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In Print: MegaTokyo 193

Posted by chrisd from the trade-in-your-return-ticket dept.
MartyJG writes "Freg Gallagher certainly has a talent for announcing things with a maximum of words - the summary of his latest rant on Megatokyo however, is that his webcomic is about to get a dead-tree hardcopy version produced by some nice people at Studio Ironcat. The first volume is going to be 120 pages, with additional off-line-only content. The announcement also includes a new webserver on order, and new merchandise soon to be available with the help of ThinkGeek. All the background on the announcement is in the current MT Piro rant and their very official-looking Press Release."
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In Print: MegaTokyo More

In Print: MegaTokyo

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  • Webcomics suck without exception (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Except for Space Moose [spacemoose.com], that is.
    • This comic really has me hooked at the moment:

      Unicorn Jelly [unicornjelly.com]

      The comic is best described as a science-fiction/fantasy story, but that hardly scratches the surface of the alien physics that run the world, the believeable, well-fleshed out characters, and the just plain entertaining plot. Not to mention that it's drawn in a light-hearted, anime-influenced style. The fact that it is really obscure should also appeal to the average slashdotter. :) Read from the first strip, read the accompanying "Alternate Universe" strips, and I assure you that you will not be disappointed.
  • the part about the new web server, and had to give them a reason for it?

  • Freg Gallagher: Talented Artist, No Story Skillz (Score:1, Flamebait)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Sorry, I don't mean this to come off as a flame, and I do love his artistic skills, but Gallagher cannot tell a story to save his life. Sure, he has his "Dead Piro" days, which, contrary to others, I love since it gives us a chance to see he scribbles. That is not my issue, though. For the time that the comic has been up (which has been something like over a year), Piro and Largo have managed to get stuck in Japan, get an apartment, and get a job. THAT IS IT! Please, if you are reading this Fred, dude, PICK UP THE PACE A LITTLE. It wouldn't be such an issue if the background story didn't have so much potential. Sorry, but I have to pass on the first book. Lots of pretty pictures, but no substance....
    • Frankly, I LIKE the slower, meandering pace. I dislike comics that stuff each panel to the gills with exposition and word ballons, that insist on rushing the reader from one scene to another before they can properly enjoy it. Fred is basing his work on the Japanese manga style, and manga is generally slower paced and more visual than American comics anyway.
    • Try reading it more often. The story picked up pace a *lot* right around the time Fred announced he'd be doing the comic solo.

      And in particular, Largo was morphed from a drunk weirdo back into an articulate, interesting character (with a cool thing!) that actually speaks to the other people around.

      I look forward to buying lots of Megatokyo in print.
  • I've been a Megatokyo fan for a bit, but here lately I've been seriously considering deleting the bookmark. I mean, I understand having a life other than the comic. I can handle the occasional DPD (dead piro day), or even DPW. But the comic seriously has not moved plotwise in months. It's gotten to the point of being ridiculous. Anyway, I guess that's what's been taking all his time away from the webcomic, he's been working on the dead-tree comic. More power to him. I won't follow along, though. I'll be reading Exploitation Now [exploitationnow.com]...

    • Re:I guess that explains something (Score:4, Insightful)

      by cjpez ( 148000 ) on Saturday August 03, 2002 @10:29PM (#4006535) Homepage Journal
      Hm, well I'll disagree here, 'cause I think the plot's been moving along rather nicely as of late. Sure, last week was kind of a wash because he spent most of it preparing for / recovering from Otakon (or however that's spelled), and it's not like the occaional DPD or SGD strip is too painful. If it really does piss you off enough, why don't you just try out dailystrips [sourceforge.net], a wicked-cool perl script which'll go out and download all your favorite strips and present 'em all on a single HTML page for you. I read about twenty strips and it only takes me a minute or two each morning to go through 'em, because I only have to click on one link. And since it's Perl, it'll even run on those heathen Operating Systems out there. :)
    • What I've done is just move to checking it every couple of months, and found the comic much more enjoyable that way. I'm not sure when the comic hit mass and reached the progression level of Dark Shadows for me. Eventually though, week after week then month after month of things like the possibly vampire girl made reading the comic weekly more frustrating than enjoyable.

