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.