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Now I really regret not going to Comicon this year.
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Last week: HappyWulf’s Furry KickStarters – Ep. 1

We’re back! I have some treats to back for furs who cut their teeth on waiting for mail to come from sending for box-top prizes! This month’s theme seems to be pins! (One of which ended… these are sorted in the order they are expiring.)

Mer-Cat Pins – I hope you like sushi, because these are Mermaid Cat… Pins. Yes, exactly as it says on the tin. This is a rather small looking project with only 23 backers at the time of writing.

Scribbler DUO: The World’s First Dual-Nozzle 3D Printing Pen – Can you draw, but not 3D Model? Wish you could draw in 3D? Well…. Now you can try! Not inherently Furry itself, but it definitely has possibilities. I’m including this this week in the interest of allowing everyone the chance to make their own choices on backing, but you can’t have that choice without knowing it exists! So, here it is!

Legendary Creatures – One of two board games this week. This one appears to be a Resource Management game with some deck manipulation. It has a very simple and angular art style with a Mythical Beast theme. Enough to warrant a spot on this list. As it is a board game, I can’t attest to how good it is without actually getting my paws on it, but i t does appear to be medium weight and not mere fluff.

Werewolf/Moon Pin – Another Pin, this is one ‘monstrous’ design tho; With wolf and moon, attached by chain. I don’t see any mention of extra Shipping costs, so it may be $15 for a Pin with shipping included.

Bandanimals – Here’s one that’s obviously by furries for furries. It’s a re-design of the muzzle bandannas I’m sure you’ve seen at cons. This update promises a lighter material that is easier to breath through and a 1-sided design so you can flip it around and wear as a non-muzzle normal bandanna.

Beasts of Balance – This is a balancing game along the lines of Jenga. It comes with an App that connects to your smart device that it uses to visualize the game’s scoring. This project in particular is for a 2nd edition along side a new expansion for the base game which actually came out a while ago.

Fauna of the Dirty South – Our last set of pins features punk Opossums and Trash Pandas. I investigated a tiny bit more on this one as I didn’t have much to say on the project and found his instagram a little interesting. Particularly the skull with fuzzy fox ears.

Cartoon Miniatures – We have another set of anthro miniatures, but these ones are a bit more unique with less common species. I like the Panda, but Rinos are rather more exotic when it comes to anthros.

Re:Legend – Multiplayer Monster Rancher X Rune Factory. If that does not ring any bells: Monster Rancher was a monster raising sim where you trained monsters to take part in monthly fighting tournaments, entirely unlike pokemon’s exp grind system. Rune Factory was a farming simulator like Harvest Moon, but also with dungeons and combat. It is currently all clear for a PC release on Steam but has stretch goals assigned for every major console, including the Switch.

I have one final thing I’d like to share this week and that is from a project that has long since ended but which you can now buy their stuff right from their online store. It’s another set of furry miniatures with a bit of Chibi to them. Have a look and pick up any that jump out at you.

Bombshell Miniatures: Kritterkins – Remember these come unpainted.

It should also be mentioned that BarPig and The Tim’rous Beastie Anthology mentioned last week are still funding and available to be backed.

– HappyWulf

According to an article at Animation Magazine, the Chinese tech company Tencent has agreed to invest heavily in the development of a new CGI series, Super BOOMi, created by Up Studios (also from China). This furry little super hero has already enjoyed widespread exposure in China, and now his creators are looking to expand his reach to international markets. Up Studios are also working on at least two other animated adaptations: Piggy and Tomo Explores The World.

image c. 2016 Up Studios

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I just wanted to post a fennec today.
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I know this is kind of old news, but I still see people going on about it. This is about @DeoTasDevil taking down RMFC (allegedly).

— Harper (@GunRoar) July 21, 2017

It’s very possible you’ve heard the assertion that Deo (DeoTasDevil) is responsible for the demise of Rocky Mountain Fur Con. There’s been a lot of back and forth about it, and allegedly she’s the main and even sole party responsible.  Let’s put aside the various instances of the fallout and just examine the sequence of events pertaining to Deo’s participation.

1. In January 2017, Deo tweets “can’t wait to punch these nazis.”
2. She receives a reply from someone that they would be amused if she were shot in response to her purported action.
3. Deo responds asking if this person was threatening to bring a gun to RMFC.
4. Deo contacts RMFC security to inform them of a potential issue.

Let me be clear: I'm aware of no state that allows you to shoot someone for punching you, then crying self-defense.

— Boozy Badger (@BoozyBadger) May 27, 2017

^ A lawyer’s opinion.

In April, three months later, the C&D letter and SovCit business happens. RMFC reveals that the hotel and local police have been called numerous times to make various threats (before and after Deo’s January tweet.)  This concerns the hotel so much that they demand RMFC pay an additional $22,000 for increased police presence at the property.  Shortly after the cost demand, RMFC announces they’re shutting down.  Elsewhere, Deo is accused of having made at least some of the calls to the hotel and police, if not having orchestrated the entire phone-based attack. Essentially, some group of people mass called the hotel of the venue to make bogus threats and fake safety/publicity concerns, which led to the hotel asking for extra funding to be provided for increased security (months after Deo’s tweet.)

(Patch:) To update the April article that preceded the closing of RMFC – a clarification was recently added by request.  Deo gave an accurate quote of emailing the con only.  She didn’t contact the hotel or police in Colorado.  At the time it was written, there wasn’t a group dedicated to blaming Deo, so that wasn’t made entirely clear.

Fast forward a few months and Califur experiences the same problem. People begin calling the hotel– though this time regarding the content of one of the panels featured at Califur– making fabricated concerns and threats.  The hotel demands a hefty fee for additional security. However, the individuals behind this attack are members of “Alt-furry”. They even discuss formulating a plan to attack AC in a similar fashion.

Who fucked over Califur?
Oh yeah it was those assholes organizing threatening calls inside their AltFurry Discord.

Evidence: pic.twitter.com/nFUa07q7ZE

— Deo (@DeoTasDevil) June 27, 2017

https://t.co/7qxUDS807B@CaliFur lost $24,000 because people made threats over a baby-fur panel which they already hosted the year before. pic.twitter.com/361RclepwY

— ChipFox ???? (@chipfoxx) June 26, 2017

Coincidentally, the people claiming that Deo orchestrated the attack on RMFC are also members of Alt-furry. This makes two conventions that have been attacked in this way with a third planned (though no word on whether or not AC was actually attacked has been given). Assuming we don’t know the identities of who attacked RMFC, we do know that Alt-furry went after Califur. Both follow the same MO, yet we’re told that Deo is guilty by the very people caught redhanded in the second and potentially-third attack.

