View source for Reality Check (comics)

{{Notability|Book|date=April 2023}}
{{Infobox original English manga
| name            =Reality Check
| image           =Reality Check v1.jpg
| imagesize       =200
| caption         ={{Descript-cvr|Reality Check|1||2002|art=[[Tavisha Wolfgarth-Simons]]|¶=y}}
|SciFi      =y
| author          =[[Rikki Simons]]
| illustrator     =[[Tavisha Wolfgarth-Simons]]
| publisher       ={{flagicon|USA}} Tavicat Comics<br>(2 issues)<br>{{flagicon|USA}} [[Sirius Entertainment]]<br>(12 issues, 2 being reprints)
| publisher_other ={{flagicon|USA}} [[Tokyopop]]
| demographic     =<!-- non-Japanese demographic -->
| magazine        ={{flagicon|USA}} ''Super Information Hijinks: Reality Check!''
| first           =1995
| last            =1998
| volumes         =2
| chapter_list    =
| related         =
| content         =
| subcat          =Sirius Entertainment
| addpubcat1      =Tokyopop titles
| OEL             =Y
}}
'''''Reality Check!''''' (full title: '''''Super Information Hijinks: Reality Check!''''') is a [[comic science fiction|comedic science fiction]] [[original English-language manga]] series written by [[Rikki Simons]] and drawn by [[Tavisha Wolfgarth-Simons]], together known as Studio Tavicat; unlike conventional manga, ''Reality Check!'''s art is full-color, painted by Rikki Simons (although it appears black-and-white in print). Set in a near-future world of 2012, the series centers on Collin Meeks, a young cat owner who discovers his cat, Catreece, has been regularly entering the world of online [[virtual reality]] gaming. The story covers the online and offline activities and interactions of the Colin and his friends.

It was originally available online in full color (the pages painted by Rikki Simons) but was also released as comic book in two volumes. The first in 1995, consisting of two black and white issues published by Tavicat Comics,<ref name="tav">{{cite web |url=http://www.comics.org/series.lasso?seriesid=10788 |title=Super Information Hijinks: Reality Check! (1995 series) |website=comics.org |publisher=[[Grand Comics Database]]}}</ref> and the second from 1996 to 1998, consisting of 12 full color issues published by [[Sirius Entertainment]].<ref name="sirius release">{{cite web |url=http://www.comics.org/series.lasso?seriesid=5674 |title=Super Information Hijinks: Reality Check! (1996 series) |website=comics.org |publisher=[[Grand Comics Database]]}}</ref> The Tavicat issues were reprinted in color in the first 2 issues of the SIRIUS run.<ref name="tav"/> [[Tokyopop]] picked up the title in 2003 and reprinted the SIRIUS run in a black and white [[digest-sized]] format consisting of two volumes.

==Plot==
{{More plot|date=November 2026}}
Set in a near-future world of 2012, the story centers on Collin Meeks, a young cat owner who discovers his cat, Catreece, has been regularly entering the world of online [[virtual reality]] gaming and the general "Virtual Internet System" (VIS). The story covers the online and offline activities and interactions of the Colin and his friends (including Catreece), who all utilize form of virtual-reality (VR) headgear called a "True Virtual Reality (TVR) Helmet" to experience the futuristic internet and gaming environs.

==Catreece==
When Catreece is connected to VIS via the TVR helmet, her [[avatar (computing)|avatar]] takes the form of a [[Catgirl (anime and manga)|catgirl]]. Since she has at least near-human intelligence and can communicate with humans through ordinary speech in the online worlds, she is effectively a technologically enabled [[werecat]], albeit one which started as a cat rather than human.  This rule also applies for Catreece's sister, Mimi, who is not only owned by Lili, the younger sister of Colins' friend Maiko, but also taught Lili everything she learned from an internet hermit. Her character design uses elements from anime and other animation, including Disney.<ref name="pw review"/>

==Releases==
The first two volumes of ''Reality Check!'' were original released by Tavicat Comics in 1995.<ref name="tav"/> Following those releases, [[Sirius Entertainment]] reprinted in full color the first two issues and released 10 additional issues from 1996 to 1998.<ref name="sirius release"/>

[[Tokyopop]] picked up the title in 2003 and reprinted the SIRIUS run as two black and white [[digest-sized]] volumes:
* Volume 1 (March 2003, {{isbn|1591822149}})<ref name="pw review"/>
* Volume 2 (May 2003, {{isbn|1591822157}})

The Tokyopop release sold 5,000 copies. The releases of ''Reality Check!'' and ''[[ShutterBox]]'' made Simons and Wolfgarth-Simons the first Americans to publish under the company.<ref>{{cite news |last1=MacDonald |first1=Heidi |title=Yankee Manga Trailblazers |work=[[Publishers Weekly]] |volume=252 |issue=41 |date=October 17, 2005 |location=New York |page=32 |id={{ProQuest|197102727}} |publisher=[[Reed Business Information]]}}</ref>

The two ran a [[Kickstarter]] campaign in 2015 to [[crowdfund]] to release the full comics run in color as a single hardcover volume and a PDF.<ref name="kickstarter 2015">{{cite web |url=https://comicsworthreading.com/2015/12/18/reality-check-returns-again-as-kickstarter/ |title=Reality Check Returns as Kickstarter |author=Johanna |date=December 18, 2015 |publisher=Comics Worth Reading |access-date=November 17, 2020 |archive-date=April 27, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170427102124/https://comicsworthreading.com/2015/12/18/reality-check-returns-again-as-kickstarter/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Reception==
''[[Publishers Weekly]]'' described the first volume as having "a sense of fun and imaginative details", and that Catreece is "a character with immense appeal".<ref name="pw review">{{cite web |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-59182-214-1 |title=Reality Check: Volume 1 |work=[[Publishers Weekly]] |publisher=[[Reed Business Information]] |date=September 15, 2003 |access-date=November 17, 2020 |archive-date=November 17, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201117222609/https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-59182-214-1 |url-status=live |id={{ProQuest|197076049}}}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.tavicat.com/ Studio Tavicat]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reality Check}}
[[Category:1995 comics debuts]]
[[Category:1998 comics endings]]
[[Category:Original English-language manga]]
[[Category:Science fiction comics]]
[[Category:Sirius Entertainment titles]]