Editing Studio Ironcat (section)

===''Megatokyo'' and Amerimanga===
By mid-2002, the decision was made to get into the growing [[Amerimanga]] trend pioneered by competitor [[Antarctic Press]] and made notable at the time by [[TOKYOPOP]]'s ''[[Rising Stars of Manga]]'' contest and compilation.  This was brought about by Ironcat's biggest coup, obtaining the publishing licenses for ''[[Megatokyo]]'' and [[Greg Dean (cartoonist)|Maelyn Dean]]'s ''[[Real Life (webcomic)|Real Life]]'', two major webcomics.  It also began publishing an Amerimanga anthology magazine called, fittingly, ''AmeriManga''.

However, the Amerimanga ventures turned out to be disastrous.  The first volume of ''Megatokyo'', released in January 2003, was a bonafide hit, with the entire first printing selling out.  Ironcat prepared for the release of the second volume when the publishing deal between Ironcat and [[Fred Gallagher (cartoonist)|Fred Gallagher]], ''Megatokyo'''s creator, fell through.  Gallagher would later write on the Megatokyo web site<ref>{{cite web | author=Frederick M. Gallagher III | title=relax, we understand j00 | website=MegaTokyo | date=2023-06-30 | url=https://megatokyo.com/ | access-date=2023-10-15}}</ref> that the parting between him and Ironcat was amicable, though rumors had it that Bennett stated that Gallagher demanded more money for the license.  However, many ''Megatokyo'' fans noted that Ironcat never shipped out many of their pre-orders for Vol. 1 and also insisted that fans pay in full for pre-orders on Vol. 2 when it had not even gone to press.  Gallagher would eventually take Megatokyo to rival publisher [[Dark Horse Comics]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/3426.html |title=It's Official: Megatokyo To Dark Horse |publisher=ICv2 |date=August 29, 2003 }}</ref>