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Looney Tunes gets a reboot (Part 2): How an iconic cartoon forged a wacky and lovable side of the furry fandom — By Rocky Coyote

Dogpatch Press - Mon 22 Jun 2020 - 10:00

Meet “Toon Furs” in Part 2: Billy the Collie, Clawy the Cat, Chaos Coyote, and Dunhall the Dingo. This story features the side of fandom where you can watch NEW cartoons with classic animal characters, and even turn into one! HBO Max has 80 eleven-minute episodes of fresh-but-faithful animation from WarnerMedia. Furries discuss their influence in this 3-part story by Rocky Coyote. (Rocky previously covered fandom in America’s biggest city on his tag here.)

Billy the Collie is an artist who grew up watching Looney Tunes with his younger brothers. He talks about the flexibility the toon world gives him when depicting his characters in various scenarios.

I do have strong nostagic feelings towards Looney Tunes, and as a result the show has played a significant part in developing my toon persona and toon art as a whole.

Looney Tunes is definitely the king when it comes to executing that classic ‘toon gag.’ The show wasn’t entertaining because it had silly slapstick, it was entertaining because it set-up a comical scene with wit and personality that concluded with silly and creative slapstick. That’s what I enjoyed about the show, and is a big reason why I do enjoy cartoon stuff to this day.

Considering my fursona is a toon border collie, I’d say that it’s had a pretty big influence on me! The creativity that toon-stuff lends me in playing around with the toon physics, effects and logic is highly entertaining as an artist. The toon concepts pioneered by shows like Looney Tunes has also been a fantastic way for me to connect with other furries in the community, as the majority of furries are familiar with a lot of these ideas and concepts so it’s been fun engaging with them on this innocent but silly level.

Despite very clearly being computer-drawn, I do appreciate that the reboot keeps the original character designs rather than going down the current animation trend of using a “Cal-Art” inspired art-style. I do worry that the show will overly-focus on slapstick and cheap throwaway jokes, rather that the wit and personality which made the silly slapstick far more entertaining. But, I think the show is worthy of a chance to prove itself.

Clawy the Cat is a toon artist, and she describes how Looney Tunes was a main fixture on television growing up.

In my younger years, I would watch Looney Tunes pretty much daily. As I grew older I would catch them as I’d find them on TV. Now I just watch them on the Boomerang app when I find the time to.

Looney Tunes had probably the biggest influence on my love of cartoons with Tom and Jerry coming in second. The Wile E. Coyote shorts were my favorite, followed by the Sylvester shorts. Clawy as well some of my other characters are slapstick centered toons. The toon subgroup has felt like its own community.

I honestly enjoy the new reboot. It feels like a present day revamp of the classics as well as the short revival of the 90s.

Chaos Coyote’s character is based off the 90’s cartoon Tiny Toon Adventures, which regularly features the original Looney Tunes characters. He talks about these shows forming an interest for writing toony stories.

I watched Looney Tunes an awful lot growing up. Like, a lot a lot. It was part of my Saturday morning rotation. I’d be up around 6 a.m. just to catch Bugs Bunny and his friends, dropping anvils on each other.

My fursona is based off of a story I wrote based on Calamity Coyote being tasked with keeping an eye on his younger brother (Chaos) while their mother is out shopping in the city. A prototype cartoon script I wrote based off of the Animaniacs sketches “Buttons and Mindy.” Realizing I could create new sketches, and opening new branches for storylines made me want to write even more.

I am exceedingly influenced by Looney Tunes. When I was much younger, animation was my all-time favorite form of media to ingest. I had wanted to become a cartoonist in the vein of Chuck Jones but I didn’t want to draw, I wanted to write them. Short little silly snippets of characters interacting with each other. Cartoons gave to me a sense of visual sight gags, and subtle puns. But mostly, cartoons gave to me a sense of slapstick humor you can’t find anywhere else. Three Stooges and Charlie Chapman are all well and good, but nobody can do slapstick like cartoons can. Specifically, for me, the best came in the form of Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner.

I found the new Looney Tunes show hilarious. I hope they bring in a clever mix of slapstick and sharp writing to the table. I’m looking forward to it!

Dunhall the Dingo (aka Prince Toon) is an artist that started watching Looney Tunes at a later age. Nevertheless, the cartoons he enjoyed had an influence on the characters he created.

This might surprise you, but I didn’t watch Looney Tunes all that much as a little kid. I LOVED Tom and Jerry though. I really started getting into Looney Tunes when I was around 13. Still, Looney Tunes played a huge role in shaping my love for cartoons! I was very lonely at the time, so I was looking for other things to watch. Taz-Mania caught my eye, and it made me feel so much better. After that, I watched TONS of Looney Tune stuff. Unsurprisingly, my favorite aspect are the characters, they just feel like real people to me.

My character, Dunhall the Dingo In terms of design was inspired by Stimpy the Cat, but I think Looney Tunes and Taz-Mania overall helped form who he was character wise. As for the new reboot, I’m beyond excited!

Meet ten Toon Furs in Parts 1-3 of Rocky Coyote’s story.

Looney Tunes Cartoons is among the countless shows, movies and features available for HBO Max subscribers at $14.99 per month. A handful of trailers and episodes, however, can be viewed by anyone on WB Kids’ Youtube channel.

NY Times: Bugs Bunny Is Back, and So Is the ‘Looney Tunes’ Mayhem
Vanity Fair: HBOMax’s Modern Looney Tunes Keeps the Spirit of the Classics
Forbes: HBO Max Brings Back Bugs Bunny And The Looney Tunes Gang In Classic Style

Like the article? These take hard work. For more free furry news, please follow on Twitter or support not-for-profit Dogpatch Press on Patreon. Want to get involved? Share news on these subreddits: r/furrydiscuss for anything — or r/waginheaven for the best of the community. Or send guest writing here.