This is an immediate red flag that the accusation against Deo is little more than deception. The more likely scenario is that members of the Alt-furry group executed both attacks and are attempting to use Deo as a scapegoat, following her sudden notoriety from her tweet being thrust into the public eye. If you add in various things that I’ve skipped over (RMFC’s loss of tax exempt status, the owner’s sex offense record, the poor handling of pseudo-nazi instigation)… it just doesn’t add up that Deo managed to sink RMFC with a vague threat lacking credibility.

Perhaps you’ve heard a different account of the debacle surrounding RMFC, but regardless of what, there’s no denying the suspicious actions from members of Alt-furry that undermine their claims.

Consider this:  Your house is burglarized. Not long after, your neighbor’s house is burglarized, but your neighbor manages to catch the burglar. You find out that the thief was planning to rob another home. When you ask, the thief claims that they weren’t the one that robbed you. Would you believe it?

– Harper

Further reference: 

• Screens of Altfurry planning to interfere with Califur.
• Interview with RMFC’s Chair.
• A false rumor about RMFC is repeating history from the Burned Furs.
• How furry fandom is rejecting neo-nazis, “Altfurs” and Furry Raiders who target kids for hate.

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[Hey Ed-Otter! Where’ve you been? Down with a temperature, that’s where. Sorry for the absence! More catching up from Comic Con…] Sean “Cheeks” Galloway is perhaps best known (among the Furry Fans at very least!) as the illustrator of the Pearls of Panderia graphic novel (which of course we’ve talked about). Now he’s back with a more personal project: His own comic imprint, Table Taffy. Recently he released the first Table Taffy Comic ‘Zine. We’ll let him explain: “Table Taffy Comic ‘Zine is a new line of books to showcase comics based on my creator-owned projects! Issue #1 features the Shadow Pirates one-shot #1, as well as comics for my Bastion’s 7, Gumshoes 4 Hire, Little Big Heads, and introducing my new property, Mohnstur Watch! Games and activities are also included, so the whole family can enjoy!” Plenty of characters both human and decidedly-not to be found here. Visit his web site to learn more.

image c. 2017 Table Taffy

Eric Risher of the documentary Furries has a new short. "AnthrOhio 2017 - Columbus, OH The time is 10:00 PM. While most convention attendees are seeking out parties or preparing for the dance, a group of artists have united in one of the hotel meeting rooms. It's an art jam: a safe space to work on the day's commissions while enjoying the company of others. Step into the world of the furry artists and see what goes on after the Dealer Room and Artist Alley close. Explore various artistic techniques and mediums as the artists reflect on their personal experiences."
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Submitted by Fred Patten, Furry’s favorite historian and reviewer

The Latte Segment, by Zoe Landon
Portland, OR, Leporidae Media, February 2016, trade paperback $14.99 (282 pages), Kindle $4.99.

This is the purest funny-animal novel that I have ever read. Other than that the characters are all described as animals, there is nothing to differentiate this from any all-human novel.

Sarah Madsen is a young woman working as a marketing analyst in Portland, Oregon. Her boyfriend, Sean, is an unemployed computer programmer from Silicon Valley in California. Sarah relaxes alone almost every Sunday at the Deadline Cafe over an expensive latte laced with mint; her only vice.

“Sarah fidgeted and the corner creaked. She was worrying about money.

Her finances were safe, by most reasonable standards, yet there was a nagging sense that she should be doing better. Perhaps she could save a little more. She could go to fewer movies with Sean and their whole circle of friends. She couldn’t get rid of her television like Sean did; she relied on it too much for work. But she could stop coming to the Deadline Cafe every Sunday. It did feel like the lattes got more expensive the last year or so.

Everything in Portland felt like it was getting more expensive lately. Most of it was inevitable. She moved here when things weren’t very good anywhere, and now things were especially good here. New businesses were popping up in her neighborhood left and right. Businesses that, for one reason or another, she rarely went to.” (pgs. 5-6)

Sarah’s life and circle of acquaintances are built up very slowly. There are Carl, her apartment neighbor, and Deborah, her cheerful elderly landlady who is always running about fixing things in the old building.

“They had a good rapport from the day Sarah first saw the apartment. Deborah was always willing to try and fix anything that came up from the residents, even the sort of work that a woman of her age would rarely attempt. Sarah could hardly think of a time she called for a handyman and it wasn’t Deborah herself that came to fix things.” (p. 20)

There are Michelle, her perky, friendly middle-aged office mate, and Alex, her artist friend who is apparently transgender – he keeps switching from one gender to the other.

“Alex was known to move around with what pronouns he preferred. Sarah was always willing to oblige, but it was the sort of information that needed to be passed around.

He was one of the first people Sarah got to know in Portland. He was offering art lessons at the time, and Sarah took him up on the offer. He fit Sarah’s idea of the eccentric, androgynous artist to a T: a small, curiously fashionable otter, soft-spoken with an excitable and scattered brain. Just the kind of character Sarah wanted to get to know.” (p. 13)

Oh, Sarah is a brown-furred rabbit. Sean is a raccoon, Michelle is a wolf, Carl is a hyena, and Deborah is a coyote. Others are gradually introduced.

Sarah has been working regularly for several years and is well-liked, but she is bored and toys with quitting.

“Sarah could only deal with these months [the hectic end-of-quarters]. She didn’t enjoy the chaos. After four years at this job, however, she learned to manage it. She was in charge of managing marketing campaigns for two different clients, and she kept tabs on them gradually. Her approach was measured; chaos would only bring more chaos. An email here, a meeting there, a phone call on occasion, delivered slowly and when necessary. They weren’t the projects with the best performance or most spend or anything that her bosses cared about, but she kept organized and planned ahead. For that, she was well-liked.” (p. 15)

Sarah’s relationship with Sean might be described as more perfunctory than lively.

“‘So,’ Sean said, ‘I need you to explain something to me. How in the hell have you not seen Young Frankenstein?’

Sarah shrugged. ‘I haven’t gotten into Mel Brooks yet. He’s not my style.’

‘But he’s –‘

Sean cut himself off. He loved debating movies with friends. Most of them were even good for a snappy quip in return, the sort of friendly banter that endeared Sarah to the whole crowd. Sean played well off Kate in particular because she was so loud. Sarah, a more mild-mannered rabbit, wasn’t a good foil.” (p. 11)

Kate is a meerkat. Lee, another member of their movie-watching group, is a ferret. Matthew, the manager of an art-house theater that they attend, is a sharply-dressed ocelot.

