Pug Davis is a very strange, successful, and popular web comic written and illustrated by Rebecca Sugar. She’s already on her third “issue” (read: story arc), and now the first two have been released as a single-volume black & white trade paperback by Albatross Exploding Funny Books (what a name!). The story concerns a famously dangerous space adventurer known as Pug Davis: Gruff, grouchy, conservative, politically incorrect… Maybe it’s got something to do with the fact he’s got the face of a cute little pug dog, complete with bright and shiny little puppy-eyes. He and his companion, an optimistic and unashamedly gay human known as “Blouse”, travel the galaxy together — one looking to make friends and find a home, one looking to bash some heads. The Web Comic Overlook site has a much more detailed review and explanation of it all… but afterward, it still won’t all make sense!
on-line comics
Bear Nuts and Prozac
If you’ve not yet discovered Bear Nuts, the popular and very surreal on-line comic written and illustrated by Alison Acton, the story continues at their web site. Now DMF Comics has released Bear Nuts Volume 1: The Book of Prozac as a full-color softcover graphic novel, collecting together several of the comic’s storylines. “As one of the largest exhibits at the Discount Zoo, (in both size and number of inhabitants) the bears attract a lot of attention… something none of them are happy about. Between gawking adults, jeering children, and their own rather profound personality clashes, it’s a wonder the bears can get through each day without maiming each other… well, most days.” Trust us, it’s much stranger than that… Meanwhile, Bear Nuts Volume 2: The Book of Evil is promised to us very soon.
Now It Can Be Told!
The 2010 Ursa Major Awards, celebrating the best in anthropomorphic art, writing, and other media were presented at FurAffinity United on Sunday, May 30th. 2 the Ranting Gryphon hosted the show and presented the awards. 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.” This year more than 1,100 fans from more than a dozen countries world wide took part in nominating and voting for the Ursa Major Awards. The most yet!
And here, now, are the nominees and winners in each of 10 categories.
In the category of Best Anthropomorphic Game, the nominees were:
- Earth Eternal (created by Sparkplay Media)
- G-Force – The Video Game (Developed by Keen Studios, published by Disney Interactive)
- Predation, the Board Game (created by Quentin Long)
- Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time (Developed by Insomniac Games, published by Sony Computer Entertainment)
And the Ursa Major Award went to: Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time
In the category of Best Anthropomorphic Published Illustration, the nominees were:
- Blotch: Cover for Out of Position by Kyell Gold
- Patrick Farley: “Gaia’s Strange Seedlike Brood” from Thoughtcrime Experiment
- Jailbird: “It’s Beautiful” from “Trading Wishes” by Kevin Frane
- Kenket: Illustration for New Coyote from Anthrozine.com
- Sara Palmer: Cover for Jasmyn by Bernard Doove
And the Ursa Major Award went to: Blotch, for the Out of Position cover.
In the category of Best Anthropomorphic Magazine, the nominees were:
- Anthro
- Heat
- New Fables
- South Fur Lands
- Tales of the Tai-Pan Universe
And the Ursa Major Award went to: Heat
In the category of Best Anthropomorphic Comic Strip, the nominees were:
- Dan and Mab’s Furry Adventures by Amber M. Williams
- Doc Rat by Jenner
- Freefall by Mark Stanley
- Housepets! by Rick Griffin
- Kevin and Kell by Bill Holbrook
And the Ursa Major Award went to: Housepets!
