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Fall has arrived, and boy are things busy! Read on for more helpful information on ConFurence Nine after a brief update from our intrepid reporters... Coming this November to Broadway is Disney’s newest spectacle: The live-on-stage version of The Lion King. Director Julie Taymor brings to the production her own flair for avant-garde stage design and costuming. This production features all the songs from the animated feature film, as well as eight brand new songs from both The Lion King musical team of Elton John and Tim Rice; and also Lebo M, creator of music collection Rhythm of the Pridelands. Among the talent found on stage is Samuel Wright as Mufasa – Sam was also the voice of Sebastian the crab in Disney’s The Little Mermaid. She came, she saw, she kicked dinosaur butt: All of Japan is a-buzz about Princess Mononoke’, the latest animated feature from well-known director Hiyao Miyazaki. The film made news by out-grossing the box office of The Lost World: Jurassic Park, which opened the same weekend in Japan. The story details how the princess of a mountainous, forested kingdom and her cohorts fight off the evil forces sent to pillage the land. According to Variety: "Mountain gods, hybrid animals, and others join the princess in the grisly fight". News has hit Hollywood that Disney Pictures has picked up the American distribution rights for this film. The animated film Cats Don’t Dance, which has generated a lot of buzz amongst animation and funny animal fans in both the ‘zines and on the Internet, premiered on video in August and stayed in the top 10 of video tape sales in the U.S. for three weeks. It still remains in the top 10 of "children’s video" sales, though somebody else would have to tell us how they go about making that distinction. Fall TV season is here, and though the pickings aren’t as good as they’ve been some years in the past, there are still several new animated shows of furry interest to look out for. Extreme Dinosaurs is an action/adventure cartoon show reminiscent of both Dinosaucers and the comic book Dinosaurs for Hire. Disney TV Animation brings us the new 101 Dalmations show (in syndication), as well as a new season of Jungle Cubs – now with the gang a year older and the show called Jungle Juniors. A new live-action show of note is Mowgli: The New Adventures of the Jungle Book, filmed in the rain forests of Costa Rica. In the cartoon series Ned’s Newt, a hyperactive young boy and his companion, a giant salamander, try to stay out of trouble. Our friends the Ninja Turtles return in Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation, now aided by a fifth turtle: A female named Venus De Milo. And cult comic book crime-fighters Sam & Max now also have their own cartoon show. (Most of these new shows will be premiering soon on Fox TV Saturday Morning.) On cable TV, look for Bingo and Molly (a forest adventure cartoon for preschoolers) on The Learning Channel, and PB & J (also for preschoolers, this cartoon features a family of young otters) on Disney Channel. The Disney Channel has also picked up Henson Productions’ new series Muppets Tonight, while Jim Henson’s Greek Myths will appear in November on HBO. Southern California painter Ron Rodecker (seen frequently at the summer Sawdust Art Festival in Laguna) has a new animated TV series, Dragon Tales. The series follows the adventures of Blaze the Dragon and his human friend Max, and will be premiering on PBS in 1998. Come the holiday season, Walt Disney Pictures will release it’s new direct-to-video animated feature, Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas. Coinciding with the video release will be a new digest-sized full color comic, Beauty and the Beast Holiday Special, from Acclaim Comics.o
