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Cartoon Critters All OVER You!
The artist known as Kira is the creator of artwork known as KiraKiraDoodles. (“Kirakira” is Japanese for “sparkle”, she happily tell you. She’ll also tell you she’s from Germany but recently moved to Southern California.) Taking a cue from popular Japanese art, she not only draws cute “chibi” characters (little doggies, little kitties, pokemon, and so forth) but she draws dozens of them together in exotic patterns that remind one of truly unusual wall paper. Then, she turns these patterns into not only art prints but lots of useful stuff like phone cases, purses, and even dresses — lots of dresses. (Look closely.) You can see lot of examples of her art pattern work at her web site, which includes links to her Etsy store, Redbubble store, and so forth.
image c. 2016 by KiraKiraDoodles
TigerTails Radio Season 9 Episode 32
Lifeless, by Graveyard Greg – Book Review by Fred Patten.
Submitted by Fred Patten, Furry’s favorite historian and reviewer.
Lifeless, by Graveyard Greg.
Dallas, TX, FurPlanet Productions, January 2014, trade paperback $9.95 (105 pages).
In the 2010 Deathless and this sequel novella Lifeless, the characters are all anthropomorphic animals, and species doesn’t matter. Ivan the Russian snow leopard (“‘You’re seven feet tall, weigh over three hundred pounds, and have a long, fluffy tail that I trip over too many times,’” complains his friend Tank the rabbit in a freezing Reno, Nevada winter) is an exchange student, living in a college apartment. He has a gay boyfriend, Tank the rabbit, who is a frequent visitor of his cousin Hopper and his roommate Darryl, a hyena. Tank lives with his nearby parents Nikki the rabbit, a martial-arts expert, and his father, a huge Greek bull of supernatural origins. Other friends are Scowl the cougar martial-arts trainer, Jolly the giant panda, and Brent and Brooks, the twin stallions. Everyone is easy with Ivan’s and Tank’s homosexual lifestyle.
Ivan has his own relationship with Russia’s mythology, and Deathless was about his pursuit to America by the Russian folkloric Koschei the Deathless with his undead monsters. All of Ivan’s new American friends rallied to save him. Now six months later in Lifeless, Ivan is again in supernatural danger after Tank and his parents have departed on an extended family vacation, and with the kidnapping of Brooks. Ivan is left to fight with the aid of Scowl, Brent, and new ‘morphs. New characters include … well, yarst! I can’t say much about Lifeless at all without giving away spoilers.
Let’s just say that Ivan and his friends now have a quest rather than a fight for their lives. New characters, good, neutral, and evil include anthro red foxes, a lion, and a monitor lizard. The hunt for an ancient mystic object leads them through Reno, Nevada’s glittery casinos. And what Ivan is holding on Donryu’s cover is not a cup of cappuccino.
Lifeless is complete in itself, but the booklet ends with a note that Ivan’s adventures will continue in Faithless, not yet published. Scowl, Tank, and the others will also have more adventures of their own in Graveyard Greg’s forthcoming Changes and Relationships.
Ground Control to Major Tom Cat…
We’re not sure exactly what to say about Kitty Jenkins: Purrvana, a new full-color comic created by Daniel De Sosa. Well, other than to say what he says: “Kitty Jenkins returns to guide you on an absurdly amusing odyssey through time and meowter space”. Gotcha. Mr. De Sosa also created the Animal Dreamers Art Therapy Coloring Book, so evidently imagination is not in short supply. It’s all published by Backwards Burd, a comic book publisher in the UK that specializes in diverse art styles and hand-printed zines. Not to mention 3-eyed space cats. Check out their web site for more interesting and unusual titles.
image c. 2016 Backwards Burd
Episode -48 - More missing birds
S5 Episode 10 – The Revenge of the Lost Episode - Roo and Tugs are in! It's the first Lost Episode we've done in a while and we...brought too much salt! Listen as Roo and Tugs debate everything from Tony the Tiger, to Zootopia overhype, to the passing of
NOW LISTEN!
Show Notes
Nuka has re-recorded his panel from FC! If you've ever wondered about the furry fandom, now is a good time to watch this video!
Special Thanks
Syd
D'Otter
Degen
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. We used the following pieces: Spy Glass, Also sprach Zarathustra . Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.
Space News Music: Fredrik Miller – Orbit. USA: Bandcamp, 2013. Used with permission. (Buy a copy here – support your fellow furs!)