Categories: News

Creatures of Science — Get One Today!

In-Fur-Nation - Mon 22 Jun 2020 - 00:18

GenPet is a new full-color science fiction adventure graphic novel, written by Damian and illustrated by Alex Fuentes. “In the year 2036, advances in genetic engineering have made it possible to create personalized pets genetically designed and linked to their owners. These ‘Gen Pets’ are still a toy for the elite, including young Nat Kanan’s dad, who is the new owner of the New York Knicks. But he might have another reason to buy little Nat such an extravagant pet: Protection. It soon becomes clear that Gen Pet ‘Niko’ was designed to be Nat’s ultimate bodyguard, with talents that attract the attention of the local mafia boss who has other ideas about how to put those skills to use…” It’s available now from Magnetic Press. Take a look at the preview over at Pop Cult HQ.

image c. 2020 Magnetic Press

Categories: News

[Live] Pay to Pet

FurCast - Sat 20 Jun 2020 - 22:59

An extended show full of news, plus Aureo joins us later on for dinner.

FurCast is sponsored by Twin Tail Creations. Use coupon codes REDWOLF or BLUEFOX to save 15% on silicone products during checkout. Free FurCast Themed Colorations are also available which can be applied as a color choice to your toy purchase.

Download MP3

Link Roundup:

News:

[Live] Pay to Pet

Categories: Podcasts

Bearly Furcasting #8 - Paco Panda, Storytime, and Divisibility

Bearly Furcasting - Sat 20 Jun 2020 - 14:00

MOOBARKFLUFF! Click here to send us a comment or message about the show!

This week we chat with artist Paco Panda. Taebyn reads a PC bedtime story, and how can you tell if a number is divisible by 9? Join us and spend some time with Bearly and Taebyn!

Support the show

Thanks to all our listeners and to our staff: Bearly Normal, Rayne Raccoon, Taebyn, Cheetaro, TickTock, and Ziggy the Meme Weasel.

You can send us a message on Telegram at BFFT Chat, or via email at: bearlyfurcasting@gmail.com

Bearly Furcasting #8 - Paco Panda, Storytime, and Divisibility

Categories: Podcasts

You Don't Have to Like All the Same Things to Be Happily Mated

Ask Papabear - Fri 19 Jun 2020 - 18:45

Papabear,

I've been a long time follower of your advice site, and have asked a couple of questions a couple of times. This time I have a little bit of a problem with my current mate. You see both of us are into kink and we've indulged in some things a couple of times, but breakdown in trust and communication on her part made me feel uncomfortable about bringing up things that are part of me.

Example, I was and still am questioning my gender and when I brought it up to her (a trans woman herself) she met it with disinterest and a small trace of hostility.

Example 2, both of us are into gaming, it was something we bonded over. But when I was getting into Warhammer 40K and learning the lore, of course I wanted to share it with her so we could share this too. I was met with a roll of her eyes and sigh with an exasperated "Oh god." Also try to share MtG (Magic the gathering) card game with her but when I'm playing online I'm cut short when I talk strategy to myself, it's the way my brain works.

There's so many more examples of why I don't bring anything up to her anymore or even try to share interests. So you can see my hesitancy to bring up the subject of something so personal as a kink. Just to put it out in the open, I'm into leather and pup play. I think of it as a big part of who I am and I want to explore that side of myself. I was thinking of just buying a pup hood and tail plug just to get it out in the open, like ripping off a band-aid. There would be no hiding it and it would bring up my kink, but there's also the risk of her throwing it away or me having to return it.

Now please don't have a negative view of her, we get along just fine otherwise. I love her and she loves me. We're friendly with each other, game with each other, joke, play around and everything that comes with a relationship. It's just my trust in bringing up things to her is a bit wounded.

What can I do? She's a sub too so I think that would be a problem, but we're poly so I think she would approve of me finding a handler/trainer, in theory.

Anonymous

* * *

Dear Furiend,

Many people believe that when you have a mate you should share all your interests together and do everything together. This is not true. It is okay for a couple to have different interests and explore different sides of themselves while also sharing other things. To be compatible does not mean you have to be clones of each other. In fact, it is better if you are not. Imagine doing everything together and having the exact same interests and activities. What would you talk about at the end of the day? "Hey, this morning I...." "Yeah, I was there, remember? I'm ALWAYS there!"

When I was married to Janet, she was way into crafts, including cross-stitch and quilting. I was never into that stuff myself, but I supported her in her interests, sometimes going shopping with her, but never to a quilting convention (yawn). It was great that she loved that stuff and would go on a trip by herself or with a friend and have some fun outside the marriage. Later, when I was with Jim, his passion was radio broadcasting and sound editing. I learned some of this myself and even, briefly, hosted a radio show on his station. But I was not passionate about it. I supported his love for the radio and did what I could to help. Now I am with Michael. He is into playing the organ and piano. Here, we have a little more in common as I am learning the piano, but really am not all that interested in the organ. I am having his mother's piano refurbished as a present this year.

In return, my spouses and mates have also supported me in my interests. One year, long ago, my wife paid to send me to a writers' conference in Maui. Later, with Jim, he was very supportive of my being a furry, as is Michael. Michael is helping me start my publishing business, even though he is not a publisher or writer himself.

And so, you see? Partnership is about complementing one another, supporting each other in the things that you love and do as hobbies or for a living. You don't have to do everything together. So, let's take your interest in pup play and leather kink. Does your girlfriend have to do these with you for you to enjoy them? No, she does not. Now, that said, she shouldn't be rolling her eyes and being dismissive of you. She might not like such things herself, but if she loves you she should be supportive and encourage you to explore this side of yourself.