More Sonic the Hedgehog material from Archie Comics; this time it’s the new trade paperback Sonic the Hedgehog: Firsts. Featuring full-color artwork by Gallagher, Kanterovich, Penders, Shaw! and Manak, features reprints from the first Archie Comics issue, as well as the origins of such characters as Bunnie Rabbot and Knuckles the Echidna. A different kind of furry story… in Cavewoman: Missing Link #1 from Basement Comics, the small town of Marshville, Oregon is transported back in time more than 70 million years, it brings with it an unusual local… bigfoot! Now the legendary creature must contend with challenges from the local man-apes. Black & white adventure from Walton, Schumaker, and Root. Comic artist Charles Yates has a new black & white trade paperback coming out from Tome Press (Caliber Comics) called Dinosaurs: An Illustrated Guide. It contains nearly 70 pages of dinosaur illustrations, the carnivores and the herbivores, with helpful explanatory text throughout as well. From Koala Comics comes Captain Koala #1 (makes sense, doesn’t it?). In this new black & white adventure/comedy series, the Australian Secret Service (A.S.S., get it?) are aided in their pursuit of deadly terrorists across the outback by a young talking koala – with aspirations of super-hero-dom. Another new black & white series, this time from Spitwad Comics: Rat Foo. It’s described by its creators, Larry Rains Jr.. and Brian Keohan, as a cross between Jackie Chan and The X-Files… with kung-fu fighting rats. Prudence and Leon, from the black & white comic Prudence & Leon, are two people who just can’t seem to get along – but who are destined to fall in love. Standing in their way, among many things, is the fact that she’s a human and he’s, well, not. Brought to you by Seth Merriman and Mantle Press. A very unusual fable, in black & white, from Sirius Comics’ new imprint Dog Star Press. In The Red Flannel Squirrel, all of a young child’s plushy animals are very happy to be played with and loved… except for the vain red flannel squirrel, who brags about having never been stained or mussed or… even touched. Featuring the artwork of Kristin Perry. The pages of Quantum & Woody, from Acclaim Comics, feature the adventures of ‘The World’s Worst Super-Hero Team’. They also now feature Quantum and Woody’s new sidekick, Vincent Van Goat: A would-be superhero who’s, well, a goat. Already ‘The Goat’ is popular enough by himself that Acclaim has declared the month of November ‘Goat Month’, with special sale prices available on Quantum & Woody trade paperbacks and other titles. New in full color from Mad Monkey Press is The Witch & The Willow, a new adventure in the realm of Magician’s Village by Kaja & Christina Blackley. Our young hero returns to school in the fifth grade, only to discover that his new teacher is a witch… with evil intentions for him and his classmates. In the latest issue of Ragmop by Rob Walton (from Image Comics), our hero Alice Hawkings is joined in her battle against a slew of evil conspiracies by Harv – a six-foot tall, well-armed, not-so-invisible purple rabbit. Yes, you heard it here. In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #14 from Image, Master Shredder must deal with several problems: Recovering from rabies, mutating into a bat, finding the missing Ninja Turtles, and fighting a battle-to-the-death with none other than The Shredder! Featuring the writing of Gary Carlson and art by Frank Fosco and Andrew Pepoy. Custom Comics of America brings you Rooter: The First Annual by Campbell, Powell, and Dillard. This 120 page issue helps to fill in the background on many characters and situations in this black & white humor comic – featuring a funny-animal blues band and their adventures in the bayous of the south. Look for the world’s first ever funny-cartoon buffalo (they tell us) in Boink! It’s Cartoon Comics #1. The adventures of Bison, the ebony buffalo, are presented in this black & white comic which combines comic strip and comic book formats. Coming soon from Radio Comix is a new series: Tales of the Fehnnik II. Returning with an all new 4-issue black & white mini-series, writer Elin Winkler is now joined by artist Scotty Arsenault as they continue the story of a headstrong young lady canine named Shayzeri Zodd as she struggles to take her place in the battle against a star-travelling enemy known only as the Haarea – despite a decree from her leaders that females are not to fight. New from Sirius is the first comic book adaptation of the popular Atari video game Primal Rage, scripted by Chris Knowles. In the post-holocaust world of New Urth, giant dinosaur-gods roam the land, battling each other for supremacy over the nomadic tribes of surviving humanity. Featuring cover artwork by The Dark One. The sixth issue of Greener Pastures by Michael Michalandos and Tim McEwen (published by Kronos Komics) is available now, and the seventh will ship in December. More info on the further adventures of two-legged bull named Trevor Bovis can be found at the GP Web site, located at