Get Psyched Music: Fredrik Miller - Universe, USA: Bandcamp, 2013. Used with permission. (Buy a copy here – support your fellow furs!)
worldsbestgrandpa - Pokémon - Polka Center OCRemix, USA: 2014. Based on Junichi Masuda - Pokémon Center Theme, USA: Pokémon Red Version and Blue Version, 1996. Used with permission. (Original here.)
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!)
Next episode: There comes a time in life when many desire to give back to their community and help out those who need anything from just a hello and a hug to something far greater. Fur What It’s Worth will be joined in-person by Margaret Cho as we discuss how she gives back to her communities while laughing all the while. We’ll also read your questions (about ANYTHING) to her and get her responses! Your hard deadline is February 23, 2016 to send your voice clips and emails!
Special Request: This is a rare opportunity for our fandom to shine! If you have a friend or family member who appreciates Margaret’s work, please share the word! We’ll happily read their emails or play their voice clips on the air! S5 Episode 10 – The Revenge of the Lost Episode - Roo and Tugs are in! It's the first Lost Episode we've done in a while and we...brought too much salt! Listen as Roo and Tugs debate everything from Tony the Tiger, to Zootopia overhype, to the passing of
ROFL
Ultimatum··21/02/2016··New Slavic Front
As instructed by our minister of foreign affairs and with the approval of the head of the state,we send you a ultimatum that you, as the main in charge of the Anthropomorphic Animal Appreciation Community (aka, the furry fandom),you are to accept and approve of all our following demands:
·The AAAC is required to stop all military acts against the NSF immediately
·The AAAC is required to obliterate and subdue all current organs responsible for ostracism,discrimination and propaganda towards our faction
·The AAAC needs to stop supporting aggressive acts towards normal and Slavic societies
·AAAC has to dismantle and demilitarize FDF (Furry Defence Force), the one mainly responsible for the conflict
·The AAAC is required to choose a side, neutral is not an option
As a leader of the AAAC,you have time until 26/02/2016 to either accept or decline.Declining will ultimately result in conflict between AAAC and NSF.
We hope you answer well.
Taking Your Parents to a Furcon Is the Best Way to Convert Them :-)
I've just stumbled upon your website, and boy am I happy to find some advice about being a furry! So thank you for all this.
I'm 16, and would love to go to a Furcon. It would be most reasonable to wait until I'm 18, but I've been waiting for so long as it is, and I'm super eager to see some real life fursuits and talk to real life furries! I don't know any other furries, and I guess you have to have a guardian if you are a minor to attend a con.
My parents know that I'm a furry, but are not entirely supportive. They don't hate it, but they sure don't like it. As much as I attempt to educate them, they still think its weird, and my mom keeps trying to talk me out of it.
It might be putting my parents in a really weird position to be with me at a furcon. I'd hate to make other furries uncomfortable by the looks they'd get from my parents.
What do you think Papa Bear? Any possible solutions to this problem, or wait till 18?
Thanks a ton!
Ampersand
* * *
Hi, Ampersand,
Now, how cute is that name you picked? :) I think the solution to your problem IS to take your parents to a furcon. The reason many adults fear or dislike furries is because they are ignorant of who we really are or get misinformation. Many parents who actually get to know us change their minds and really think it is a fun thing to do.
Ninety-nine percent of a con is G-rated. In case you don't know, at the Dealers' Den and at the art show there IS some adult stuff, but the art shows always keep the adult stuff in a restricted area. Art books at the Dealers' Den are clearly marked and are kept in binders that are closed. Avoid them. Sometimes at some cons there is a booth for Bad Dragon. That is the one thing to keep well away from. That is a company that deals with sexual devices. That said, they are actually a very responsible company that always goes out of its way to talk about the importance of safe sex; however, you're too young for that. If you want to be extra cautious, just don't go into the Dealer's Den at all, but it would be a shame because there's a lot of neat stuff there.
Anyway, there are many MANY things to do at a furcon, including forums, activities, the fursuit parade, and so on. All of these are great fun and family friendly. Before going to a con, you can usually check out the website and see what activities and forums are available. Sit together with your parents and talk about the things you would like to do.
That's the best way to get over this hurdle with your parents: actually Experience a furcon!
Hope you do!
Hugs,
Papabear
The Brave and the Chicken
So we were introduced to Clucked, a new full-color on-line comic created by Joie Brown and Joel Foster. “When a chicken lands on Earth in search of kin, he discovers that not only is his kind considered the tastiest thing in the universe… he’s also the only one left. Can he survive the hungering hordes, cosmic chases, and the entirety of the Galactic Federation long enough to save his homeworld?” Well if you want to help the creators bring us more of the trials and tribulations of Major Sanders (yes…), they have a Patreon link on their web site at www.cluckedcomic.com.
image c. 2016 by Joie Brown & Joel Foster
FC-227 FurCast Prime - No CJ this week. Fayroe and Paradox dive into the world of science, culture, politics and religion in this strange episode filled with legitimate discussion. Or not.
