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[Link] Pretty Magic [Date] 10/9/03 [Comments] 
Pretty Magic is one of a particular entire subgenre of web comic, but there is still no other comic on the web quite like it. The niche is "comics that make fun of 'Magical Girl' anime". This is a beloved easy target on the web; the rigid structure that defines the Magical Girl story, coupled with the seriousness with which they are cranked out, inspires twin challenges to the wag of mocking the formula by tweaking it, while nonetheless adhering to it as closely as possible to make the point. Thus you get your choice of Magical Girl animal, wand, and mysterious boy, and you take the stock situations and crank the absurdity dial up as high as you can. Additional style points are then awarded for then taking what you've done and finding a way to weave in an actual interesting story or mystery. Many of the results on the web are dazzling and even stunningly drawn. However, I was attracted by the amateur style of the art in Pretty Magic; as you know I really enjoy watching new artists evolve and try things out. By now, it's gotten pretty good and continues to improve. The writing gets all the extra style points; I find the satire pretty funny and am hoping that the artist can keep the comic going so I can get more of the backstory. However, as I was digging through the archives, I learned that the artist has a very interesting earlier work, and in fact is quite fascinating himself. For me, this has added much to my appreciation for this comic, and allows forgiveness for it's despair-inducing update schedule. About midway through the archive, there is this filler image and unenlightening explanitory text. What is BGC? Who is this "Brian" and why is he smiling in such a geeky way? And what is that strip of toilet paper or whatever it is that he's holding? Well, we never get an answer to that last one, but the link in the text takes you to a comic called "Boy Girl Club", which is the author's first comic, apparently done while he was in high school. The character bios for this comic tell us: "Brian Young is ... well, he is me. I really don't know what to say to describe myself. I guess the best way to learn about who I am is to read the comic. I mean, I'm in just about every one of them." The comic tells the story of boy who is gay and has many friends in his high school, but is in love with a guy (Jerome) who doesn't like him and continuously maintains his heterosexuality. Jerome frequently beats up Brian to try to make him leave him alone, and is homophobic enough that he drives a car with license plates that say "Not Gay". The smitten Brian will not let up though, until he is driven away so cruelly that he decides to commit suicide. I won't tell you how it turns out, but it is absolutely brilliant. But what is eerie is that it seems to be *the author's own story*, (rendered in exaggerated form) starting as a typical idle comic that kids draw about themselves and their friends, except in this case the author is a homosexual in a straight world. BGC becomes a poignant exploration of human frailty and emotions. The comic is sympathetic to all it's characters, even the ones who can't stand the often annoying hero, and also somehow musters up real humor in almost every strip. And then he sums it up in the last comic of the series (before he switched to a different idea and started a fantasy story with the same characters). Having read all this, it is really something to hit that "Sketchee" link and go over to the author's own website, with his current blog and links to his more recent work. He's still at it several years later, having disasterous relationships, but somehow taking all that emotion and channeling it into all kinds of art. The comics aren't his only outlet; he also does music and sculpture, so there's lots of interesting stuff to click on around the site. Pretty Magic goes on long hiatii when Brian is working on something else or something goes wrong in his emotional life, so check Sketchee every once in a while to check out what's going on.
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