The celebrated and multi-award-winning creator Ursula Vernon first came to most people’s attention through her black & white web comic called Digger. Now, a decade later, Grim Oak Press gives us Digger Unearthed: The Complete Tenth Anniversary Collection. “Digger Unearthed is the story of a shrewd, sensible wombat engineer named Digger-of-unnecessarily-convoluted-tunnels, who finds herself stranded in a fantasy world that is far from logical. Thrust into the middle of a puzzling and often perilous situation involving gods, demons, destiny, and redemption, she finds her way based on a pragmatic honesty and the sincere belief in doing the right thing… To celebrate its tenth anniversary, Digger Unearthed offers the complete web comic collection in a single volume that can be fully enjoyed by young adult readers, yet also contains layers of sophistication that become deeper and more meaningful with age and experience.” Which we have. It’s available now in both paperback and hardcover.

image c. 2024 Grim Oak Press

Further Confusion 2013 saw guests of honor Chris Savino and Ursula Vernon on the stage to answer questions from staff and attendees. Here are their responses:

Q: Could you give us a brief introduction?

Chris: [...rattles off storyboarding, animation, writing and directing credits for shows noted in his Wikipedia article, including Rocko's Modern Life, Ren & Stimpy, Dexter's Lab and The Powerpuff Girls...], written a few episodes of My Little Pony, which is probably what some of you care about - it's so cool to see people who appreciate what you've done; we're so sheltered by TV, we never get to see you, so for all of you, the full house.

Ursula: Ursula Vernon, artist and author; did finally finish the webcomic Digger, which won the Hugo Award for Best Graphic Series . . . I do a series for children called Dragonbreath, 8-12ish, I also do a lot of art, I do furry art, I go to furry conventions, I love you people man . . . *applause* . . . and that's sot of what I do.

Sprout: So Chris, you've done a lot of awesome TV shows, so what exactly have you done for each of those throughout your career?

Ursula Vernon's Digger has won Best Graphic Story at the 2012 Hugo Awards, as decided by by members of the 2012 World Science Fiction Convention (ChiCon 7). [tip: dronon; nomination story]

The series about a tunnelling wombat received more than twice the first-preference votes (p. 8) of the next-highest nominee, Fables Vol 15: Rose Red, with Locke & Key Volume 4, Keys to the Kingdom, Schlock Mercenary: Force Multiplication and The Unwritten (Volume 4): Leviathan taking subsequent places.

Ursula Vernon's Digger has been nominated as Best Graphic Story for the 2012 Hugo Awards. [tip: Schreibergasse; Ursula's announcement]

Digger has been collected in a series of six volumes. The first volume was published in July 2005; the story concluded March 2011 at 759 pages.

Digger won the Web Cartoonists' Choice Award for Outstanding Black and White Art in 2005-6, and Outstanding Anthropomorphic Cartoon in 2006, and has been nominated for several other awards, including the 2005 Ursa Major Award.

The Hugo Award will be decided by members of the 2012 World Science Fiction Convention (ChiCon 7). Per the WSFS constitution, sec. 3.3.6, the entire run of Digger is eligible this year.

After the recent review of the terrible Hyenas, here's something to make hyena fans happier!

When Ursula Vernon published the first volume of Black Dogs in 2007, her life was very busy. She was moving house, her webcomic Digger was experiencing a surge in popularity, and her newly-acquired literary agent had got her a sweet deal to write and illustrate children's books for Scholastic.

Understandably, writing a sequel took a back seat, so when the second half of Black Dogs was published four years later, Sofawolf Press conveniently reprinted the first volume with a new cover.

Black Dogs is a fantasy novel set in a world with humans, elves, and many anthropomorphic species. The main character is Lyra, a young human who finds herself on the run after her merchant family's home is attacked by bandits. Though educated and well-read, she hasn't much practical knowledge. Luckily she meets Sadrao, a tall, kind dog-soldier, one of a respected species of anthro-hyenas. Taking her under his wing, she joins him on his travels while he teaches her survival skills.

Ursula Vernon's 'Digger of Unnecessarily Complex Tunnels' has completed her 759-page journey. [tip: chelImQo']

For the last six months or so, I have been very focused on finally finishing Digger’s unexpectedly epic journey (some of you undoubtedly remember those first five pages, and my constant refrain that I was just doodling and not to get attached!) but I didn’t actually spend much time thinking about what to say once I did.

I guess the only thing to say is “Thank you!”

Digger won the 2005 Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards for 'Outstanding Black and White Art', and was nominated for 'Outstanding Anthropomorphic Comic' in 2005 and 2007.

Recent strips will be collected and published by Sofawolf Press as vol. 6 in the series.

Read more: Past reviews of Digger from The Webcomic Overlook and Terrouge

Ursula Vernon's mythological representation of Capricorn as a sea-goat was commissioned as the poster-beast of the New Jersey Summer Reading Program, and featured in libraries and promotional material across the state.

Her work was packed with symbolism, but turned out to be controversial in a way she had not anticipated. [snow pigeon]

As I mentioned in a similar report a couple of years ago, I consider myself a fringefur because I don't do things that more committed furries do (writing, art, fursuiting, taking on a fursona). Mostly I just like to read furry comics; most of my favorite Webcomics are furry, and I first got into the fandom when Fantagraphics stopped publishing Critters and I had to find another source. Text stories don't appeal so much, though I loved Michael Payne's Blood Jaguar, for instance, and I don't much care for movies or TV of any sort. I've never seen Disney's Robin Hood, which I gather is something of a furry gateway drug.

So why did I go to Anthrocon at all? Well, I'll tell ya.