No CJ this week. Fayroe and Paradox dive into the world of science, culture, politics and religion in this strange episode filled with legitimate discussion. Or not.
Watch Video Media Discovery:- Zootopia ad in germany
- Where’s the fair use?
- Katsucon damage
- Flickr album of Anthrocon 1997
- Patreon CEO’s video
- Eternal 5D Data Chip Can Record All Of Human History
- Wolves have different Dialects depending on Species
- Males Vs. Females and sexual conflict
- Scientists get ‘gene editing’ go-ahead
- Maverick – “Religion and the fandom”
- NethGooRat – “Furry In A Human In A Furry In A Human”
FC-227 FurCast Prime - No CJ this week. Fayroe and Paradox dive into the world of science, culture, politics and religion in this strange episode filled with legitimate discussion. Or not.
No CJ this week. Fayroe and Paradox dive into the world of science, culture, politics and religion in this strange episode filled with legitimate discussion. Or not.
Watch Video Media Discovery:- Zootopia ad in germany
- Where’s the fair use?
- Katsucon damage
- Flickr album of Anthrocon 1997
- Patreon CEO’s video
- Eternal 5D Data Chip Can Record All Of Human History
- Wolves have different Dialects depending on Species
- Males Vs. Females and sexual conflict
- Scientists get ‘gene editing’ go-ahead
- Maverick – “Religion and the fandom”
- NethGooRat – “Furry In A Human In A Furry In A Human”
[Live] FurCast Prime - No CJ this week. Fayroe and Paradox dive into the world of science, culture, politics and religion in this strange episode filled with legitimate discussion. Or not.
No CJ this week. Fayroe and Paradox dive into the world of science, culture, politics and religion in this strange episode filled with legitimate discussion. Or not.
Watch Video Media Discovery:- Zootopia ad in germany
- Where’s the fair use?
- Katsucon damage
- Flickr album of Anthrocon 1997
- Patreon CEO’s video
- Eternal 5D Data Chip Can Record All Of Human History
- Wolves have different Dialects depending on Species
- Males Vs. Females and sexual conflict
- Scientists get ‘gene editing’ go-ahead
- Maverick – “Religion and the fandom”
- NethGooRat – “Furry In A Human In A Furry In A Human”
FC-227 FurCast Prime - No CJ this week. Fayroe and Paradox dive into the world of science, culture, politics and religion in this strange episode filled with legitimate discussion. Or not.
No CJ this week. Fayroe and Paradox dive into the world of science, culture, politics and religion in this strange episode filled with legitimate discussion. Or not.
Watch Video Media Discovery:- Zootopia ad in germany
- Where’s the fair use?
- Katsucon damage
- Flickr album of Anthrocon 1997
- Patreon CEO’s video
- Eternal 5D Data Chip Can Record All Of Human History
- Wolves have different Dialects depending on Species
- Males Vs. Females and sexual conflict
- Scientists get ‘gene editing’ go-ahead
- Maverick – “Religion and the fandom”
- NethGooRat – “Furry In A Human In A Furry In A Human”
Confessing Sexual Kinks Could Improve the Relationship
I would love it if you could help me understand my biology and why I'm feeling so bleh about it. I've been with my boyfriend for over a year and a half and as far as emotional support, romantic interest, and communication go we are doing pretty swell. The part that's been driving me crazy is the sex ... or lack thereof. Everyone saw that line coming.
Though there's a snag that I'm having trouble finding info on. We are an open couple online. We allow each other sexually interact through role play, under a few rules. I know he still gets aroused but he seems content to idly tease himself online than come seek me out. I asked him if I can be a part of that and he said he didn't want our relationship to be brought down to trivial levels like that. It was almost as if he were embarrassed by it but he does it a majority of evenings.
Then on the other side is my own biology. I have never been so pent up in my entire life. We have been open online since the beginning. only when we moved in together did it start being a problem. I feel starved for intimacy. I'm the one who goes to him for 80% of sexual interaction. I'm the one whose always complementing him and flirting. And it's starting hurt more when he rejects and satisfy less when we do do the nasty. What the heck is wrong with my brain chemistry?
I love this man. I haven't connected with someone like this before. And I'm too stubborn to let something like this ruin what I have that's wonderful. You are the wise guru of furries. Any advice?
