Jeffrey Moy and Video Game Gals

I have followed the progress of artist Jeffrey Moy on Video Game Gals for the last few years at Comic-Con. An artist within the video game industry, Moy has worked on Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, Marvel Ultimate Alliance, and X-Men Legends as well as comics properties like DC’s Legionaires and usually has a table in Artists’ Alley at Comic-Con. Currently he is working on a Star Trek/Legion of Superheroes crossover for IDW and DC as well as VGG. My interest in Moy’s work though was always based on the introspection he shows in his Sketch Games sketchbooks and his process of creation, based more on my interest in comic book creation than anything to do with gaming. However at Comic Con 2012 Moy had the sequential art with him for the first Video Game Gals graphic novel and I sensed some gamer roots in his panels. The project is rapidly nearing fruition and Moy has taken it to Kickstarter to get the book made.

The heroines of Video Game Gals are just that, video game gals, women who play video games, but in Moy’s setting games are closer to a virtual reality, slightly reminiscent of Star Trek’s holodeck mixed with the world of Tron. As he explains in the original Sketch Games, “As each character enters a realm, they download a “skin”, which contains information on their mission as well as how they will appear in the game.” What caught my eye this year was that they are playing in a fantasy setting reminiscent of Dungeons & Dragons or Gauntlet. While Moy has played Dungeons & Dragons, he describes himself as more of a board gamer and plays such modern classics as Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride, and the Battle Star Galactica board game. The D&D influences in VGG can be seen in a beholder-like creature and a gelatinous cube or slime engulfing a hapless male adventurer.

Uninked Penciled Layout from Page 21 of Video Game Gals

Moy’s Kickstarter campaign ends August 19 with a goal of $25,000. We recorded a video interview on July 13 at Comic-Con about his Kickstarter campaign, Video Game Gals, and Moy’s gaming background amidst a lot of background noise.

Kickstarter Ashcan cover and Video Game Girls page art copyright Jeffrey Moy, used with permission.