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MC and Cortana: The Interview | mrsmiley { October 15, 2004 }

MCandCortana has been around for quite some time now, and has created a real buzz around this, and several other Halo online communities! It's combination of simple Microsoft Paint graphics and hilarious writing, has made it a winning combination among Halo fan strips! If you ever hear someone mentioning a "w00thog" or a Wendy's in relation to Halo, you now know where they got it from! I just recently got to speak with Junpei and Murph MacManus, who are both involved in the strip...

Strip #16 from Session 1 of MCandC

NOTE: For a nice and short interview, read Junpei only. For a more in-depth interview, read Murph only! (Or just read both! =P)

What first inspired you to start an online Halo comic?

• Junpei: I made one, and people liked it. So I decided to make more and post them on the net
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• Murph: To be perfectly honest, the original idea for the comic was created by my friend Junpei. We are both members of a clan called The Halo Ministry. He kept sending me links, attempting me to go view his comics. Eventually I gave in, and visited his Freewebs site. I saw how creative and original it was, being in MS Paint and all. I bought him a domain name, which is the one we still use today. Then I realized that I had this hidden passion to write out short comic scripts. I shared some with Junpei, and soon after we formed a partnership and became "The MC&C team".

• Describe the process you use to make a strip.
  

• Junpei: Well Murph and I make a script, if either of us don't like something about it, we change that little bit. Then I go into Microsoft (C) Paint and make the comic.
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• Murph: A. We pretty much always plan our comics out through AIM. We find it's too difficult to do this in person, since there is usually a lot of distractions. An AIM window provides a nice convenient way for us to talk about our comic and write it out at the same time. What happens is that I will usually write up a 5-panel script and send it to Junpei. Then he looks it over and edits it to how he likes it. We usually go back and forth like this until we have found a script that we both think our fans will enjoy. Then Junpei works his magic and draws up the comic using MS Paint, of course. After he has completed it, he sends it to me and we go over things we want to change. After it is in its final version, I take it, clean it up to perfection, and post it on the site!

• What roles do each of you play in the strip's production?
  

• Junpei: I play the comic maker, and the storyline editor, Murph plays the script writer and fixes the mistakes I made in the comic.
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• Murph: The simplest way to break it down would be this; I write the script and Junpei helps me, Junpei creates the art and I help him. Basically, we both have our areas of expertise, but we make sure to always work together. We share web and forum responsibilities.

• Aside from Halo, do you draw your ideas from any other source(s)?
  

• Junpei: Nope, except the joke between you and sketch.
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• Murph: The greatest source for our comic is, of course, Halo Babies. We know why it is so popular, and we try to create a similar effect, but at the same time remaining original. I also draw some inspiration from Red vs. Blue and Penny Arcade, and a lot of TV cartoons I watch.

• So now you are starting Seaso- I mean, Session 2.0, anything special planned? ;)
  

• Junpei: That is classified information.
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• Murph: We try not to plan too far ahead, because then we would have to change our comics according to what is coming in the future. I like to write my scripts on the spot, as inspiration hits me. There are, of course, certain ideas lingering in the back of my mind, but I won't disclose that information as of yet ;)

  Will there be any major differences between Session 1.0 and Session 2.0?
  

• Junpei: We wanna make it funnier than "Session 1.0," maybe some more cameos along the way. Hopefully we could even star in some other Halo comics.
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• Murph: The first season/session was based off of the level "Keyes" and ended when the game ended. We spent a lot of time going over what we wanted to do with the new session. We thought we might go back in time, maybe do a dream sequence thing. In the end, though, we decided that these gimmicks just wouldn't work and we had to move on. So, as some people may have noticed, Session 2.0 is loosely based off of "First Strike". This is, by far, my favorite Halo book and I am thrilled to be able to create some humor from it. A lot of the story is going to be altered and changed, so people have to understand when something shows up that doesn't belong. Like a Wendy's, for example ;)

  
  What are your overall plans for the comic and it's site?
  

• Junpei: My brother is currently working on a new design, and we plan on getting more webspace so we can only have one site for the series.
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• Murph: Hopefully, we can have our custom site up and running soon. I've seen the design, and it looks really sweet. The problem is that Junpei's brother, who is creating it, is currently away at college and is quite busy. Oh, did I mention he is also lazy, which plays a big part in it too. I also hope we can move into a new and cleaner forum that will attract more fans and create a bigger community.

• Any final comments?

  As I've said on the site, I can't thank our fans enough for supporting us. I'd also like to thank Bungie for creative a great game. But then again, I've also done that with all the money I've spent on Halo, Halo 2, and Halo related paraphernalia. And a great big thanks goes out to the team at Halo Babies; Smiley, Gruntsbane, and all the forum members. I love you all! *sniff* Seriously, you guys rock, and I'll see you all on November 9th,.

  I juat want to thank Mark and Matt for letting me bug them a bit about their awesome strip. If you haven't already seen Mc and Cortana in action, go check out the first session, and then start on the second! It literally has me laughing out loud!

  *More interviews of local artists are coming, so stay tuned!