Anonymous (age 24)
* * *
Dear Furiend,
Why “do emotions gotta be so stupid?” Well, because they are not connected to the brain, but to the heart, which contains no grey matter. But to the point: this is another case of online porn getting in the way of real-life sex. I had a letter similar to yours last year in which the couple had a loving relationship, but the man was having some difficulties. In that case, it helped the woman a lot to change her strategy by approaching her husband in a low-pressure way. Sometimes, believe it or not, a guy feels a bit intimidated by a mate who aggressively approaches him for sex (other men love that, but it varies). That might be the case here.
The other thing you mentioned was how he wouldn’t let you participate in his online role playing. He said he felt it would trivialize your relationship; you said it seemed more like he was embarassed. My sense is that you are probably correct. He’s somehow ashamed of whatever fantasy(ies) he’s indulging in online. What you need to do in this case is get him to open up about his fantasies to you in a frank discussion of your sexual preferences. You might need to be the one to break the ice here by “confessing” to him some of your kinkier preferences (works best if he doesn’t know one or two of them), and then invite him to do the same, telling him that you accept him and love him for who he is and that everyone has a kink or two that might be considered outrageous in “normal” society. Jim and I had this frank discussion years back, and the result was he had a much happier time in bed (no, I won’t tell you what his kink was, but it was “unconventional,” though hardly rare).
There is nothing wrong with your brain chemistry. You’re fine and you deserve a satisfying sexual relationship. (Oh, and just a note: sex is not “nasty”; it’s a beautfiul thing, a bonding thing, a natural thing. Remember, language is powerful, and the subtleties of using negative language in any discussion can lead to someone misinterpreting your attitudes and opinions). If you can afford it, you might try some sex counseling. So many people go it alone and end up not being able to communicate their needs properly, and the result can be the breakdown of the relationship. I know it’s hard to do at times, and it might seem trite, but talking is the best thing the two of you can do. If you want to someday take this relationship to the next level, you’ll need to resolve your sexual complications, obviously.
Hope that helps, at least a little. Write again any time if you need more input or have more information to offer.
Hugs,
Papabear
Guest post: “The Critique Masochist” by Frances Pauli
As an art school veteran, I am no stranger to criticism. When I create something, I not only expect critique, I immediately crave it. Critique is necessary, it’s useful, it is required. And the more brutal the better. In essence, I have become a critique masochist. How could this have happened? Let me explain.
Art majors at the college level spend their week something like this… Monday through Thursday are filled with studio classes–three hour sessions of drawing and/or painting in the classroom. Sometimes, it’s a clever arrangement of old knickknacks, vases, and Styrofoam balls and sometimes an assortment of nude models which is not nearly as exciting as you might imagine when you’re trying to get the lines right.
Friday, however, is critique day. On Friday, you gather your week’s work, tack it to a wall, and wait for the guns to start firing at you. You learn to love Fridays or you aren’t going to be in art school very long. Freshmen feared the week’s end. Those with tenuous egos invented reasons to be ill on Friday. You could try to dodge, but no matter how clever you were, eventually, it was your work on the wall.
There were only two rules in a peer critique and they are very good ones. First, you must remain absolutely silent while your work is being trashed–er, examined. Second, a critic may not say “I like it” or “I don’t like it” unless the statement is immediately followed by a detailed explanation of “WHY”.
Fridays were fun days in the school of art. If someone wasn’t crying in the halls between classes, it wasn’t Friday. I’m serious. People fled critique day, people sobbed. Some stomped straight to administration and switched majors. But, no matter how you look at it, Friday was a good day. It was Friday that turned me into a critique masochist.
So, back to writing…and critique. Critique is a good thing. It is the single most vital tool to becoming the best at any creative endeavor. We cannot be our own critic. We can try, and please do try. It’s required, you HAVE to learn to look at your work objectively. On the flip side, you will never, ever be as objective as your reader in Connecticut who’s never met you. Seek out the guns. Please. As you do, remember a few things to nurse a happy relationship with criticism. It will find you eventually anyway. If not before publication, then after.
DETACH: Your work may be your baby, but it’s not your baby. Any discussion of your work is not a personal attack. It is not your job to protect it. It is your job to let it be ripped to shreds and reassembled into something better, and golden, and closer to perfect.
EGO AWAY: Put it in a box, lock it in its room, whatever. Your ego will be needed later (when the rejections roll in and make you want to quit) but while receiving and giving criticism, it’s dead weight and will only botch up the whole process.
LISTEN: With both ears and the whole mind. Listen and consider the slim possibility that the critic may be right. Don’t waste time disagreeing or mentally arguing, listen. Listen and pretend they’re a genius–just for now.
