Other web comics?

[Rafe]

I'm still trying to think of more web comics - furry if possible - with serious romantic relationships like Two Kinds, and I'm kind of surprised at how few there are - at least that I can think of. But there was one comic that occurred to me an excellent one, that seems to have everything you're looking for - adventure, serious drama, and while it isn't horribly graphic, sex, violence and death. Whenever someone suggests that some serious furry comic, Two Kinds for instance, would make a great TV series or movie, some voices always come up with "yeah, but you'd never get the general public to accept furry characters in 'adult situations'. They'll never accept a book, (or film, or stage production) like that." Well guess what, they already did, and people loved it.

What I'm talking about is a comic called The Adventures of Sharp-Ears the Vixen. One catch, it wasn't a web comic, it was a newspaper comic, and there isn't much you can find of it on the internet in that form. But, this comic was so well loved that it was printed in novel form, then made into an opera, and in 2005, the BBC made it into a film, The Cunning Little Vixen. Maybe the most amazing thing, especially when you look at the content of story and it looks like a typical "adult" furry web comic, is that it was written in 1920. The book version came out in 1923 (winning several awards). In all that time, 90 years, the novel has NEVER been out of print. Even Ernest Hemmingway can't say that. So yes, there are serious furry books that can be called Great Literature.

Some details about the story: The main character, Sharp-Ears the Vixen, seems to have a lot in common with Natani. She is captured by a human (a forester named Bartos) as a youngster and never sees her family again. To Bartos, she is a pet (she refers to herself as his "adopted daughter") however, the forester's wife doesn't like her, the children tease her, the dog lusts after her, and finally, the when the chickens insult her - she starts killing them. When she's discovered she escapes to the forest. Sharp-Ears is not exactly likable. She's manipulative and a control-freak. She goes back and steals food from the forester's house. She takes a den from a badger in a using her 'femininity' in very disgusting way. But she starts to change - she thinks of all the the things she's done, and realizes that no one loves her, and how alone she is, and she becomes horribly depressed.

Part of her problem is that she's fiercely independent, and like Natani, hates being controlled, even by her own body. Several times, when she outwitted the forester, he warned her that "one day, you'll come into heat, and you'll be too crazy to think clearly". She always scoffed at this idea, refusing to believe that she could ever let herself be that way. But at the same time she dealing with her loneliness and depression, she's also maturing sexually, and is confused and scared by it. With all this going on, she meets a muscular, handsome male fox ("Dear God!, He's so Gorgeous!", she says to herself) and starts to let her guard down (a little, anyway). Then she starts having disturbing sexual fantasies, which (maybe because she was raised as a Catholic fox) bring tears of shame to her eyes. An excerpt:

"Sharp-Ears Has Impure Thoughts"

[Sharp-Ears] slipped into bed. But she could not fall asleep. She lay on her back, smoothed out her tail, and stretched all four legs.
"Am I really pretty?" she asked herself. "What is nice about me?"
She was sorry that he had kissed the tip of her tail, where she had the ugly scar from the forester's trap. With shaking paws she gently touched her breast and turned over again. But her thoughts gave her no peace. She sat up, examined her whole figure with curiosity, and with a strict glance measured her hips. She smiled happily.
"I'm not that bad, after all."
She began to doze off contentedly when suddenly her eyes stared again. Some very strange fantasies had begun to plague her. Her head was full of wonderfully beautiful but at the same time horribly repulsive thoughts. God knows where they were coming from. Shame brought tears to her eyes. Why, she had caught herself puckering up her lips in sleep as if "fie!" as if she were trying to kiss someone!
She picked up some pebbles and began to pray fervently, as Mama Fox had taught her. She said as many Our Fathers as there
were pebbles.
Calmed at last, she dozed off into a chaste sleep.



Have a picture, the original comic art vs. a capture from the 2005 film.

Well, sorry about the wall of text here. Might actually edit on some more details if anyone cares. For now, here's a link to a NY Times review of the English edition of the book:
http://www.nytimes.com/1985/11/24/books ... gewanted=1
and a link to the film, which is an: animated version of the opera (Fantastic music by Leos Janacek, but a few major changes in the book's story):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPSiQaujbTY

[graufuchs]

@Rafe

Awesome post, and great mini-review! Thanks for bringing up this great story. I saw a fantastic production of that opera in Houston and now I'm looking forward to reading the original.