One day Sarah gets a form letter from Deborah to all her apartment residents announcing her retirement.

“Don’t you fret, though! I’m handing over the keys to the folks at Waterknell Management. Yes, it’s a big group of folks, but they have a bunch of little families in town. I’ve heard good things about them, so I’m sure they’ll take care of you folks just fine. They’ll be moving in a few weeks from now, October 1st! My, is it almost the end of the year already?

Anyway, their man Andrew will be taking over my office, so I hope you all take a chance to get to know him. He’s a fine young hare, but he’s sure got some little shoes to fill here!” (pgs. 20-21)

Sarah is mildly surprised, but not much since Deborah is so obviously past retirement age. She idly wonders who her new landlords will be.

“‘She did say it was some local management company. Never heard of ‘em, but still.’” (p. 23)

Sarah uses her marketing database to look up Waterknell Management. She can’t find any other locations listed in Portland. But there are other Waterknell Managements all across America.

“Now that it affected her, she found herself sitting at her desk, trying to research the new company. There were a dozen Waterknells, dotted across the country, making claims to anything from suburban townhouses to commercial towers. It was a strange name to be so generic. None looked like they held very strictly to any geographic area, so Sarah wasn’t sure which would be her new landlord come October.

[…]

Purely from a marketing standpoint, something was fishy about the Waterknells. Browsing across a few sites between work tasks, she started noticing similarities. The website layouts started to match, almost precisely.” (p. 25)

A more obvious giveaway is that all the Waterknells list the same manager, or president, or CEO: Andrew Casterwall, a brown-grey hare. San Mateo. Houston. He’s everywhere. What does this mean? He can’t be a friendly landlord/building repairman for all of them, can he?

As Sarah goes to work every weekday, watches movies with Sean and her friends, helps Alex put on art exhibits, and drinks lattes on Sundays, she is affected by her apartment’s change of management. To nobody’s surprise but hers, the new management is cancelling all leases and requiring new ones at $500 a month more. Her building is going to be gentrified; have a total makeover and cater to more upper-class tenants; more transients rather than those who consider their apartment their permanent home. None of the current residents can afford the new rents.

Should Sarah protest? She is hardly the first apartment renter to be priced out by a new management. Some of her friends and acquaintances are supportive to her protesting; others just shrug and say, “So move. Why bother to fight it?”

The Latte Segment (cover by Simon Avery) is a well-written, leisurely slice-of-life novel about a young yuppie woman facing a Big Corporation. Compared to the drama of most fiction, nothing happens at great length. There seems to be no reason for the characters to be anthropomorphized animals except that the author wants to call them that. The animals are all human size; live in well-known American cities; go to movies by Hitchcock and Spielberg and Kubrick; eat the same food; and so on. There are no illustrations – even Avery’s well-designed cover doesn’t show anything – so aside from calling Sarah a rabbit every so often, it’s easy to forget what animal each character is supposed to be, and to just imagine the cast as humans. I can’t say that this is a bad novel – it isn’t – but I can say that it isn’t really an anthropomorphic-animal novel except in the most superficial meaning of the term.

– Fred Patten

• Buy on Amazon

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This reminds me of the old Kate Bush Song (Running up that Hill) that had the line "and if I only could I'd make a deal with God and I'd get him to swap our places." This also has a bit of a Tom Tom Club vibe to it. "'Tigress' is a visual music, 2D animated film that follows a woman venturing out into the jungle on her own. When she encounters a curious tiger, their worlds combine and the two switch places: the tiger lost and voiceless in a bustling city, the woman naked and ferocious in the jungle."
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Hey there. 

I've been a follower of your site for a while, and I've just had this issue that's nagged me for quite a while.

So, I got into the whole furry culture when I was pretty young, and I remember an author that I got pretty into about when I was finding things out. Kyell Gold. So, he wrote this pretty cool book series, "Aquifiers," which I thought was great and cool and awesome. 

Too awesome, though. I read the book when I was young and impressionable, and later in my life, I started feeling lackluster because I'd begun comparing myself to this book. I'd begun to wonder if there was something wrong with me, because I hadn't experienced X or Y like the main character in that book did, or if I wasn't going through the same experience as this certain character did, and if that indicated something wrong with me.

I get little reminders of that book sometimes. Like a lyric of a song, or a certain picture, or a scene, and I'll think back to all the imagined experiences that I missed out on, and I'll just be so glum and sad. I know it's unhealthy and irrational to compare my IRl life with that of a fictional one, but I just can't help it. My life is fine and okay and, rationally, there's nothing that I should be feeling especially sad about, but I still do. 

Anyway, my big tiff with this all of this is that I don't feel like I can progress with my life, because I keep having these feelings of shame over these imagined instances that I missed out on. Did I just imprint on this book at too early an age, and I'm just fucked, or should I just try to forget things? 

You're a good fella. 

Thanks, 
Andrew

* * *

Hi, Andrew,

Before I continue, a little more information would be helpful. What, exactly, do you feel you have missed out on? What is there in the book that you envy and wish to achieve? In short, what is the disconnect between what you find in the book and what is going on in your life?

Hugs,
Papabear

* * *

Okay, so, the main character both falls in love and realizes his passion for his career his senior year of high school. I know it's this grossly idealized version of real life, but I just feel embarrassed over not having met someone yet, or how I'm still fumbling around over what I want to spend my life doing. I think all of it boils down to younger me, after having read that book and internalizing it, setting myself on this "Perfect Road" to happiness, and the gradual frustration over real life not matching this vision in my head.

I wrote you a long while ago and you mentioned this term I hadn't seen before. Weltschmerz. This sort of overall weariness over reality not being comparable to the desired or imagined life. That seems kind of fitting. 

​Anyway, thanks for the reply. This is kind of a weird issue for me to try and find support for. 

* * *

Hi, Andrew,

The idea of Weltschmerz still applies, and I'm sorry if my last letter to you didn't have the effect of sinking in. My advice would be the same: the world of novels and movies and television are idealized versions of reality. Even the ones that are about tragedy tend to make that tragedy idealized and even romantic (e.g. Les Miserables), because the people who suffer in them tend to have noble goals and purposes so that even their horrible stories have meaning for their lives and the lives of others.

As furries, our hearts often long for worlds where we can become amazing warriors, or lovers, or crime fighters, or simply live in a beautiful fantasy environment of some kind. But we recognize (hopefully) that these things are not real.

So it is with even a simple stories of finding love, such as the one you mention by Kyell Gold.