In the category of Best Anthropomorphic Graphic Story (with continuous story arcs) the nominees were:
- Concession by Immelman
- Furthia High by QuetzaDrake
- Lackadaisy by Tracy J. Butler
- TwoKinds by Tom Fischbach
And the Ursa Major Award went to: Concession
In the Category of Best Anthropomorphic Other Literary Work, the nominees were:
- Bloom County – The Complete Collection, Volume 1, by Berke Breathed, published by Idea & Design Works
- Draw Furries: How to Create Anthropomorphic and Fantasy Animals, by Lindsay Cibos and Jared Hodges, published by Impact
- The First Book of Lapism, by Phil Geusz, published by Anthro Press
- Who Are The Furries? by Denise Winterman, from BBC News
- X, edited by Kyell Gold, published by Sofawolf Press
And the Ursa Major Award went to: Draw Furries: How to Create Anthropomorphic and Fantasy Animals
In the Category of Best Anthropomorphic Short Fiction, the nominees were:
- “Drifting”, by By Kyell Gold, from FurAffinity.net
- “Moonthief”, by Not Tube, from X by Sofawolf Press
- “Stop the World”, by Kyell Gold, from Anthrozine.com
- “Thou Shalt Not Make Wrongful Use of the Name of Thy Lord”, by Whyte Yote, from X by Sofawolf Press
- “Trading Wishes”, by Kevin Frane, from FurAffinity.net
And the Ursa Major Award went to: “Drifting”
In the category of Best Anthropomorphic Novel, the nominees were:
- Bone Crossed, by Patricia Briggs, published by Ace Books
- Cheetah’s Win, by Phil Geusz, published by Anthrozine.com
- Jazmyn, by Bernard Doove, published by CreateSpace
- Out of Position, by Kyell Gold, published by Sofawolf Press
- Return to the Hundred Acre Wood, by David Benidictus, published by Dutton Juvenile
- The Unscratchables, by Cornelius Kane, published by Scribner
And the Ursa Major Award went to: Out of Position
In the category of Best Anthropomorphic Short Subject or Series, the nominees were:
- The Cat Piano (from the People’s Republic of Animation, directed by Eddie White and Ari Gibson)
- Partly Cloudy (from Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation, directed by Peter Sohn)
- The Penguins of Madagascar (produced by Dreamworks Animation for Nickelodeon)
- Prep and Landing (from Walt Disney Pictures Animation, directed by Kevin Deters and Stevie Wermers)
- The Secret Saturdays (produced by Cartoon Network)
And the Ursa Major Award went to: The Penguins of Madagascar
In the Category of Best Anthropomorphic Motion Picture, the nominees were:
- Avatar (from 20th Century Fox, directed by James Cameron)
- Fantastic Mr. Fox (from 20th Century Fox, directed by Wes Anderson)
- The Princess and the Frog (from Walt Disney Pictures Animation, directed by Ron Clements and John Musker)
- Up (from Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation, directed by Pete Docter and Bob Peterson)
- Where the Wild Things Are (from Warner Brothers, Directed by Spike Jonze)
And the Ursa Major Award went to: Avatar
The staff of InFurNation.com wish to extend our congratulations to all of this year’s nominees and winners — as well as all of the fans who took the time to participate in the nominations and voting! Remember to visit the Ursa Major Awards web site to find out more about how to nominate the best in anthropomorphics from 2010 for the 2011 awards.
Vote for the Ursa Major Awards!
Once again, it’s time for you the fans to vote for the best that anthropomorphics have to offer with the annual Ursa Major Awards. From the web site: “More formally known as the Annual Anthropomorphic Literature and Arts Awards, the Ursa Major Awards are presented annually for excellence in the furry arts. They are intended as Anthropomorphic (a.k.a. Furry) Fandom’s equivalent of the Hugo Awards presented by the World Science Fiction Society, mystery fandom’s Anthony Awards, horror fandom’s Bram Stoker Awards, and so forth.” For 2009, the nominees in 10 categories include:
Best Motion Picture - Live-action or animated feature-length movies. * "Avatar" * "Fantastic Mr Fox" * "The Princess and the Frog" * "Up" * "Where the Wild Things Are" Best Dramatic Short Work or Series - TV series or one-shots, advertisements or short videos. * "The Cat Piano" * "Partly Cloudy" * "The Penguins of Madagascar" * "Prep and Landing" * "The Secret Saturdays" Best Novel - Written works of 40,000 words or more. Serialized novels qualify only for the year that the final chapter is published. * "Bone Crossed" by Patricia Briggs * "Cheetah's Win" by Phil Geusz * "Jazmyn" by Bernard Doove * "Out of Position" by Kyell Gold * "Return to the Hundred Acre Wood" by David Benedictus * "The Unscratchables" by Cornelius Kane Best Short Fiction - Stories less than 40,000 words, poetry, and other short written works. * "Drifting" by Kyell Gold * "Moonthief" by Not Tube * "Stop the World" by Kyell Gold * "Thou Shalt Not Make Wrongful Use Of The Name Of Thy Lord" by Whyte Yote * "Trading Wishes" by Kevin Frane Best Other Literary Work - Story collections, comic collections, graphic novels, non-fiction works, and convention program books. * "Bloom County - The Complete Library, Volume 1" by Berke Breathed * "Draw Furries: How to Create Anthropomorphic and Fantasy Animals" by Lindsay Cibos and Jared