The foxes of speculative fiction: Déjà Vu and Flashy the Overlord

Apparently the summer slump is over! Lots of new projects–films, comics, video games, and a surprisingly furry project on Offbeatr…no illustrations from that one, though. This week, two anthro graphic novels, one from an artist on FA, one from a furry outsider.

And then a bunch of other stuff.

Déjà Vu

Déjà Vu is a sci-fi/fantasy, the story of Cal and Saku, a mismatched pair of girls trying to return a corrupt society to its peaceful roots. The overall project–12 comics, each about 32 pages long–promises a complex story, the idea of reforming a world is a lot trickier than saving it…

I’d like to ramble at length about this project, but there’s not a lot of material on it. The artist, Fox Holliday, is unfortunately stingy with the details. She’s sharing pages on FA and through backer updates, and what we can see right now is still in a rough state, but her concept art is clean and approachable, obviously influenced by a manga style but hasn’t sacrificed its soul to it. I’m looking forward to more updates.

Holliday’s Kickstarter campaign is unusual in a few ways. It’s a really tight campaign, with a 20-day countdown to completion, and a fairly high goal for a graphic novel-type KS. Secondly, it’s a PDF form graphic novel with print as its stretch goal. That’s a rare approach, and may cause some friction with the people that shop at the Mall of Kickstarter, though it may be a more realistic approach to a project of this size. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a relaunch of this campaign to fund volume one, or maybe a version backed by one of the big furry publishers–regardless, it’s worth a look for strong artwork and a plot that feels much more human, perhaps ironically for a furry title, than most overly-epic adventure titles.

Flashy the Overlord

I think we’re a little spoiled in the fandom by the interactivity of our little shared world–our imaginary selves can get picked up by an artist, spun into someone else’s shared world, be incorporated into a “your name here” project…besides showing up at conventions and posting to twitter, furries inhabit a shared fictional world. It’s an interesting bit of parallel evolution when someone outside the fandom creates an anthro title and then opens it up to incorporating the plot twists and character concepts of a community of readers. I wonder if the author, Eric Bernadin, knows what kind of door he’s throwing open!

Flashy is the story of the boy who would be king, Flashy, son of the recently deceased lord Gebo, and his path to the throne. Flashy’s world is touched with fantasy–diverse races, strange and dangerous creatures. And it’s a beautiful world–the art may not be to everybody’s tastes, but the delicate splashes and hues of watercolor are unusual in a graphic novel, and the look and feel is of some of my favorite children’s books, minimalist, abstract, but expressive. More pics, please, Mr. Bernadin, we see them scattered around your table. Quit holding out!

Besides the challenges associated with producing a comic, “Flashy” has an agenda of openness, community, and shared world-building. Is this achievable in a print product, limited by one artist’s time and skill? Even Blotch’s “Dog Days of Summer” project had a heck of a time getting to a conclusion, and it was little more than a sexy summer fling “Choose your (or Diego’s) Own Adventure” story. Audience-driven creativity works well when it’s a shared world, but may bog down a solo effort. Still, community-driven world-building in a graphic novel is so rare that it may be unique, and Bernadin is passionate about the challenge.

Note: Images used above are included to promote the work of crowdfunding artists, and are owned by the original creator.

New Projects

Animal Parade (Art. Ends: 9/1/2013)
A faintly creepy interactive art exhibit and collection of colorful, marching animals with huge, staring, dead eyes (All my life I have wanted to be a double-pig early bird. Share this opportunity with me now.)

Rocko, The Christmas Bat (Children’s Products. Ends: 8/21/2013)
Soft and friendly story of a forgotten halloween decoration that wants to be a Christmas decoration.

Jason and the Monster King (Children’s Products. Ends: 9/13/2013)
Children’s graphic novel/ebook in the “kid hero visits dangerous magical otherworld” genre. Cute costumes and main character design!

Déjà Vu (Comics/Graphic Novels. Ends: 8/25/2013)
A sci-fi/fantasy anthro adventure featuring the art of Fox Holliday and lots of canines. (A tight, 20-day Kickstarter campaign, very cool.)

Flashy the Overlord (Comics/Graphic Novels. Ends: 9/4/2013)
A graphic novel with simple watercolor illustrations about, possibly, coming of age and taking the throne in a fantasy kingdom. (There’s a strong interactive element in this project, community-building and writing yourself into the plot. )

The Ballad of Thundercluck, Chicken of Thor (Film/Animation/Theater. Ends: 9/4/2013)
“Half mortal. Half god. All natural chicken.” Short animated film with a celtic style. Ride with Thundercluck into glory!