Every person's story is unique. Some people find love early on, some later in life. At 51, Papabear has had two and is working on a third: my first love whom I married at the young age of 22, my second whom I met in my 40s, and now this one. One thing about love: it is never too late to find it. As long as your heart is beating, you can find the love of your life. Here is a fun article you might enjoy on that topic.

I've said this to others who write to me, too, and not just about love. Many are frustrated about their careers or just not being able to find their bearings in life. One thing that I find true, especially among young Americans, is that they are too damn impatient. They act like it is all over if they haven't achieved their life goals by the time they are 25. Part of this is our materialistic, youth-worshipping culture that lies to us that "we can have it all" in our twenties and that you are a big loser if you haven't yet.

Don't you buy it. It's all a lie created by Corporate America to make you buy stuff and enrich the top 1%. They tell you you can only be happy if you have all the latest electronic gizmos, own a great house, get married and have kids and have a huge salary. It is all designed to make you a tool. Don't believe me? What do you do when you feel depressed that you haven't found the love of your life yet? Buy food? Booze? Romantic movies? Seek counseling? Go back to school to earn a fancier degree to get a better job to make you more suited as a mate? Buy nice clothes? All these things buy into the system if you do them for the wrong reasons (keeping up with the Joneses, we used to say).

I cannot stress this enough: don't compare your life to other people's lives, and certainly don't compare it to fiction or to the pressures of a neurotic society.

What is important in life is not money or things or even having a true love. What is important is becoming a self-actualized and enlightened being who knows who and what he/she is and who is a caring individual. These are the only things worth striving for. All else is vanity.

That said, I certainly do not dismiss our inherent need to be loved and to love in return. Love is still important. But the more you stress about it, the less likely it is to happen because any potential mates around you will sense that desperation, which is very off-putting (you have no idea). Instead, work on yourself. Work on being a good, kind, and worthwhile person.

If you do that, all the other things in your life will eventually fall into place. Just be patient.

Hugs,
Papabear

Submitted by Fred Patten, Furry’s favorite historian and reviewer.

D’Arc: A Novel from the War With No Name, by Robert Repino. Illustrated by Sam Chung and Kapo Ng.
NYC, Soho Press, May 2017, hardcover $26.95 (386 pages), Kindle $14.99.

I don’t usually quote other writers’ blurbs, but how could anyone resist this from Corey Redekop, the author of Husk, on the front cover:

“Think The Fantastic Mr. Fox, with advanced weaponry, Charlotte’s Web, with armed combat, The Wind in the Willows, with machetes. D’Arc is all this and way more besides.”

S-f author Paul DiFilippo compares D’Arc to Cordwainer Smith’s Underpeople, David Brin’s Uplifted dolphins, Puss in Boots, and Brian Jacques’ Redwall. If I looked hard enough, I could doubtlessly find many comparisons to Animal Farm and Watership Down as well.

D’Arc is a sequel to Mort(e). Almost the first thing that you learn in D’Arc is a big spoiler for Mort(e): yes, Mort(e) the cat, the renamed Sebastian, does find Sheba, the pet dog who he was searching for all through that novel.

The first chapter, though, introduces Taalik and his Sarcops. They will appear again later. They are not Changed animals, but a new mutation. To quote a later description of them: “Part fish, part crab, part cephalopod. A bulbous head. Black eyes. Segmented armor on the spine, with four tentacles unfurling from within. Two jointed claws extending from the shoulders, with longer ones at the pelvis that could be used for walking. A long tail with spikes on the end of it.” (p. 54)

Mort(e) and Sheba appear in Chapter 2. Mort(e) does not join either the Changed animals or the remaining humans. He strikes out on his own – with Sheba. The “strange technology” of the ant Queen that Changed all natural animals into anthropomorphic animals in Mort(e) was actually a pill that the unnoticed ants inserted into each animal; and the Queen had not given this pill to Sheba in order to control Mort(e). After the Queen’s death and the disintegration of the Colony, Mort(e) and Sheba sail up the Delaware River, where Mort(e) gives Sheba the pill that Changes her. They continue past the abandoned ruins of Philadelphia, and finally leave the river and trek into the Pocono Mountains.

Here Mort(e) and Sheba are eating the remains of a giant Alpha warrior ant around a campfire:

“‘I didn’t go looking for you so you could be my pet,’ he said.

Sheba stopped fiddling with a leg and placed it in the fire.

‘You’re free now,’ he said. ‘I can’t be your mate. I won’t be your master. I’m your friend. I don’t know how many lives I have left, but they’re yours, if you need them.’

[…]

When she did not respond, Mort(e) took her hand. ‘There is a whole world out there, but I’m going deeper into the forest tomorrow. Do you want to go with me?’

Sheba gazed beyond the flames, out to the mountains rising like black monoliths.” (pgs. 28-29)

They become ant ranchers, domesticating the brainless Alpha giant ants left over after the Queen’s death; a herd that slowly shrinks as the Alphas gradually age and die, and are not replaced.

Many years pass. Chapter 3 introduces Falkirk, a husky officer of the Department of Tranquility of the animals’ growing Sanctuary Union. He is sent from their capital of Hosanna (“a big city with many different species”) to Lodge City, a beaver community. He finds that the beavers have evacuated their city for a refugee camp nearby:

“As they crested one final hill, with the sun going down, they crawled on their bellies so they [Falkirk and two beavers] could peer over the ridge without being seen. Booker followed, though he stopped short of the top.   Castor pulled the goggles over his beady eyes.

From the hillside, Lodge City sprawled out before them in the failing light. Several buildings from the human era survived, all built from stone – a post office, a high school, a fire station. Around these decaying structures stood massive mounds of earth and tree branches, the lodges that the beavers preferred.

[…]

From his perch on the hillside, the town seemed out of focus to Falkirk, as if some gel had been smeared over his eyes. He pulled the binoculars from his satchel. Through the magnified lenses, he stared at the town for a long time before he could accept what he saw. ‘Why didn’t you come to us sooner?’ he asked.

‘Why did Tranquility send only one agent?’ Castor replied. ‘We need an army.’

Unable to answer, Falkirk looked again, panning more slowly this time. He could make out the contours of it: a spiderweb, consisting of millions of strands, draped over the town like a snowfall suspended in midair.” (pgs. 34-35)

Falkirk and Castor contact Mort(e) and Sheba and ask their help against the spiders. The Battle of Lodge City is brutal but successful, though not in the way that the reader expects. But then Falkirk asks their aid in more cases. More fights.

“‘Let me put it this way. The case number I’m working on for this spider attack is 0519. That means there are 518 cases before mine.’

‘Cases. You mean mutations.’

