Super Information Hijinks: Reality Check! #1

A book with real pervert appeal

So many questions abounded when I ran across this book. That bit about “In 24 bit color” had me wondering if this is a reprint of a black-and-white book that had been colorized. That wasn't the case, but look at that price! $2.95, yet its print date was 1996. $2.95 was pretty expensive for a book in 1996, and if you look inside, the first thing you notice is no ads. So first off I'm thinking this was a vanity project that couldn’t find advertisers.

Advertisers or not, the book sold enough to last 13 issues and to mount a come back for a volume 2. So much for labeling it a vanity project. The entire series is written by Rikki Simons, who many of you will recognize as the voice of GIR on the Nickelodeon show Invader Zim. The art duties fall to his wife Tavisha Wolfgarth-Simons. While I am not a fan of Manga per say, I didn't find the art anything to complain about. So see, I'm not always so critical.

Either way, after a single read-through I can only touch this book with tongs without feeling dirty. No, it’s not pornographic or ultra-violent. But the storyline makes me feel uncomfortable if I think about it for too long. Let me explain…

This is Collin Meeks. He’s poor and just got a new piece of electronic equipment called a True Virtual Reality or TVR. The TVR allows you to enter a virtual world on your computer.

He has a bit of trouble setting it up, but his pet cat helps him out. Notice the art style is kind of Anime/Manga lite.

Collin tries it out on his parents first with some embarrassing results. Note that I’m still ok with the book at this point. It’s what comes next that bothers me. Collin accidentally leaves the TVR on while he’s off getting a snack. Who should fall asleep in the helmet? His cat, of course.

So Collin wakes up his friend next door to borrow his extra helmet, races back, and proceeds to plug himself into the cat’s dream. And what does he find?

That’s right! An anthropomorphic, decidedly female human/cat hybrid.

See where this is going and why it makes me uncomfortable? I do not want to read a story about a guy’s lust for his pet. And it appears to get worse…

Well, THAT's not overtly teasing at all.

Luckily that was the end of the issue. Collin leaves the TVR and goes to school. The end. Except this is a continuing story. And I’m really afraid Collin is going to end up doing something that neither PETA, his local vet, nor I can condone…