      I really like the idea of having this available in a collected paper version. That way people who enjoy slow progression can get their fix online, and easily frustrated people like myself can avoid it compleatly and simply buy the collected works.
    • You mean you'll be reading Exploitation Now for a few more weeks or months, right? I mean, you can't be reading it for much longer. It's dying. Not in a bad way, but the fact is that as we're Dreaming Away in Act 4, Poe is Ending It All.

      I, personally, have been reading EN since practically the beginning. It's been impressive to see Poe's style evolve, along with the EN characters and storyline. I was actually saddened by ****'s (in case anyone decides to start reading, I won't spoil it for ya) murder last week. I know that I'll be sad to see EN go, but Poe is, so far, doing an excellent job at bringing about the end.

      I'll be one of the first to visit his new comic, Errant Story (domain already registered), when EN ends. I really hope that Poe puts all of EN into a book when the series ends. I'd be more than willing to lay down $20-$25 for a hardbacked EN collection.

      More OnTopic, Congrats to Piro. I'll be buying a MT book when it's released. I certainly can't complain about the $8.95 price. I still want Gabe and Tycho to make a PA Year Two book. While MT is decidedly excellent PA is, IMHO, the best web comic out there.

      • Re:Dreaming Away. (Score:2, Informative)

        by neuromortis ( 161690 )
        No offense, but if you think PA is the best web comic out there you need to look around a bit. The art is good, but the jokes are usually pretty flat. Most of the humor comes from the rants. "Real Life", "Mac Hall", "It's Walky". . .they all top PA in jokes, and "It's Walky" and "Mac Hall" -- especially "Mac Hall" -- surpass it in art. (Though "Mac Hall" only updates twice a week.)
        • Affirmative. I enjoy all three, as a matter of fact (and read too damn many others:). Real Life is very solid, the humor is wonderful. Greg's art style is Adobe Illustrator, and it's not amazing, but it get's the job done and is enjoyable. I'd like to see the occasional hand though.:) I think it's right up there with PA, and would love a RL book. It's Walky is great, but I don't care as much for Willis' art style as I do Gabe's. *shrugs*

          Mac Hall, OTOH, I agree, is better in both art and humor, but I was put off on it for a long time this year when it was updated once a week at best. I think it's great and all, and I appreciate all Ian does for it, but part of what I appreciate about PA is that without fail on MWF I get a new PA. I know Ian has the same problems that the rest of us do (like work and classes getting in the way), and I respect that, and I hope he can keep his new schedule into the next school year.

          And who said we don't count rants for humor? :-)

          I almost always save PA for last when I read comics (and follow the link off RL), because they both almost always brighten my day. Lately, I'm saving Exploitation Now for last, since it is wraping up and, as I said before, Poe is doing a spectacular job.

          Anyway, that's just my opinion(TM). You're entitled to your own, unless you live in China. Then you're part of the hive-mind. :)

          Later.
    • I have to agree. I was an MT devotee for a while, but got tired of no new material. I realize I wasn't paying for it, didn't buy an t-shirts or anything... but I started reading MT because it was funny/interesting/fresh .. a few weeks of sketches and no story was enough to make me decide I wasn't into it. Penny Arcade on the other hand...
    • The ridiculous number of webcomics that miss their published schedule and make no attempt to make up for it YET still ask for donations reminds me alot of Dragon Tails [dragon-tails.com] which, I believe, hasn't missed an update (daily) in 3 years, and regularly (maybe once a month?) provides slashdot inspired jokes.
      • MT has never asked for donations.

        They always have a product or service you can buy to offset thier costs, but they never shove it down your throat.

        any time piro isn't on time with a comic, it's because he's taking care of his wife or full time job. i'd much rather him complete one strip a week then sacrafice his 'real life'.
    • Great. Delete it. Piro doesn't need to hear your whining anyway. One less person accessing the server means faster access times for me.

      Seriously, I don't see how people find the nerve to complain about the frequency of updates on something someone is doing for free. It irritates me to no end, and I'm not even the target of criticism. Give it a rest.