‘Yes. Most of them are harmless. But we don’t have the resources to address the ones that aren’t. And it turns out that the world is a big place. We have both a country and an ocean to explore. But we’ve been out of touch with the other continents for years. That’s what the expedition is for.’

‘What expedition?’” (p. 109)

Mort(e) isn’t interested. Sheba is. On page 144 she leaves Mort(e), takes a new name as he did – D’Arc, for Dog Joan of Arc – and joins the husky on the Sanctuary Union expedition.

“But her most important question was why. Why would people leave the fragile civilization in Hosanna to explore?

Falkirk put it this way. ‘We want to meet a panda who speaks Mandarin.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘We want to see who’s out there. We want to hear their stories. We want to tell them ours.’

She smiled. He gave her the best answer she could have asked for. ‘What about a lizard speaking Arabic?’

He laughed. ‘Or a silverback gorilla speaking Swahili?’

This made her giggle. ‘How about … a kangaroo. Speaking … Australian!’

Falkirk furrowed his brow. ‘Australian’s not a language.’ D’Arc laughed. ‘It’s not,’ he said.” (p. 160)

D’Arc (cover by Sam Chung) is less than halfway through at this point. Read it to find out what the two uplifted dogs and the expedition discover. There are marvels. There are dangers, external and internal. The story never gets boring. So far, D’Arc is my choice for best anthropomorphic novel of 2017.

–Fred Patten

• Buy on Amazon
• Buy on Penguin Random House
• Check out Fred’s review of Culdesac

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This short had a trailer around 2 years ago and it seems to finally be here. Seems a lot like the new Guillermo del Toro film only his is less distopia. "1983: an atomic war has polluted the air and raised the sea level to such a height that it reaches the mountaintops. Mankind tries to survive with the help of oxygen masks; breathing from tanks on their backs. High up in the mountains they have built a research centre in search of gills suited for mankind, so they can breathe freely once again and start a new life under water. However, they soon found out that they needed a gill different from the species known to man. They had to find the most human-like creature of the sea: a merman, which they called, a sea ape. The Scientific theories about these sea-apes were not much different from the fantasies or the fairytales about the mermen. In the end, it was accepted that this sort of beast could never be found. So the research continued, without any directions, without any real hope. They just kept “researching”, cutting into every species they could find. Trying to make it work while knowing its impossibility. But then, one day, when all hope seemed to be lost, the ‘Adam’ is brought inside: the savior of mankind."
View Video

Get ready for a big topic about toxic behavior, the cult-like groups doing it, how they’re targeting kids, and how the fandom is cutting ties with it for positive progress.  This is a followup to last week’s article: “The Confederate fursuit incident shows how you can’t be a troll and a victim at the same time“. It focuses on the source of the problem:

• At Anthrocon 2017, a troll provoked drama with defenders who claimed he was being unfairly censored.
• The defense missed a basic point – he was an antagonistic outsider who was banned and didn’t register or support the con.
• It showed how trolls twist facts about consequences for bad behavior, so they can pretend to be the victims.
• Posing as victims requires a scapegoat (“SJW’s”). The misinformation is being spread like cult propaganda.

Anthrocon’s response

Anthrocon’s letter recognizes how the troll was pushing a “political message” on others.  It’s an example of recent fandom activity by alt-right “altfurs” and their enablers.  They do it with a twofaced pose that they want “freedom”, want “politics out of fandom,” and are just giving “their side”. But “their side” relies on false middle ground. (In other words, saying the earth is round doesn’t require Flat Earthers to give their side.  Newspapers don’t interview vandals to get their side.) The real goal is to exploit and undermine the fandom behind a false front of “freedom”.  That includes grooming and recruiting kids, trolling and harassing, dodging accountability, and worse things like welcoming literal neo-nazis (see below.)

Anthrocon’s response shows a reasonable solution not unlike my article’s: point out dishonesty, stop defending it, and demand better.  That’s a far cry from claims that “SJW’s” are trying to control fandom ( a weak version of propaganda that “jews control the world”.) Blaming “SJW’s” is really an attack on reasonable standards of the fandom itself.

Of course “SJW’s” aren’t an organized group. Such a vague label can be conveniently given to anybody. On the other hand there are organized troll groups for altfurs and  the Furry Raiders. Both use provocative symbols like a Confederate flag or Foxler’s nazi-styling to troll from behind a false front of “freedom”. Both share overlap of core members, and a mission of “battle” against “SJW’s”.

Here’s that mission in a recent video from Furry Raiders founder Foxler.  He made it after “raiding” a meet in Colorado to spite them because Raiders and hate groups were banned. Then he complained of being the victim and invited altfurry to join his battle. (see 15:00). Preaching about battle is what cults do.

Advertised policy of the meet that Foxler “raided”

That gives some context about the bad behavior.  The article about trolling at Anthrocon got a lot of response, including from one subject in it, Ricky.  Then Ricky chose to leave the Furry Raiders, cueing the topic of cutting ties.

Leaving the group risks punishment for disloyalty.

If a group uses positive attention to groom or recruit members, the negative side might only be obvious to outsiders. Especially if it draws good people who don’t see what organizers do. But the downside can hit insiders too.  It happened last week when several associates chose to leave the Furry Raiders and spoke up about the group’s problems, causing backlash.

Colt, Ricky, and DancerSwor are former associates between ages 14 and 18. (That means exposure to Foxler’s anti-SJW battle at barely voting age.) Colt, the youngest at age 14, was quickly disavowed by Foxler for not being a member of the Furry Raiders (yet).  Altfurs joined in denying his connection, deflecting the issue of recruiting.  Then they attacked Colt.

Foxler’s wikifur

please support @ColtDaWolf, @ProcyonAves, and @DancerSwor. They all have recently left the Furry Raiders and are being harassed by fascists.

— Ameriphobic @MFF (@vuurren) July 13, 2017

Recently left a group called The Furry Raiders. I don't know if someone within the group is talking shit about me or not, but if so then the

— Ricky Raccoon @ FM (@ProcyonAves) July 13, 2017

Been feeling more love from the "opposition since I left then the people who said they cared about me, but instantly began making fun of me

— Ricky Raccoon @ FM (@ProcyonAves) July 13, 2017

So if they try to spread rumours about me, please don't believe them. They're just mad I didn't want to stay in their stupid cult

— Ricky Raccoon @ FM (@ProcyonAves) July 13, 2017

I am overwhelmed by the amount of support I've received. From the way everyone described...well everyone that wasn't a raider I thought I'd

— Ricky Raccoon @ FM (@ProcyonAves) July 13, 2017

Forgiven for the shitty decision I made to join and advocate for that group many months ago.

