reviews Henry Chamberlain | October 22, 2026 Todd Webb is one of the original online diary cartoonists, from back when it was taking form at the turn of the century. He has his own take on it that he’s refined over the years in various extended projects. The most recent was during COVID when he jumped into the fray, documenting his life in daily journal entries on social media. It was during this time that something unexpected happened: a new comic strip emerged. It was to take on a life of its own. Those easygoing autobio musings were overshadowed by a whole world all to itself and it was to be known as, The Poet. While Webb’s journal comics are a series of random observations loosely based on his life, a format popular with countless contemporary cartoonists, this new strip harkened back to the core traditions of the great comics meant to be enjoyed at the kitchen table in a newspaper. Making an old-fashioned daily comic strip, actually carving out the time to keep up with it, following the same comedic pacing you might find in Peanuts, is a pretty daunting task. But it got under Webb’s skin. He is compelled to pursue it, ever since those first posts appeared six years ago. There...