| Rodney Caston | |
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 Rodney at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2009. |
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| Born | May 13, 1977 Baton Rouge, LA |
| Occupation | Writer, Author, Game Designer |
| Nationality | United States |
| Genres | Comics, Satire, Humor |
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| Official website | |
Rodney Caston (born 13 May 1977) is an American systems engineer, freelance writer and author currently living in Dallas, Texas. He is the co-creator and original writer of the popular comic book series Megatokyo and an active member of the Libertarian Party (United States). He is presently employed by Linden Lab[1], makers of the online game called Second Life.
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Biography
Caston was born and spent most of his early life in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He attended Louisiana State University and majored in Computer Science. After finishing school he moved to Dallas, Texas. While in Dallas he began work on what would become Megatokyo.
His son's middle name (Case) was said to have been chosen because of Rodney's appreciation of the novelist William Gibson. In Gibson's cyberpunk book Neuromancer, the main character was named Henry Dorsett Case.
Fandom
Caston is the co-creator and writer of the comic MegaTokyo. MegaTokyo was one of the largest and most successful early webcomics to transition from online to print, the success of it and other early properties such as Penny Arcade and PvP went on to influence an entire generation of webcomic creators. He has since parted ways with his partner, Fred Gallagher and relinquished control of Megatokyo. He is credited for the first two published volumes of Megatokyo. His alter ego, Largo, was the insane gaming fanatic while Fred Gallagher's alter ego, Piro, played the straight man. Caston quietly parted with Fred Gallagher from Megatokyo. The legal details of the split are private and not much was said about it at the time.
Caston's connections to software designers and writers at Bioware landed his alter ego cameos in two of their games. In Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn there is a NPC tavern keeper named Largo; and in Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic there is an NPC named Largo that you can either help, not help, or kill for fun on the first planet.[2]
In early 2005, a controversy erupted after Scott Kurtz of PvP wrote a forum post that congratulated Caston on his impending fatherhood as well as accusing Fred Gallagher of stealing Megatokyo away from Caston. Due to the fan speculation that ensued, Gallagher was forced to explain the reason for the split, citing creative differences[3] and insisting that the breakup was amicable. Caston then gave his version of the events.[4]
While speaking at a panel at A-Kon 15, Caston responded directly to the reason for the split, saying: "We had creative differences, I was creative, he was different." However he maintains that the two are still friends.[2]
Caston has been a guest speaker at various conventions such as Otakon, A-Kon, Animefest, Ohayocon and others.
Books
Megatokyo comics are currently published by D.C. Comics, and have been published by Dark Horse Comics, and Studio Ironcat. As of June 21, 2006, four volumes are available for purchase.
- Megatokyo Volume 1: Chapter Zero (Megatokyo vol.1 1st ed.) ISBN 1-929090-30-7
- Megatokyo Volume 1, 2nd ed. ISBN 1-59307-163-9 (published March 21, 2004)[5]
- Megatokyo Volume 2 ISBN 1-59307-118-3 (published January 22, 2004)[6]
- Megatokyo Volume 3 ISBN 1-59307-305-4 (published February 2, 2005)[7]
- Megatokyo Volume 4 ISBN 1-4012-1126-7 (published June 21, 2006)[8]
In July 2004, Megatokyo was the tenth best-selling manga property in the U.S. [1]. Volume 3's highest ranking in bookscan is 3 ending February 20, 2005.[2] Which broke all previous records for sales of an American manga until that time.
Politics
Caston is a civil libertarian and active member of the Libertarian Party. In 2008, he ran, unsuccessfully, for Collin County Constable, in the state of Texas against Republican Chuck Presley, Sr. He received 19079 votes (19.44% of the total votes cast) to Presley's 79039 votes (80.56% of the total cast).[9][10]
References
- ^ Employment with Linden Lab, makers of Second Life
- ^ a b About - RCaston.com | RCaston.com
- ^ MegaTokyo - "more largos??"
- ^ The truth about Megatokyo? | RCaston.com
- ^ "Darkhorse's product details on Volume One". http://www.darkhorse.com/profile/profile.php?sku=13-072. Retrieved 1 September 2005.
- ^ "Darkhorse's product details on Volume Two". http://www.darkhorse.com/profile/profile.php?sku=13-071. Retrieved 1 September 2005.
- ^ "Darkhorse's product details on Volume Three". http://www.darkhorse.com/profile/profile.php?sku=10-541. Retrieved 1 September 2005.
- ^ "CMX Manga's product details on Volume 4". http://www.dccomics.com/cmx/?action=on_sale&i=5407. Retrieved 9 April 2006.
- ^ http://www.lp.org/candidates/liberty-candidates-08/rodney-caston
- ^ http://www.co.collin.tx.us/elections/election_results/2008/110408/110408CAT.htm
External links
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
