In-Fur-Nation

Clare Bell is a science fiction and fantasy author best known for some very furry-themed books. What’s more, she’s actually been to several furry conventions — as a fan! She’s mostly known for a series called The Books of the Named, and the first book in the series is called Ratha’s Creature (check it out here on Amazon). In this book we meet Ratha, who is a young member of the Named: A species of prehistoric cat that are self-aware and possessing of culture, laws, and even primitive agriculture (they keep livestock). Ratha brings shock and dismay to her society when she learns to tame a strange ‘creature’ that glows, and flows, and burns…  most anything dry in fact. The rest of the series follows the adventures of Ratha, her friends, and her adversaries as events develop after Ratha’s discovery of this “creature”… and how she learns it can be useful. You can find out more about the series on the Clare Bell fan site. The reason we’re telling you all this now is that Clare Bell and Sheila Ruth (from Imaginator Press) are exploring the possibility of creating a Ratha’s Creature graphic novel — and they’d like the fans’ opinion of the idea, to see how popular it might be. Visit Clare Bell’s FurAffinity page and check out the survey in her journal. She’ll fill you in on the rest.

image c. 2012 Clare Bell

This July MX Collectibles is releasing a set of 6-inch tall collectible busts, modeled after various university mascots. And the first set of four is decidedly furry! Check out their web site for the new busts of the Louisiana State University Tigers, The Clemson University Tigers (pictured below), the University of Memphis Tigers, and the Brigham Young University Cougars. Each of these busts was created by well-known collectibles sculptor Clayburn Moore.

image c. 2012 MX Collectibles

Kyell Gold is a well-known author of anthropomorphic fiction. How well known? He currently holds the record for the most Ursa Major Award wins by an individual — for novels, short stories, and story collections combined. Usually his work is known for two things: Eroticism, and a male-to-male emphasis. However, his latest novel is considerably more straight — straight romance, and straight horror. The Silver Circle tells the story of a woman named Valerie, who heads off into the woods on vacation after a messy divorce.  She’s determined to try and relax, in spite of the warnings of deadly wolves infesting the forest. Then, she comes across a mutilated dead man, a young man with an arrow in his side… and a hunter who insists that the wounded young man is a werewolf. From there, things get complicated. The Silver Circle is being released as a Kindle e-book from Amazon Digital Services this month.

image c. 2012 by Kamui

If you don’t know about the McKimson brothers, you should — especially if you love anything about 20th Century animation. Chuck, Bob, and Tom might not be the household names that Chuck Jones and Friz Freleng have become, but they probably should be as they had their hands in an amazing number of animation projects. Now there’s a new book by Robert McKimson Jr., I Say, I Say… Son! that attempts to fill you in on their amazing story. This new hardcover book is arriving from Santa Monica Press in early July, but here’s a preview from Amazon: “The first survey dedicated to the work of the McKimson brothers, this book offers a rare behind-the-scenes look at the upper echelon of 20th-century animation and examines the creative process behind the making of numerous popular characters and classic programs. Featuring original artwork from the golden age of animation, this book includes a wealth of material from many professional archives—screen captures, original drawings, reproductions of animation cels, illustrations from comic books, lobby cards, and other ephemera from the author’s collection—while surveying the careers of three groundbreaking animators whose credits include Looney Tunes, the Pink Panther, and Mr. Magoo. Beginning in the 1920s and then tracing the brothers’ work together at Warner Brothers Cartoons in the following decades, this history details Robert McKimson’s creation of such beloved characters as Foghorn Leghorn, the Tasmanian Devil, and Speedy Gonzales; Tom McKimson’s work at Warner Brothers, Dell Comics, and Golden Books; and Chuck McKimson’s long career working in comic books and then later at Pacific Title, creating animated film titles and commercials, including his award-winning work on Music Man, Cleopatra, and The Sound of Music.” The book’s forward was written by John Kricfalusi of Ren & Stimpy fame.

image c. 2012 Santa Monica Press

It’s called Three Wolves Mountain, and its’ a new black & white manga of the yaoi variety, created by Naono Bohra. We think that the description on Amazon summarizes it best: “Way up in the mountains, far from any major cities or towns, Kaya Susugi runs a small cafe by day and guards a haunted cemetery by night. Then, one night, he comes across werewolf brothers Taro and Jiro. Cheerful but klutzy younger brother Jiro quickly falls head over heels for the capable loner Kaya. What results is a dive into the hot, tail-twitching delight of werewolf mating season!” You read it here folks. It comes out in June from SuBLime, and obviously it’s Adults Only.