You sound like you two have a pretty good relationship. I think, though, that you should talk to her about this and say something to the effect of what I have said above: she doesn't have to like EVERYTHING that you are into, but it hurts you when she looks down at you or judges you for liking things she doesn't like herself. (Is there stuff she likes that you don't? You can use that as an example of what she should do for you).

With patience, love, and understanding, I'm sure you two can work it out, and this whole experience can help you grow closer as a couple.

Hugs,
Papabear

Looney Tunes gets a reboot (Part 1): How an iconic cartoon forged a wacky and lovable side of the furry fandom — By Rocky Coyote

Dogpatch Press - Fri 19 Jun 2020 - 10:00

Meet “Toon Furs” in Part 1: Duino Duck, RomeTwin, and James the Duck. This story features the side of fandom where you can watch NEW cartoons with classic animal characters, and even turn into one! HBO Max has 80 eleven-minute episodes of fresh-but-faithful animation from WarnerMedia. Furries discuss their influence in this 3-part story by Rocky Coyote. (Rocky previously covered fandom in America’s biggest city on his tag here.)

Check it out here.

Looney Tunes gets a reboot: How an iconic cartoon forged a wacky and lovable side of the furry fandom.

Bugs Bunny and the rest of the Looney Tunes gang found a new home on May 27 as WarnerMedia launches its newest streaming service HBO Max.

Looney Tunes Cartoons is the latest show to marquee the iconic characters that have entertained viewers around the globe for over 80 years. Unlike recent reboots such as The Looney Tunes Show (2011) and Wabbit (2016), HBO’s series will closely resemble the format and art style of the original shorts crafted by the likes of Tex Avery, Bob Clampett, Chuck Jones, Friz Freleng and Robert McKimson.

Naturally, the show’s wacky yet lovable characters have had an influence on the furry fandom, but this goes beyond the cartoon’s anthropomorphic nature. Shows like Looney Tunes paved the way for a subculture within the subculture, where furries create their own characters in the ‘toon mold.’ This includes big eyes and exaggerated body proportions, personalities that range from goofy to outright insane, and a penchant for slapstick comedy aided by an endless supply of mallets, dynamite and anvils.

To get a better idea of Looney Tunes’ impact on the furry fandom, Dogpatch Press reached out to a number of self-identified toon furs and let them describe how the series influenced their love of cartoons and helped them find a place within the fandom.

Think about it. There are ZERO downsides to being a toon.

-full of energy
-powered by laughter
-can play ANY instrument
-cute as a button

“But Duino, what about all the bad stuff that hap-“

Bud, if you don’t think having a piano dropped on you would be KINDA fun, you’re wrong.

— Duino D. Duck (@MainMandarin) May 13, 2020

Duino Duck is a writer for the Plotsburg Press and a slapstick aficionado. The self-described cartoon antagonist recalls how Looney Tunes forged his passion for all things animated.

Cartoon Network used to air an hour of Looney Tunes from noon to 1 p.m., and I’d watch them every time I was home sick. All I did on those days was watch TV, and Looney Tunes was a welcome reprieve from the slow-paced Nick Jr. and Playground Disney kids’ shows. I watched them and Tom and Jerry a bunch on the weekends, too. A lot of it blurs together, so I don’t have a thorough knowledge of the library of shorts. But I always remember feeling a wave of satisfaction wash over me as the first orchestral swell hit come noontime.

I loved cartoons growing up, but was raised in a strict and serious household. I put a lot of pressure on myself to be academically successful, so cartoons with this antithetical escape- nonsense, zaniness; freedom, in a way. I wanted to watch them, make them, BE them. It felt like making up for lost time.

There was also a level of intelligence that went into the shorts. I’m not going to call them educated entertainment, but there’s an incredible level of finesse and style involved in pulling that medium off. Making characters who you like, but don’t mind seeing blown up in an abandoned mine shaft. Witty one-liners that perfectly contextualize why this person is getting knocked on the head repeatedly. Mindful violence.

Soup to nuts, I’m a toon. I walk funny, I talk funny, I can’t stop talking about dropping bowling balls on my friends. I fell in love with larger than life comic characters, and I want to be one myself. I’ve been yelling about toons for years now, and most people recognize me as “that slapstick bird” which I take as high praise.

(For the new reboot) cautious optimism feels like the best way to put it! I was apprehensive upon the announcement, but the clips I’ve seen thus far have been entertaining in their own right, and it certainly lets me know there will be some real treats in store. I’m very skeptical of reboots since… well, we all know how many of them go. But there’s clearly a lot of care, talent, and passion thrown into these, and it’s looking like it’ll pay off!

Gwen “RomeTwin” Romer, creator of the “Paper and Plastic” comics, talks about the show’s wit and how the character design influenced her art style.

Though I was born in 1996, I watched Looney Toons as often as it was put in front of me; which was a lot as a kid. My grandparents recorded the shorts on VHS, and my parents were keen on having me watch classic cartoons like Popeye, Under-Dog, Tom & Jerry, etc.

The show was very particular in that while Tom & Jerry also used slapstick humor, Looney Tunes was very witty in its dialogue and visual gags that helped shape an idea of what made cartoons funny for me. Even as a kid I appreciated how clever it was and it never felt patronizing. I feel that the shows I grew up on (though I hold them close to my heart) needed to be loud for the sake of holding my attention, and Looney Tunes never needed to do that.

The show had no influence for my fursona personally. However, Wile E. Coyote and characters inspired by him have had an influence on how I draw my canines! That and Pepe Le Pew. They had the PERFECT snouts.

This is much more faithful than any Looney Tunes project I’ve seen in a long time. I was a kid when Lunatics Unleashed was on the air and even then I didn’t really get it. The Looney Tunes Show on Cartoon Network was fun, but it was trying to be its own thing; whereas this new show attempts to be faithful to a T and I’ve loved what I’ve seen of it so far.