      I wish you people would stop creating undue stress for webcomic artists like Piro. If you keep doing it they're going to pack it up and leave, which ruins it for people who don't mind taking 10 seconds out of their busy days to check for an update.

  • l33t (Score:1)

    by Jotham ( 89116 )
    ah they would get slashdotted during a filler comic. Here's one of my favorites that the slashdot crowd should appreciate
    #9 - speak l33t [megatokyo.com]

  • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 )
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • I remember when Megatokyo was first opening, and I still on occasion listen to Kim Justice [mp3s.com]

    I have not read the comic in around a year, (I left off in the point where the dude was just starting to working in the store as a mascot) but from what I remember it was Kick Ass. :-D Just got bored waiting for the story line to come along, heh, I gotta check it out again one of these days before it goes titsup.com ^_^
    • I think that something like two days or so have progressed in the storyline since then. It's like having a comic version of bullet time or something, I swear.
      • Weird, it was moving along pretty good at the start, strange. Oh well, did anybody ever read it for anything but a peak at the cute girls any ways? :-D Quite frankly I now just jump directly to the websites of Japanese Artists, saves me from the whole entire cultural intermediary thing. :-D

        Oh yes, and yaah! Cpt Kangarooski replied to me! I can remember reading your comments for years now! :-o Considering how long you have been around /. I am surprised that you have not taken up with the journal system yet, you could earn quite a following rather quickly.
        • I have (or could get) a following? That's got to be the weirdest thing I've heard today. I've got to say, I'm more than a little disturbed by it. ;)

          I suppose I may as well check out this journal thing, though I doubt that I'd be bothered to post to it. Partially because, kind of like Piro, I really am not that good at regularly updating things like that. But also because the reason I enjoy /. (and arstechnica, and macnn, and kuro5hin) for the discourse. I think I prefer to be the respondant rather than initiate something myself.
          • Okay. Having poked around this journaling thing which I never even noticed was there before, I think I'll be staying away from it.

            Also now I guess I know what that 'neutral' thingummy is for. I had assumed it was a filter to get rid of posts by users that one considered to be one's enemies, but I couldn't imagine wanting to do such a thing. I mean, at the very least, what if they're right?

            I'm interested in talking about things, sure. But I'm not really enough of an, erm, exhibitionist, I guess, to want to talk about my day to the world, nor really enough of a voyeur to want to read about other people's, unless in either case if it somehow ties into something of more general interest. E.g. 'I had a crappy day going with someone to the INS office, why can't we fix the INS?' (I've seen a couple of threads like this before, and it came to mind as a good example)

            I suppose I could use it to catalogue glaring user interface deficiencies in everything as I encounter them (like Windows/IE not making the I-beam mouse cursor in this textarea box vanish so that it doesn't obscure text as I write it) but then I fear I'd wind up a) looking like kind of a bore b) spending far too much time on Slashdot.

            Hopefully this won't disappoint you.

            But -- provided that there are interesting threads and posts -- I'll continue to post generally, I'm sure.
  • I'm definitely getting the book when it comes out! I like Megatokyo very much.

  • Dead trees? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by evilviper ( 135110 ) on Saturday August 03, 2002 @10:08PM (#4006449) Journal
    a dead-tree hardcopy version
    Just once, just once I'd like to see a live tree hardcopy version of something.
  • Ok, does Megatokyo have that large of a following here @ /. ??

    Because amongst other webcomics:
    Goats [goats.com] Is currently at Comicon putting out a second book.
    Achewood [achewood.com] is finishing up the polishing touches on a book.
    Cat and Girl [catandgirl.com] has a book going out.
    As do [dieselsweeties.com] a whole [penny-arcade.com] slew [fetusx.com] of others [pvponline.com]. Why don't they get mentioned??
    • I have heard of Penny Arcade and PvPonline;

      Neither of which is nearly as adorable as MegaTokyo has been at times, nor nearly as empathetic to Nerds as a whole. I mean sure Penny Arcade is kick ass in a "Well FUCK them all!" kind of a way, but MegaTokyo captures the whole entire "Well gee that sucks" aspect of being a Nerd.
      • Com2Kid has posted 1413 comments.