image c. Naono Bohra

Well now, this seems to have come out of nowhere: Carnal, Volume 1: Pride of the Lions, written by Jason Bergenstock and illustrated by John Connell.  Here’s the description from an article by Mother/Writer/Gamer: “The first graphic novel in the Carnal series, Pride of the Lions takes place on the continent of New Africa and focuses on three main species of humanistic animals. After the Great War decades earlier between the hyenas and the lions, the victorious and once united lion prides now lay scattered across the land, torn by civil unrest over territory disputes and food shortages. The hyena clans that survived the war were forced deep into the Earth and now live in a massive underground city under the control of a terrible witch. The buffalo race is indifferent to most other species and have walled themselves off from the rest of the kingdoms. Humans have lost their hold on the African territories long ago and live as a simple, nomadic species. The first book opens with Long Eyes, an old sapphire-eyed lion who is determined to save the lion kingdom and rescue his warrior son, Oron, who has gone missing. Long Eyes believes Oron is the key to uniting the prides. A young lioness tracker named Omi is sent out with the protection of two lion brothers to locate the missing warrior, but what they find is something that may unravel the very foundation of life for all species.” This hardcover graphic novel is available for pre-order from Sea Lion Books. It’s arriving in stores this coming May.

image c. 2012 Sea Lion Books

Yes there was. And Gabe Swarr wants to tell you about it. Who is he? According to his web site, “Gabe Swarr is a 15 year veteran of the animation industry. Working many shows you’ve surely seen or heard of; most recently directing The Penguins of Madagascar and El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera. He is currently the Supervising Producer of Kung Fu Panda: The Legends of Awesomeness tv show for Nickelodeon. ” Wow. What’s more, in his copious spare time (!!) Gabe has created Life in the Analog Age, an on-line blog and comic strip where he takes a fond look back at his younger days before the Internet: Days of reading comic books, playing games, and listening to cool music. Equally cool? He portrays himself as an anthro chipmunk critter thing. Check out his store as well, as several of his comics have been collected into mini-book form. We won’t spill the beans, but if you look carefully around the site you can find an Easter egg: An animated short about Gabe’s dad and a box of old comic books…

image c. 2012 Gabe Swarr

… and attitude. Look out below world, but Seth MacFarlane — creator of Family Guy — is about to unleash his first feature film on you this July. Simply called Ted, it tells the story of a young man who once wished that his childhood teddy bear would live with him forever… and now, he does, well into our hero’s adulthood, though both of them are obviously having trouble growing up. Interesting thing is, it appears that Ted the talking stuffed bear, his human friend, AND their other friends get along better that you might expect in this sort of a set-up. The R-rated film stars Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis, as well as Seth MacFarlane himself — yep, he wrote it, he directed it, and he stars as the voice of Ted, who’s animated in CGI. Cartoon Brew has a link to the film’s first trailer — but take warning, this is very raunchy and very very Not Safe For Work! Don’t say we didn’t tell you. Interestingly, Cartoon Brew also has an article about Imagine THIS, a cartoon strip that Lucas Turnbloom has been drawing since 2008… and which has some amazing similarities to Ted. They don’t accuse the Ted team of directly stealing, the the article is still interesting.

image c. 2012 Universal Pictures

We’ll forgive you if you think this is another April Fool’s gag, but it isn’t: Word is out that Rovio’s world-conquering game Angry Birds is being developed into an animated series. Look for it to hit (ha ha) this fall. Rovio have confirmed that 52 animated shorts are in production, each  of them 2 – 3 minutes in length. The shorts will be released on numerous mobile devices and, to quote the company, “on all possible devices” — including smart TV’s. What’s more, there’s an Angry Birds feature film in development for possible release in 2013 or 2014. You can read all about it on the ABC News blog.

image c. 2012 Rovio

We’re pleased to announce that we’ve just gotten word that the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic live-action feature film has been green-lighted! We’re also pleased to announce that today is April 1st…

Speaking of April, our thoughts turn to … the Easter Bunny!