Sanpomichi, A Little Oze (Film/Animation/Theater. Ends: 9/9/2013)
Stop-motion film of a mouse’s daily life, her habits, her family challenges. Graceful slice-of-life. (I’d love to watch this back-to-back with Blood Tea and Red String. For contrast.)

Havok & Hijinks (Tabletop Games. Ends: 9/24/2013)
A disturbingly cute card game: you play a dragon hatchling that got kicked out of the parent’s den, and now it’s time to find your OWN hoard!

The Kingdom (Toys. Ends: 9/4/2013)
Epic adventure with anthro monkey warriors–first graphic novel series, now a line of action figures.

Edo Superstar (Video Games. Ends: 9/5/2013)
Monkey-on-monkey fighting game with an ancient Japanese flavor from the maker of Yukiyoe Heroes (favorite video game characters as ancient Japanese block woodcuts.) (Honestly, I really don’t care about the game. I want the SWAG.)

No Good Deed: A Macrophilic Choose-Your-Own-Adventure (Adult. Offbeatr voting period)
A multi-ending illustrated book-on-CD, with transformations, macro growth, and the occasional demigod. And lots of naked giant dragon critters. (Look for DNA‘s work on FA.)

Out-Rigged Project (…Meh. Ends: 9/12/2013)
I wholeheartedly believe there’s an anthro video game concept in this wacky mish-mash of vague ideas, furry denial, wiki references, and typos…

Dog houses for rescued wolf-dogs (…Causes. Ends: 8/24/2013)
Project Pawsitive’s campaign to raise money to upgrade wolfdog repair and shelters at the Loki Clan Wolf Refuge.

Deck of Legends (…Just For Fun. Ends: 9/6/2013)
A tarot-sized deck of “standard” playing cards with fantasy artwork, for play and props in RPG tabletop games. More of the artist’s work on DA.

Metroid: Enemies Within (…Just For Fun. Ends: 9/8/2013)
Metroid fans give the Nintendo franchise short film treatment. Impressive work so far!

La Divina Caricatura (…Just For Fun. Ends: 10/1/2013)
An American Bunraku-style (Japanese puppet theater) production, a pop opera with a few beautifully done anthro puppets, worth a visit to the IGG for the characters.

the ultimate guide to life (…Just For Fun. Ends: 10/10/2013)
A strangely compelling film journey into a land of cynical, satan-led anthro pigs, vaguely season 2 Southpark, snarky and low-budget. (Well, not just pigs, this is an anthology film, but the two clips thusfar are both pretty fun. Others may vary in quality.)

 

Art

Hunter Clark’s Sublime Creatures (Ends: 9/1/2013)
(NSFW) An artsy collection of animal-headed women, artistic nudes of mothers, mothers-to-be, and madonnas.
More about the beauty of the pregnant female body combined with animal symbolism than hybrids and anthros, but an interesting take on hybrids and lots of African carnivores.

Clothing/Costumes

Woof — Dog Themed Pinback Buttons (Ends: 8/25/2013)
Cute, quirky, 1.25-inch buttons for your jacket or whichever. Cute little guys! Cats too.
Scroll down a little, the “extra dog” pins are adorable :) Watch the artist on DeviantArt or FA

HouseBROKEN Clothing’s New Designs (Ends: 9/2/2013)
New additions to Housebroken‘s tee line–amost exclusively, sharp-dessed animal designs.
I’m wearing Pussy Enforcer on casual day this week.

Piki Charms (Ends: 9/21/2013)
Tiny charms for phones, etc, with an amazing range of designs, by DrawWithLaura
The goal is a little high for the nature of this product, but it’s to fund some business capital equipment. But it’s fixed-funding, so no accidental scams.

Comics/Graphic Novels

Of Mice and Madness: Tails from Out There! (Ends: 8/15/2013)
The adventures of the mouse bounty hunter Othello and his trusted if dim cat steed as they travel the galaxy in search of riches.
More galleries and info at ofmiceandmadness.com.

Birdland (Ends: 8/22/2013)
A comic set in New York City, thick with jazz, noir, murder, and anthropomorphic birds

Owlgirls (Ends: 9/1/2013)
A “paranormal detective” genre comic, three shadowy sisters touched by the goddess of Death. Oh, they have owl heads.

Caribbean Blue: Volume 2 (Ends: 9/2/2013)
Cat-girls and girl-cats on a tropical island in this colorful manga-style webcomic-turned-print.

Danger Squad (Ends: 9/9/2013)
Sci-Fi Comedy featuring a crazy captain and malajusted crew, and a nice range of anthro characters and villians.