www.snowmeow.com/~amara/moo.htm . Remember, several issues of GP also feature a two-page mini-poster by special guest artists, and the entire series comes with a special offer: Send them a recent good-quality photo of yourself, and $10.00 (presumably in Australian dollars), and your face will appear as an ‘extra’ in an upcoming issue of Greener Pastures. Write them for more information (and for info on back issues, t-shirts, and other stuff) at: Kronos Komics, P.O. Box 411, Kensington, NSW, Australia 2033. "The Internet’s favorite comic is now available on dead trees!" (That’s from the front cover!) ConFurence Eight GOH Bill Holbrook has released his popular World Wide Web comic strip Kevin & Kell in book form through Online Features Syndicate. K & K, for those who don’t know, follows the adventures of a computer-savvy rabbit and a corporate-climbing wolf who get married – with all the resulting complications that you can imagine. For more information on ordering the book, contact: Online Features Syndicate, P.O. Box 931264, Norcross, GA 30093. Of course, you can also find the information on the Web at http://www.reuben.org/holbrook/kevkel.html . A new art collection book to look for is Dino Babes. That’s right, dinosaurs alongside curvaceous human women, depicted in black & white by artists like Joe Chiodo, Mitch Byrd, Esteban Maroto, and many others. While you’re at it, look for a new full-color art portfolio from Oliver Vatine called Girls and Friends. From a cave woman and her baby stegosaurus to a jungle princess among the apes, comic book artist Vatine presents 6 color plates of fantasy women and their pets. Two recently published books cover the history of some old favorites of animation. Fractured Fairy Tales by A.J. Jacobs is a collection of one of the most popular segments of Jay Ward’s Rocky & Bullwinkle Show, now written up in book form. Also look for The Enchanted World of Rankin/Bass by Rick Goldschmidt, which follows the history of this well known creative house for cartoon and 3D animation, covering every one of their TV specials, animated series, and feature films (such as Mad Monster Party). This book includes more than 400 black & white illustrations and 16 pages of full-color photos. Published to coincide with the 75th anniversary of Warner Brothers Studios, Warner Bros. Animation Art by Jerry Beck and Will Friedwald traces the evolution of the animation department and the many well-known artists and creative minds that worked there. Featuring more than 300 color illustrations, plus a catalog of animation art and a chronology of important dates in Warner Brothers history. From Simon & Schuster. The latest update of John Grant’s popular hardcover book The Encyclopedia of Walt Disney’s Animated Characters will soon be available, now featuring characters from all the animated features and TV shows up to 1997 (ending with Hercules). 480 pages, from Hyperion. Also out from Hyperion Books in hardcover is Pinocchio by Pierre Lampbert, the founder of the Film Animation Association in France. Through intensive research and reproduction, Monsieur Lampbert here presents several rarely seen illustrations from the Disney Archives and private collections around the world, showcasing the creation of this classic animated film. Speaking of Disney, keep your eye out for The Wonderful World of Disney TV by William Cotter. This very large volume (628 pages) includes episode guides for all of Disney’s television series from over the years, including the animated series from The Disney Afternoon and Saturday morning line-ups. From Warner Books comes a new short-story anthology, A Dragon Lover’s Treasury of the Fantastic. Margaret Weis, co-author of the Dragonlance series, gathers together dragon stories from the likes of L. Sprague DeCamp, David Drake, Gordon R. Dickson, and others. Now available as an import is the reprinted manga of Doraemon, first printed in Japan in 1974. This best-selling children’s manga follows the adventures of a hopelessly inept young school boy and Doraemon, the robotic cat sent back from the future to help him cope. ConFurence Nine Guest of Honor Lisanne Norman’s latest book from DAW, Razor’s Edge, will be released in time for the convention. Presenting further adventures with the triad of human telepath Carrie and her cat-like Sholan partners, Kusac and Caid, Razor follows our friends as they undertake a dangerous rescue