SALT: When you have listened, considered and absorbed, THEN remember the grain of salt. This is an opinion–one person’s opinion or a whole class’ opinion, but still an opinion. Do you agree with it? Try. If not, stick to your guns and trust that you know your own goals. Don’t ever think that a suggestion is a rule, that you must change and adapt to every criticism or you will never stop fixing and changing things back and forth. Do change what you agree with. Do give serious thought to any suggestion that comes up more than once, or over and over again from different sources. But in the end, you decide.
Remember the two rules–they are good ones. Don’t interrupt. Never argue during the critique. If anyone ever says, “I like it” or “I don’t like it” insist on a detailed “why.” Embrace the horror–that is, the process– and learn to love it. Laugh at your mistakes and yourself often. Eventually, you might find yourself craving it, needing it. Personally, I’m suspicious of anyone who reads my work and doesn’t pick it apart, at least a little. Don’t trust the “I loved it” or the “It’s great” without further discussion! With a little practice, you too can be a critique masochist.
This post first appeared on Speculative Friction.
Shadow Walkers – Book Review by Fred Patten
Submitted by Fred Patten, Furry’s favorite historian and reviewer.
Shadow Walkers, by Russ Chenoweth.
NYC, Charles Scribner’s Sons, April 1993, hardcover $13.95 (153 pages).
Shadow Walkers is one of those unillustrated novels that make it very difficult for the reader to decide whether the talking animals are supposed to be natural, unclothed quadrupedal animals or bipedal, clothes-wearing funny animals. Set on Cape Cod during winter, and featuring two rat children, Sara and her brother Peter, the different scenes imply both situations. Cover artist Gregory Manchess has prudently avoided depicting any of the characters.
“Rats are good climbers, but rats are good at many things that they are ordinarily too sensible to do. If Sara had told her parents what she planned, they would have asked her not to do it because it was dangerous and unnecessary. So she hadn’t told them, and that troubled her. […]
The trunk rose above her like a wall for thirty feet before the first great limb jutted out, as large itself as a good-sized tree. […] Sara climbed, carefully and surely, stopping every few feet to listen. She was exposed here and nearly defenseless, but still nothing moved in the woods. She felt safer when she had reached the limb and could stretch out for a moment on the rough bark and look and listen. […]
Two feet below the highest leaf, she had to stop. The branch had shrunk to less than half an inch and bowed slightly with her weight. It was high enough. […]
She never knew what made her glance down in time to see the shadow glide among the dim trunks with the silence of a moth and settle on a limb below her. It was an owl, a very big one, and he had decided for some idiotic reason to change his daytime perch and come to join her in her tree. […]
He couldn’t see her against the light – he or she. It didn’t matter – she’d get no concession either way. Owls had little sense of smell, but they could hear a seed drop on the forest floor. She’d better not shake off any acorns. He would hear her move or cough. […] He might wait all day, knowing she was there, and then in darkness come and pick her off the branch like a ripened peach.” (pgs. 2 and 4)
That certainly sounds like a natural rat and owl in a tree. But then:
“Peter watched from an opening in the tall grass as the large tiger cat progressed down the back steps of the library building and stood at the top of the path, only its whiskers showing any interest in the scene below. […]
‘Melvil,’ Peter called softly.
‘Peter? I thought I smelled a rat.’
Peter laughed politely and came up the path to where the big cat waited.
‘It’s good to see you, Peter. Will you come in for coffee?’
‘Thank you. I’d like that.’ The pleasure in the old animal’s voice had startled him. He hadn’t realized that his visits were important to the library cat. He followed Melvil up the stairs and through the flap into the workroom and then down the dark corridor to the kitchenette. […]
‘Is this a social visit, Peter, or would you like to use the collection?’
‘A bit of both,’ Peter answered with a twinge of guilt. ‘I did mean for us to have a talk.’
‘Well then,’ said the cat, ‘it had best be over coffee.’ He flipped on the light and bustled about the pots and pans while they talked of the small doings of the mid-Cape.” (pgs. 8-9)
So: natural animals or funny animals? Or a bit of both? Chenoweth plays it both ways. Cape Cod has its housepet and its wildlife communities, which despise each other.
“The rats, by contrast, were admired and feared, though equally avoided. The fear was unjustified, but fully understandable. Most animals made do. Rats had made their own society. Its outlines were flexible but strong, and their culture was very old and deep. Peter’s own species, the Norway rat, was the largest and most widespread, and they were familiar to their human neighbors by many names: the house rat, the sewer or wharf rat, and, locally, the water rats. The local phrase had stuck and had long ago become a family name.” (pgs. 9-10)
The rats have taken on a social responsibility to both animal communities:
“French’s old hound had an accident, I heard?’ It was clearly a request for information.