— Ricky Raccoon @ FM (@ProcyonAves) July 13, 2017

Why I left Furry Raiders pic.twitter.com/lCjpUSuuB9

— SworDanceR (@FurryIdiotSDR) July 14, 2017

Foxler Nightfire has betrayed me. More details + a possible video to come. pic.twitter.com/XGrk9d3KhC

— Usain Colt (@ColtDaWolf) July 12, 2017

As a cult, the furry raiders groom kids and punish people for leaving. Happened to @ColtDaWolf, plz back his vid. https://t.co/5bIZQEJIkX

— Dogpatch Press (@DogpatchPress) July 13, 2017

Altfurs, Neo-nazis and Stormfront members support Foxler by harassing a 14-year-old.

Don’t miss Colt’s video about being betrayed by Foxler. It was very disconcerting for Foxler and the altfurs. Fear of losing recruits is why Foxler spitefully “raided” the Colorado meet where he was banned, and declared battle. Meanwhile, altfurs bombed Colt’s video with dislikes and harassment. (Archive).  The participants overlap: Foxler is in the Altfurrydiscord group that organizes trolling.  Altfurry welcomes members of Stormfront (“a white nationalist, white supremacist, and neo-Nazi Internet forum that was the Web’s first major racial hate site.”)  

Here’s a few who supported Foxler by harassing Colt:

• Casey Hoerth / “Len Gilbert” is organizer of @altfurrydiscord.
• Author of erotic nazi fanfic “The Furred Reich” (sample)
• 34-year old financial writer for The Street, and Trump campaign staffer.
• He led the altfurry group attack that “swatted” Califur and cost them $24,000 for security, then lied about it.
• He told Colt: “you look like… a snot-nosed brat who is spreading slander.”

• Nathan Gate / TheBigKK / KryptoKroenen is member of Stormfront and @altfurrydiscord.
• College student from Arizona.
• Hitler fan on Stormfront and Daily Stormer: “Far-Right is 100% completely Facist. At least to me, it describes someone who is willing to go all the way, no matter how violent or cruel, to establish White Nationalism.”
• He told Colt: “what a cringy little fuck… you’ll end up living the rest of your life as a social reject that nobody cares about.”

• Before harassing a 14 year old, he helped Altfurrydiscord attack Califur with fake complaints regarding kids:

• Aethryx wants nazis to rise again:
• He told Colt: “EVERYONE WHO CRITICIZES MY VIDEO AND DOESN’T AGREE WITH ME IS A NAZI!!!!! Fucking children”
• His post about Nazis: “I feel disappointed that I couldn’t live in this society, but I feel courage knowing that the arms will one day rise again. Hail Victory.”

Wow, I didn't realise who this was. I'm genuinely disappointed. Thought he was a cool guy. Later, you could have been better than this. pic.twitter.com/QA0h29ZLq1

— Megaplexing Kaiju (@TwitchDaWoof) July 11, 2017

RT [priv]: how do u become that type of person whos like "i wanna be a fuzzy wuzzy bappy husky also i love fascism, big fascism fan here"

— TOP CHOMP (@squeedgemonster) April 13, 2016

Those are just a few of the brave trolls who came down on a 14-year-old for cutting ties with Foxler. Something is really messed up with a group that hassles kids for disloyalty.  It’s interesting that out of four who recently left, the youngest was treated the worst. (Even more info is withheld by request to avoid negative backlash at others.)

So much for “freedom” and concern for kids.

Positive progress is coming because furries support each other.

That trolling has nothing to do with being members of a fandom.  Their goal is to selfishly exploit it and spread hate.  That’s not the goal of furs like Ricky, Colt and their friends. They’re here to be fans and artists with a community. Good people can be pulled in to groups with bad organizers, but they’re still furries.

Why are people suddenly evacuating #AltFurry?

— Elliot Cerulean (@ElliotCerulean) July 20, 2017

Maybe they realized they were in a cult when Foxler started abusing a "defector" who went public

— Zarpaulus (@zarpaulus) July 20, 2017

Actually, the amount of outside respect the fandom has got for actively taking out white supremacists has been impressive.

— Hugo Jackson / Arc (@phoenixtheblade) July 20, 2017

They don't want friends, they want followers, obedience, and justification of their own spite. They'll take it out on anyone who objects.

— Hugo Jackson / Arc (@phoenixtheblade) July 20, 2017

the salt is so real lmao. furry raiders are a curious bunch; they love freedom of speech until it reflects negatively on themselves.

— Liie (@Lucariwhoa) July 13, 2017

To people claiming we "can't" run right-wingers out of our fandom

We already did it with the Burned Furs

You are objectively wrong pic.twitter.com/XGWQmKPsQi

— Vex is Extra (@andreuswolf) July 19, 2017

The reason people want altfurry members out of the community is mostly because they contribute nothing of value and ruin things for others.

— LOT'S WIFE (@LibrettoTaur) July 21, 2017

a relatively guaranteed passive audience to fling them at in hopes of landing a few recruits who don't know any better.

— LOT'S WIFE (@LibrettoTaur) July 21, 2017

Read the above thread by @LibrettoTaur for excellent insight.

Furries grew a thriving community by themselves. There’s drama, but also plenty of support.  It comes naturally in a fandom for things made by each other.

Joining cult-like groups happens for a reason. Good people may not see what goes on behind a false front. Casual involvement can only have the positive side. Lonely people who may not have a place in other groups can be manipulated by smooth talk. Outcasts who have earned consequences for bad behavior can find enabling from organizers who recruit them. They can feel more important by dragging others down.

Ruining things and making battle is the opposite of creative fandom. It can be important to confront bad faith and dishonesty and demand better.  It can also be important to listen and give space to people questioning involvement. Nobody needs friends picked for them – it’s just good to let them know that they don’t need a cult for that.  The whole fandom has plenty of better friends everywhere.

Picking better friends isn’t “policing”.

Another ex-Raider comes back.

When the article was almost done, I got a nice contact from Stoplight. He talked about leaving the Raiders, so I asked if he wanted to say anything. Keep in mind I didn’t suggest anything, it’s purely his thoughts:

“Right now…as an ex Raider, I’d like to say that there is no excuse for my actions that I did when I associated with the Furry Raiders. They were the result of believing a manipulative and vindictive person who cares not for those he uses.  It took a drastic turn of events in which he offered a way out that, in a time when I was suicidal and depressed, was appalling.  That was when I realized he doesn’t care about anyone but himself and his image.