James the Duck discusses how the show developed his affinity for toony mallards.

I watched it quite a bit growing up. I didn’t really get into them until I was around 8, when they had the Looney Tunes New Year’s Day Marathon on New Year’s 2010. Being a child of the 2000’s, you couldn’t really see Looney Tunes unless you were home from school for some reason, or it was summer vacation. During the summer, I’d always watch Tom and Jerry at 1:00, and then Looney Tunes at 2:00 on Cartoon Network.

Looney Tunes did have an influence on my love for cartoons. Personally, I’m more of a Fleischer/Famous Studios type of guy, but Warner Brothers is a close second. My favorite era is from 1935 to 1948. I love the music, and the fluid, detailed animation, as well as the somewhat “adult” humor. Back then, cartoons were made for adults as well as kids, and it really shows.

My favorites are The Daffy Duckaroo (1942), Nasty Quacks (1945), and Mexican Joyride (1947).

Daffy Duck was my “gateway drug” to my love for birds, especially toon birds. I love the bills and webbed feet. I’ve always secretly wanted to be one and mess around in a surreal universe. When I decided to join the furry fandom, I knew what I wanted to be.

I honestly don’t know much about the new version, but it looks great! I especially love how they seem to have reverted Daffy to his 1940’s “Screwball” personality. I never liked the post-1951 Daffy. They made him so unlikable then, and it hurts to see how that’s the Daffy that everyone knows now. So it’ll be great to see more love for his funny and likeable screwball incarnation! The animation also looks really good. I almost can’t tell it from the 1940s cartoons!

Meet ten Toon Furs in Parts 1-3 of Rocky Coyote’s story.

NY Times: Bugs Bunny Is Back, and So Is the ‘Looney Tunes’ Mayhem
Vanity Fair: HBOMax’s Modern Looney Tunes Keeps the Spirit of the Classics
Forbes: HBO Max Brings Back Bugs Bunny And The Looney Tunes Gang In Classic Style

Categories: News

Capital City Fur Con’s Nitro-powered crash and burn

Dogpatch Press - Thu 18 Jun 2020 - 10:40

CCFC on Wikifur

Contact-starved furries are having a bad year. Only a few conventions opened before COVID-19 made so many cancel and cut off the hug supply. (Quick, send emergency plushies before the furries go rabid for hugging anything that moves! Or set them loose in riot zones and tell them the cops need hugs.)

Capital City Fur Con was among the few that happened successfully, and it was a first-year con… so months later, it’s extra noticeable to see it blow up with a mushroom cloud of absurd drama. At least it makes a show. It also makes a lesson about a fandom full of DIY power. Uncritical nerdy love is good for starting your own art, stories, or even a sexy furry news site — but not just any dummy should start a con.

The dummy of this story is CCFC’s (ex-) chair, Nitro. He may now be hiding out in a luxury yiff bunker, with hopes to be forgotten in the furor about a pandemic/recession/uprising, because he allegedly took thousands of dollars for charity but failed to give it to them. That’s illegal.

I try not to go too deep into the drama of cons. It has to be egregious, and even some with clowns on staff have great volunteers who strive to make others happy. Even when cons don’t go right, they still make happy experiences. (Spoiler: which aren’t included here.)

Of course it’s the law that every con has to have weird stuff, and it’s hard to get the truth about it from all sides, like learning about orgies in private rooms and which ones are really worth getting into. (For example, the failure of Rainfurrest has a popular video from Internet Historian, but we might not verify all the bonkers stuff in it unless the infamous Diaper Guy was an undercover cop with a wire hidden in there.)

You can still watch this helpful summary of the controversy, then CCFC staffer Shadow the Wolf’s recounting of “gross financial mismanagement” by Nitro.

From Shadow the Wolf’s video.

See, it’s special to get inside info about how things went wrong. And there’s more than the outstanding financial stuff. It’s a lot to cover so I’ll just tell a few lowlights from memory. (Imagine you’re hearing from a sincere furry doing their best after a couple of marijuanas.)

Before the con, I was tipped about controversy with a potential alt-right security staffer who you might not want to trust with securing you or your info.
Controversy boiled over when the con denounced staff of another con for pointing this out, with an official letter. (When do cons bicker in public?)
That furry was seen visiting the White House in a used murrsuit. (Look, no shaming, I’d deploy the SPH to disrespect Cheeto Mussolini and Make America Great, but being on his team? I’m not that dirty.)

Hey wanna laugh? #furries #fursuit #murrsuit #politics #MAGA2020 #MAGA #Murrsuit4Trump #keepingitclassy pic.twitter.com/YiwkySi8iI

— Dogpatch Press (@DogpatchPress) June 7, 2020

“Popufurs” were spammed to death about being Guests of Honor, until CCFC had 2.7 GOH’s per attendee. (OK, actually 7 for a few hundred attendees.)
Some weren’t actually announced, and pricey room compensation wasn’t paid (to staff and maybe GOH’s.)
On the first day of the con AN AVALANCHE OF SHIT got unleashed…
Furries risked getting shot? That was the fear when a “rich people inauguration ceremony” happened in the hotel, with politicians and armed security giving beady eyes about potential costumed assassins. Con-goers were told to avoid giving them a reason for hunting season. No pup masks OR ELSE!
Due to this genius scheduling, a bunch of panels were rescheduled to nonsense times without notice and didn’t happen.
The hotel contract hadn’t been honored with payment on time, and there was a deadline. If not paid NOW the con would get shut as firmly as I’d get kicked out of the White House for peeing on Trump’s rug (or whatever you call that thing on his head — hey can you imagine him doing a pee tape with a furry? Yes, you probably can if you’ve been watching the news, that wouldn’t even get 15 minutes of notice.)
A con bickering online with another con is one thing, but how often to they BEG other cons for thousands of dollars?
A staffer was badgered about paying $15 grand in college money (I don’t think the money was actually given though.)