‘I’m afraid so,’ Peter answered. ‘An assisted accident, I gather, though I know little of it. They say he’d become a menace.’ To put it mildly.
‘Oh dear,’ was all that Melvil said.” (p. 10)
Peter’s and Sara’s rat home sounds very like the rats’ home in Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH:
“The rough plaster walls of Peter’s room were painted white and hung with drawings, bits of driftwood, and other objects that once had caught his fancy: a barrel stave, a piece of fishing net with colored floats, and Appleton the rattlesnake, the grisly gift of a playmate who’d been ordered to dispose of it. In a place of honor, where he could see it from his bed, was a watercolor of the marsh and dunes and sea and sky as seen from their own porch. His mother had painted it at his innocent request when he was young, and it served him better than a window on the world above.” (p. 18)
“And they talked. What rats do best, Sara thought: talk and eat. They talked about her studies, what all grown-ups asked about, in desperation, perhaps, and hope of some common ground or, as Luc said, genuine interest in her. Luc and Lasa were really interested, it seemed. Sara was learning French this year, from prim old Mademoiselle. She had a name, but she was known to three generations of adoring students as simply Miss. For how long and when the old rat had actually lived in Paris was unclear, but she recreated the experience convincingly for dozens of rat children who dreamed of romantic strolls along the Seine. Sara hoped someday to study Greek literature with Lasa, but not yet. She didn’t dare to mention this.” (p. 51)
“Their music was a shameless and nearly total borrowing from European classical traditions. There was music by Rattish composers, of course. It was interesting and favored the abilities and limitations of rats, but it was rarely adventurous. As with the other arts of life, rats were fine performers and sometimes brilliant in adaptation, but they lacked the demons that drove men to creativity.” (p. 56)
The rats wear backpacks, dig with shovels, have electricity in their burrows, smoke cigars, read humans’ books and write their own in Rattish about rat history, and Peter and his friend Tom are trying to scrounge or build the components to make a radio; but the novel does not contain any descriptions to let the reader know whether they wear clothing or go on two legs or four.
After 68 leisurely pages of building a picture of the peaceful and cultured rat community of Cape Cod, Peter and Tom complete their amateur radio and get into communication with the distant rat community of North Cape. The latter have just had a fire that has destroyed their insulin supply. “There were only about a dozen cases of diabetes at Cape End, Peter remembered. Human insulin would do them no good, of course. The rodent product was made in Bayport, a hundred miles away, but there were supplies here and at several places on the upper Cape.” (p. 69) Peter, Sara, and Tom offer to take the resupply; a journey of a week or more.
It should be safe enough, but the three rats are adventurous adolescents who lose no opportunity to get involved in human affairs. They bring aid to a man having a heart attack; they foil a bank robbery; they discover illegal dumping of prohibited waste. During these mini-adventures, the three young rats debate whether they should follow the age-old rat custom of never getting involved in human affairs, or act for the greater moral good of both species when they discover a crime that should be exposed. The ending leaves their decision still unformed.
Shadow Walkers is a bit frustrating in that there is very little drama. There is no big adventure; the characters are seldom in real danger; and what they decide to make of their adult lives is only implied. But a detailed picture of a peaceful rat society living in the shadow of human civilization is painted. Should this society risk calling itself to the attention of the humans by offering its cooperation for the potential benefit of both? You decide.
The Good, The Bad, and the Bunny
Writer Carlo San Juan and Eisner-Award nominated artist Rod Espinosa have combined their talents to bring us a new 4-issue full-color steam-punk fantasy comic mini-series, Immortal Wings. “Deep in the wild wastelands of the cosmic frontier, bounty hunter Blaze and her draconic partner, Gruffyd, combining fighting prowess and magical might to stay alive as they make a living. Now they dodge the forces of the Galactic Shogunate, as they have partnered with the greatest threat to the empire’s reign…a bunny named Mortimer. ” We think it makes more sense if you read it. Regardless, it’s on the shelves now from Antarctic Press. There’s an interview with the creators over at Two Geeks Talking.
image c. 2016 Antarctic Press
Episode 305 - Podcasts Du Jour
The Bears’ Famous Invasion of Sicily – Book Review by Fred Patten
Submitted by Fred Patten, Furry’s favorite historian and reviewer.
The Bears’ Famous Invasion of Sicily, by Dino Buzzati. Translated by Frances Lobb. Illustrated by the author.
