Latest Update: Added a couple more reviews that Fred has linked to since the release of book 4. Also added Amazon links for book 4.
“That whole MT inspired thing is kinda freaky… but honestly, I LIKE the idea that what we do inspires people to do their own. Here in the states, we tend to be passive consumers – the media has convinced us that the only good entertainment is what we pay for. The nice thing about the net is this – there’s plenty of room for webcomics – plenty. People read what they are interested in. If you can make something good, people will come.”
-Fred Gallagher, creator of Megatokyo.
Introduction
Megatokyo is one of my favourite web comics. It was one of those things that I kept seeing more and more about, but when I looked at it, I didn’t quite ‘get it’. One day, I finally put the time in to start from the beginning and read through a few strips. It was well worth it – I’ve been hooked ever since.
What makes it suitable to be in our spotlight? Easy – it all started as a little creative project, that started to snowball. A friend convinced Fred to start drawing a regular comic strip, and to put it on the web. He already had a few anime pics up there, but didn’t really want to get drawn into anything too big. Now, both Fred and his wife Sarah work full time on Megatokyo – the comics, the books, and the merchandising – and they’re both flat out trying to keep up with demand.
How did it start?
“Didn’t have a story or anything, didn’t even have a site. You see, I never intended to do MT. Largo bugged the hell out of me for months that I should do an online comic. I never read online comics before, but he was a big fan of PA (Penny-Arcade.com), PVP (PvPOnline.com), Real Life (RealLifeComics.com), etc. He showed me what people were doing, but as you can see, it’s different than what I wanted to do, and I wasn’t really interested. I wanted more of a cross between stuff like Nashiyume and PVP. So, basically, to get Largo off my back, I drew up two strips.”
-From an interview at Animefringe in April 2002.
So, it started from pretty much nothing – just a couple of drawings that Fred was pushed into doing. Because he has real talent, though, and what bits of story there were captured people’s imaginations, it took off. He keeps pointing out that he can’t even draw hands properly, but what Fred can do is much more impressive – he draws the emotions behind his characters.
Fred still has his own art site – FredArt – for sharing stuff that doesn’t fit directly in with Megatokyo. He always intended his successful project to be a story called ‘Warmth‘, but it could be a while now until he has time to work on that. Until then – ph34r t3h cute ones.
Interviews and Reviews
“I tend to look at a comic page as a sequence of views, much like scenes in a movie. Putting the final comic together is sort of like editing a film. I have raw footage (drawings) that have to be cropped and assembled into the finished piece. Often, the dialogue changes drastically once the characters are looking up at me, so I tend to tweak things quite a bit as I’m pulling the final comic together… usually just a few minutes before I post.”
-Comic Book Resources: a look at Megatokyo at the point of book 4 being released.
The book has a solid emotional core. The lead characters are appealing, even if they aren’t entirely sympathetic. Piro’s self-doubt keeps him from expressing his feelings to Nanasawa, who’s understandably frustrated. (She’s also ambivalent of her imminent immersion into the often frightening world of celebrity and fandom.) Despite Largo’s often irritating and unwavering obsessions, there are moments of real punch as the reality of Hayasaka (guarded and brittle from her own emotional disappointments) threatens to intrude on his orderly insanity. (Largo’s nuts, but his worldview runs reliably on gamer’s rules that make perfect sense to him.)
-Comic World News
Books
As well as being available online for free, Megatokyo is published in books each time there’s enough strips – three books so far. If you buy them from Amazon using the links here, we’ll make a little cut…
Amazon US: Book 1 – Book 2 – Book 3 – Book 4
Amazon UK: Book 1 – Book 2 – Book 3 – Book 4
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