        You really don't get out much do you?

        • You've got to be kidding. com2kid's id number is about 150,000 which means its at least three years old. I have 331 comments over three years. You have that many in six months.

          • You've got to be kidding. com2kid's id number is about 150,000 which means its at least three years old.


            I came aboard /. about the time Katz was rounding up his Hellmouth series, third or so episode.
        • ? You mean besides biking ~6mi a day walking ~2-3 miles, spending at least 5-6 hours in one of the local forest reserves a week, going to college and working a job?

          Nope, don't get out much.

          I do type fast though. :-D

        • You : UID 547211 / 326 comments.
          Me : UID 11355 / 1075 comments.

          Considering I've been reading /. since before there was any such thing as UIDs, I'd say you're the one who needs to get a life...

          • I remember that. In fact, I only finally registered an account on the day when it was no longer possible to post without an account. But I'd been reading since before there were accounts at all. Gosh, it's hard to remember /. back in the days when people just typed in whatever handle they liked into the blank for it.

            Altus, who has an account somewhere in the 1000's IIRC was rooming with me at approximately the same time to give an indication of when we were reading here. (having been turned on to the site by the then-somewhat more accurate MacOS Rumors site)

            Oh well. Now there'll probably be a Chips 'N Dips era reader chiming in.
            • ...it was no longer possible to post without an account.

              I guess you mean, 'when it was no longer possible to post without an account, unless you wanted to post as an AC', but yeah. I chose to post as an AC for a while, and then caved in like the spineless weakling that I am.

              Help me to remember... when did CT and Hemos get their photos in Wired?
    • The Diesel Sweeties book (along with the second ExplodingDog book) is really just a pamphlet. Seriously, it's only 16 pages, 8 sheets stapled together. It's extremely professionally printed, but calling it a book is a bit much.

      I really like Diesel Sweeties (I did buy the book after all), but when I think 'book' I think of something that wouldn't flutter in the breeze and has a spine with the title printed on it. The Diesel Sweeties thing is more like a CD insert.

      The first ExplodingDog book was actually a book, and it's really nice. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes ExplodingDog. Hopefully rstevens will make a second book that's more expansive than the first.
    • Goats [goats.com] Is currently at Comicon putting out a second book.

      Hah! You want me to click a link labelled "Goats"? Not bloody likely. ;)
  • First, I do commend Mr. Gallagher for trying (and perhaps successfully)making Megatokyo a profitable comic. Profit-making webcomics are VERY few and far between. The only other ones I can think of are (correct me if I'm wrong): Penny Arcade [penny-arcade.com]
    PVP [pvponline.com]
    and possibly 8-bit Theatre [nuklearpower.com]
    Numerous comics have print versions out, though. Aside from PVP and Penny Arcade above, GPF [gpf-comics.com] and I think Diesel Sweeties [dieselsweeties.com] both have offline versions. So I ought congratulate Megatokyo.

    Secondly, I thought I could add to the list of worthwhile webcomics to read:
    Penny Arcade (above)
    Res Life [reslifecomics.com]
    Mac Hall [machall.com]
    Angst Technology [angsttechnology.com]
    Zeek V2.0 [zeekonline.net]
    I'll avoid the urge to shamelessly promote my own new comic :)

    • I'll avoid the urge to shamelessly promote my own new comic :)

      What's the URL?
    • Everyone seems to be missing:

      Bruno [baldwinpage.com] and Sexy Losers [sexylosers.com] (talk about opposites) and User Friendly [userfriendly.org]. Bruno in particular has several "dead trees" editions available at the moody cow cafe (link on page), and definitely tells a story better paced than MT (not to diss Piro too much, I like MT just fine). Chris Baldwin is a hella nice guy to boot.

    • Slightly off-topic, does anybody know what's wrong with 8-bit Theatre? I haven't been able to reach it in months. :(

      I really liked it back when I could read it, but now I check it like once every three weeks and always "No response from www.nuklearpower.com". Very sad.