No Non-Disclosure Agreement HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
For months after the con there were ALL CON MERCH 50% OFF sales (were there any sales accounted for?)
Finally, when all this came out, the allegations of charity money deception led to a lawyer assessing the potential fraud charges.
Read his Twitter thread about this Fandom’s Most Wanted Public Animal #1. It’s conveniently blog-formatted for you here.

I don't have time to sit down and write a blog post about this right now, which I normally do to address issues that pop up in the fandom. Instead here's the summary in thread form:

1. Capital City Fur Con, a convention in Harrisburg, PA, folded yesterday. /1

— Boozy Badger (@BoozyBadger) June 12, 2020

View this document on Scribd

Great idea from @trippwubb: a form to collect details from anyone owed money by #CapCityFurCon to total up the damage. https://t.co/bI6tzXJkJe

— Con Staff Watch (@ConStaffWatch) June 14, 2020

Capital City? More like Crapital City… if I had a band, that would be the name of it, and the album would be Presidential Furry Pee Tape.

Here’s the part where I give sympathy to everyone who had a good time and put in their hard work, and hope this all gets sorted out!

UPDATE: You wouldn’t think it could get worse. It gets worse.

I absolutely know what a receipt for the Greater Philly Chapter of the ALS Association looks like.

And what their logo looks like.

You do NOT fuck with the charity.

— Boozy “Slightly Used Coffin Reseller” Badger (@BoozyBadger) June 27, 2020

Categories: News

Aw… Fooey!

In-Fur-Nation - Thu 18 Jun 2020 - 01:53

Keeping in the realm of graphic novels for young readers, next up we have Baloney and Friends, written and illustrated by award-winning creator Greg Pizzoli. “Meet Baloney! He’s the star of this book, along with his best buddies: Empathetic Peanut the horse, sensible Bizz the bumblebee, and grumpy Krabbit — he’d rather not be here, but what can you do? In this graphic novel for newly independent readers, Baloney and friends step into the spotlight and embody all the charm of childhood in three short tales and three mini-comics that invite readers to join the fun! Giggle with Baloney as he performs some questionable magic, give him a boost when a case of the blues gets him down, cheer him on as he braves the swimming pool, and at the end, learn to draw all the characters with clear step-by-step instructions!” It’s available now in hardcover.

image c. 2020 Little, Brown Books

Categories: News

CCFC controversy: Capital City Fur Con facing heavy backlash on internal mismanagement

Global Furry Television - Wed 17 Jun 2020 - 21:43

Capital City Fur Con, a convention based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania of the United States has recently announced closure. This was followed by a heavy backlash on social media claiming severe fund mismanagement and deception.

Categories: News

COVID-19 and Furries: 3 furcons cancelled this week, 63 globally

Global Furry Television - Wed 17 Jun 2020 - 21:39

This week, furry conventions in Mainland China, Switzerland and Argentina have announced cancellations due to the current pandemic. In a statement, Guangzhou-based furry convention Fuzzy Oasis Party said the furcon could not continue as planned due to some of its core members as well as the invited guests currently being unable to return and come […]

Categories: News

The Sprawl volume 1-3 — graphic novel review by Roz Gibson

Dogpatch Press - Wed 17 Jun 2020 - 10:15

The Sprawl was reviewed with a creator interview a year ago: “my favorite furry webcomic and certainly ranks among my favorite webcomics of all time” — so enjoy a fresh take. Welcome to Roz Gibson, furry artist and animator in Southern California. Roz was guest of honor at Confurence and created the Jack Salem comic character that first appeared in Rowrbrazzle in 1987. Roz is a community access guest and contents are hers. See Roz’s tag for more reviews.

The Sprawl volume 1-3
Written and Illustrated by Snowdon
Published by Ringtail Café productions

I picked these three volumes up at AnthroCon last year. There are not a whole lot of new furry comics coming out, particularly if you’re looking for something other than porn, slice-of-life or gay interest, so I decided to give this series a try.

The back blurb describes this as “Sci-Fi/Horror meets Dark Fantasy on a dead world. It’s only inhabitants are the descendants of an ill-fated colonization mission, now huddled together in an ever-growing mega-city known as The Sprawl.” But the story turns out to be closer to Bladerunner meets The Thing, with something from the original Heavy Metal movie thrown in for good measure.

Volume 1 is pretty simple: a survey team is sent to a distant part of the dead planet (referred to as the “South Pole”) to look for another survey team that vanished. You see boobs early on, as the female characters are either topless or wearing really skimpy clothing. The two female surveyors are apparently along solely to hump the guys, which they get to doing as soon as they leave on the mission. When there’s an explosion on the ship and they have to evacuate, the guys are all fully dressed, but the bunny girl bails out wearing nothing but bikini panties. When they arrive on the frozen, snowy surface of the South Pole, someone gives her a jacket that she never bothers to zip up, so she’s wandering around Antarctic cold in panties and an open jacket with her boobs hanging out. I think this is known as ‘pandering to the audience,’ which might have worked if the bunny girl was attractive, but all the characters are squishy lumpy with big Bugs Bunny-type feet.

While I waited for the bunny girl to either die of hypothermia or her bare feet to turn into frozen blocks, the team reaches the prerequisite spooky mysterious abandoned ruins with dead bodies. The previous survey team is dead and one of the characters– without even touching or examining the bodies–declares that they killed each other.

Then they find a mysterious evil glowing orb (a call-back to the original Heavy Metal movie) that is so evil it compels anyone around it to immediately kill each other. The lone survivor takes the orb back to The Sprawl and sells it to a brilliant but eccentric scientist with a hot daughter (who is, unsurprisingly, more than she seems!)