NYC, Pantheon Books, October 1947, hardcover $2.75 (146 [+1] pages).
The Bears’ Famous Invasion of Sicily, by Dino Buzzati. Translated by Francis Lobb. Illustrated by the author.
NYC, New York Review Children’s Collection, December 2003, hardcover $18.95 (147 pages).
The Bears’ Famous Invasion of Sicily, by Dino Buzzati. Translated by Francis Lobb. With an introduction and reader’s companion by Lemony Snickett. Illustrated by the author.
NYC, HarperCollinsPublishers/Harper Trophy, February 2005, paperback $5.99 (186 pages).
This is a book that I never expected to review. It was one of the first library books that I read, from the Los Angeles Public Library, presumably when I was seven years old since the American edition was published at the end of 1947. I loved it! I read and reread it, and memorized several poems in it. I still remember this, after almost seventy years:
One, two, three, four
These dark thoughts soar
Fear, sorrow, doubt, despair
Hover in the midnight air.
I eventually grew up and forgot about it. I was reminded of it this January when Jim Korkis mentioned in his column on animation history that Heinz Edelmann, the art designer of the Beatles’ Yellow Submarine animated feature (1968), had later seriously tried to produce an animated feature of The Bears’ Famous Invasion of Sicily, but had failed to get financial backing for it.
This led me to see whether Wikipedia had any mention of the book. It does, but the Wikipedia article just says that it was a famous Italian children’s book, La Famosa Invasione degli Orsi in Sicilia, published by Rizzoli in 1945, and “The American hardcover edition was published by HarperCollins in 2003 and the paperback was published in 2005, also by HarperCollins and The New York Review Children’s Collection.” Not only is that slightly inaccurate, there is no mention of the 1947 American edition that I read! This seems unfair to me, and since the LAPL still has that 1947 edition, here is my review of it.
I am also reviewing it because I think that it’s a book that adult furry fans will enjoy, especially those with children.
“Sit still as mice on this occasion
And listen to the Bears’ Invasion
Of Sicily, a long, long while
Ago when beasts were good, men vile.” (p. 21)
The bears live high in the mountains of Sicily, where life is hard and there is little to eat, but they like it. One day the bears’ King Leander (il Re Leonzio) and his little son Tony are searching for food when two human hunters capture Tony and take him away. King Leander is heartbroken, but he accepts this. Years later there is a particularly harsh winter and the bears are all starving. They resolve to go down into the lands of men because they have nothing more to lose.
“But one night in haste a messenger cried
‘A snake has been seen on the mountain side!’
And a serpent appeared, made of little black dots,
He-bears and she-bears and bear tiny tots.
‘Bears?’ laughed the Duke, ‘Just leave them to me,
And soon you will see a great victory!’
And then there was heard a fanfaronade
As the Grand Ducal army came out on parade.
‘Forward, you dogs! Quick march, you cattle!
Tomorrow at dawn we go forth to battle!’” (p. 26)
Guns! Battles! Monsters! Wizardry! Crime! Drunken orgies! Ghosts! Treachery! Blood! This was stronger stuff than was in any American children’s book in 1947. Buzzati’s prose is just as good:
“It was in fact the horde of wild boars of Count Molfetta, the Grand Duke’s cousin, coming to the rescue. Instead of soldiers, this important noble had trained an army of huge, savage pigs to war, and these were very wild and extremely brave, and celebrated all over the world. The Count cracked his whip from the hilltop on which he was standing so as to be out of danger. And on came the terrible boars at the gallop, their tusks whistling in the wind!” (p. 37)
An introduction to the 2003 edition says, “If the bears’ famous invasion of Sicily sounds too distressing to read alone, that’s because it is.” Don’t You Believe It! (but Lemony Snickett’s notes to the 2003 edition are worth reading). This is a wonderful book that is really for All Ages (meaning you adult furry fans), and can be read by an older 3- to 7-year-old reader by him- or her-self.
The Sicilian bears’ King Leander leads them into the humans’ lowlands during a desperately cold winter, hundreds of years ago. The tyrannical Grand Duke fights them with cannon and evil magic, but the bears are ultimately victorious. The bears settle into the capital city of Sicily, and King Leander tries to establish a peaceful kingdom of bears and humans alike. But the noble bears are corrupted by human vices, and King Leander finds himself having to deal with ursine crime and debauchery. Finally treachery against King Leander himself is discovered! But who among the bears’ royal court can be the villain?
