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Ursa Major Award

A War for the Earth

Feb 11th, 2013
by rodney.
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Endtown is an Ursa Major Award-nominated black & white web-comic by Aaron Neathery. “A mutagenic plague followed by a global war fought with disintegration weaponry has left much of the Earth a desert of fine powder, and what remains of humanity fragmented into humans, animal-like mutants and bloodthirsty monstrosities with lots of teeth. The surface, still teeming with the mutagenic virus, has become the domain of the dreaded Topsiders: Well-organized, technologically advanced, and heavily armed un-mutated humans sworn to exterminate mutations of any kind in order to clear the way for the eventual resurgence of a new, genetically clean humanity. Faced with annihilation, mutants and ‘impure’ humans have retreated into the depths of the planet to form communities and hope to win, or at least survive, what may prove to be mankind’s final war.” The strip continues weekly on Gocomics, and now Jarlidium Press have announced that the first two years of the comic will soon be released in two paperback volumes. Pre-orders have already closed, but the books will be available for general sale this June.

image c. 2013 Jarlidium Press

Season One is Magic

Nov 27th, 2012
by rodney.
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Over at the Ursa Major Award-winning site Equestria Daily, lead pony Sethisto has a review of the new first season DVD of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (which also won an Ursa Major Award). Not only does the 4-disc box set include all 26 episodes from the first season, but it also includes creative commentaries on six of those episodes by the likes of Hasbro reps Brian Lenard and Robert Fukes; directors Jayson Thiessen and James “Wootie” Wootton; composer Daniel Ingram; art director Ridd Sorensen; and voice actors Cathy Weseluck, Andrea Libman, Tabitha St. Germain, and Nicole Oliver. The DVD is available exclusively on Amazon, so head over there and check it out. It’s hitting the air starting December 4th.

image c. 2012 Hasbro Studios

TwoKinds Comes To Print

Sep 20th, 2012
by rodney.
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For the first time on printed paper, Keenspot will soon be releasing TwoKinds as a pair of full-color graphic novels in trade paperback.  This Ursa Major Award-winning on-line comic is written and illustrated by Thom Fischbach. “After waking up without any memory of his past, the lone mage Trace finds himself in the company of Flora, a girl from a bestial species known as the Keidran. Along with a reluctant Basitin warrior named Keith, they journey in search of a place to call their own. But with war between the races brewing, love conflicts with loyalty.” Volume 1 includes a special 5-page epilogue that was not printed on line. Though the release has been pushed back a few times, both Volume 1 and Volume 2 are currently set to hit the shelves this October. You can order them both at the Mile High Comics web site.

image c. 2012 by Thomas Fischbach

The Ursa Major Awards Anthology

Jun 22nd, 2012
by rodney.
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As Furry Fandom’s Ursa Major Awards enter their 10th year, Fred Patten (a long-time member of the Awards’ parent organization, the Anthropomorphic Literature and Arts Association) has collected and edited some of the best winners and nominees from the Awards’ “Short Fiction” category into a new book, the Ursa Major Awards Anthology. It’s coming at the end of June from Fur Planet Productions. Featuring short stories by Brock Hoagland, Michael H. Payne, M.C.A. Hogarth, Chas P.A. Melville, Kristin Fontaine, Kyell Gold, Jim Hayden, Samuel C. Conway, Paul Di Filippo, and Naomi Kritzer, as well as original illustrations, the anthology also features a new wrap-around cover by Blotch. Sample copies of the anthology were available at Anthrocon — and sold briskly. You can find out more  at Fur Planet Productions’ pre-order page.

image c. 2012 Fur Planet Productions

Ursa Major Winners for 2011

Jun 8th, 2012
by rodney.
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Hey there, we’re back among the living. Your ever-lovin’ ed-otter has been down with a very, very nasty sinus infection for no less than two weeks, and is only just now getting back to his feet. So it’s time to play some major catch-up with In-Fur-Nation, yes?