Dreamworks Animation have just released the first official trailer for Rise of the Guardians, which is coming to movie theaters this November. Based on the novel by William Joyce (who also helped to create the script), this 3D CGI movie tells what happens when The Boogieman — known as “Pitch” — threatens to cover the world in a veil of fear.  The guardians of children everywhere — Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, the Sandman, Jack Frost, and (yes!) the Easter Bunny — join up to defeat him. The Easter Bunny — here known as “Bunnymund” — is voiced by none other than Wolverine himself, Hugh Jackman (whom, you might recall, was also the voice of the hero’s father in the original Happy Feet). Other voices on hand include Alec Baldwin, Chris Pine, Isla Fisher, and Jude Law. Rise of the Guardians is directed by Peter Ramsey, who previously served as head of story on Dreamworks’ Monsters vs. Aliens.

image c. 2012 Dreamworks Animation

Also over on Cartoon Brew is a link to the current trailer for the new Marsupilami movie coming out in April in France. Marsu-who, you ask? The marsupilami is a fantastic creature which came to us from the imagination of André Franquin, an influential Belgian comic book artist and creator, best known for his work in the magazine Spirou. The marsupilami is a mysterious jungle denizen known for its spotted fur, it’s exuberant cry of “Houba!”, it’s appetite for piranha fish, and it’s very VERY long tail… which usually went off the frame of whatever comic page it was drawn upon. Franquin used the character in the Spirou et Fantasio comics from 1952 to 1968, and the character has been revived several times since then — most notably in the Disney TV animation series Raw Toonage in the 1990′s. The estate of Franquin was not very thrilled with the interpretation of the character in that series — they went so far as to revoke Disney’s right to the marsupilami. Well now, the same French team that brought us the Asterix live-action movies have produced a live-action/CGI movie (HOUBA! On the Trail of the Marsupilami), directed by and starring Alain Chabat. Check out the trailer and see what  you think. The marsupilami itself is seen very little here, but it gives you a feeling for what the movie is going to be like.

image c. 2012 Andre Franquin

When an animated movie becomes a hit, or even when it’s likely to become a hit, you’d be amazed at the number of copy-cat knock-off projects from little animation houses (often overseas) that will start to flood the direct-to-video market before, during, and after that film. Renegade Animation from right here in the US of A have started making a reputation for themselves with projects like this — Chop Kick Panda, anyone? Now here comes the latest: Tappy Toes, which we found over on Cartoon Brew. It’s a 41-minute 2D animated film, directed by Darrell Van Citters, which is an obvious “homage” to the Happy Feet series. Check out the trailer on YouTube, and make of it what you will.

image c. 2012 Renegade Animation

Another new discovery from WonderCon: “Knightingail: The Legend Begins is a 6-issue fantasy, adventure mini-series that tells the story of how a Forester, teenage princess named Eloa is transformed into a mystical powered warrior princess named Knightingail. Knightingail has the ability to control the forces of nature and heal living creatures. She must re-unite the 7-tribes of her homeland to fight off a massive invasion force.” Those 7 tribes include various anthropomorphic species as well — check out the character of Kaeli Hunter from the cover of issue #4, below! The series is created written, and published by Wayne Gardiner and penciled by Tina Francisco. Various artists helped out with the inking, coloring, and covers. You can find out more about all of this (including a new package offer for the whole 6-issue series) at the Knightingail web site, hosted by Knightingail herself.

image c. 2012 Knightingail

Speaking of Immedium, they’re also the home of Billie the Unicorn, written and illustrated by Brianne Drouhard. “The young unicorn Billie seeks adventure, so her forest cousins show her how to grow delightful flowers. But the legend of a castle which holds the most beautiful garden lures her away! Will Billie discover that friendship matters the most?” The publisher also continues: “Colorful marker illustrations of expressive characters, upbeat storytelling, and a positive message of seeking your bliss will charm kids who enjoy animation and adults who appreciate great character design.” You can visit Billie’s very own web site to find out more, buy your own copy of the book , and even check out the Billie the Unicorn interactive story app for the iPad and iPhone.

image c. 2012 Immedium

Tales from the Chinese Zodiac is a new series of twelve (of course) full-color illustrated children’s books, each written by Oliver Chin and all of them published by Immedium. In each book we meet on of the animals of the Chinese Zodiac (dog, pig, rat, monkey, etc.) as a youngster, and each of them must learn how to represent their aspect of the zodiac as he or she grows to adulthood. Illustrators for the series include Jeremiah Alcorn, Justin Roth, and Jennifer Wood. Your ever-lovin’ ed-otter especially liked The Year of the Dragon (illustrated by Ms. Wood, and reviewed here on Book Dragon, of course). Not only because 2012 is one, but also because it’s his Chinese Zodiac sign!

