All around Furry Weekend Atlanta we found these interesting business cards — each with a character (usually an anthropomorphic) and the name of a planet. So we came home, followed the links… and found our way to Solar House, a science-fiction webtoon written and illustrated by Vanadium Valor. What if the planets, moons, and so forth in our solar system were each a person, with their own foibles and personalities? “It’s like if astronomy and furry art kissed! Follow the lives of the planets (and other objects) as they try to navigate their long company policies and even longer histories!” Each comic comes with some extra science facts to give a background in reality to the current story-line.

image c. 2024 by Vanadium Valor

We just learned about a new graphic novel series for young readers, from Henry Holt and Company. The Surviving The Wild series is based on actual events with real animals “in the wondrous but hazardous wilds”. First up is Surviving The Wild: Sunny The Shark, by Remy Lai. “Sunny the Shark is a fearsome predator. As the oceanic whitetip shark searches for her next meal, a chatty school of pilot fish trails behind, cleaning her in exchange for food crumbs. But when Sunny mistakes a plastic ring for prey and it gets caught around her fin, she soon struggles to hunt. Will she be able to break free and find food before winter sets in?” It’s available now in hardcover from MacMillan.

image c. 2023 Henry Holt and Company

The Bad Guys, a DreamWorks Animation film directed by Pierre Perifel, should be a slam dunk, right?

With a voice cast of personal favorites such as Sam Rockwell, Awkwafina and Craig Robinson? Full of anthropomorphic animal characters in a kid-friendly Tarantino take-off? And there's even a furry vixen in the mix? What, is it my birthday? (Actually, that's Saturday.) [Happy Birthday! --The editors]

Featuring a criminal gang of five predatory animals, meet Mr. Wolf (Rockwell), Mr. Snake (voiced by Marc Maron), Miss Tarantula (Awkwafina), Mr. Shark (Robinson) and Mr. Piranha (Anthony Ramos).

After a television interview with the local governor, a vixen named Diane Foxington, Mr. Wolf is goaded into carrying out a ridiculously difficult heist. Which correspondingly goes ridiculously wrong. The gang are put in the care of Professor Marmalade (Richard Ayoade), a guinea pig who tries to teach them how to be good guys.

One thing this last summer did of course was bring attention back to everyone’s favorite ocean-born anthro-villain, King Shark. Taking obvious advantage of that, DC Comics have brought us the new Suicide Squad: King Shark 6-part miniseries, written by Tim Seeley and illustrated by Scott Kolins and John Kalisz. “On leave from the Suicide Squad, King Shark and unfortunate tagalong the Defacer get swept into a mystical tournament for totemic animal spirits at the behest of King Shark’s father, the god of sharks! Now King Shark must battle brutal warriors like Queen Tiger, King Roach, Prince Nematode, Princess Peregrine, and the terrifying Man King to finally attain his destiny and make his dour dad proud!” Sounds even furrier than usual, don’t it? There’s a review over at CBR.

image c. 2021 DC Comics

Flayrah Mission Control: You have been chosen for your unique abilities to take on a mission of utmost importance. You must describe and evaluate James Gunn's The Suicide Squad for this website's audience of furries.

Okay, I can do that. Fine. I'm not sure if my "abilities" are that unique, though. And since when have we had a "mission control"?

FMC: What are you talking about? We've always been here, monitoring your activities. Waiting for the moment when the world most needs your skillset. Which is right now. Articles about superhero movies with marginal to minor furry elements. Avengers: Infinity Wars. Avengers: Endgame. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Guardians of the Galaxy. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. That's the unique skillset we're talking about. Those last two are even by the same director as The Suicide Squad's. So what's the problem?

Furries might enjoy The Suicide Squad, a movie about super-powered criminals being forced to work as a secret government "Task Force X", which features an anthropomorphic shark and a team member who talks to rats (there's also a Weasel, but the less said about him, the better). It's showing in movie theaters now, and is also available to stream with an ad-free subscription to the HBO Max for the next month.

FMC: That's a description. Half the mission is done. But what we need is an evaluation.

But I didn't even like this movie that much. In fact, I liked the universally panned 2016 Suicide Squad more, and I'm not sure I really want to defend that position.

FMC: Sounds like a problem. But it's your problem. Complete the mission. Or we'll totally blow up your head.