The winners of the Ursa Major Awards were recently announced at a Saturday afternoon ceremony at CaliFur in Irvine, California. The June 2nd show was emcee’d by CaliFur’s own Gary Whalen. Greenreaper was on hand to accept Flayrah’s award for Best Anthropomorphic Magazine. The full list of winners for 2011 looks like this:

Best Anthropomorphic Motion Picture: Kung Fu Panda 2 (Directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson)

Best Anthropomorphic Dramatic Series or Short Work: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (Produced by Studio DHX)

Best Anthropomorphic Novel: Isolation Play, by Kyell Gold

Best Anthropomorphic Short Fiction: “How to Get Through the Day”, by Kyell Gold

Best Anthropomorphic Other Literary Work: Nordguard, Book One, by Tess Garman & Teagan Gavet

Best Anthropomorphic Graphic Story: Furthia High, by QuetzaDrake

Best Anthropomorphic Comic Strip: Housepets!, by Rick Griffin

Best Anthropomorphic Magazine: Flayrah

Best Anthropomorphic Website: Equestria Daily

Best Anthropomorphic Published Illustration: Blotch, for the cover of Nordguard, Book One

Best Anthropomorphic Game: Pokemon: Black and White

In addition, the Anthropomorphic Literature and Arts Association (ALAA), which administers the Ursa Major Awards, announced a new “ALAA’s Choice” award for a nominee which the committee felt deserved special mention for its merit. This year that award went to the graphic story Red Lantern by Rukis and Alectorfencer.

The Ursa Major Awards are the “People’s Choice Awards” for anthropomorphic fandom, nominated and awarded every year by votes from regular fans like you. Want to get involved?  Make suggestions? Visit www.ursamajorawards.org to find out more. And start thinking about what to nominate for 2012!

image c. 2012 ALAA

Game Art from Japan

May 23rd, 2012
by rodney.
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Solatorobo: Red the Hunter is an Ursa Major Award-nominated video game from Japan which (according to its Wikipedia page) is “a spiritual sequel to the Tail Concerto game”, which was also released by Namco Bandai. Now the anime/manga fan site Otaku.com has let us know that the Solatorobo Sketch Book is available for import, and you can order it on their site. It’s expensive (kind of), but it this softcover book features some striking anime-style furry art.

image c. 2012 Namco Bandai

Ursa Major Awards Nominations are Open!

Jan 12th, 2012
by rodney.
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Here’s a press release from Fred Patten of the Ursa Major Awards’ organizing group, the Anthropomorphic Literature and Arts Association: “Nominations are now open for the 2011 Ursa Major Awards, intended to recognize the best works published in the field of anthropomorphics last year. Nominations will close on February 29; voting starts March 15 and closes May 4 (to allow last-minute online voting from Morphicon). Furry fans may nominate up to five works in each category.  The 2011 Awards will be announced and presented in a ceremony at CaliFur VIII in Irvine, California, June 1 – 3, 2012. Award categories include Best Anthropomorphic Motion Picture, Dramatic Short Work or Series, Novel, Short Fiction, Other Literary Work, Graphic Story, Comic Strip, Magazine, Website, Published Illustration, and Game. If you cannot think of five worthwhile nominees in each category, see the 2011 Recommended Anthropomorphics List on the Ursa Major Awards website for suggestions.” Remember, something doesn’t have to be on the Recommended List to be nominated. It just has to have furry characters featured in it prominently, and have been released during the 2011 calender year.  So get started! [And we’ll see you next after Further Confusion!]

image c. 2012 Heather Bruton

Epic Mickey’s Epic Graphic Novel

Sep 3rd, 2011
by rodney.
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Who knew that the Ursa Major Award-winning video game Epic Mickey was also a comic book? My, it’s everywhere! Well, for those of us who wound up surprised as we are, Disney Press will be releasing the Disney: Epic Mickey graphic novel this October, in both hardcover and softcover editions. It collects all of the full-color Epic Mickey comic adventures, written by the famous comic book author Peter David and illustrated by Fabio Celoni and Paolo Mottura. In it you’ll be introduced to the magical realm of Wasteland and its inhabitants, including Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Gus the Gremlin, and the animatronic Donald, Daisy, and Goofy.

image c. 2011 Disney Press

Furry Androids

Aug 4th, 2011
by rodney.
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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.

image c. 2011 Rick Griffin

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