Mock Man Press

…and that concludes chapter 5 of The Stiff. I’ll be running some sketches and intermissions for a little while, then returning with chapter 6!

Things have been incredibly busy here in the Thompson-Al Hashal house recently, mostly due to our upcoming tabletop game Kickstarter: MANGAKA: THE FAST & FURIOUS GAME OF DRAWING COMICS! I’ve mentioned a bit about this on and off, but here’s a little information from the Mangaka website:

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Draw the world’s greatest stick figure comics in five-minute rounds!

Mangaka: The Fast & Furious Game of Drawing Comics is a new experience in drawing games. Through fleeting trends and crazy obsessions, test your cleverness to end up with the most Fame when the clock runs down. With over 180,000 possible combinations of themes, you’ll never play the same game twice. Challenge your friends and your creativity in a battle against time and the cards!

Designed by Jason Thompson (Manga: The Complete Guide) and Jumana Al Hashal with art by Ike (Golden Sky Stories) and Eric “Woof” Muentes (Blue Revolver), Mangaka will challenge your speed and creativity, and leave you with a full-length comic of your own creation!
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To provide a little more info, I’ve been working on this game since as far back as 2010 (!!!?), with the first playtest in 2011. When I first conceived the idea, it was, appropriately, a roleplaying game, but after many mutant iterations (some of them delightful in their own right) it morphed into a drawing game that’s a bit like Dictionary for sequential art. For me, it’s a combination of a game and an improv/creative drawing challenge, in which the time limit levels the playing field and experienced artists are often beaten by quick-witted amateurs. I’ve really enjoyed the many comics that myself and others have made while playing it, some of which can be read at the Mangaka website. But it’s not just a drawing exercise (though you can play it that way if you want): it’s a full game with 52 Trend Cards, 104 Theme Cards, 200 Fame Tokens (fame, naturally, is the currency of Mangaka) and lots of strategies and twists!

The Kickstarter will be starting on March 26, and I’ll be writing more about it then. Also, I’ll be at Emerald City Comic Con and Sakuracon in Seattle at the end of March! More details are at the Mangaka site. See you there!

NEXT UPDATE: Wednesday!