image c. 2012 Immedium

Various sneak-peaks of The Mists of Pandaria, the new expansion of the World of Warcraft on-line gaming universe, have begun to make their way around the Web. This new realm (actually new continent) was announced at Blizzcon (Blizzard Entertainment’s regular WOW convention) last October, and WOW-fans have been going crazy about it ever since — some positive, some negative, but all of them loud. This new expansion (the 4th) introduces new levels, a new fighting class (“Monk”), and as we noted a new continent known as Pandaria. Several new races are introduced in this expansion as well; some of them playable and some of them simply background or enemies. Chief among the playable ones are the Pandaren, a race of anthro pandas — based on both the giant (black & white) and red pandas of Earth. Of note for players of the game: Unlike most of the races introduced so far in the game, the Pandaren do not align themselves with either the Alliance or the Horde at the start of their adventures. Players develop the characters over several levels, and only at the end of that quest do they decide which traditional alignment they will take. Other anthro-type creatures in this new expansion include the Hozu, a monkey-like race, and the Mantids, who (of course) are insect-like. Much more about all of this can be found on Wikipedia. As of this writing the official release date for this new expansion is still shrouded in mystery (mists?), but several leaked preview videos have been showing up on YouTube.

image c. 2012 Blizzard Entertainment

Your humble In-Fur-Nation crew is back from a quick trip to WonderCon, which this year happened to be in our back yard. Lots of cool new stuff to talk about, which we’ll get started on right away. First up: Samuel E. Kirkman Jr. is an illustrator and independent comic artist whose on-line opus comes with one dilly of a name: Ouwangalaymah. Whew, try that one fast. Also known as The “Tail” of the Name of the Tree, here’s the description from The Illustrated Section: “The tale begins as everyone forgets, the name of the tree that is. Yofti, a hyperactive ringtail, along with the tortoise, an orphaned wildebeest calf adopted by a pair of dik diks and a rather arrogant kudu become central characters as the story begins to unfold. Using an ancient Bantu folk tale for the ark of the story, the author spins a yarn of classic underdog-dom. Leaping lemurs, a lazy lion, and one tenacious tortoise help highlight the need to perceive in spite of ones own limitations.” The first few sections of the comic are available as downloads for purchase right now.

image c. 2012 Samuel E. Kirkman Jr.

The Anthropomorphic Literature and Arts Association (ALAA) announced the 2011 nominees for the Ursa Major Awards on March 15th, the day that voting for the final awards opened. Voting will be open until May 4th, then the winners will be announced at a ceremony at CaliFur.8 in Irvine on Saturday, June 2nd. What, you haven’t heard of the Ursa Major Awards? Shame on you! Here’s what they say on their 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.” Last year more than 1,200 fur fans world wide took part in the final voting for the 2010 Ursa Major Awards. (To put that in perspective, that’s nearly one-quarter of the entire voting body of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences — you know, the Oscar people?) Again from the Ursa Majors web site: “There are five nominees in each of eleven categories, except where there was a tie for fifth place. To be eligible, a work must have been released during the calendar year 2011; must include a non-human being given human attributes (anthropomorphic), which can be mental and/or physical; and must receive more than one nomination.”

Without further ah-doo, here are the Ursa Major nominees for 2011.

In the category of Best Anthropomorphic Motion Picture:

Bitter Lake (Directed by Shay)
Kung Fu Panda 2  (Directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson)
Puss in Boots  (Directed by Chris Miller)
Rango  (Directed by Gore Verbinski)
Rio  (Directed by Carlos Saldanha)

In the category of Best Anthropomorphic Dramatic Series or Short Work:

Mongrels  (Directed by Adam Millar, Jon Brown, Daniel Peak)
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic  (Directed by James Wootton)
The Regular Show  (Directed by Benton Conor, Calvin Wong, Kat Morris, Sean Szeles, J. G. Quintel, Minty Lewis, and others)
Simon’s Cat  (Directed by Simon Tofield)
ThunderCats  (Directed by Michael Jelenic, Todd Casey, Tab Murphy, and others)

In the category of Best Anthropomorphic Novel (40,000 words or more):

Black Dogs, Part 2, by Ursula Vernon
Death Drop, by Sean Allen
Isolation Play, by Kyell Gold
Red Sails in the Fallout, by Paul Kidd
Smiley and the Hero, by Ryan Campbell

