''Reality Check!'' (full title: ''Super Information Hijinks: Reality Check!'') is a comedic science fiction

original English-language manga An original English-language manga or OEL manga is a comic book or graphic novel drawn in the style of manga and originally published in English. The term "international manga", as used by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, encompasses al ...

series written by

Rikki Simons Rosearik Rikki Allen Simons (born September 8, 1970) is an American voice actor, writer, cartoonist, and animator. He is best known as the voice of GIR in the Nickelodeon animated series, ''Invader Zim''. Simons has also written a number of nove ...

and drawn by Tavisha Wolfgarth-Simons, together known as Studio Tavicat; unlike conventional manga, ''Reality Check!s art is full-color, painted by Rikki Simons (although it appears black-and-white in print). Set in a near-future world of 2012, the story centers on Collin Meeks, a young

cat The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...

owner who discovers his cat, Catreece, has been regularly entering the world of

online In computer technology and telecommunications, online indicates a state of connectivity, and offline indicates a disconnected state. In modern terminology, this usually refers to an Internet connection, but (especially when expressed as "on lin ...

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a Simulation, simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video gam ...

gaming and the general "Virtual

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

System" (VIS). The story covers the online and offline activities and interactions of the Colin and his friends (including Catreece), who all utilize form of virtual-reality (VR) headgear called a "True Virtual Reality (TVR) Helmet" to experience the futuristic internet and gaming environs. It was originally available online in full color (the pages painted by Rikki Simons) but was also released as comic book in two volumes. The first in 1995, consisting of two black and white issues published by Tavicat Comics,Grand Comics Database Project
/ref> and the second from 1996 to 1998, consisting of 12 full color issues published by

Sirius Entertainment Sirius Entertainment is an American comic book company that operated from 1994 to . Sirius Entertainment was founded by Robb Horan and Larry Salamone and was dedicated from the outset to publishing creator-owned properties. Originally based in ...

.Grand Comics Database Project
/ref> The Tavicat issues were reprinted in color in the first 2 issues of the SIRIUS run.

Tokyopop Tokyopop (styled TOKYOPOP; formerly known as Mixx Entertainment) is an American distributor, licensor and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa and Western manga-style works. The German publishing division produces German translations of licens ...

picked up the title in 2003 and reprinted the SIRIUS run in a black and white

digest-sized Digest size is a magazine size, smaller than a conventional or "journal size" magazine, but larger than a standard paperback book, approximately . It is also a and format, similar to the size of a DVD case. These sizes evolved from the printing ...

format consisting of two volumes.

Plot

Catreece

When Catreece is connected to VIS via the TVR helmet, her

avatar Avatar (, ; ) is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means . It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appearance" is sometimes u ...

takes the form of a

catgirl A or neko is a female character with feline traits, such as cat ears, a tail, or other feline characteristics on an otherwise human body. As a type of '' kemonomimi'', catgirls are associated with Japanese anime and manga but may appear in oth ...

. Since she has at least near-human intelligence and can communicate with humans through ordinary speech in the online worlds, she is effectively a technologically enabled

werecat A werecat (also written in a hyphenated form as were- cat) is an analog to "werewolf" for a feline therianthropic creature. Etymology Ailuranthropy comes from the Greek root words ''ailouros'' meaning "cat", and ''anthropos'', meaning "human" ...

, albeit one which started as a cat rather than human. This rule also applies for Catreece's sister, Mimi, who is not only owned by Lili, the younger sister of Colins' friend Maiko, but also taught Lili everything she learned from an internet hermit. Her character design uses elements from anime and other animation, including Disney.

Releases

The first two volumes of ''Reality Check!'' were original released by Tavicat Comics in 1995. Following those releases,

reprinted in full color the first two issues and released 10 additional issues from 1996 to 1998.

picked up the title in 2003 and reprinted the SIRIUS run as two black and white

volumes: * Volume 1 (March 2003, ) * Volume 2 (May 2003, ) A successful Kickstarter in 2015 allowed the Simons to release the full comics run in color as a single hardcover volume and a PDF.

Reception

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' described the first volume as having "a sense of fun and imaginative details", and that Catreece is "a character with immense appeal".

References

External links