      Doesn't respond to pings or anything. If anybody knows what's up, could you let me know?
  • I loved MT for ages, but recently it all went to hell IMHO when the "storyline" got too drawn out and some comics (those things between the "Dead Piro Days") weren't even funny, just part of a (boring) storyline which is the main storyline in any "respected" soap series on TV, namely; "Does she love me/Will I be able to bone her eventually?". It gets old and tiring up to the point where even Largo isn't funny anymore. He's been ranting about zombies for month now in-comic and really, isn't it time for a change and go back to the small stories that actually oozed wit and humour?

    Sadly, I have seen this happening to other comics as well. Anyone remember GPF? (The comic, that is. Put down that Windows developer right now before you break something!) It used to be funny, I read it all the way from the start to the end and then religious started following it because it too had loads of simple jokes. Look [gpf-comics.com] at it right now, it's nothing but pure and utter online filth that ended up in a overdrawn B-moviesque storyline. And I'm not even going to mention the total irrelevance of MT to Slashdot or question why it ended up on the front page.

    And this is a call to comic artists: Notice the ARTIST bit. It means you can draw better then most of us, it doesn't mean that you can also think up of a decent storyline. Don't get illusions of grandeur, fooling yourself that you're capable of writing a novel in comic form. Thank you.

    Steps of his soapbox...
    • It might seem odd to reply to myself. Hell, it IS odd, but the first thing I saw after posting my comment is.... A Megatokyo advertisement/banner. This is a slight bit suspiscious to me. Someone been "donating" money to something perhaps or should I quit my fascination with conspiracies?

    • Re:Megatokyo? Nah.... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by The Raven ( 30575 ) on Saturday August 03, 2002 @10:50PM (#4006578) Homepage
      You said:
      just part of a (boring) storyline which is the main storyline in any "respected" soap series on TV, namely; "Does she love me/Will I be able to bone her eventually?".
      Well, you're free to have that opinion. However, I would like to point out that Piro, and hence the storyline, are heavily influenced by Shoujo (sp!?) manga... ie, japanese girly comics. Like Love Hina. Which have plots VERY like Megatokyo. I happen to think they're cool... you don't. That's nice.

      But don't act all surprised about it... it's normal for the style of comic Piro is creating.

      As for its relevance... webcomics are a geek thing. Megatokyo is one of THE biggest webcomics, period. He is just as relevant as news about a new anime release by a popular anime director or something... it is news for nerds.
      • Though I have nothing against the manga-style plot Piro is employing, I think the main problem lately has been the way it's dragged. I'm somewhat interested in seeing what happens between Piro and Nanasawa, but with the infrequency of new comics and the lack of activity in a lot of them (ie. Piro and Nanasawa looking at each other pathetically while Largo rants about zombies) I wonder if the story will ever progress. I've been a fan of MT since day one, but and hopefully Piro will be able to get the pace of the comic back up. -Uther
      • Love Hina is not shoujo at all.

        It's seinen manga, for older teens (generally college age people), and targeted towards men.

        Now then, I do think the original poster is being a little bit of an ass, as though he feels he is owed something by Piro.

        First off, his art is several times better (and larger) than many other webcomics out there. He's also trying to build up a larger story. If he could focus on it totally like the mangaka do in Japan (where they turn out a new chapter (15-25 pages) a WEEK, then maybe you'd have a lot more of a story. But since piro is limited to the time he has, and the resources available to him, there's not much that can be done.

        Personally I think the line now is great, and since it's been Piro alone, it's moved a _lot_ faster. Where you got this "Does she love me/Will I be able to bone her eventually?" being the plotline from I haven't a damn clue.

        Maybe you need to stop watching cheapass daytime soaps with 50 year old cyclical plots and start exploring other stuff out there.

        • Re:Megatokyo? Nah.... (Score:2, Informative)

          by BJH ( 11355 )
          Bzzzt! You lose...

          Love Hina is actually a shounen manga, aimed at young males between the ages of 12 and 18.

          Seinen manga would be series from magazines such as 'Young Magazine' or 'Young Jump'.