Hodges * "The First Book of Lapism" by Phil Geusz * "Who Are The Furries?" by Denise Winterman * "X" edited by Kyell Gold Best Graphic Story - Includes comic books and serialized online stories. * "Concession" by Immelman * "Furthia High" by QuetzaDrake * "Jack" by David Hopkins * "Lackadaisy" by Tracy J. Butler * "Twokinds" by Tom Fischbach Best Comic Strip - Newspaper-style strips, including those with ongoing arcs. * "Dan and Mab's Furry Adventures" by Amber M. Williams * "Doc Rat" by Jenner * "Freefall" by Mark Stanley * "Housepets!" by Rick Griffin * "Kevin and Kell" by Bill Holbrook Best Magazine - Professional magazines, amateur zines, fanzines, and internet-only magazines. * "ANTHRO" edited by Quentin Long * "Heat" published by Sofawolf * "New Fables" edited by Tim Susman * "South Fur Lands" edited by Bernard Doove * "Tales of the Tai-Pan Universe" edited by Gene Breshears Best Published Illustration - Illustrations for books, magazines, convention program books, cover art for such, coffee table portfolios. * "Gaia's Strange Seedlike Brood (Homage to Lynn Margulis)" by Patrick Farley * "It's Beautiful" by Jailbird * "Jazmyn" by Sara Palmer * "New Coyote" by Kenket * "Out of Position" by Blotch Best Game - Computer or console games, role-playing games, board games. * "Earth Eternal" * "G-Force: The Video Game" * "Predation: The Board Game" * "Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time"
Voting is open now, and will close on April 18th -- with the awards to be presented in early summer. Visit the Ursa Major Awards web site to find out more about the nominees -- or, more importantly, to vote! Make your voice heard!
Copper
More on-line comics making their way into the world on dead trees! Kazu Kibuishi (well-known as the editor of the Flight series of fantasy anthologies) has brought out his full-color on-line comic Copper in book form, available this January in softcover or hardcover from Graphix. From the publisher’s notes at Amazon.com: “Copper is curious, Fred is fearful. And together boy and dog are off on a series of adventures through marvelous worlds, powered by Copper’s limitless enthusiasm and imagination. Each Copper and Fred story in this graphic novel collection is a complete vignette, filled with richly detailed settings and told with a wry sense of humor. These two enormously likable characters build ships and planes to travel to surprising destinations and have a knack for getting into all sorts of odd situations. Copper’s good cheer always smoothes the way—and Fred can usually be won over if there’s food involved.”
Bunny Suits and Giant Talking Ducks
Dee sees giant talking ducks, and Bunny Boy is called that because he’s worn the same Halloween costume for years. Now they’ve become teenagers, and they think it’s time to change the world’s view of them. But then the giant talking ducks become real, and monstrous, and Bunny Boy meets up with talking, winged cats… It’s all part of the strange, strange world of Weird Fishes, an on-line comic written and drawn by Jamaica Dyer. Now Slave Labor Graphics has released the first Weird Fishes collection of black and white strips as a softcover graphic novel. You can find out more about the book and the comic strip at the Weird Fishes web site.
Bear and Tiger
An on-line comic strip for people who like cute animals, laughing, and the Russian military. That’s how creator Bob Q describes Bear and Tiger, “A web-comic about Siberian Military Outpost 17… and the animals that run it.” So join Captain Tiger, Corporal Bear, grouchy old Laika, and a very large (but friendly) yeti in the frozen wastes of Asia. Looking for pancakes and energy drinks. There’s new comics every other day at their web site.
Monster Comics on your Phone!
We found this on The Unofficial Apple Weblog:
“Now available for the iPhone and iPod Touch directly from the iTunes store, Crispy Comics is producing a comic book series specifically for those devices. And did I mention the comic is absolutely free? Here’s the scoop directly from Crispy Comics:
Super Kaiju Hero Force is the comedic story of 3 young fanboys who win a trip to Japan and end up trapped inside the monster costumes used on the hit live-action superhero show Colossal Man. This first 11-chapter series follows Garganturo, Democules, and Mungor in the exciting origin to the series.
The series, which will be released on a bi-weekly basis and runs between 20 and 25 pages, will tell a continuing story culminating with a chilling cliffhanger. Then, once the original series runs its course, the Crispy Comics will release a Special Edition with features such as creator commentary and iPhone wallpapers. The Special Edition will come with a minimal cost which is yet to be determined. The company also plans to release the Special Edition on other platforms such as Android in the Summer of 2009. Check it out and if you do, be sure to let us know what you think in the comments.”
You can also find out more at the Crispy Comics Web Site.
[For those who don’t know, “Kaiju” is the general Japanese term for giant, city-crunching monsters like Gamera, Godzilla, Rodan, and so forth — ye helpful Ed-Otter ]