Now the genre switches to Blade Runner, with a hard-boiled PI investigating the murder of the scientist, the orb and the getting involved with the hot daughter. She’s wearing skimpy clothes, and yes, we do get to see her boobs when she gets out of the shower and walks around naked. The rest of the comic involves a lot of chases and fights in a rainy, depressing city.

Like many other digital comics turned into print, the art is dark and muddy, so it’s often impossible to tell what’s going on. That is compounded (particularly in volume 2) with the action taking place in dark tunnels. And all the pages are on black or dark backgrounds without traditional panel gutters, which makes it even harder to follow the action. The (male) characters wear so much baggy clothing you can’t tell what species they are, so if you’re looking for visually interesting character design, this is not it. To further complicate matters, most of volume 3 is dreams within dreams, or hallucinations, so by the end of it I honestly had no clue what was going on.

Online the comic is up to volume 5, but this review only covers the 3 printed volumes I purchased last summer.

If you wanted to read it online it might look better, without the dark printing. The comic isn’t horrible, if you want a story along with the boobies, but it lost me early on with the naked bunny girl wandering around the South Pole.

– Roz Gibson

Categories: News

Meet the artist behind the site banner — Roku Doggo

Dogpatch Press - Wed 17 Jun 2020 - 10:00

From time to time, Dogpatch Press commissions new banner art — check out a gallery from past months. Past artists have come from Mexico, Argentina, Chile, the Philippines, England, Quebec, North Carolina, California, and Texas. Get in touch if you want pay and a feature article. Today it’s for Roku Doggo.

Hi Roku, love your banner art! Especially the way you made it a funny action moment.

Thank you so much.

Where are you from and how much furry activity do you do?

I’m from Texas, and the only furry activity I do is, well drawing furries and I do it almost every day.

What’s your favorite part about being a furry artist?

My favorite part will have to be the interactions I have with my followers. It makes my day just to see them happy about any of the work I make.

Can you link your social media profiles?

Twitter: @thefuzzy_husky
Instagram: @thefuzzy_husky
Furaffinity: thefuzzyhusky

You do a lot of big round furs… Texas is a big place too. Does the place you live make it into your art in any way?

Hehe yep! It definitely is big, but the place I live in doesn’t really make it in to my artwork. I mainly do all my work on the characters and I don’t really focus on the setting that much.

HAPPY PRIDE!
Each and everyone of you are valid and deserve love!
Be proud of who you are and live life to its fullest potential!
It’s rainbows all around pic.twitter.com/KYxCQjNXeN

— GAY PUP (@Thefuzzy_husky) June 1, 2020

Is there anything furry you like about where you live, like cons you go to, or even the animals? I love wildlife, there’s a lot in my neighborhood… Deers nest up the hill, skunks under the house, possums and raccoons in the trees, and wild turkeys hang out on the roof.

I haven’t gone to any cons yet, but the desert bunnies, coyotes and roadrunners are fun to look at when they roam about.

The art you did for the site has charm and action and it looks like talent that could go into longer comics. You have some comics in your galleries — are those all commissioned, or do you do any ongoing story?

I’ve only done one comic as a commission and that was my most recent one, but the other comics I do are short comics and they don’t have an ongoing story. And I do have plans for other comics, but I don’t know if I’ll actually go forward with them because it’s not the first time I wanted to work on a comic and do nothing for it.

Have any good stories about doing art or getting into furry? Like an oddball commission, or things you have run into in the fandom?

Well I can tell you the story about getting into furry. I remember watching the movie Brother Bear, and then having the urge to draw the bear characters from the movie. I looked up images of them online. It led me to DeviantArt where I found all these cool drawings, which were furry, but I didn’t realize it at the time. Then I told myself, “Hey! I want to draw that!” and that’s really how it started.

How are you holding up with the Covid-19 quarantine?

It’s been a bit tough — transitioning to online classes from college has messed up my schedule and with it my time to draw.

Want to talk about future plans with your studies? And how about with furry?

Well I’m pursuing studies in the geology field, two years in to college, and I’m hoping to continue strong for another two years. With furry, I just hope I get to enjoy it as much as I do and hopefully get the opportunity to attend cons in the future.

Categories: News

TigerTails Radio Season 12 Episode 27

TigerTails Radio - Tue 16 Jun 2020 - 04:10

Categories: Podcasts

No Not THAT Fox and Rabbit!

In-Fur-Nation - Tue 16 Jun 2020 - 01:56

… though you could be forgiven for thinking so. Fox & Rabbit is a new graphic novel for young readers — the first foray into comic storytelling for children’s book author Beth Ferry. “Easygoing Fox and anxious Rabbit seem like total opposites. But, somehow, they make the perfect pair! Whether searching for hidden treasure or planting a garden in their own backyard, Fox and Rabbit find everyday magic at every turn. On this first adventure, the pair will discover some new favorite things like sunsets, dandelions, and cotton candy. And they’ll face new fears like heights, swimming, and (poisonous!) frogs. Thankfully, there’s nothing Fox and Rabbit can’t do together!” Illustrated by Gergely Dudas, it’s available now in hardcover from Abrams Books.