mission, looking to save a long-lost world of Sholan and Humans from the reptilian Valtegans, enemy to both species. What they don’t know is that the Valtegans have been plotting against any resistance for a long time… Be sure to meet Lisanne at ConFurence Nine, and find our more about her exciting (and very furry) science fiction series. In new video games, look for Banjo & Kazooie for the Nintendo 64 system. Help Banjo the honeybear and his bird-friend, Kazooie, through the many levels of adventure as they seek to rescue Banjo’s kidnapped girlfriend, Piccolo. For the Sony Playstation, look for Oddworld: Abe’s Odysee and Croc: Legend of the Gobbos. Oddworld presents you with a complex science fiction background, in which the player can be a member of any number of alien species… all of them with only two options: Escape slavery, or become a food animal! In Croc, the heroic reptile must battle everything from boiling lava to sharks to giant bees in order to help save the peaceful island of Gobbo from the evil magician, Baron Dante. Of course, you might also want to check out The Lost World: Jurassic Park game for the Playstation and the Sega Saturn, where in you can actually be a carnivorous dinosaur. Fan artist (and Hugo Award nominee) Brad Foster is the publisher and head writer of The Randy Reviewer, perhaps the only zine dedicated to reviewing erotic, adult-oriented comic books. Issue #7 (from January of this year) featured a lengthy review of the entire Wild Kingdom series from MU Press, while the current issue (#9) features a multi-page look at the Karno’s Klassics series of furry titles by Kjartan Arnorsson. Brad encourages creators of erotic comics, including the furry kind, to send him review copies so that he can help spread the word about them. He can be reached (and Randy Reviewer can be purchased) at Jabberwocky Graphix, P.O. Box 165246, Irving, TX 75016. Obituary: Furry fandom was saddened recently
by the loss of a well-known artist and writer to a stroke. Mark
Wallace had become equally known as Lord William Blackfox in the
Society for Creative Anachronism, and had made a name for himself
by caricaturing many of his fellow SCA people in funny-animal form
through the local kingdom’s newsletter and also through his
own self-published comic strip, Warthaven. More recently he was
the artist and writer of Vixens’ Keep collection, published
in 1995 by MU Press, which again presented the adventures (both
serious and not) of various furries in a realistic medieval setting.
Lord William himself was a face frequently seen about ConFurence
for many years, and he was a personal friend of several members
of our staff. His loss is deeply felt, and mourned by all of us. From the CF Mailbox From: Mike Curtis < shandafa@cyberback.com >: Coming from Shanda Fantasy Arts in January 1998: New Horizons #3 featuring a Colt 45D cover by Terrie Smith and accompanying story by Carl Gafford! Also stories and art by Rommel Karlo C. Ignacio, Steve Addlesee, Dann Phillips, Tanamin, Shawntae Howard, Brock Hoagland, and Mark Merlino (who's he?). Giant Shanda Animal #3: The International Edition features work by creators from around the world. Special cover by Dan Decarlo (Archie). Work by Simon Barber, Noel Williamson, Marko Lane, Jason Gaffney, Charlie Wise, Rommer Karlo C. Ignacio, and Mike Curtis. SFA Spotlights #1 : Valiant Varmints . It's retro-60's superhero team action as Fission Chicken, Bullet Crow, Phantom Bunny, Superswine, Snowbuni, Savage Squirrel, Moon Mouse and Beatrix Farmer battle the menace of Bullethead. Cover by Mike Sagara. Insides by (take a deep breath) J.P. Morgan, Chuck Fiala, Gary Fields, Jeff Wood, Charles Ettinger, Karno, Carl Gafford, Taral Wayne, Carla Speed McNeil, Shane Fisher, and Mike Curtis. SFA Spotlights #2: Women in Fur. All female creator anthology. Cover by Mary Hanson Roberts. Includes works by Roz Gibson, Terrie Smith, Michele Light, Omaha Sternberg, Carla Speed McNeil, Donna Barr, Roberta Gregory, Carole Curtis, and many others. All of the above are 48 pages....$4.50 each. Coming in 1999: Katmandu: The Novel by Carole Curtis. Animal Masks: Anthropomorphics
As Modern Totems, the first history of our And of course… Katmandu by Carole Curtis, Shawntae Howard, and Adrian Kleinbergen. And Shanda the Panda by Mike Curtis, Michele Light, Carla Speed McNeil, Steve Addlesee, and Christina "Smudge" Hanson. Both published bimonthly by Vision Comics.
