Megatokyo is an English-language webcomic created by Fred Gallagher and Rodney Caston, debuting on August 14, 2000, and then written and illustrated solely by Gallagher since July 17, 2002. Gallagher's style of writing and illustrations is heavily influenced by Japanese manga. Megatokyo is freely available on its official website, with updates on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. It is among the most popular webcomics, and is currently published in book-format by CMX, although the first three volumes are published by Dark Horse. Sales of the comic's print editions rank it as the best selling original English-language manga. Set in a fictional version of Tokyo, Megatokyo portrays the adventures of Piro, a young fan of anime and manga, and his friend Largo, an American video game enthusiast. The comic often parodies and comments on the archetypes and clichés of anime, manga, dating sims and video games, occasionally making direct references to real-world works. Megatokyo originally emphasized humor, with continuity of the story a subsidiary concern. Over time, it focused more on developing a complex plot and the personalities of its characters. This transition was due primarily to Gallagher's increasing control over the comic, which led to Caston choosing to leave the project. Megatokyo has received praise from such sources as The New York Times, while negative criticism of Gallagher's changes to the comic has been given by sources including Websnark.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megatokyo

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1781:

German-born British astronomer and composer William Herschel discovered the planet Uranus while in the garden of his house in Bath, Somerset, England, thinking it was a comet. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranus

1845:

German composer Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto, one of the most popular and most frequently performed violin concertos of all time, was first played in Leipzig, with violinist Ferdinand David as soloist. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violin_Concerto_%28Mendelssohn%29

1943:

The Holocaust: Nazi troops under SS Hauptsturmführer Amon Göth began liquidating the Jewish Ghetto in Kraków, Poland, sending about 8,000 Jews deemed able to work to the Plaszow labor camp. Those deemed unfit for work were either killed or sent to die at the Auschwitz concentration camp. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krak%C3%B3w_Ghetto

1954:

Viet Minh forces under Vo Nguyen Giap unleashed a massive artillery barrage on the French military to begin the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, the climactic battle in the First Indochina War. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dien_Bien_Phu

1996:

In the deadliest attack on children in the history of the United Kingdom, a spree killer killed sixteen children and a teacher at a primary school in Dunblane, Scotland, before committing suicide. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunblane_massacre

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

underpin (v): 1. To support from below with props or masonry.

2. (figuratively) To give support to; to corroborate http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/underpin

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Don’t give up! I believe in you all

A person’s a person, no matter how small! And you very small persons will not have to die

If you make yourselves heard! So come on, now, and TRY! --Dr. Seuss http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dr._Seuss