“You created two robots, made them look human and in order to train them, you put them in two separate families…Why not make us brothers in the same family? Or better yet, keep us and train us from birth? Not to mention why make baby robots when yo-”
“Shut up! That’s just how it happened! Take these bracelets and use them to fight evil.”
Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. You know them as the electronic musicians Daft Punk and French-men with long names. In the world of Maho Shojo Robotto Daft Punk, however, they are teenage super heroes who must balance their school lives with battles that make no sense and admittedly unsupportive friends. The battle of Good and Evil has never been this goofy…or self-referential.
Created and drawn by Chynna Miller, MSRDP is a parody of the Shojo (magical girl) genre of manga and a non-stop homage to the musical world. It gleefully points out plot-holes and clichés in Shojo manga as well as offering its own eclectic sense of humor that bounces around from every possible direction. It also offers plenty of intense fight scenes to satisfy your inner super hero.
You can join this comic’s quickly-expanding fanbase by following it on deviantART and Tumblr.
Q: What inspired you to make MSRDP?
Miller: It was shortly after I got into Daft punk that my friend, Stesha, introduced me to a cute little comic called Daft Craft. It was about Thomas and Guy going to high school, trying to fit in as robots and becoming friends with deadmau5 and Skrillex. It was really fun and was actually the first time I had ever heard of Skrillex.
As I recall, I was sitting in the back of the car traveling from Dad’s to Mom’s house, thinking about this comic and other silly ideas in my head, when the thought hit me that there should be a comic about Daft Punk going to high school…Only they are MAGICAL GIRLS (at least this is how I recall it)! I contacted Stesha and we started right away.
While Stesha does not work on the comic with me anymore, she did a fabulous job in helping me start it. She was very good at researching, or at least just enjoyed it…I hate research. Several ideas in the comic come from her and some are still to come. I couldn’t have started this without her.
Q: What do you think readers will like most about MSRDP?
Miller: Well, Justin Bieber shows up the comic. Terrible things happen to him. I think his chapter got the most comments so far.
Q: What do you think MSRDP brings to the table no other fan comics are bringing right now?
Miller: First of all, I can only speculate because I haven’t read a lot of others fan comics. If anyone is doing the same thing as me, I wouldn’t know.
As far as I know, I’m the only one drawing a comic that has the Shojo element in it (as far as going to school and having superpowers and what not). It has a storyline from beginning to end, separate chapters dedicated to the villain of the week, all of the villains are real musicians and it’s probably the only Daft Punk comic without sexual themes and swearing…Except for deadmau5′ dialogue, I suppose.
Q: Considering this comic is about real people, did you do any research when writing their characters, or did you just wing it?
Miller: Lots of winging (although I did get Guy’s grumpiness from the interviews I saw). I go off what I already know about the musicians and just make up the rest. I was never good at research to begin with, but also I feel rather creepy and stalkerish trying to make them as true to life as possible. I did get them pretty close to what I know now, but whenever I learn something new, I try to avoid it.
The comic takes forever to draw, the real people evolve faster than what I have planned and I don’t like to make changes sometimes (I’m still mad at Skrillex’s new hair cut).
Q: Is there any rhyme or reason behind what singers become bad guys? Have you ever gotten any flack for portraying certain singers as evil?
Miller: My thought process to choosing villain: “Hey wouldn’t it be funny if _______ was a bad guy? They could have ________ powers!”
That’s how it went with lady Gaga and the Bloody Beetroots. For example, I think Bumac Vitas would be an awesome bad guy; he could have Black Canary-like powers with all that high pitched Opera singing of his. He won’t be a villain in this comic, but that’d be pretty wicked awesome if he was.
I never picked a musician just out of spite and hatred. I used Justin Bieber because I heard stories of deadmau5 hating on him and posting notes on his hotel room door. That sparked the idea of deadmau5 trying to hunt him down, leading to him joining Daft Punk due to a common enemy. There is, however, one villain that I chose simply because of a remix video someone did of their song and a song from one of the main four chracters…
Q: What’s your favorite part or moment of production?
Miller: Right after I finished putting the screentones and word bubbles…saving it and posting it on the web.
I get to sit back, enjoy my satisfaction and become one page closer to the next page or chapter.
Q: Parents never like to say they have a “favorite kid,” but do you have a favorite character?
Miller: While I would never choose a favorite kid if I had kids, I would feel no guilt in choosing a favorite character. Guy-Manuel is my favorite. His hair is beautiful. He’s so grumpy. And he’s perfect for pointing out all of my story’s flaws and mistakes. He’s also got the better of the Daft Punk Helmets.
And while we are at it, let’s talk about all of the characters in detail.
Guy
His helmet is hard to draw, but I love the leather outfit. Guy is a more interesting character for me because he’s always grumpy. He’s that one guy in the group that questions everything and would rather keep everyone grounded at home where it’s safe, yet still takes the responsibility of a hero the most seriously. He also judges everyone and everything while doing so.
Story-wise he’s got a lot of exciting things going for him.
Sonny
He is an all-around interesting person to draw. He has a unique face and hair and face and glasses…but his clothes are all black. While that may be easy to color in, it looks boring. Right now, he’s fun as a character because he’s the butt of the joke, but I really look forward to the development he’ll go through in the next chapter.
Joel
1. He’s a jerk.
2. Best helmet ever.
He’s my second favorite of all of them, yet he has no character development.
He’s just such a JERK, and it’s hilarious. He has the best facial expressions, the best nose, the best clothes, the best weapon and cats!…I hate drawing cats, but Meowingtons is a character in and of himself and just adds to Joel. I love writing for Joel so much, you can have him do almost anything and get away with it.
Thomas
He’s wonderful. He’s so laid back and excited about everything and has the most fun being a superhero (Guy is skeptical and just gets it over with, but Thomas goes with it like it’s natural and enjoys it). He’s tall and his hair is the easiest and most fun to draw. I like hair. However, I hate drawing Thomas’s helmet more than drawing Guy’s helmet.
Do you like humor? Do you like action and music? Do you like FREE COMICS!? Then what are you waiting for? MSRDP has all of these and more, just waiting for you to log in and shojo out! You can start your adventure today on deviantART and Tumblr.
