Feeding addictions

Now, you all know me.

You've all realised by now that somethings should never be said in my presence. Saying that it can't be done is one of them. If you do make this mistake, it can be rectified - just add the quibble "Well, not easily". See, problem solved.

What's set me off this time?

Well, I when visiting a certain manga fan the other day I saw a hanging poster - Megatokyo! To be exact...this one. That's new, I say.....no, it's been here since last Christmas....so it's new to you then.

An innocent comment followed, indicating that I was far behind on the comic and that I should read it again....

So I walked out the house with 5 books in coat pockets. The first took...um....four days to read. The second was less then a day. It's so easy to pick it up, read a page, put it back down. Or pick it up, read a page and keep reading.

But why is it so good? Well, it's much like the very best TV programs. There is a big story arc - well, we're told there is. Almost every single strip - all 1100 or so - are readable, more or less on there own.

Take todays strip - here. With no knowledge of manga, without knowing a single character name, history or even what language they speak it makes sense.

Possibly not perfect sense. What is a "Magical Girl" and why are they a threat? That takes a little knowledge. But the very basic idea is still readable, along with a good jibe at monster movies. "Never let anything become a zombie that's difficult to kill".

Always good advice.

But what makes this comic special is that in a few cells of picture the artist can drag you into his own little world and make you care. To empathise with things that don't exist - it's all too easy to say to empathise with people who don't exist.

But to do that means you're halfway there - you admit, they are people.