          (Clue: Love Hina is currently running in Shounen Magazine.)
    • ...then just shut the fuck up.

      Just imagine if ungrateful assholes like you had as open a forum as /. (and the rest of the net in general) back in the days when Picaso, Shakespeare, and Mozart were getting started. Back then you had to be talented to get your words in front of the kind of masses the above tripe was subjected to. Look at any of the big names' really early work, most of it was crap, or at least not up to the level they latter attained. Fred has asperations twoard manga, and a page at a time, even the best manga isn't always funny. Go pickup a good one, pick any page at random and read it, just by itself. Now a couple days later, read the next page... wait a couple days and read another page. You'll very soon note that it's about the same pace as reading MT. If you can't handle that, then don't read the new strips every few days, wait a month or more and come read several of them at the same time.

      That's the whole point of the net, it's NOT as much of a meritocracy, you don't have to already be a master in order to put something out there, hell, as you've proven so very well, anyone that can string a sentence together (and even some that can't) can inflict their literary diarrhea on the unsuspecting masses.

      That you've not found the humour in the recent stories doesn't suprise me. Fortunately not all the readers of MT are at your level, and even more fortunately, Fred understands this.
      • Yeah, let's compare Megatokyo to . . . say, Mozart's Don Giovanni. Open mouth, insert foot?
      • The internet didn't invent art critics. Read any art history book and you'll see that any great artist or movement was meant with disdain and loathing by the critical elite. Get over it, Picaso, Shakespear, and Mozart did!
      • ...then just shut the fuck up.

        Just imagine if ungrateful assholes like you had as open a forum as /. (and the rest of the net in general) back in the days when Picaso, Shakespeare, and Mozart were getting started. Back then you had to be talented to get your words in front of the kind of masses the above tripe was subjected to. Look at any of the big names' really early work, most of it was crap, or at least not up to the level they latter attained. Fred has asperations twoard manga, and a page at a time, even the best manga isn't always funny. Go pickup a good one, pick any page at random and read it, just by itself. Now a couple days later, read the next page... wait a couple days and read another page. You'll very soon note that it's about the same pace as reading MT. If you can't handle that, then don't read the new strips every few days, wait a month or more and come read several of them at the same time.

        That's the whole point of the net, it's NOT as much of a meritocracy, you don't have to already be a master in order to put something out there, hell, as you've proven so very well, anyone that can string a sentence together (and even some that can't) can inflict their literary diarrhea on the unsuspecting masses.

        That you've not found the humour in the recent stories doesn't suprise me. Fortunately not all the readers of MT are at your level, and even more fortunately, Fred understands this.
        Look ma, a hypocrite!

        Critics are nescesarry. We've got millions of critics who bother themselves with an equal ammount of topics and they are great. Why? Because they keep people on their toes and often the good critics can give you the critical advice you need to make things better. Now, you can listen to critics and try to improve things like they suggest, or you can just ignore them and do things like you want anyways. What would you choose? Would you ignore every bit of critique you receive or would you actually pay attention to serious critique and try to figure out why?

        Lastly, I'd just like to point out that it's just my huble opinion on MT, as I stated. If you are so far above me according to your own post, then why can't you realize the simple fact every person got his own opinion and that you should respect other people, hmm?

        That's a rhetorical question, don't asnwer it, please.

  • Webcomics I read (Score:2, Informative)

    by jfedor ( 27894 )
    -jfedor

  • I still like MegaTokyo... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by DragonPup ( 302885 ) on Saturday August 03, 2002 @10:34PM (#4006549)
    ...but since Largo basically left the comic, you can really feel the difference. I miss that drunken l33t d00d who can dance(I saw him dancing on the last day of Akon this year).
    • Well, he's not directly involved with the storyline anymore, but his character in the comic is still as drunk and trigger happy as ever. :)
    • Personally I was able to tell that largo had quit working on the comic a few months before the announcement came. And I agree it really hasn't been as entertaining since he left.