Your description of Sharp-Ears's character and the comparison to Natani (which I had never considered until now) was especially thought-provoking.

Just going by the opera, I was struck by how Sharp-Ears was caught between human/fox and male/female. She's very proud of having been "properly brought up" by humans, and it's not just in her mind--the Forester seems to think of her as a kind of foster-daughter, and there's even a weird implied sexual vibe between the two. Sharp-Ears uses (and enjoys) her femininity and foxiness to the max, but also rants about not being taken seriously because "she's just a vixen!" She lures the hens by giving an impassioned speech on fox/chicken female solidarity against human/male oppression--and then finishes by killing her audience! Sharp-Ears eventually dies because she hangs around ranting to an armed hunter about how he doesn't take her seriously because "she's just a vixen," while her mate and cubs urge her to run away like any normal fox ought to do in such a situation. The hunter just shoots her. The opera ends with the Forester mournfully wandering the forest, lamenting his lost daughter. It's a very, very, weird story--and I found it unforgettable.

[Rafe]

Thanks graufuchs,
Sounds like you were really paying attention to the opera (and congratulations, I've never seen it live myself). The N.Y. Philharmonic produced it a couple of years ago the same week as Anthrocon. I wonder if some furry had a hand in the scheduling. But it goes to show how much people love this story. The story goes that the composer Leos Janacek (one of the greatest composers of the last 100 years) was working in his study, when he heard his housekeeper laughing hysterically. He went to see what she was laughing at, and she explained she was reading Sharp-Ears. "Sharp-Ears? What Sharp-Ears?" "Oh, aren't you reading it? It's by Mr. Tesnohlidek, from the Lidove Noviny paper." He started reading it and instantly became a fan.

The comic had a strange origin. It takes place right after WWI in Brno, 40 miles north of Vienna in what's now the Czech Republic. It actually started with the artist Stanislav Lolek. He was a modestly famous illustrator who made beautiful wildlife paintings. A newspaper editior was visiting with him, looking for ideas for his illustrated paper, and he found Lolek's cartoony drawings of a mischievous vixen, that he had drawn years before. He took them back and handed them to writer Rudolf Tesnohlidek, and asked him to come up with text for Lolek's art. Tesnohlidek outdid himself with the beautiful story of Sharp-Ears.

Janacek was in his 60s when he wrote the opera. He was a youthful sort (especially with women, apparently), but he very much identified with the grandfatherly forester character, who was looking back on his early life, seeing the young Vixen and dealing with her reminds him of how life continues. Janacek emphasized the emotional connections between them, and the whole "circle of life" they are part of.

For Tesnohlidek the writer and Lolek the artist, the comic and novel made them famous. Janacek was already famous. The Cunning Little Vixen became, to him anyway, his favorite and most meaningful work. And when he died in 1928, out of all his many works, at his funeral, they played the music he had written about the life of a vixen. In the woods, near Janacek's birthplace in Hukvaldy is a statue - not of Janacek, but of Sharp-Ears. Not many fictional characters get that honor, especially furry ones. Her nose and tail are shiny. Apparently people can't resist climbing up and petting her.



More about the novel. Since we don't seem to be worried about spoilers, I'll mention that in the book, Sharp-Ears doesn't die. And to get back to Two Kinds comparisons, I'll show an example of a romantic scene. A lot has been said about how hard it would be to get Keith and Natani to overcome all their emotional baggage and decide they could love each other. Sharp-Ears has much the same fear of losing her independence and self control as Natani does. The male fox here, named Golden-Stripe, has another problem. The more he finds out about Sharp-Ears, her independence, her bravery, the fact she lived with humans, the more he loves her, but also the more in awe he is of her, and the the more he thinks she is out of his class. The background to all of this is that both are desperately lonely and afraid to admit they love each other. Here's the wonderfully awkward scene where they admit it:

