User:Dragonfiend/Sandbox/Reman Mythology

Reman Mythology is a manga-style web comic by Amy Kim Ganter (b. 1980). The web version was suspended in 2005 in favor of a forthcoming print version.

The artwork in the web comic imitates the layout of a black and white manga page. There is also a sidebar story "Escape from Kiirs", which uses a more flexible layout.

Another sidebar story, "A Test for Cenri", appeared in print in Kazu Kibuishi's anthology Flight Volume Two. To date this is the only RM strip to appear in color.

Reman Mythology was named one of the best webcomics of 2004 by The Webcomics Examiner.

Ganter was engaged to Kibuishi in 2005.

In addition to the comic itself the Reman Mythology website features lots of background detail on the series' characters, costumes, religion and geography.

Updates usually consisted of one page per week until December 2004, when the comic went on hiatus while Ganter took a vacation. In January 2005 she announced that owing to other commitments she would be reducing the frequency of updates to an "as and when" basis in order to avoid compromising on quality.

Then in August 2005 Ganter announced that the web comic would be permanently suspended and that she would instead begin work on a completely new version of the story which would appear in print:


 * "I'm a better writer and artist now, and thinking about the future hills and valleys of emotion and action that my characters will endure still makes my heart soar. If I want to do it justice, I must halt the production of the current version of RM and start fresh.  And this time, I must do it right.


 * "This means I won't treat it as a hobby by only working on it between projects. The next time I draw RM will be when it's picked up by a publisher or self published in volumes, as a series of books.  Hopefully it will be the former..."

Plot
The story features Tabetha Cohen, called "Tabby", a teenage girl from present-day Earth who is accidentally transported to the planet Rema, whose apparently human inhabitants possess seemingly magical abilities, including the power to levitate. The Remans claim that these powers originate with their five gods, each of whom is responsible for a different form of energy. Some magic users however are considered "barren spirits" or "geists", and are viewed as potential threats.

Rema has a neighboring planet, Nonak, which is suffering from a major ecological crisis. The Nonakians consider this to be the Remans' fault and regularly attack Rema. Ironically, the Remans are in fact trying to use their powers to save Nonak.

Tabby's role in these events has yet to be explained. To date she has for the most part been an observer, viewing Reman society through Earth eyes.

Influences
Ganter's artwork shows a clear influence of Rumiko Takahashi, and certain plot details - an Earth-girl transported to an alien planet in conflict - show notable similarities to The Vision of Escaflowne. There are however no mecha.