So that's it? What? This some kinda ... The Suicide Squad review?

Lily Williams works in illustration and visual development for animation — and she has a particular af-FIN-ity for sharks. So much so that she created her own animated mini-documentary called FIN-conceivable. It tells us several interesting facts about sharks and makes a plea for their preservation in the wild oceans. Meanwhile she’s also found time to work on various cartoon projects at Sony Animation. Take a look at her web site, and follow the links to check out FIN-conceivable at Video Press.

image c. 2014 by Lily Williams

Shelley Wolf is a creator of magic tricks for kids. Her husband Chance Wolf is a well-known comic book illustrator for titles like Spawn. When the two of them noticed how their son was getting really into shark lore, they decided to use that as an inspiration for a new series of books for kids. And so the Surf Sharks were born. The idea is simple: Three beach kids and three talking sharks hook up to ride the waves, have adventures, and learn more about our oceans. Surf Sharks: The First Ride just came out in hardcover from Surf Sharks Inc, and it’s available on Amazon. The creators also have a Surf Sharks web site with the books and other collectible shark stuff available.

image c. 2014 Surf Sharks Inc

The Hollywood Reporter recently ran an article about Triggerfish — the animation studio which some refer to as the Pixar of South Africa. Following the international success of Zambezia (about a city of birds) and Khumba (about a young zebra missing half of his stripes), Triggerfish have secured funding which will allow them to begin work on two new films out of a planned slate of five. The company’s stated goal is to release one film a year starting in 2016. First out of the gate is Here Be Monsters, about a young human boy who interacts with a scary sea monster. It’s written by Raffaella Delle Donne, who worked on both the studio’s previous films. Soon after that comes Seal Team, described as “an action-comedy that pits a group of seals against the great white sharks of South Africa.” Khumba is currently screening in Africa, with plans to roll it out to the rest of the world going into 2014.

image c. 2013 Triggerfish

The British power-metal band known as Ascension have started up a side project: A cartoon band dedicated to making some rockin’ tunes for little listeners. Yes, in the tradition of Hevisaurus (look it up!) it’s time for Sharky Sharky, the undersea band! Their stated purpose: “”Kids don’t have much to listen to today, no real live bands to look up to. They have One Direction, Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus…all artists who glorify love, fashion and popularity – all things kids shouldn’t have to worry about right now, especially when enjoying music!” You can check out Sharky Sharky’s first four songs on Sound Cloud, or on their Facebook page.

image c. 2013 Sharky Sharky

One of the admittedly stranger TV series of the 1990′s was DIC’s Street Sharks, which ran from 1994 to 1995. Created by David Siegel and Joe Galliani of Mr. Joe’s Really Big Productions, the series followed the adventures of four teenage brothers who were transformed into human-shark mutants by an evil scientist’s genetic manipulations. Yes, yes, the show was riding on the coat-tails of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles — in fact, it directly spoofed Turtles on more than one occasion. Previously, only a handful of Street Sharks episodes have been available on tape or DVD. But now Mill Creek Entertainment have announced that they are releasing all 40 episodes of the original series in a 4-DVD set at a reduced price. The set is available now at Amazon and other dealers.

image c. 2013 Mill Creek Entertainment

This issue, we take a look at the best-selling comic book about ponies ever, catch up on IDW’s other funny animal comic book series, and end with a brand new Marvel mutant with the ability to turn into a shark — because superheroes do believable stuff like that now!

Kickball, a student film by Dana Terrace at the School of Visual Arts, April 2012.

Talk about having icewater for blood -- here's the account of an Icelandic ship captain who saved his crewmates from death by battling it out with a shark.

And to think, in school they told me all the Vikings were dead.

A female shark has been without male shark lovin' for some time, but can still lay viable eggs, which hatch 15 days later.

Now regulatory bodies can tell if endangered sharks are on the menu. Dried shark fins look puzzlingly similar, and even experts can't always tell if one has come from a protected species. Now the Wildlife Conservation Society and Nova Southeastern University
have developed a special test to identify 10 threated types of sharks by the DNA left in the fin. Cursory tests in a Hong Kong fish market showed a fifth of the fins tested were mislabled. This will ultimatly make it simpler to prove the impact of fisheries on endagered species.