image c. 2020 Abrams Books

Categories: News

The City of Barks and Roars, by J.T. Bird

Furry Book Review - Mon 15 Jun 2020 - 10:41

If you’ve ever wanted to know what a mystery novel set in a world with anthropomorphic animals looks like, THE CITY OF BARKS AND ROARS is a great example. J. T. Bird writes about a crime-filled world that has developed long after the fall of humans, yet their civilizations are quite similar. Animals use the traits they’ve been given before their evolution to contribute to this world, a world that some believe to be better than that of Man. On the surface, however, most creatures seem to fall in line without a care of what was before...but not everyone.Trouble arises in Noah’s Kingdom when Frank Penguin--lead detective of the city’s police department--loses his partner, Lucas Panda. Detective Chico Monkey from West Bay is called in to find the missing panda. From then on this story reads as your typical noir-style mystery story, complete with witty banter, crime bosses, and rainy weather. Frank and Chico scour the city in hopes of finding clues to track down the kidnapper. One clue leads to another, the two start getting used to each other, and, with some help, the duo finds a hidden truth they didn’t know they were looking for.The first thing I want to mention before going into the critical part of this review is the description for the book. Mainly, the part that says “...peppered with plenty of humor.” I bring this up mainly as a point of understanding why this story was written the way it was written. Frankly, I was laughing AT the story way more than I was laughing WITH the story, and I think that’s because it was written in such a way that the narrator was like an annoying friend of mine who happened to witness this whole thing play out and decided to recount it to me.While the story’s plot was solid, the writing was not. I struggled to get through the story because the narrator kept telling me what I could imagine on my own. Most of the time, these were either character details or scene details. Here’s an example: “You can tell from his crisply ironed light blue uniform, and rigorously buffed shoes that he takes his role very seriously.” I feel that the need for second person--i.e. the ‘you’--here is completely unnecessary, and it distracts from the scene because it pulls me out of the story and back to reality. I also felt that a lot of intense scenes were made less intense because the dialogue was trying to do what simple descriptions would do better. That, or they were just so absurd that I couldn’t take the story seriously. One example of this comes later on in the book when Chico is chasing after one of the criminals. (Warning: a bit of a spoiler) Chico is chasing a hog through a swamp. The hog trips and falls into a sort of quicksand? But it’s mud? And as the hog is sinking Chico just sits there saying, “And this little piggy went wee wee wee...all the way home.” I just couldn’t take them seriously.Another small thing I want to mention is the editing. There are a litany of grammar and punctuation mistakes, at least in the Kindle version I received. A few typos here and there as well. It could use another look-over.This book would appeal to those who are interested in furry literature. Bird does a good job at giving different animals different roles in the society he writes about, so it’s an interesting look into the furry world. Children may enjoy the silliness of it, but I hesitate to say that it’s for children because there are darker themes involved. Curious teens and young adults shouldn’t have too much trouble with it though.

Categories: News

Pride Month Spotlight: Hugo Jackson

Furry Writers' Guild - Mon 15 Jun 2020 - 09:00

Welcome to another Furry Writers’ Guild spotlight for Pride Month! We’ve been so excited to share the viewpoints and stories of several of our guild members this month. Today we have an interview Hugo Jackson! Their pronouns are he/him or they/them. They are a non-binary author and has written three books so far in The Resonance Tetrology. But why say more when they can tell you about themself? Let’s get right to the interview!

FWG: Tell the guild and our readers a bit about yourself.

Hugo: Well, in furry circles I’m Archantael, a big and fluffy/scaly pangolin-fox hybrid, but in writing I go my professional name Hugo Jackson where I’m distinctly more fleshy. I’m 34, and probably the most distinct thing about me (from the point of view of me living in the US, anyway) is that I grew up in Britain, so my accent is British even though I’ve been here for over eight years now. I have been a published author since 2010 but have been an avid writer and slave to my overactive imagination since I was very very young. It’s been a great journey being able to embrace that, and it’s something I’m grateful for daily, not least of all because it brought me to the furry community and all of its amazing, sincere, colourful creatures and members.

FWG: What is your favourite work that you have written?

Hugo: Well, Legacy (my first novel) will always be the biggest milestone for me, not least of all because it’s the one I usually throw at people when I conjure up the bravery to actually sell my books to people, but Ruin’s Dawn, which is the third in the fantasy series, I feel had a real step up in my writing style and strength of voice, so that’s what I’m most proud of currently. It’s also the one I’ve been able to incorporate more of my personal views and experiences in the community, and myself, into, which makes it more personal through its unfolding.

FWG: What do you think makes a good story?

Hugo: I think anything sincere, written in your authentic voice, will make a good story. Obviously form and structure play a big part in making it readable and exciting in terms of pacing and suspense, but the best stories are the ones told without fear of condemnation for their sense of self-expression. Being bullied when I was younger, for a considerable amount of time, it became very easy for me to think ideas of fantasy or sci-fi were too much, and now I’m railing against that in my own work and in what I see in others’ stories. Make those superpowers and have your characters love whomever they feel most at ease with. Make a story completely yours, and you’re already well on the way to something good.

FWG: How long have you been in the guild, and what changes have you seen with regards to how writing is handled since joining?

Hugo: I think I joined back in 2013, just after Legacy was picked up by Inspired Quill. The membership requirements were fairly stringent back then, but given how much the self-publishing, indie, and Patreon markets have exploded in that time, the criteria for becoming a member have loosened a fair bit, and the availability for prospective writers to join via Telegram or Discord has made it more accessible for more people too. Writing and imagination aren’t things to be rationed to the elite- everyone deserves a fair chance at expressing themselves and achieving an ambition for the worlds that have grown within them, and I’ve loved seeing more people join in and take the chance to talk openly to other members about anything writing related, from story concepts to the actual publication process.

FWG: You are nonbinary correct? Can you explain what that means to you to the folks reading this interview?

Hugo: To me, being nonbinary is a multi-faceted identity. I mean, any identity is, gender or not, but particularly to me is the idea of breaking the barriers between gender conformity and expression. The idea that actually, we have always been more than we’re told we are, and that we can take hold of something more unique than we were promised.

Being nonbinary means so much to me because it describes the emotional parts of me I had trouble reconciling, the way I didn’t fit in when I was younger, the ways I wanted to embrace my identity and creativity when I was younger but wasn’t able to, especially where bullying led to self-consciousness or anxiety that made me hold myself back from so much of it until I met the furry community and I discovered more than I ever knew I didn’t know about what I could be.

