Saturnalia (webcomic)

This article is about Saturnalia, the webcomic. For the Roman festival, see Saturnalia.

Saturnalia was a science fiction comic, made by Nina Matsumoto, also known as "space coyote". It won Outstanding Science Fiction Comic in the 2004 Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards.

Saturnalia
Author(s)	Nina Matsumoto
Website	spacecoyote.com/old/sat
Current status/schedule	unavailable online
Launch date	February 2002
End date	December 2006
Genre(s)	Manga fantasy science fiction

The story was put on indefinite hiatus while Matsumoto worked on her other series, Yōkaiden, and other projects.

Matsumoto has taken down the webcomic, citing in the FAQ: "I’ve decided to remove it because it no longer reflects me as an artist or person. Sorry to my fans, and thanks for reading!", It is no longer available as of 2014.

Setting

Saturnalia is set in the year 2999 CE in the city of Ampersand, on a planet (not Earth) that was colonized by humans approximately three hundred years previously. Ampersand is a city in the Web kingdom which is ruled over by King Hal, and includes the cities of Sumdumgoi, Samarkan, Terminal, Watertank, and Playbill.

Plot

Saturnalia talks about humans colonizing other planets and creating realistic androids. Society is divided: some advocate for android rights, while others see them as threats, leading to underground conflicts.

Ellipsis, after fending off a mugger, gets involved with Sysreq, a PACER agent. They uncover a plot by HASL members to sabotage androids. As they investigate further, they find mutilated androids and confront a woman who believes creating androids is sinful. Sysreq is torn between sympathizing with HASL's beliefs and his duty as a PACER. Meanwhile, he struggles with personal issues, including his love life, which the PACERs promise to help with. The story also touches on political changes, with King Hal announcing his retirement.

Characters

PACERs

• Sysreq Varies – The protagonist, a police officer obsessed with his ex-girlfriend, Paige.
• Ellipsis – Introverted PACER who originally brought Sysreq into the PACER world.
• Nine Bucks – The leader of the Ampersand division of PACER.
• Kerberos – A mechanic, biologist, doctor and hairstylist with an affinity for marine animals.
• Cookie – A cheerful and hyper girl.
• Feight – An intelligent girl who was raised in a wealthy household, girlfriend to Tristan.
• Tristan – A recreational-type android that was intended as a friend for Feight, now her boyfriend.
• Lan Win Nook – The team's teenage computer hacker and research specialist.
• Jonelle – Holographic humanoid representation of the PACER computer system, presented as a small child.

Others

• Sixième Caret – Leader of the Paladin Unit, a well funded and secret radical underground group that works for Humans Against Synthetic Life (HASL).
• Ricoh and Aficio – Two HASL members
• Verdana Tenpoint Bold – Sysreq's bubbly best friend from college.
• Paige Downe – Sysreq's ex-girlfriend.
• Abby – An android prostitute from Ampersand.
• Sergeant Cedilla – Sysreq's supervisor at the Ampersand PD.
• King Hal – Ruler of the Web kingdom, and inventor of androids.
• Postrophe – Archduke of the Web kingdom, and first advisor to the King.
• Riven – The Peace Ambassador for the Web kingdom, second advisor to the King.

External links

• Saturnalia at the internet archive
• OnlineComics.net listing