Woof Yorkers (Ends: 9/12/2013)
Cartoons from the dog park, a “keep the site alive” campaign from Woofyorkers.com
I’m on the fence on this one. Occasionally clever, occasionally cute, but it’s no “Housepets.”

Events

DerpyCon South (Ends: 8/14/2013)
Fundraising for Year 1 of DerpyCon South: the New Orleans Brony convention!

Film/Animation/Theater

Cat’s View Feature Film (Ends: 8/21/2013)
A crime thriller filmed from a cat witness’s point of view, along with information about the life of a feral cat, trap/neuter/return projects, etc.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Blood Brothers (Ends: 8/23/2013)
A short, live-action TMNT film with some amazing props already in the works.
From the people who brought you Marvel Zombies: The Movie: The Trailer…. Disorienting KS video, total lack of business plan, but nice mock-ups.

Anthro: Animating the Soul (Ends: 8/27/2013)
A documentary look at beloved anthro characters and their creators.
Stitchfan has broken this project up into a series of small-goal IGGs, interesting model and I hope to see it succeed!

Werewolves of Predatory Moon (Ends: 9/1/2013)
Indie low-budget “creature feature” with a pack of werewolves and a commitment to costumes rather than CGI.
I can’t imagine what their faux hair budget is. Check the Predatory Moon website for more images.

BiPolar Bears (Ends: 9/1/2013)
Animated series about manic and depressive polar bear twins Manny and Preston (orderilies in a psych institute), the Post-Traumatic Puffins, Randolf the Alcoholic Reindeer, and other friends.
Bleah. The promo vid is “join me in my philosophy” rather than “here’s this cool product idea.” That plus very high goal/60-day campaign is a bad sign.

Tabletop Games

Room Party: The Game (Ends: 8/15/2013)
A card game about building the MOST AWESOME room party at the con. Concept by the artists of BLOTCH (and stretch goal Furry Con expansion to be drawn by Blotch.)
Reminds me a bit of “Chez Geek,” silly people, silly situations, accumulating cool points.

Zoo Fu: Path of the Samurai Zookeeper (Ends: 8/17/2013)
A silly card game of fighting zoo animals, martial arts, and shouting.
I really want to play a game where you get points by shouting “Crouching Gecko Kick of DOOOOOOM!”

Ponies for Pathfinder Setting Handbook (Ends: 8/24/2013)
A MLP-inspired tabletop RPG setting handbook–inspired by, but not derivitive of.
You may want to look at the Ponies for Pathfinder Racebook first. The writer seems to have tried to create a legitimate stand-alone product, not a MLP mashup or comedy piece. So, points for a clear goal.

Toys

Gothitropolis Raven Action Figure (Ends: 8/12/2013)
Six action figures of 6-inch anthro birds in gothic fantasy inspired armor, with stretch goals for several more within reach.

Video Games

Questria: Princess Destiny (Ends: 8/18/2013)
A life simulation game with very familiar characters, human versions of the “mane six” from My Little Pony.

Fable Kart (Ends: 9/1/2013)
Multiplayer kart game in which the hare, turtle, and lots of animal friends crash and zoom around as they try to rescue the pages from Aesop’s storybook.

No Signal (Ends: 9/12/2013)
Open-world story-driven RPG: Somewhere there is a universe in peril, a universe of plumbers with hammers, ninja tortoises, and dark urban knights. And you must save this universe. Except that your brain has been yanked out and put into a stuffed bear.
$100,000 goal? Really?

Adult

Chimera Labs (Ends: 8/27/2013)
Lovingly–that’s the word–detailed adult toys by Kharnak
I would like to meet the fennec fox that had one of those. They don’t usually grow that big…

Roundscape: Adorevia (Ends: 9/10/2013)
An ambitious and smutty narrative-driven free-to-play 2D sprite game, looking for some floating decimal point between the hentai fandom and “Lord of the Rings.”
I don’t think Lord of the Rings had quite as many money shots. Is this a furry project? Not really, but poster Kaliyo tells me that we can expect furry companions and transformations. We’ll see.

…Meh

Jax the Cat (Ends: 9/1/2013): A children’s comic series of talking cats, and a few talking mice. Very Don Bluth, and like Bluth’s work a mixture of charm and pain.

…Causes

Wildcats of the World (Ends: 8/25/2013): A web-based interactive resource to spread awareness of the remaining sildcat species.
Save Virachey Park (Ends: 9/10/2013): Campaign to install motion-trigger cameras in Virachey park, Cambodia, to show it’s a worthwhile preserve of endangerd species. Do it for the dholes!