Summer of Manga is back and better than ever! This year’s lineup has some seriously talented creators dropping one-shot gems that you won’t want to miss. And guess what? Saturday AM Issue 166 is officially out, which means you can dive into these fantastic stories, cast your vote, and help your favorite creator snag the $1000 grand prize!
But before you do, let’s take a moment to spotlight the brilliant minds behind these one-shots. First up, we had the chance to chat with Fred E. Math, also known as JustButtonMath, about his submission this year. Here’s what he had to share:
“My name’s Fred E Math, I go by JustButton or JustButtonMath on social media, and I’m currently living in New Mexico USA. I wrote and drew FFF: FastXFood for the Summer of Manga this year.”
How’d you get into manga/comic making and storytelling?
How’d you get into manga/comic making and storytelling?“I originally got into Animation! Toonami’s late night block in particular just oozed this Y2K cool that I still kind of aspire to. It wasn’t just that Dragonball, Sailor Moon and Yuyu Hakusho were good stories on their own, it was that they were marketed as something different than what was aired around them. For a long time it was the only art I had access to that wasn’t strictly American. What really did it though was Sonic. I watched the intro to Sonic CD hundreds of times, frame by frame. Drawing his simple little cartoon body made me feel like I was already an artist, and eventually the repetition brought my skill caught up to my ego.
Animation is such a labor intensive medium that it tends to be a large group effort most of the time. Nothing wrong with that at all, I’m excited to get back to animation work once things cool down in LA; but comics let individual people tell stories through cartoons and caricature. When I read a manga or an indie comic with a single author, I feel like I’m seeing the world through their senses, yknow? How could you not think that’s beautiful?”
What advice would you give aspiring artists who want to create a manga one-shot or enter events like Summer of Manga? What should they be prepared for in terms of challenges and opportunities?
“Stop worldbuilding. Now. Make your work in the smallest, cheapest, quickest way first. Practice finishing things, and sharing them.”
What do you want people to take away from your story?
“A lot of the time I feel like a square peg trying to fit into a round hole, so it’s comforting to think that there’s a place that not only fits me, but benefits structurally from my inclusion. There’s 8 billion people on the planet these days, so if I find that comforting then surely there’s a couple thousand other people out there who feel the same.”
I love how you incorporated real taekwondo techniques into your story. Similar to manga series like Cells at Work, or How Heavy Are the Dumbells You Lift? These series are positioned as very light-hearted and comical but are also meant to be instructional. Was it difficult to balance the comical and informational elements in the story?
“Not at all actually! I really like reading instruction manuals and shampoo bottles and stuff, so when I’m not paying attention, my writing tends to fall into a cycle of me just explaining stuff I find interesting. It’s more difficult for me to fit a story in with all the info, to be honest.”
We really appreciate Fred stopping in and having a quick chat with us. You can check out his one-shot FFF: FastXFood RIGHT HERE.
Oh we’re not finished yet we have more creator interviews coming you way! Stay tuned!