In the category of Best Anthropomorphic Short Fiction (less than 40,000 words):

“A Safety Weasel Christmas”, by Gene Breshears
“Argo”, by Rick Griffin
“Fetching Asteroids”, by Mary E. Lowd
“How to Get Through the Day”, by Kyell Gold
“Let’s Play Musical Chairs”, by K. M. Hirosaki
“Shreddy and the Zomb-Dogs”, by Mary E. Lowd
“Where the Heart Is”, by Mary E. Lowd and Daniel Lowd

In the category of Best Anthropomorphic Other Literary Work (Story collections, comic collections, graphic novels, non-fiction works, and convention program books):

Dragon’s Hoard #1, by various (published by Rabbit Valley)
Fur-Piled #5, by Leo Magna
In the Doghouse of Justice, by Kyell Gold
Nordguard, Book One, by Tess Garman & Teagan Gavet
Tales of the Tai-Pan Universe, Omnibus 1, by various (published by the Tai-Pan Literary & Arts Project)

In the category of Best Anthropomorphic Graphic Story (comic books and serialized on-line stories):

Endtown, by Aaron Neathery
Fur-Piled, by Leo Magna
Furthia High, by QuetzaDrake
Lackadaisy, by Tracy J. Butler
Red Lantern, by Rukis and Alector Fencor

In the category of Best Anthropomorphic Comic Strip:

Ballerina Mafia, by Immelmann
Doc Rat, by Jenner
Faux Pas, by Robert & Margaret Carspecken
Housepets!, by Rick Griffin
Sandra and Woo, by Powree and Oliver Knörzer

In the category of Best Anthropomorphic Magazine (both in-print and on-line):

Alasso
Anthro
Flayrah
South Fur Lands
Tales of the Tai-Pan Universe

In the category of Best Anthropomorphic Web Site (galleries, story archives, directories, blogs, and personal sites):

Equestria Daily
Fur Affinity
Furry Writers’ Guild
Inkbunny
WikiFur

In the category of Best Anthropomorphic Published Illustration:

Blotch, cover of Isolation Play
Blotch, cover of Nordguard, Book One
Jason Chan, cover of Red Sails in the Fallout
Sara Palmer, cover of Weasel Presents
Rosenthal, FBA 2012 season opener painting
C. D. Woodbury, cover of Tales of the Tai-Pan Universe #48

And finally in the category of Best Anthropomorphic Game:

O-kamiden (Developed by Mobile & Game Studio, Inc.)
Pokemon: Black and White (Developed by Game Freak)
Solatorobo: Red the Hunter (Developed by CyberConnect2)
Sonic Generations (Developed by Dimps and Sonic Team)
Star Fox 64 3D (Developed by Nintendo EAD and Q-Games)

Congratulations to each and every one of the nominees! At the Ursa Majors web site you’ll discover helpful links to find out much more about each of the nominees, as well as information on how to sign up for the voting. Remember, everyone is free to cast their vote — and  you should! The more folks who participate in these awards, not only the more they will represent the broad spectrum of Furry Fandom, but the more that folks who chose what kind of stuff gets made (and released!) will start to pay attention.

Also from the folks at Kaboom! is the comic-book adaptation of Ice Age: Continental Drift, the new Blue Sky Studio film coming this July. The one-shot comic book, meanwhile, comes out in May. “Sid the Sloth, Manny the Mammoth, Diego the Saber-tooth Tiger, and the hilarious saber-toothed squirrel Scrat find themselves on another adventure after their continent is set adrift. Meeting new sea creatures and battling pirates, life is never boring for this wacky herd! Starring the beloved characters from the hit film series!” That’s what they say on their web site. It’s written by Caleb Monroe with full-color art by Shelli Paroline. Meanwhile the same team is also producing Ice Age: Playing Favorites, a full-color one-shot original Ice Age story. Both these titles are coming soon.

image c. 2012 Kaboom! Studios

This May it’s time for the return of everyone’s favorite lasagna-loving feline with attitude.  Comic book writer and well-known critic Mark Evanier takes up a pen this time to bring as a new full-color Garfield comic book from Boom! Studios’ Kaboom! imprint.  It helps, of course, that he was one of the writers of the Garfield & Friends animated TV series back in the day. This time around the art duties are handled by Garfield comic strip cartoonist Gary Barker. Check out the pre-order information at Kaboom’s web site, which also shows one of the variant covers of the premier issue.

image c. 2012 Jim Davis / Kaboom