[REPOST/LNH] Saviours of the NET #7: 'A Fight Scene! A Fight Scene!'

[Tom Russell]

First off, I want to thank Arthur for reposting these.  It's a classic
story (even if it is an unfinished one) and (besides the atrocious "Pi"
issues) very funny, very enjoyable.

But I also want to thank and commend Saxon Brenton for this issue in
particular.  In this installment, he had the unenviable task of writing
Manga Girl and Fuzzboy, who stand as probably the worst characters in
LNH history.  Yes, worse, even, than the late Pants Rabbit Lad.  I
should know: I created them (Manga Girl, Fuzzboy, AND the only LNHer
with the power to have crabs) and I'm glad all three are dead, dead,
dead (though maybe PRL is due for a ressurection?).

MANGA GIRL (the series) was the first thing I ever wrote for the LNH.
If you thought TEENFACTOR was bad, if my contributions to SAVIOURS seem
somewhat incomprehensible-- MANGA GIRL was far, far worse.  The only
good thing that came out if it, I think, was Adrian McClure's ULTIMATE
MERCENARY series.

Well, that and SAVIOURS OF THE NET # 7.

I mean, let's face it: Manga Girl and Fuzzboy have all the personality
of slugs.  Though some slugs have personality.  So they have the
personalities of boring slugs.  I was aware of this, if only
periphially, at the time I wrote the accursed series.  I tried to fix
it: I gave them quirks and catch-phrases, like Manga Girl's kleptomania
and Fuzzboy's passion for Carrie Fisher.  It didn't work.

But here's the thing: reading this story, I liked these two characters,
and I cared about them.  And Saxon didn't do it by altering the
characters I had written; he did it by reading the atrocious crap that
was MANGA GIRL and extrapolating gems from the seventeen
fecal-encrusted installments.  He took the quirks that didn't work and
made them work, made them gel, made them cohesive.  He took the
concepts behind the characters and made them sing.

And if it looks like I'm reading too much into this story, if I'm
making a big deal out of it, it means that

a) you've never read MANGA GIRL (you're one of the lucky ones), and

b) Saxon's character work was seamless and didn't call attention to
itself.  Which was my point: he made the two of them seem like real
people.  Which, for a couple of cartoon characters (in both senses of
the phrase), is quite a feat.

Now if only I could persuade Saxon to write Pants Rabbit Lad...

--Tom