One of the problems that arises with long-running story comics is that they will eventually become too big. Most story comics tend to have a fairly large range of characters and the characters start to merge together until readers either have a difficult time identifying who is doing what without embarking on an archive trawl to pull together the varied aspects of the story. It’s usually around that point (identifiable by increased noise on the comic’s forum) that many webcartoonists trot out that trusty ol’ hound called a recap to help quickly fill in readers as to what is going on. This also sometimes arises after a cartoonist returns from a break, especially if in the middle of a story. Even a small pause in telling the story can result in readers losing track of the story… and the recap can also help the cartoonist get back into the story.

Thus perhaps it shouldn’t be surprised to see a recap in Megatokyo, especially as Fred Gallagher returns from an almost three-week break brought on by the birth of his son Jack Gallagher. The problem with recaps lies with their repetitive nature for those readers who still know what’s going on (those who recently read the archives, for instance), and it’s a problem Gallagher works through quite nicely by telling the story from the viewpoint of two characters from the last Omake of MT, unMod with the characters Piroko (Piro’s avatar used in first person shooter games) and Largo (who uses himself as an avatar in said games) to retell the story. In doing so, Gallagher even manages to answer one question about Tohya Miho – in that the zombies are scared of her.

A common complaint among fans of the early MT strips lies in the apparent loss of humor within the comic. I can fully understand this, having complained of the same in CRfH before I stopped reading it. There the comparisons end as more recent updates have jumped feet-first into some of the most delightful silliness that MT has seen in a long time. Little things such as Sonoda Yuki stealing a Zilla for Largo or tossing washing machines at zombies (or even the zombies marching, unseen, behind Piro and his wayward band of Nanasawa protectors lugging some serious military hardware) show that while the comic had become more dramatic in the past couple of years, the humor was only lurking in the background, waiting to come back with a vengeance. This continues to play true with the recap, and promises to be the case with future comics as well. Undoubtedly delays will arise again as Gallagher learns to juggle both comic and helping his wife care for their newborn son, but at least both long-time readers and new fans alike will have a better understanding of what’s going on even as unMod’s Largo pulls out his BFWii in preparation for the fragfest awaiting him.