“Have you ever loved?” asked Golden-Stripe cautiously.
“Noooo,” she answered shyly, “Have you? A lot?”
"No! Never!"
"Why not?"
"Because I have not yet found someone whom I could respect, for whom I would give my life. But if I should find one like that, then . . ."
"And then?" asked Sharp-Ears with a catch in her throat.
"Then, without hesitating, I would say to her, Do you love me? Do you want me?"
Sharp-Ears was close to fainting. Her breath failed and she felt all four feet scrambling together. He embraced her just in time to keep her from falling.
"You are silent," said Golden-Stripe after some moments.
"Let go of me," begged Sharp-Ears, for his yellow eyes burned her and his paw around her waist felt like hot iron. "Let go of me, please let go of me, I'm afraid of you. You're horrible!"
"I'll let go if you wish, but I'm afraid you will fall."
"Take me back home!" she begged.
"Right away," he said, and now his heart was pounding, as hers had been earlier.
"Go away. I don't want to see you again. I'm afraid of you. You're terrible."
He let go of her, but he looked at her sadly and spoke: "Why don't you go—go and take away my happiness. You will ruin me, crush me. I don't want to live without you, not even one more day."
"Really? Why didn't you say that before?" she blurted out, and wiped her snout. She was melting with emotion, unable to move even a half step away from him.
"Yes, really. I've fallen in love with you, Sharp-Ears. It's you I love, you, my only one."
“Me, me," she whispered and sobbed. "Why me? Why me in particular?"
"Because you're just like the one I've always wanted. I'm not a liar, I'm not a sly, deceitful fox, Sharp-Ears, and I'm telling you what I've been carrying in my heart since yesterday. It's not your body, it's your soul I love. You are magnificent! Don't laugh, don't shake your head, you'll see, my Sharp-Ears! Novels will be written about us, and there will be people silly enough to read them to the end. Don't run away. Sit here beside me."
Sharp-Ears could not protest. She sat down, and Golden-Stripe grabbed her in his powerful embrace, pulled her gently onto his lap, and kissed her. Just as the raindrops fall, again and again his kisses fell.
"Don't cry. I, too, will cry for joy, my beautiful Sharp-Ears. Do you want me?"
She answered humbly, "I do."

[Rafe]

It just occurred to me, I didn't mention that the title of the novel in English is The Cunning Little Vixen - same as the opera, but different from the comic. The English version was illustrated by Maurice Sendak, who also designed costumes for a performance of the opera in the 1980s. The book uses some of these costume illustrations, along with new artwork. The Sendak illustrations might also explain reports that people have found this book in the children's section of libraries, despite the fact it's definitely not a for kids. This edition come out in 1985, and is pretty easy to find on Amazon or wherever.

And it's also still well loved all over the world. Here's what the English, Italian, French German and Czech versions look like:



Whichever version you see, the book, the film, whatever, the characters and stories are fairly consistent. But the book is my favorite, because it takes you deep into the Vixen's thoughts, which can be very profound and moving. And once again, for a very good view of the book, read the NY Times review here:

http://www.nytimes.com/1985/11/24/books ... gewanted=1

[sandman]

I remembered something from a decade ago (and I see it's still there!) that might be what you're looking for. It's called Badly Drawn Kitties. http://www.badlydrawnkitties.com
It's very raunchy but it's VERY funny. The sort of humor that hits you with an iron mallet.... but not always immediately. I remember reading one and trying and TRYING to figure out what just happened and then going to the next page and then suddenly getting what happened on the previous one and being unable to stop laughing for like 10 seconds. And unlike vg cats (which is also very funny) it has a story continuity.

[DeadZone]

A few newer ones include:

Those Unknowable: The Shadows Over Innsmouth
http://tsoi.thecomicseries.com/comics/
I dont know if furries would be the right term for these 'people' and so far no romance but i can definitely see it happening in the future

And

Ray Fox
http://www.rayfoxthecomic.com/comic/not ... o-page-39/
No humans as of yet but everything else is there - and though keep in mind that this particular webcomic is barely off the ground I see great things in its future.

[Scow2]

I second DMFA, though it's wholly furry. It doesn't have much by means of actual Romance, but it does have a few romantic themes (Pyroduck and Alexi, Dan and Matilda, and the crush the intermittently-appearing Genesis has on the now-absent Merlitz. Oh, and Merlitz+Aary, while that lasted. And Wildy's trying to ship Jyrras and Abel something hard.)

Freefall does have a romance between Florence Ambrose and Winston Thurmad, though given how separated everyone gets and the ponderous pace, it doesn't have an extensive amount of development (But what development it does have is absolutely excellent) But it's mostly sci-fi, with badly-dated political references strewn all over the place (And some that are alarmingly still relevant)

And the Katbox comics are nice too, with some pretty talented artists. Though I can't follow them all.