Rotated 180 degrees Solar New Year 2002 Celebrating Taiwanimation's First Full Year 366 days ago, on January 1, 2001, Taiwanimation featured much less than it does now. The only comics were the weekly (since ended) Postmodernage and the 25-page story Work City, plus a few other sketchy affairs. In January 2001, though, big things were happening. The full length story May We Live in Interesting Times (formerly Permutations) began and is now past its 100th page and more than halfway complete. Out of this would come the daily and funny Stupid Melon Dumb Egg comic. Other comics of 2001 included Mega Mole, Real Land, Celestial Empire, and City Slackers. See the Comics history for more. Of more note though is the expansion of the Art section of the site. Additions here are too many to list here, I'll just leave it at that it prompted the creation of a site map. To commemorate a great year of expansion and improvement of Taiwanimation, here's to a prosperous 2002! A description of the characters and the buildings is shown below. For more information, refer to individual comics and sections through the Site Map. CHARACTERS, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP Mr. Gerbil The big fuzzy gerbil from "Mega Mole", Mr. Gerbil is Mega Mole's arch-nemesis due to their similar culinary preferences. With the advantage of being a headstarter, he often gets to munch on the skyline first. But his role as a bad guy means he loses in the end most of the time. That's what ya get for fighting on a full stomach! Below Average Joe A teenage slacker, Joe started his career at Taiwanimation as a recieving room stockboy in "City Slackers". Later on, he went to star in the Science Poster series and continues to make appearances where you least expect out. Shen Ding The quirky scientist from "May We Live in Interesting Times", Shen Ding is half mad scientist, half brilliant genius- though the line is always murky. The helpful assistant to Mei Jing, the two made such a good pair in "Interesting Times"' super-deformed parody pages that a new comic, "Stupid Melon Dumb Egg" was spun off from it. The name is Chinese- Shen meaning "god", while Ding meaning "lowly person". Uber String According to superstring theory, super strings are supposedly 7-dimensional fundamental particles that make up the universe. Enter Uberstring, demonstration tool of a physics education promotion group. Uberstring makes an appearance in "Mr. Gel: Adventures in Biology" at a science convention that leads to a re-enactment of the Big Bang. Harry Bighead The biggest slacker of them all in "City Slackers", H. Bighead goes through more jobs in six months of "City Slackers" than most people ever have. Why? Bad luck, bad skills, bad customers. He has also appeared in the Science Posters series, as well as on some of the desktop backgrounds available for download. Ms. Jones The unemployment office clerk frequented by Harry on a weekly basis in "City Slackers". Mei Jing The quirky empress from "May We Live in Interesting Times", Mei Jing is half mad monarch, half brilliant politician- though the line is always murky. As said before, she and Shen Ding were a funny pair and thus became the main characters in "Stupid Melon Dumb Egg" (this time as a bureaucrat/politician in a present day Taiwanese city). The name is Chinese- Mei meaning "beautiful", Jing meaning "capital". Mr. Gel A block of agarose given attitude through a minor lab accident in a biology lab at 3 AM, Mr. Gel is the title character in "Mr. Gel: Adventures in Biology". He is phosphorescent when dyed, brittle when dropped, and has an appetite for ethanol. For you non-science people, its that stuff that makes you drunk. Gel is semi transparent, inside his block, you can see his DNA. Gels reproduce by mitosis. Gels aren't the size of people, they are about 6 cm in height when, um, standing upright. Tsao Mi Literally "brown rice", Tsao Mi is Taiwanimation's title character, and is the one in the three-ring Taiwanimation logo. Ah Dong The factory worker in the No. 2 Mecha Plant from "Work City", Ah Dong actually dates from 2000. She represents the beginning of my current style of drawing people. Stick Figure From an improvisational comic strip that never really got anywhere. A disgruntled inhabitant of my sketchbook. Mega Mole He's big. He likes to eat buildings. A mole not quite the size of a mole of moles, Mega Mole is the star of "Mega Mole". Unlike the large city eating creatures of movie fame, Mega Mole does not do the "primary circuit" of Grade-A cities such as New York or Tokyo, instead preferring lesser known but equally delicious locales such as Newark or Yokohama. Mega Mole lives under the ground in a mega mole hole. Matt McMac The ten year old (Gee, I forgot the exact age) boy from "Real Land". Gee, I forgot most of the plot of that too, guess it wasn't spectacular. Tsao Mi's Uncle Name describes himself. Mr. Shih Originally a nervous philosopher from "Interesting Times", Mr. Shih went on to a role in "Celestial Empire" as a philospher on a moon rocket, well, a pagoda with fireworks strapped to the side. Full development of his character awaits finishing of abovementioned comics. Mr. Tsong The confident statesman of "Interesting Times", Mr. Tsong is also a romantic. A colleague of Mr. Shih, he is paired with him again for "Celestial Empire" in a similar role. BUILDINGS, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP Most are not worth noting in particular except for the orange pagoda at 2 o'clock (Taiwanimation Main Building featured in site design) and the "carrot" just right of 6 o'clock (Sunshine City City Hall from "Stupid Melon Dumb Egg"). The rest make guest appearances in various comics, and can be viewed in the Architecture section.