I'm unfamiliar with the full history, but the timing suggests it was linked to the new editions of Otters in Space - I suspect FurPlanet holds copyright to the original art. The first book is 99¢ on Kindle, so perhaps the current furore is to new readers' gain. The fourth book was indeed published by FurPlanet, with art by Teagan Gavet, but they dropped Mary two weeks later.
Alas, as many reviewers noted the series appears to focus on a cat, but you can't have it all. Dogs also feature, as do octopi. The original artist seems to have no comment, beyond re-tweeting an anti-AI meme last year; he can be supported via Patreon. (Though the first cover on Smashwords also appears to have been self-made.)
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I'm unfamiliar with the full history, but the timing suggests it was linked to the new editions of Otters in Space - I suspect FurPlanet holds copyright to the original art. The first book is 99¢ on Kindle, so perhaps the current furore is to new readers' gain. The fourth book was indeed published by FurPlanet, with art by Teagan Gavet, but they dropped Mary two weeks later.
Alas, as many reviewers noted the series appears to focus on a cat, but you can't have it all. Dogs also feature, as do octopi.
The original artist seems to have no comment, beyond re-tweeting an anti-AI meme last year; he can be supported via Patreon. (Though the first cover on Smashwords also appears to have been self-made.)