After that, I can say that leaving was the best choice for me.  It freed me from the weight that was placed on my shoulders.  I feel that if anyone is currently thinking of leaving that group I encourage you to do so. You may run into people who still hold a grudge against you, but the number of people who will support that decision will out number those who are holding your past against you.”

Found a piece of my past, and decided to rid myself of it. I never want to remind myself of my past actions. I'm moving on to better things. pic.twitter.com/uQ4Ibk5uNP

— Stop Light (@StopLightDraggo) July 22, 2017

A cool thing about a fursona is how it represents changing yourself into something new.  You can become your best self, or just grow and be different.  A fursona isn’t just for “being yourself,” like Foxler says – “Always be yourself and never let anyone change you”.  It’s not for being sociopathic, and expecting everyone else to adjust for you because it’s their problem.  It’s not about selfishly making “battle” about Nazi armbands, “Raiding” or harassing because you hate change.

Everyone in furry fandom has power to be something new, but it doesn’t just involve yourself. Furry fandom has that “fandom” part. Make-believe isn’t so fun on your own. Sharing is one of those things you learn in kindergarten. But the small fringe of Altfurries and Foxlers didn’t get the message. They can go figure that out in the corner.

Demand better, and every time they try to drag someone down, let two of them leave and come back to the real fandom.

UPDATE 7/25/17:

Turn more furries into neo nazis. Called him out, and got this. Stereotypical far-right behavior, act like they care then shove you down.

— Feyd (@BluFawx) July 25, 2017

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OH HEY, WE HAVE A WEBSITE NOW TOO www.thedraggetshow.com Patreons will get episodes first right after recording. Just a buck gets you early access and a downloadable mp3 file! www.patreon.com/thedraggetshow Serathin's amazing Dragget Show story! - docs.google.com/document/d/1AYkJR…y8RCsCK0NjEw/edit ALSO, we're not just on SoundCloud, you can also subscribe to this on most podcast services like iTunes! Ep 170 - Take Me To Church - OH HEY, WE HAVE A WEBSITE NOW TOO www.thedragget…

Con parties - they're probably one of the first things most hear of when talking about furry conventions. But why? What makes these so damn popular? Are they vital to a good con experience? What's the private party circuit? Roo and Tugs read your email, talk about everything to do with parties, and more! As always, we have new Fifty Sheds of Grey, Space News, Get Psyched!, Olde Timey Ads, idents, and more!





NOW LISTEN!

Show Notes

Special Thanks

Joey the Chubby Fox, for the ident in Italian and also English!
Fido
Caudle
Hachi (kinda)
Dark Yuan
Anonyfur
Dee Otter

Music

Opening Theme: Husky In Denial – Cloud Fields (Century Mix). USA: Unpublished, 2015. ©2015 Fur What It’s Worth and Husky in Denial. Based on Fredrik Miller– Cloud Fields (Radio Mix). USA: Bandcamp, 2011. ©2011 Fur What It’s Worth. (Buy a copy here – support your fellow furs!)
Some music was provided by Kevin MacLeod at Incompetech.com. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. We used the following pieces:

Spy Glass


Space News Music: Fredrik Miller – Orbit. USA: Bandcamp, 2013. Used with permission. (Buy a copy here – support your fellow furs!)
Closing Theme: Husky In Denial – Cloud Fields (Headnodic Mix). USA: Unpublished, 2015. ©2015 Fur What It’s Worth and Husky in Denial. Based on Fredrik Miller – Cloud Fields (Chill Out Mix). USA: Bandcamp, 2011. ©2011 Fur What It’s Worth. (Buy a copy here – support your fellow furs!)


Patreon Love

The following people have decided this month’s Fur What It’s Worth is worth actual cash! THANK YOU!

Uber Supporters

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Docos (Picture coming soon…when he has one! Any artists out there wanna hook him up? 🙂 )
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Deluxe Supporter

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Plus Tier Supporters

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McRib Tier Supporters

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Want to be on this list? Donate on our Patreon page! THANK YOU to our supporters once again! S6 Episode 18 – P.A.T.T. - Con parties - they're probably one of the first things most hear of when talking about furry conventions. But why? What makes these so damn popular? Are they vital to a good con experience? What's the private party circuit?

Back from Comic Con, with lots to talk about. So why not start off with something delightfully odd? This fall, the Muppets return in a new illustrated book, Muppets Meet The Classics: The Phantom Of The Opera. Seriously. “This classic tale of love, intrigue, and jealousy at the Paris Opera House, which has thrilled readers, musical lovers, and movie goers for more than a century, has now been reimagined with the cast of the Muppets. Readers will gasp, cry, laugh, and laugh again as Kermit (as Raoul), Miss Piggy (as Christine), Uncle Deadly (as the phantom), and the chickens (as the ballet corps) give a whole new meaning to the word classic.” You read it here. Gaston LeRoux’s famous work has been adapted for the Muppets by Erik Forrest Jackson, and it’s illustrated by Owen Richardson. Look for it in paperback this October.

image c. 2017 Penguin Workshop

Yep... Furries made it to @Midnight :)

http://www.cc.com/video-clips/p1lhwc/-midnight-with-chris-hardwick-a-furry-alternative-to-comic-con

-Dia

Yep... Furries made it to @Midnight :)

http://www.cc.com/video-clips/p1lhwc/-midnight-with-chris-hardwick-a-furry-alternative-to-comic-con

-Dia

Submitted by Fred Patten, Furry’s favorite historian and reviewer.

Tucker Grizzwell’s Worst Week Ever, by Bill Schorr and Ralph Smith
Kansas City, MO, Andrews McMeel Publishing, January 2017, trade paperback $9.99 (242 pages), Kindle $8.49.

Laser Moose and Rabbit Boy, by Doug Savage
Kansas City, MO, Andrews McMeel Publishing, September 2016, hardcover $31.99, trade paperback $9.97 (144 pages), Kindle $9.47.

Phoebe and Her Unicorn, by Dana Simpson. Introduction by Peter S. Beagle.
Kansas City, MO, Andrews McMeel Publishing, September 2014, hardcover $13.99, trade paperback $9.99 (222 [+2] pages, Kindle $7.71.

These three books are samples of Andrews McMeel Publishing’s “AMP! comics for kids” series for children 8 to 12 years old (grades 3 to 7). The AMP! books are a combination of original book-length cartoon-art works and collections of newspaper or Internet daily comic strips. Most of them are not animal oriented, but here are two that are, plus Dana Simpson’s Phoebe and Her Unicorn, mostly for her previously-acclaimed hit in furry fandom, Ozy and Millie (although Phoebe does contain Marigold the Unicorn, and sometimes goblins). Furry fans may want to take a look at some of these. Many are in public libraries.

