He’s a vegan hippie with super powers, sort of. He’s Ethan Young, hero of Tails, an on-line comic… written and illustrated by Ethan Young. Maybe we’d better let the publisher explain: “Quirky, funny, and surreal, Tails follows the semi-autobiographical exploits of Ethan, a vegan cartoonist with super powers (sort of). Ethan uses his comic book creation Crusader Cat to escape from the real world, but things get interesting when his escapist work starts to talk back to him. Poignant, funny, and daring, Tails is an unflinching portrait of a believable character as he starts falling into the abyss of an unbelievable world, with results ranging from hilarious to heart-breaking”. Now Hermes Press have announced they are publishing the first Tails collection in graphic novel form, Tails: Book One. Look for this new black & white trade paperback in April, or you can pre-order it on Amazon right now.
on-line comics
Furry Androids
Rick Griffin is, of course, the author and artist of Housepets!, winner of the Ursa Major Award for Best Anthropomorphic Comic Strip in 2009 and 2010. Now he’s recently published a new science fiction novella called Argo in e-book form on Smashwords. The story is sort of sneaky-furry: Many of the main characters are from a group of furry robots called “ani-droids”. Here’s the description: “In the distant future, the easy paths to artificial intelligence have been outlawed. Mira McAllister, dismayed at the lack of progress the engineering community has made in recent years, determines to find the answers for herself when she comes across a strange, discarded android. Repairing her to full function, she discovers the android is unlike any she’s ever dealt with before–and the answers she was searching for only lead to more questions, and more secrets.” Argo is available for download from Smashwords and Amazon.
Housepets are Naked!
Housepets! is an on-line full-color comic strip by Rick Griffin. It’s well-known and well-loved… in fact it even won the Ursa Major Award for Best Comic Strip two years running. And now, it’s on dead trees! Housepets! Are Naked All The Time is the first collection of Housepets! strips available in softcover book format. In fact it’s available now from Createspace — and, of course, from Amazon. Follow the daily adventures of the pets of Babylon Gardens, USA. And now you don’t even need a computer!
Spanish Cats come to America
Jose Fonollosa is a well-known comic book illustrator in Spain. For the past few year’s he’s also been working on an on-line black & white comic strip known simply as Meow, which follows that adventures of two domestic cats and their harried human companions. Cat fans, you can follow the strip at Mr. Fonollosa’s blogspot site. Meanwhile, Meow is being introduced to English-speaking audiences in a new hardcover collection from Kettledrum publishing, which is coming this August. You can order it at Westfield Comics, among other places.
The 2010 Ursa Major Award Winners
The winners of the 2011 Ursa Major Awards — for the best in anthropomorphic media, as decided by the fans — were announced on Friday, May 13th at Morphicon in Columbus, Ohio. From the Ursa Major Awards web site: “More formally known as the Annual Anthropomorphic Literature and Arts Award, the Ursa Major Award is presented annually for excellence in the furry arts. It is intended as Anthropomorphic (a.k.a. Furry) Fandom’s equivalent of the Hugo Award ® presented by the World Science Fiction Society, mystery fandom’s Anthony Award, horror fandom’s Bram Stoker Award, and so forth. Anyone may nominate and vote for candidates for the Awards. These Awards are decided by the fans, not by a committee”. More than 1,300 fans from around the world took part in voting for their favorite furry and anthropomorphic media in ten categories. In reverse order, the winners for 2010 were:
Best Anthropomorphic Game: Disney Epic Mickey, Developed by Junction Point Studios.
Best Anthropomorphic Published Illustration: The cover for Shadow of the Father (by Kyell Gold), illustrated by Sara Palmer.
Best Anthropomorphic Magazine: Heat #7
Best Anthropomorphic Comic Strip: Housepets! by Rick Griffin
Best Anthropomorphic Graphic Story: Twokinds by Tom Fischbach
Best Anthropomorphic Other Literary Work: FurPiled #4 by Leo Magna
Best Anthropomorphic Short Fiction: Bridges by Kyell Gold (released as a novella by FurPlanet Books).
Best Anthropomorphic Novel: Shadow of the Father by Kyell Gold, published by Sofawolf Press
Best Anthropomorphic Dramatic Short Work or Series: Wallace & Gromit’s World of Invention, created by Aardman Animations.
Best Anthropomorphic Feature Film: How to Train Your Dragon, directed by Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders, released by Dreamworks Animation.
Visit the Ursa Major Awards web site to find out more about the nominees in each category, and also how to participate in the awards yourself.
Tiny Kitten Teeth
With a name like that, it has to be… furry! Tiny Kitten Teeth is a hand-painted on-line comic strip, created by Becky and Frank Dreistadt. It updates twice weekly. According to the creators, “The comic follows the slice-of-life adventures of Mewsli, a fish out of water in Owltown, a compact metropolis built around a particularly affluent arts college. Every week we take a break from the story and go visit our friend Tigerbuttah, a little tiger who doesn’t know much about life yet.” Becky and Frank also have a Kickstarter campaign going to raise funds to publish a Tigerbuttah children’s book, in the style of the old Golden Books line. They also have several other art projects going, which they’re more than happy to tell you about on their comic strip’s web site.
Kids Do Comics
Now this is something different: A comic book written by a 6-year-old boy, professionally published. That boy would be young Malachai Nicolle, and the comic would be Axe Cop, currently available from Dark Horse Press — illustrated, no less, by Malachai’s 30-year-0ld brother Ethan Nicolle. Axe Cop has been a hit on line since its premier in January of 2010, and now Dark Horse is releasing it as a three-issue full-color miniseries. Fur fans should note: Several interesting anthro characters make their way in and out of the story, including Axe Cop’s reptilian partner, Dinosaur Soldier.
Ursa Major Nominations Open!
Here we are in a new year, and once again it’s time for all the Furry Fans out there to nominate their favorite movies, books, comics, TV shows and more from the previous year for the annual Ursa Major Awards — Furry Fandom’s answer to the Hugo Awards ™ from Science Fiction Fandom, the Anthony Awards from Mystery Fandom, and so forth. In other words, these are the people’s choice awards, where the fans themselves get to pick out the best from all the material released in the previous year — in this case, January to December, 2010. Last year, more than 1,000 fans around the world voted on the best anthropomorphic media from 2009, and the Ursa Majors hope to top that record this year. Get involved! Visit the Ursa Major Awards web site to find out about how to nominate your favorites. Don’t remember all the great movies, books, video games, art, or whatever that came out in 2010? Fear not! The Ursa Major web site provides a handy Recommended Reading and Viewing List to help jog your memory. (Just keep in mind: Things don’t have to be on the Rec List to be nominated. It’s just there to help you think of things). Nominations are open now in each of 10 categories, and they close at the end of February. Then the actual voting will begin in March. The awards themselves will be handed out at a lucky Furry Fandom convention this summer.
Goodbye to Fission Chicken
Word is slowly making the rounds that John Patrick Morgan — better known in fandom by his initials as J.P. Morgan — passed away from a heart condition at the end of December at the age of 53. J.P. was a cartoonist and illustrator for many years. His best known creation, the comic book series Fission Chicken, made him a star among the “funny animal” segment of furry fandom. Fission Chicken saw the light of day in funny animal fandom publications like Rowrbrazzle before being picked up by Fantagraphics Books. The Fission Chicken on-line story arc concluded in late December last year — a few days before Mr. Morgan passed away. His web site is still there, along with his Deviant Art site. An official obituary is also on line.