Latest Letter: May 22, 2018

Dear Papa Bear, 

I've been in the fandom for quite a while, but also I've been a fan of other things like video games and anime. As I browse through some furry mediums like comics, literature and animation I've noticed something: the action genre is almost non-existent. Someone might argue that there's plenty of action on these mediums, but I would ask if they've even taken nods to stuff like Devil May Cry, Fist of the North Star, Yakuza, Bayonetta, Time Crisis, G-Gundam, Tekken, Guilty Gear, Ys, Die Hard, Streets of Rage, I could go on. The best I could find is this comic series on FA called This Primal World. It's a good read, worth checking out. So my question is, why is action the least tapped-into genre in the furry fandom?

Thanks,
Pete

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Hi, Pete,

I really didn't know the answer to your question, so I asked Watts Martin, who is president of the Furry Writers' Guild. Here is what he wrote back:

Hi! So, I asked around the Furry Writers' Guild Slack and got more or less nothing useful when it comes to furry action comics, and not a lot for action stories/novels; I suspect the problem is that while it's easy to think of "action movies," we don't really talk about comics and especially fiction quite the same way. (Yes, I know Superman first appeared in "Action Comics," but that kinda kicked off "superhero" as a genre, right?)

I can think of a few furry comics off the top of my head that certainly have action in them, at least:

• Dan Abnett & Ian Culbard's "Wild's End," a furry-ish take on "The War of the Worlds"
• Juan Diaz Canales & Juanjo Guarnido's "Blacksad," the pulp detective series
• Stan Sakai's "Usagi Yojimbo," the long-running samurai comic

There are also some now-defunct titles like Shawntae Howard's "Extinctioners" superhero comic and the short lived sci-fi title "Fusion," which included work by Steve Gallacci, Lela Dowling and novelist Steven Barnes.

For fiction, it's a bit easier to find stuff. Bad Dog Books' ebook site, for example, has an Action/Adventure category. Ones I see there I'd consider looking at include:

• Ursula Vernon's Black Dogs duology
• Mark Engels's Always Gray in Winter, a novel about werecats
• Roz Gibson's science fantasy Griffin Ranger duology
• Sasya Fox's sci-fi adventure Theta

Of course, there are other stories that might have a lot of action in them in other genres; Peter might just want to give things a look and see what pops out. Other titles that were mentioned on the Slack include Ryan Campbell's Smiley and the Hero and (ahem) the transhumanist sci-fi novel Kismet, by Watts Martin.

I'm not familiar with "Wild's End," but I am with the Blacksad and Usagi Yojimbo books and they, indeed, have lots of action in them. I was particularly impressed by the Blacksad writing.

Hope that helps,
Papabear

The reason The Furry Book​ (see below) has been delayed is that I had to finish my late husband, Jim's book first. It is now available. If you are interested in California, this is a very fun and informative read.

The Furry Book will be a guide to the fandom for audiences including new furries, experienced furries, family and friends of furries, the media, and the furry curious.

COMING IN 2018!
THE FURRY BOOK
(Cover art by Charleston Rat)

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