FWG: You’re also pansexual! What does being pansexual mean to you?

Hugo: Essentially, and I know this varies from person to person, to me it’s the idea that anyone is attractive, no matter their gender. Some people claim this means you don’t acknowledge gender but to me it’s the exact opposite- I am aware of and embrace all identities I have the opportunity to meet and I can love and find them attractive all the same. The only things that will turn me off someone are aspects like bigotry, ignorance, hate, or mean-spirited nastiness. The TL;DR of it is, if you’re kind, you’re beautiful.

FWG: What does Pride mean to you?

Hugo: Oh wow, it’s so all-encompassing. It’s a celebration, an affirmation, a chance to connect with both a history and a future of gender identity and sexuality, the chance to try and come together to fight against oppressive conditioned behaviours from both outside and within ourselves and learn to love each other and ourselves more wholly, even if just a bit at a time. It’s a chance to find out who to protect, who to love, who to support and empower, and find those same things in others for ourselves.

FWG: Was there a bit of a journey or story to you uncovering your identity? If so, would you be comfortable sharing with us?

Hugo: I feel kind of boring, it was a fairly slow process for me. I had… well, I suppose there were many tell-tale signs as I was growing up and a few distinct experiences that should, had I been given the knowledge at the time, have told me that I was more than just ‘a straight boy’. Times when I embraced roleplaying a girl more readily than a male character, or when I had no issue whatsoever in my first stage role in high school wearing a big pink poofy dress. Or just… many other moments like that, getting a massive crush in a big way on a guy in my acting class (because holy crap he was beautiful). It wasn’t until after I found and really engaged with the furry community that the seeds of my identity began to propagate much more quickly, seeing the freedom of others’ self-expression, people who had fought for years to be who they are now, and finding kindredness and inspiration in them. They have inspired me in so many ways, and it’s something I’ll be eternally grateful for.

FWG: How do you think being nonbinary and pansexual has inspired or affected your stories? Have you written nonbinary or pansexual characters into your works?

Hugo: It has, if for no other reason than I want to represent something I don’t see in much media but I feel should desperately be shown more authentically. I see far more scope for a greater range of characters to interact with each other in different ways, and love more authentically. I wish I had known more about myself and the world even sooner, that I could have introduced more LGBTQIA+ characters into my Resonance books from the very beginning. As it is, I have a nonbinary character in Ruin’s Dawn, and a few characters in the series overall who I now know definitively are pansexual, and many other sexualities besides. Being as my books are young adult fiction, adult relationships don’t come into it that much, but sexuality and gender identity are still relevant to teenagers, so having nonbinary representation is super important.

FWG: Do you have favourite queer authors and has their literature affected your writing in the fandom?

Hugo: I actually read criminally little for being a novelist, I mostly devour graphic novels. Having said that, almost all of the graphic novels I read are by queer authors and artists- Noelle Stevenson, Rebecca Sugar, Molly Ostertag. Any queer author writing genuine rep and creating fantastical worlds is going to light the fires of my imagination, and encourage me to go even further in my own work.

FWG: If you could convince everyone to read a single book, what would it be?

Goodness, the one that comes to mind most for me (aside from knowing I’d love everyone to read mine someday), would be The Dark Portal by Robin Jarvis. It’s a younger teens book, but has incredible suspense, magic-wielding mice and demon cats in the sewers of London, so I feel there’s not much to go wrong with that.

FWG: Any last words for our readers and guild members?

Hugo: Your voice is unique in all the world. Don’t lose the chance to use it for good, for yourself or those around you, whether in fiction or in reality.

We would like to thank Hugo once more for participating in this interview! You can keep up with them by following them on Twitter and checking out their blog. Their books are available through Inspired Quill and the first chapter of Legacy, Book One, is available for free at https://www.inspired-quill.com/product/legacy If you want to hear them read that and a few other things, they also have a YouTube channel.

We hope you all enjoyed reading, be sure to stay tuned for another Pride Month spotlight next week!

Categories: News

He’s Going Into Hyper-Nation

In-Fur-Nation - Sun 14 Jun 2020 - 23:59

And more bears — this time in a very different setting. Space Bear is a wide-format full-color graphic novel from Boom! Studios, written and illustrated by Ethan Young (Major Lazer). “Pilgrim Finch is an adventurous astronaut bear who explores the cosmos with a mission to bring samples of life back to his home planet. But when he crash lands on a new planet full of surprises and danger around every corner, Pilgrim will be forced to question his orders and learn that there’s only one mission that matters – compassion to all living creatures no matter the stakes!” The book is available in hardcover later this month — and check out the preview pages over at Comics Beat as well.

image c. 2020 Kaboom!

Categories: News

Don’t Come Between the Bear and His Girl

In-Fur-Nation - Sun 14 Jun 2020 - 01:56

Kodi is a new full-color graphic novel written and illustrated by Jared Cullum — an artist known for his lush watercolor paintings. “Katya and her Meema are spending another summer at their cottage in Alaska, when a chance accident leaves Katya face-to-face with the biggest creature she’s ever seen… an enormous kodiak bear with a gentle heart and a knack for fishing. But when Katya must suddenly return home to Seattle, the two are torn apart, leaving Kodi to do whatever it takes to reunite with his fragile human friend. It’s a wild journey packed with breathtaking views, brave new companions, and adventure around every turn.” Kodi Volume 1 is available later this month from Top Shelf.

image c. 2020 Top Shelf

Categories: News

[Live] Zoom Boom Room

FurCast - Sat 13 Jun 2020 - 22:59

Lots of catch-up from recent events and a huge roundup. We tried turning off the noise gates for this episode, which means all the mics in the room were on no matter who was talking. Does that make things better or worse? Let us know what you think.

Download MP3

Link Roundup: