Megan Rose Gedris: A Rising Star in the Comic Book World

I first became aware of Megan Rose Gedris's work when I entered the 2006 Platinum Studios comic book challenge. The top three winners that year were Hero By Night by D.J. Coffman, The Six Sinners by Ryan Burton and a quirky retro space opera called I Was Kidnapped By Lesbian Pirates From Outer Space by Megan Rose Gedris.

What? A lesbian comic made it to the top three? I was seriously impressed. But, I was even more impressed by Gedris' stunning pop art and hilarious pitch page. Even though Hero By Night won, I'm proud to say that I voted for Gedris.

Platinum Studios voted for Gedris, too, by acquiring the rights to her I Was Kidnapped By Lesbian Pirates From Outer Space comic book and providing an outlet for her to publish it online at drunkduck.com. Having already published the highly successful and critically acclaimed, Yu + Me, Megan was no stranger to web comics. With I Was Kidnapped By Lesbian Pirates From Outer Space consistently in the Top 10 at DrunkDuck.com and Yu+Me's loyal following, approximately 30,000 fans a day are reading Megan's web comics. That's a number of readers that DC and Marvel would kill for!

And, how does Megan feel about her success? She's very humble, very honest and just like her characters, she's not afraid to express her feelings.

I read on your Prism Comics Profile Page that you originally started doing gay boy comics under the alias "Anonymous Manga." What was the reason you started there?

I was still trying to figure myself and my own sexuality out at the time (I was 15), and drawing has always been part of how I figure things out. I tried writing stories about lesbians, but they hit a little too close to home for comfort, so I reversed the genders of all the characters and it made me feel a little more comfortable. Plus, I didn't want to take the chance that someone would read it and somehow trace it back to me (which is insane, now that I think about it. Who would take the time to trace some random comics back to me?) So I thought doing gay boy comics would really throw them off the track. That's also why I used the alias "Anonymous Manga". I didn't want anyone to know my name.

Yu + Me has built up a considerable international fan base since it launched in 2004, do you think that has anything to do with the fact that other countries are more open-minded about gays and lesbians than the United States?

I never thought about it like that. I think it's more that anyone who can speak English, likes Web comics, and lesbian storylines has run across my comic at some time or another. Really, I just tried to write a story that a lot of people would relate to, and apparently, people in Brazil and New Zealand and China and Finland all relate to an 18-year-old lesbian Catholic schoolgirl from West Michigan.

Your latest project, and my personal favorite, I Was Kidnapped By Lesbian Pirates From Outer Space started with you entry in the 2006 Platinum Studios Comic Book Challenge. What was that experience like for you?

It was amazing, and a real breath of fresh air. In West Michigan, a story like this wouldn't be looked at twice except by a few people. I spent the whole plane ride to California with this attitude, this feeling that people wouldn't like this story and that the whole thing was a waste of time and money. There was a lot of hyperventilating. Then there was a full day of waiting where I sat there, trying to come up with a way of selling this story so that the judges would like it. And right before I'm about to give the pitch, with my whole monologue planned out, Dan Forcey, one of the guys at Platinum Studios, told me that I was here because they already liked it, they were already sold on the idea. All I had to do was tell them about it. And within half a second they liked it. And that was weird to me, to see this whole group of professional comics people, movie people, and writers (who comprised the group of judges) making a big deal out of something that involved lesbians. And sure, when I got back to Michigan I learned that all the press releases they sent out were ignored (while the other two finalists got much publicity in their hometowns), but I knew that the whole world didn't think like that.

By publishing I Was Kidnapped By Lesbian Pirates From Outer Space on DrunkDuck.com, do you feel like you've gotten more feedback from your fans that you would have otherwise? How does that compare to the feedback you've received on Yu + Me?

Having Lesbian Pirates on Drunk Duck means I'm getting about 30 comments every single day on every single page. DD tells me how many people are reading it every day, too (a nice little ego-boost pick-me-up) and where I fall in the rankings (usually #7 or 8). Hosting YU+ME independently means I have total control over things such as ads and when it updates, but I don't get comments the same way I get them for Lesbian Pirates. I have a forum and people usually discuss each page there, and I get a lot of e-mails and fan art. Really, feedback is so influential. It's really pushed me along on those days when I just don't feel like drawing or, worse, turning in my pencil and paper altogether in search of a less stressful career. Getting feedback like "This is just what I'm going through right now," and "You really helped me through a rough time in my life," makes staying up until 3am some nights completely worth it.

Were you involved at all in the 2007 Comic Book Challenge?

I would have loved to have been, but I'm a poor planner for one thing, and I was trying to sell copies of YU+ME Volume One at the Prism Comics booth. I did get to meet a lot of this year's contestants though, and there were a lot of really good entries and really good people. But officially, I had nothing to do with it.

Lesbian Pirates has been a highly popular web comic on DrunkDuck.com since it started, do you have any plans for a print edition?

There are plans. Sometime in 2008 is all I know, since the story is still being drawn right now. Whenever it gets done, we'll get to business figuring out when we're gonna publish this baby.

No offense intended, but you've accomplished a lot at a relatively young age. You're only...what...21? Yet, you've gotten a publishing contract with a major publisher almost right out of the gate. That's incredibly impressive! Do you know you're the Doogie Howser of Comic Books?

I loved that show as a kid! But as for being the comic book equivalent... I know there's people younger than me doing comics, but not very many. I was lucky enough to know at a very young age what I wanted to do with my life, and I stuck to it. I think the same applies for any career you want to do. If you know from age ten what you want to do with your life, it helps drive you and focus you toward that eventual goal. And I'm a lot further along than I thought I'd be at this point. I was anticipating many more years of obscurity and rejection letters from major (and minor) publishers until maybe five years from now when I would eventually land something from sheer determination.

Are your Web comics your full time career at this point, or do you have a "day job"? If so, what do you do?

I do still have a day job. Two in fact. I work at a deli where I officially am a graphic designer. And I also work at one of the local TV news stations doing graphics for the news every night. That job is very fun, especially since I do most of my drawing during my free time there. I think, if I didn't have that job, I wouldn't get nearly as many comics done as I do!

Lesbian Pirates seems to be a finite series, while Yu+Me continues indefinitely. Is there a planned beginning, middle and end to Yu+Me? At what point would you consider ending the series?

Actually, YU+ME does have a planned ending, it's just a much, much, much longer story than Lesbian Pirates. I have had the ending to YU+ME planned out since page one, and I have always been very excited about it, even though... it's going to lose me some readers. We're on chapter nine right now, and at the end of this chapter, things change. A lot. And the changes will bring new readers in, but I know I'm gonna lose a few old readers. After chapter nine there's one more (very long) chapter ten that is the last chapter. But it's so long, there's at least one more year of YU+ME left, especially if I procrastinate.

Obviously you're finishing up the gorgeous retro-art for Lesbian Pirates from Outer Space, but once you finish #6, what comes next? What are your future plans? Any new projects you can tease us with?

Lesbian Pirates and YU+ME will wrap up within a few months of each other online. Then, I have to figure out which of the many stories I'm thinking about are going to become actual projects. I do know that I'm going to continue to do comics. I can't remember a way of life that doesn't involve sitting down and drawing comics. I'm going to try my hand at something not so... gay, just because I don't want to get type-cast as "that lesbian writer/artist". I want to be known as "that really good writer/artist who has done some lesbian comics".

I do worry that the pressure's on now, and I have to come up with something really good for my next project, better than my previous projects. I always have to top myself (luckily I have, or I'd still be doing poorly drawn gay-boy comics!)

For more information on Megan Rose Gedris and her incredible Web comics, please check out the supporting links with this article.