      On a related note I wonder if he will be getting any of the cash from this? it is chapter 0 which he was very involved with but he apparently has given up all rights to MT. We are talking about a man that nearly lost his job because he was hosting MT from work without their knowledge.
    • Well, if you feel that way, I may be doing a new comic soon in that older style.

      -largo
  • I checked all links, where is the Thinkgeek related stuff?
  • Offline-only content? I remember, back in the day and when the internet was all new and shiny, people used to offer special online-only content. My, we seem to have come full circle, haven't we?

  • Err. (Score:1)

    by hage ( 581704 )
    Megatokyo is a comic for nerds? What about Schlock Mercenary? [schlockmercenary.com]

    As with most webcomics, it has started to go slack a bit, but a lot of it is top-notch.

  • At Otakon (Score:1, Flamebait)

    by Apreche ( 239272 )
    The longest line for any event were the Megatokyo Panels. The comic is seriously popular among anime fanboys who feel the same as Piro. Our art is superior! We can't get chix! Meanwhile all the people who weren't socially inept (i.e. the ones who didn't pay almost 2000$ for one megatokyo drawing) were at the www.dubthis.net party. party or wait in line to see a guy who can draw, party, guy who can draw, party... The only people who still like Megatokyo are fanboys. It's popular, because there are a lot of fanboys.
    • The Dubthis party didn't have the beer and women of the Ninjaburger party. And well, if you'd seen how much alcohol was flowing at the midnight MT panel....
  • I'm a big fan of MT, and congrats to Piro on the book.

    But seriously, can we mod this story down as Offtopic?
    • But seriously, can we mod this story down as Offtopic?

      Because it's a difficult and laborous task to parse the subject line of each article for your own personal interest, or because you aren't aware that you aren't the center of the universe? In what way is this article offtopic?

      • That was poorly worded on my part, and I apologize. Maybe Nepotism would have been a better word.

        My point was that it strikes me that, as was brought up my others, many web comics that deal with "News for nerds, stuff that matters" like PA and PVP (gaming) have had books published, and no story on /.. Why does MT get special treatment? Because their banner occasionally runs uptop? Is it because MT is done in a more Anime style? Maybe I'll submit a story about Exploitation Now being about to end [exploitationnow.com]. Or when Poe announces that he's putting EN into a book. Odds it get's posted, though EN is an anime-style comic? Probably not great.

        I don't mind getting the announcement here, in fact it's nice to have it on my home page, but I just don't see why MT get's this kind of special treatment. That's all.

        For the record, the subject does personally interst me, and I am the center of the universe.
  • why is this news for nerds? um... cause. it just is. I wouldn't even know megatokyo existed but for slashdot. no one else notice that theres a webcomics slashbox? in it are PA and MT and many others. this is news for nerds. if slashdot posted a story about football then I would wonder what the hell was going on. as for the plot of MT. , it is his strip. and I've never known him to proclaim himself grand poobah of webcomics.

  • Support (Score:2, Insightful)

    by McCart42 ( 207315 )
    When this book comes out I think I will probably buy it. This and Penny Arcade are the two comics that, when intended to be funny, make me laugh on a consistent basis. And when not funny, Megatokyo is at least very good art. I'll admit the story isn't as fast-paced as many other webcomics, but this is a welcome change at times. I figure Fred needs the support and I appreciate his art...I would definitely like to see more manga webcomics.
  • Umm... why doesn't Piro, instead, put his efforts into ACTUALLY DOING HIS COMIC?

    In the past few months he's done maybe FIVE...
    • Perhaps because it's his hobby? I'm sure if you made him a generous enough offer, he'd quit his day job, quit scrounging for ways to be able to afford to keep the website up, etc, and just work on the web comic.

  • The main reason I don't read MegaTokyo, for all its fans and recommendations, is that I don't generally feel like translating "1337" to English. When 1337-speak shows up in the archive headings about half the time, it's probably a comic not worth my time.

    That said, I don't suppose the book is going to have translations? Or is that supposed to be what makes it funny?

  • The senseless--

    ####

    Which end EVERY press release it seems. (I dunno, there must be some method to the madness, maybe some ancient press software/hardware recognizes #### as the end of the story..)

    (This wasn't as funny as I'd thought it would be.)