Buzzati has been called by some art critics an amateur or a bad artist, but his own illustrations for The Bears’ Famous Invasion of Sicily are Just Right. As a young child, I was particularly impressed by the corrupt bears’ orgy showing drunkenness, gluttony, gambling, fighting with wine bottles, and (since the now-civilized bears have adopted clothes) nudity. Strong stuff for a seven-year-old. (Much later, I read about how Carl Barks was ordered to redraw a barroom brawl in an Uncle Scrooge comic book because the editor considered Barks’ original too strong for 8-to-12 readers.) Several reviewers dismissed the book as too adult for children; but one pseudonymous reviewer, Anokatony, said, “I suppose the ideal audience would be children of the age of six or seven, maybe just before they are of an age for action movies.”
Dino Buzzati (1906-1972) was an Italian novelist, short story writer, theatrical and radio scripter, opera librettist, poet, and artist, but primarily a newspaperman for Milan’s Corriere della Sera where he was a reporter, essayist, art critic, special correspondent, and editor from 1928 for the rest of his life. During World War II he served in North Africa as a journalist attached to the Royal Italian Navy.
His life was active and colorful. John Bemelmans Marciano, the grandson of Ludwig Bemelmans and the continuer of his Madeleine children’s picture books, said, “Reading The Little Prince [by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry], you may feel like you are in the company of an author who can elevate you to the heavens. With La famosa invasione, you ride shotgun to a man who would come over to your house, drink all your liquor, burn your house down with his cigarette, and still manage to convince you how lovely a waltz the flames were dancing.” After the publication of Tolkien, La Famosa Invasione was compared to Tolkien “with the addition of a certain satirical edge.” Buzzati himself dramatized La Famosa Invasione for the stage, where it was performed in Milan in 1965.
La Famosa Invasione degli Orsi in Sicilia was his only children’s book. It was first serialized in Milan between January 7 and April 29, 1945 in Corriere dei Piccoli; the final installment appeared the same day that the machine-gunned bodies of Benito Mussolini, his mistress, and 14 of his ministers were hung upside down in a Milan city square by the citizenry. It was published as a children’s book by Rizzoli on December 10, 1945. The story and its reception were heavily influenced by the war that had just ended. A review in Life magazine in August 1948 said, “… the book stirred up protests both before and after publication. Buzzati’s publishers made him delete one illustration showing Russian-looking bears conquering a Nuremberg-like city because it might be offensive to the Germans. A good many Italians thought the bears in the story were Sicily’s U.S. invaders.” The 1947 American edition was in fact printed by Rizzoli, reusing the 1945 Italian dust jacket.
So I’ve reread The Bears’ Famous Invasion of Sicily. Yes, it’s as wonderful for adults as it is for children. Guns! Battles! Monsters! And so on. The 1947 edition is long out-of-print and a valuable collectible today, but fortunately the 2003 hardcover and the 2005 paperback editions, with Lemony Snickett’s commentary, are readily available in cheap used copies at most bookstores. And check your local public libraries.
The 2005 edition adds Lemony Snickett’s reader’s companion analyzing the story, chapter by chapter (there are 12 chapters plus Buzzati’s introduction, a cast of characters, and the scene). Each chapter’s analysis includes a moral lesson, a list of “questions you may find interesting”, and a “suggested activity”. One of the possibly interesting questions: “It is almost impossible to find an interesting story – a true story or an imaginary story – that does not contain violence. Why is that?” (p. 167)
Incidentally, there are no bears in Sicily. Never have been. Or mountains as tall as those in this story, although Sicily does have lower mountains, including Mount Etna, one of Italy’s most active volcanos.
Humans and Werewolves vs. Vampires
Horror writer Steve Niles has a thing for vampires — just not in the usual settings, as he proved with his famous comic book 30 Days of Night. Now, he’s taken them in a more science fiction direction with his latest work: Broken Moon, illustrated by Nat Jones and published by American Gothic Press. Here’s their summary: “After the world’s superpowers go nuclear on one another’s lunar mining colonies, destroying much of the moon, the human population of earth is largely wiped out in the ensuing natural disasters. In the wake of humanity’s near extinction, the monsters that had been banished to the shadows have risen up and seized power. The kingdom of vampires thrives under the cover of nuclear winter on the east coast. The werewolves live like nomad outlaws, prowling the plains of the west. And in the north, Dr. Frankenstein and his army of the re-animated wait. But while an uneasy truce has existed for decades, the clouds are beginning to recede, threatening the vampires and their dominion. War is coming.” The werewolf tribes and the few remaining humans form an uneasy alliance to keep the vampire lords from destroying the world. Want to find out more? Check out the preview over at Comics Alliance. The first volume of Broken Moon is on the shelves now.
image c. 2016 American Gothic Press