Hey there! Back from Further Confusion, and over several days of exhaustion that followed… we’re here with more furry news for you! Things like… Eirewolf Creations is the home of the artist Erin Metcalf. Her specialty is carved and painted leather masks in the style of many animals, both real and imagined. As you can see at her web site she also creates decorated eye patches, cuff bracelets and other goodies. Now she’s been showing her works at furry conventions also.
Furry Fandom
I Don’t Care If It Stunts My Growth
A Furry Fandom favorite moves further into the eye of the mainstream, thanks to AMP! Comics For Kids. Now they bring us the Ozy and Millie Graphic Novel Volume 1 — written and illustrated by Dana Simpson, of course. “From the creator of the enormously popular Phoebe and Her Unicorn series comes Ozy and Millie, a playful comic exploring the friendship between two foxes. Meet Ozy and Millie, two middle-grade students in Seattle who also happen to be foxes. This comic centers around these two best friends as they take on the everyday challenges all middle-graders face-bullies, tests, and the dread of going back to school after a surprise snow day. Ozy is a young male fox whose adoptive father happens to be a dragon and frequent presidential candidate. Ozy’s calm and thoughtful demeanor is constantly tested by Millie’s rambunctious and rebellious pursuits.” Find out more over at Previews. Available now from Andrews McMeel.
The Scales and the Tails
If you haven’t found it yet, The Dragget Show is a furry fandom podcast created by Xander the Blue (dragon) and Alkali Bismuth (the ferret). Lately though, they’ve been expanding their reach beyond their original podcast. Here, we’ll let them tell you about it: “The Dragget Show started as a furry comedy podcast with Xander the Blue & Alkali Bismuth (which we still do!), but we also do a bunch more things too, like Dungeons & Draggets, Cooking With Alkali, Dragget News Network, Xan Rants, & a monthly livestream FIRECAST. We also do live podcasts at Furry conventions!” So in other words: Look for them on line, and near you!
Go Ahead: Call HIM A Raccoon
Jess “Rom” Looney — also known as Looney Raccooney — is a furry artist and a fur-suit maker. His web site is new and just getting built up, but he’s already got a backlog of his creative endeavors to show off. Besides taking commission work, he’s hoping to add his own comic series to the web site soon.
Fur-Suits 4U
As usual with larger furry fan conventions, at Further Confusion there was a good selection of fur-suit makers showing off their works and looking for new commissions. Among them was an artist named Rachel Converse, who operates a shop called Dragon Soup. She puts it this way: “Dragon Soup is a California-based fur-suit studio owned and operated by Rachel Converse. Rachel earned a BFA in Craft from Virginia Commonwealth University with a focus in textiles. She has been making costumes for over 10 years and started making fur-suits in 2012.” And she works well in a variety of materials. (Advice for fur-suit makers: Want to wind up advertised on sites like this one? Have your own web site!)
Wear That Fur (without guilt!)
Furescent (also known as Anastasia Wilson) is a very busy crafter who describes herself as a furry, a cosplayer, and an artist. Over on her Etsy page you can see her works — she not only makes fursuits but also fleece hats, hoodies, onesies, and kigurumis. (Don’t we live in wonderful times with wonderful words?)
Comic Funny Animals
If you regularly read Previews magalog to find out the latest about upcoming comic books (and graphic novels and so forth) you might be familiar with Comic Shop Tales, a funny animal comic strip (written by Andy Mueller and illustrated by Scoot McMahon) about the strange and funny goings-on at a comic book shop both run and frequented by furries. Well now Previews has finally decided to release a collection of Comic Shop Tales in a new paperback collection. Check it out: “It’s all work and lots of fun at the fictional Berke’s Comic Shop, where owner Berke the Badger tries to keep his crazy band of comic shop goers and employees like Phil the Hippo and Kit the Cat in order! This 64-page book collects the madcap comic strip adventures as printed each month in the Previews catalog and single gag strips from previewsworld.com.” Comic Shop Tales: Book 1 – Grand Opening is coming to shops itself this November.
And You Think YOU’RE A Fanboy…
Something else that slipped below the radar, even though it appeared at the Sundance Film Festival. Brigsby Bear is a new surreal live-action comedy produced by the Lonely Island folks from Saturday Night Live. According to Wikipedia, the story goes like this: “James Pope was kidnapped from a hospital as a baby and since childhood all the way to adulthood has known nothing about the world except Brigsby Bear, a children’s show character fabricated by his kidnapper parents. One day, James is rescued and brought out into the real world where he learns that Brigsby Bear is not a real children’s show. Confused and baffled by these turn of events, James sets out to make a Brigsby Bear movie to show the world what he has learned.” Starring Kyle Mooney (Saturday Night Live) as James, the film is directed by Dave McCary. Other notable names in the cast include Greg Kinnear and Mark Hamill. Sony Pictures picked up Brigsby Bear and will release it to theaters at the end of July.
Hey, Your Dog Can Be Geeky Too!
Peachy Keen Pets is a Canadian craft service that specializes in “cute and quirky pet accessories and apparel”. That means fandom-themed collars, leashes, and other accessories for your pet; and pet-themed t-shirts for you. “Fun and functional, Peachy Keen Pets strives to provide the ultimate in quality, comfort and originality for your pet! Not only do we make stylish dog collars, harnesses, and leashes, but fabulous accessories like bowties, bandanas, leash pouches and more! Your pet is an original and should stand out on your block, and we’ve got that covered!” Take a look at their web site to see what they currently offer. Woof!