ConFurence has stuff available! That's
right, The General Store is open for mail-order business! (And, maybe,
coming to an SF con near you! ) We have copies of our Convention Souvenir
Books (featuring black & white furry artwork, plus articles of
furry interest) from ConFurence One ("Coming Out of the Burrow")
or Three ("Furries Around the World") available for $3.00
each; and from ConFurence Six ("Magic and Transformation"),
Seven ("Furries in Force"), and Eight (Music & Mirth/Scalies)
available for $5.00 each. Please include $1.00 for shipping with each
book ordered. Also, we still have copies of the following full-color
prints from ConFurence: The magical "Discovery" print by
Terrie Smith for only $2.00 (11 x 17", tube-shipped); the Five
Fur color prints by Michele Light (along with the "TV show's"
background) for $5.00 a set; Daphne Lage's two full-color prints from
CF6 for $5.00 a set; plus the "Sydney Wants YOU" poster
by David Bliss from CF7 and the "Dragon Song" print by Brian
Harp from CF8, both available for $3.00 each. And, don't forget the
Furry Japan guide, first issue in a planned series of guides to furry-oriented
manga -- yours for only $5.00 plus $2.00 shipping. Such deals! Order
yours today! T-SHIRTS AND STUFF! ConFurence has our t-shirt designs
from CF7 (by Eric Schwartz) and from CF8 (by Michele Light) available
in sizes M - XXXL for $15.00 each. Include $3.00 per shirt for domestic
North American orders, or $5.00 U.S. for overseas post. ... the Lion Sleeps Tonight (The Tokens, et al) And here's a look at Coming Attractions...
ConFurence Nine Progress Report
Hey, look what's on the horizon. It's our ever-expanding line-up of events! Including some old favorites, some new ideas, and some new twists! Back again are the exotic Cabaret Fur le Dance, two special Dance Parties (Club Tekno-Fur and The Purple Nurple Live) plus the popular Fur Dance, The Saturday Night Furry Feed, The Ice Cream Social, The Filk-Writing Contest, The Costume Presentation, the Species SIGs -- More of what you've come to know and love! Keep watching this space for more details, and be on the lookout for some special presentations and lectures. And more! This time the Writer Lounge and Artist Lounge will be joined by a special Fur-Suit Lounge, specially set aside for costume creators to show-you-how in several intensive workshops for amateurs and experienced builders! Also added for ConFurence Nine: Our all-new Variety Show on Friday night for singers, dancers, costumed acts, and – well, whatever else we can find! All the proceeds from tickets to this event will also go to local charity. Hey, know what this means? We need acts! Can you sing? Dance? Make furries laugh? We want you! We’re looking for new acts (that is, stuff you haven’t done at a bunch of other cons or events) to make part of our show… just get together a written proposal (with a resume’), or an audio tape, or a video of what you plan to do, and get it to show coordinator John Cawley on or beforeDecember 1st, 1997. Write to him (or send your materials) care of the ConFurence address, and keep in mind – You need to be ready to come to the run-through rehearsal beforehand on Friday night! And keep in mind – This is a family oriented show, so try and be spiffy about it. If you prefer yiffy over spiffy, maybe try out for Saturday night’s Cabaret Fur le Dance – that old favorite is coming back for another year too! What else is to be going on at ConFurence Nine? Meetings and Round-Table
Discussions (Special Interest Groups or 'SIGs'); Workshops and How-To
Sessions; Videos around the clock in our Video Theater; Computer
art, animation, and ‘netting; Gaming of all sorts; Filking
through the night; Sketching by dozens of furry artists of every
description and style -- and so much more! The rest? That's up to