    On a side note, I look forward to a hard copy of the comic-- I just recently began reading it, and have become quite impressed (the story just moves along a lot slower than I wish it would, heh). =)

  • I'll show it to you when we get back. . . (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Aerog ( 324274 ) on Sunday August 04, 2002 @02:06AM (#4006999) Homepage
    Okay, this'll be a fairly random ride today, and probably more than a fair share of ranting. Karma be damned, here goes. . .

    Webcomics do not suck, nor are they only for "geeks with no lives and losers". In fact, I'm finding that lately print comics are starting to suck. I rarely laugh anymore if I even bother to read the comics in the paper. Any AC who disagrees can get the balls to identify themselves or shut the hell up.

    Megatokyo is updated fairly regularly. I think Fred's doing the best he can manage what with working as much as he seems to do. Congratulations for making such a successful go of it this far, keep it up.

    I will be buying the book, as well as some merchandise, and I hope that many of the rest of the fans will as well. If MT has been nice enough not to go banner-happy or "beg for donations" as IIRC Fred said back in the day, then the least we could do is buy some stuff. 3v1l/l337 shirt? Sure!

    This is justifiably newsworthy, considering how many non-keenspot comics do something like this. It's news for nerds. How many nerds don't read at least one webcomic? How many don't read MT?

    MT has always had a fairly excellent storyline, and unless the latest comics were written before Rodney left, then you can't really say that it was funnier before he did leave. Lately, every comic with Largo in it has been, IMO, hilariously funny, especially the comic about his "special thing" that "does cool stuff". I'm still laughing at that one.

    If you don't like the update schedule, do what many people I know do and read it monthly.
    That's enough ranting for today, I'm here all week. Try the veal, it's delicious.

    • I've hardly ever liked any print comics -- I read stories for the *plot*. Art is good, but it's a bonus, it's not the reason I buy a book. Why spend 3 to 5 dollars on a comic with 5 minutes worth of plot development when 6 dollars will get me a full-length paperback novel?

      I've been pleasantly surprised by two print comics though.

      First and foremost: Thieves and Kings by Mark Oakley (M'Oak). I give it 10 stars out of five :)
      Order the first four trade paperbacks from marsimports.com now now now!! (it's self-published, so give the guy your support!)
      The plot is *killer*. I especially like the fact that there's one or two pages in almost every issue that are text only (with a little bit of art around the edge), so you really get your money's worth in plot development. Especially when it's stuff that can't really be described well in comic format. (like one text block that goes into describing the background of a dragon to explain his psychological development. That would have suffered in comic form - it would have been like "just get back to the story!", but as a text insert it adds considerably to the flavor and impact of the character)

      Secondly... you've probably had other people recommend it to you already, but they're actually right in this case: Johnny the Homicidal Maniac by Jhonen Vasquez. It takes a little while to get into the main plot, but it creeps me out like an H.P. Lovecraft story when the doughboys start seriously talking and stuff. The advantage of this one is that the story is finished and you can buy it all in one trade paperback (the "Director's Cut").

      Looks like there'll be a third print comic I like once dead-tree-MT comes out ;)
  • You think webcomics other than MT suck? Well you can all just DIE [geocities.com] (shameless plug for my wife's web comic)
  • Sexy Losers [keenspace.com]
    Ghastly's [keenspace.com] Annie the hardcore gamer [keenspace.com]
    T.A.Vision [keenspace.com]
    Tangs Comics [keenspace.com]
    Sunday Morning Coffee [keenspace.com](on hold)

  • Well, admitting to being a PA [penny-arcade.com] fan is absolutely pointless in this list, but I for one would like to mention www.sluggy.com [sluggy.com] as my other major favorite webcomic. This guy has an incredible amount of content: Ongoing storylines, good funny content, changing cast of characters. Sure, you can bash my opinion all you want, but this is a guy who's been seriously paying the bills for a while as a webcomic. He's got 7 books of it selling on Amazon!

    So if you're willing to lose days to something other than Nethack [nethack.org], try reading Sluggy from the beginning [sluggy.com]

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