Tucker Grizzwell’s Worst Week Ever, by Bill Schorr and Ralph Smith, is a standalone original 242-page spinoff from Schorr’s The Grizzwells newspaper comic strip (1987 to present), featuring a funny-animal family of grizzly bears and their community. The newspaper strip is gag-a-day without any continuity. Schorr and his assistant Smith have tried to create a coherent novel, but what they have here is really a collection of lame one-liners with a thin connecting plot line. Astronomy class: “Do you know anything about asteroid belts?” “Only that they’re what asteroids wear when they can’t find their suspenders.” The characters compound the groaners by often breaking the fourth wall and looking knowingly at the reader. You can almost hear a drum-roll’s bada-boom.

Tucker is the young teenage cub in sixth-grade of middle school, with his slightly older sister Fauna. Other family members are Pop Gunther and Mom Flora. Friends include Pop’s buddy Pierpoint Porcupine, and the cubs’ schoolmates Mandy Fox, Hector Lobo (wolf), Lisa DeLovely (bear; Tucker’s crush), Norville Paddlebutt (beaver), Max Turtle, Walter Blimpnik (bear; school bully); and their school teachers and staff Miss Furball, Ms. Belch, Ms. Swinetrough, Ms. Fishbreath, Mr. Wheelbase. The overly-civilized Tucker’s worst week ever is the week anticipating “the ancient father-son rite of passage known as ‘Jaws and Claws’ weekend”, when his Pop and Pierpont Porcupine will teach him how to terrorize hikers, scare off picnickers (leaving their food behind), raid garbage pails, and eat roadkill.

Looking at this funny-animal comic strip forces the reader to consider the ancient conundrum: Why are female funny-animals always fully clothed, while the pre-puberty boys wear shirts and are nude below the waist? Funny-animal adult males can be either fully dressed, shirted only, or completely nude, depending on the needs of the comic; usually whether the setting is in a town or in the forest.

Anyway, Tucker Grizzwell’s Worst Week Ever is 242 pages of furry nudge-nudge-wink-wink and bada-boom. Buy according to your tastes.

Laser Moose and Rabbit Boy is an original 144-page graphic novel in three chapters by Doug Savage, the Canadian cartoonist who draws the webcomic Savage Chickens. Its sequel, Laser Moose and Rabbit Boy: Disco Fever, will be published in October.

The moose and squirrel rabbit are a couple of animals in the unspoiled Canadian North Woods, right by the factory of Toxicorp, “makers of fine toxic waste since 1892”. I expected that Laser Moose would get his light-saber vision from the flying saucers in the first story, but no, he already has it when the book starts. As you may imagine, it is hard to swing a laser beam around wildly in a thick forest without lopping down trees right and left. The wildlife like Frank the deer isn’t crazy about it, either. Rabbit Boy is a wide-eyed innocent who marvels at the stars and the beauties of nature. Laser Moose is a paranoid who suspects that every tree has a monster hiding behind it.

Rabbit Boy: “Isn’t it amazing? I love the night sky!”

Laser Moose: “Well, I don’t. The night sky is fraught with danger… Night is when evil can hide, under cover of darkness, waiting to strike! At night, evil can creep out from the seedy underbelly of the forest, where it –“

Rabbit Boy: “What’s a ‘seedy underbelly’?”

Laser Moose: “Um…a seedy underbelly is…well, it’s not good.”

Since Laser Moose has laser-beam vision, watch out! He definitely believes in shooting to kill first; asking questions afterward.

The stories are mild parodies of super-hero comic books. Some of the villains, who are real and not just in Laser Moose’s imagination, are Cyborgupine, Aquabear, and Mechasquirrel.

Phoebe and Her Unicorn is the first of five (so far) books; the others are Unicorn on a Roll (May 2015), Unicorn vs. Goblins (February 2016), Razzle Dazzle Unicorn (September 2016), and Unicorn Crossing (March 2017). The next will be The Magic Storm in October 2017. This first book collects her daily strips (six weekly days and a Sunday page) from April 22, 2012 to November 18, 2012 – approximately seven months per volume. The strips are rearranged from newspaper-strip format to book format, typically four panels per page (the Sunday pages are reduced), and colored when the newspaper strips were black-&-white.

Phoebe Howell is a 9-year-old fourth grader at Tipton Elementary who meets a unicorn. The unicorn grants her one wish. She wishes for the unicorn to become her best friend. The unicorn, whose name is Marigold Heavenly Nostrils, moves in with her. Her parents and classmates can see and hear Marigold, but thanks to her magic Shield of Boringness, nobody considers her worth calling to anyone’s attention.

Much of the Phoebe and Her Unicorn comic strip consists of Phoebe riding Marigold as the two converse. Marigold drops words of unicorn wisdom, but since she is also incredibly vain and self-centered (“Bask in my wonderfulness.” “The stars themselves are jealous of my loveliness.”), it’s hard to tell how seriously to take her. Continuing supporting characters include Phoebe’s parents, and her two classmates Dakota, her fabulously rich and beautiful “frenemy” who claims to be vastly superior and constantly calls her insulting names like “Princess Stupidbutt”, and the brainy but nerdy Max. The book concludes with seven pages of children’s activities: how to draw Marigold and Phoebe, “Make a Marigold Heavenly Nostrils Stick Puppet”, and similar others.

Phoebe and Her Unicorn, the book, does not present many anthropomorphic animals besides Marigold, but she is on practically every page doing unicorn things, often involving magic such as making the annoying Dakota’s flowing wavy hair disappear, leaving her as bald as Lex Luthor. (In Unicorn vs. Goblins, Dakota is given sentient hair.) One other magical animal does very briefly appear; Todd the Candy Dragon, who spews trick-or-treat candy on Halloween. Rar. Future volumes may feature other anthropomorphic fantasy animals, such as the small green goblins who say only “BLART!” The Phoebe and Her Unicorn books work as well as collections of gag-a-day comic strip collections usually do.

So: the Andrews McMeel Publishing’s “AMP! comics for kids” series that feature anthro animals are a mixed bag; mostly silly and juvenile, but worth checking out. You may find something to your taste.

–Fred Patten

• Buy Tucker Grizzwells Worst Week Ever on Amazon
• Buy Laser Moose on Amazon
• Buy Laser Moose Book 2 on Amazon
• Buy Phoebe and Her Unicorn on Amazon
• Buy Unicorn on a Roll on Amazon
• Buy Unicorn vs. Goblins on Amazon
• Buy Razzle Dazzle Unicorn on Amazon
• Buy Unicorn Crossing on Amazon

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