Why Brawl in the Family?

I'm gonna get you, Kirby!

6 Years

15 Songs

3 Books

600 Comics

It’s been said that 90% of everything is [Junk], and it’s probably even higher for fan works. Not to fault them for expressing their love of their favorite media, but it does absolutely nothing to increase the actual quality of what they put together.

But even so, that still leaves upwards of 10% that’s still absolutely worth it, often time even making up for the 90% you have to trudge through to find it.

Matthew Taranto’s Brawl in the Family is part of the other 10%. A fan comic featured around the world of Nintendo (even if it oftentimes skews heavily towards Kirby), BitF is a comic that even so manages to oftentimes stand on its own feet with comics that are entertaining in their own right and are made better with familiarization with Nintendo’s history rather than just being made understandable.

Not corralling itself into one particular style, Brawl in the Family stretches across a range of layouts and themes, from one-note gags, to long-form multi-comic storylines, to dipping its feet into the realm of horror, to comics that are just plain weird.

And in the end, Matt brought it to a close while he was at the top of his game rather than stretching it out indefinitely and forcing himself to write something he wasn’t happy with, complete with a story arc recognizing that he’s but one of many people who’s influenced the ‘lives’ of the characters he wrote about, and acknowledging the countless others in the past, present, and future that have and will inevitably do the same.

So let’s do just that – pick up where Matthew Taranto left off and add a few more pieces to the lives of these characters. Because Brawl in the Family is proof that the other 10% - especially the other 10% made by so-called amateurs – really does exist and is worth paying attention to.

That includes any play-at-home folks who feel inclined – just go down to the comments section below and try your own hand with a script to SHOW US YOUR MOVES!