you and your energy to see help us create! A Word from the Staff about Well-Behaved Furries People of late have been asking us, the staff of ConFurence, about what sort of people we think ought to be attending our convention (and, presumably, what sort of people we think shouldn’t). Frankly, any person willing to put up with our little spin on fandom ought to feel welcome at ConFurence, so long as they are polite and mature enough to behave civily in public places and respect the rights of others – as well as the diversity they’re liable to see. Now then, as to who ConFurence is actually for, there we can be more specific. ConFurence is a convention, seminar, and trade-show put together annually for the enjoyment of two specific groups: 1) Furry Fans, and 2) friends and relations of Furry Fans who can at least tolerate the idea enough to have a good time. That’s about it. If a person really doesn’t fall into either of those categories, chances are they’re just not going to ‘get’ this gathering, and they’re less likely to get along. We are not your standard-issue general SF convention, nor are we one great big dealer’s room for traders and collectors of super-hero comics, nor are we a space for one great big live role-playing game. All of these things can be (and are) aspects of ConFurence, of course – but only under the bigger umbrella of Furry Fandom itself. Like the animals that many of us respect or even try to emulate, the ConFurence attendee needs to learn how to get by when surrounded by a wide variety of life. Think about it: We have furries coming from all age groups, political backgrounds, economic groups, and every nearly every continent on Earth. The ideal is to respect everyone else’s personal space, and ask those around you (as politely as possible) to respect yours. Politeness is the key to everything – all those pointers that your grandmother hopefully gave you still count, and how! In our next In-Fur-Nation and at ConFurence itself, we’re going to print up some basic guidelines and suggestions for what does and doesn’t constitute well-behaved furry-dom when at a convention. Look at them, and try to keep them in mind – and remember, working together we can better make ConFurence enjoyable for everyone, of all stripes and spots! Not to Discriminate against Dragons, but… For the length of ConFurence Nine, we are asking that there be No Smoking in the general convention areas (including the hotel lobby) or in the Lounges, unless you come equipped with a special mechanical smoke-removing filter device. (Yes, they actually make them.) Smoking will be allowed in individual sleeping rooms and other places where the hotel permits it. Just try to keep in mind: ConFurence gets crowded, and there’s only so much oxygen to go around! Super Sponsors are the awesomely excellent furry folk who really want to help out ConFurence -- and who think they deserve something special in return. These special furs are willing to contribute $100.00 or more (which includes their initial memberships) toward a special guest of their choice, or just toward the Guests of Honor in general. Super Sponsors get all the same neat stuff as other Sponsors, plus a few added bonuses! (Write us for details.) Super Sponsors and Guests have their very own V.I.P.-only Lounge -- and wait until you see it! What? Don't have $100.00 sitting around handy? Make installments! That's right, we'll take two payments of $50.00, or four payments of $25.00 -- it still counts you as a Super Sponsor, as long as it totals $100.00 by the time of the con itself. Once again at ConFurence Nine for Sponsors and Supers: We're setting up a special 'Express Registration Line' just for our pre-registered sponsors and super-sponsors. You can bi-pass the rest of the line-up at Con Reg (follow the signs!), and get your badges and other con stuff right away! So Who Are We Sponsoring, Anyhow? An important notice for Sponsors and Super-Sponsors: Keep in
mind that contributions put toward the ‘General Fund’
go toward the transportation, housing, and feeding of our Guests
of Honor only. (Hey, remember, we’ve got our very first GOH
from another continent this year!) Other guests can ask for Sponsorship
as well, but only if people specifically ear-mark a contribution
(or part) toward them, by name. Guests currently looking for Sponsorship
help include puppeteer Steve Plunkett and fan artist Jack Cavanaugh.
Like to help them out? Or someone else you have in mind? Let us
know.
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