Time Flies like an Arrow…
And it’s time of another edition of In-Fur-Nation, your newsletter of things Furry and Fantastic. ConFurence is happy to announce our guests of honor for our fifth outing in January of 1993! But we’ll hold you in suspenders for that part a little bit, as we bring you the news of the times…
Recently brought to our attention is TurtleCon. That’s right, the first one-day gathering dedicated to the Ninja Turtles! Guests include Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird, Eric Talbot, Mark Bode, and several others from the Turtle crew. The event will be held from 10 am to 4 pm on Sunday, August 23rd at the Portsmouth Sheraton, Portsmouth, Massachusetts. For more information, write to Mirage Press at P.O. Box 486, Northampton, MA 01061.
Events at WorldCon: Remember, MagicCon (the world science fiction convention in Orlando Florida from September 3 – 7) will be the location of ConFurence 3.5 and TransFurence 0. This combined east coast/west coast furry suite will be open throughout the days an into the nights, offering all the best of a really souped-up furry party. (Speaking of which, the folks staying in the furry suites are looking for roomies to help split the costs — and it’s inexpensive too! Call the ConFurence message phone at (714) 530-1312 for more info.)
MU Press has several new anthropomorphic titles on the stands now. Among them are the first issue of Shanda the Panda (by Mike Curtis and Mike Sagara), a contemporary look at relationships through the lives of an anthropomorphic cast; the second anthology of stories in the Furkindred universe, dubbed Otter Madness (with stories and art by Perkins, Smith, Hudson, Melville, Shiffman, Pounds, Alfonso, et al); the fantasy spoof Champion of Katara by ConFurence 3 Guest of Honor Chuck Melville; a surreal collection of critters and cars from animator Mike Kazaleh called Mean Green Bondo Machine; and a pair of interesting one-shots: ZU (humorous stories by Deal Whitley, Will Faust, Tom Stazer, Roberta Gregory, Phil Yeh, Dean Graf & Terrie Smith, and others); and Beauty of the Beasts (featuring pin-up art of several furry females by the likes of Mike Raabe, Monica Livingston, Terrie Smith, Teri S. Wood, several Disney animators, and others). All of this should be available at your local comic book shop, or, write to MU Press at 5014-D Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle, WA 98105.
Also available now from MU Press is Wild Kingdom, an anthology comic book of erotic ‘adult’ furry stories. The premiere issue features stories and art by Paul Kidd, Terrie Smith, Edd Vick, Diana Vick, and Steve Gallacci. Check it out at your local comic shop, or contact MU Press at the above address.
Space Wolf by Dan Flahive, previously run as a back-up feature in Albedo, is soon to be released as an independent three-issue miniseries by Antarctic Press. The series will feature reprints of the origin of Space Wolf as it appeared in Albedo, along with new art and dialogue, as well as extra pages previously edited out. Each issue will also feature a ‘rogues gallery’ of Space Wolf characters, with character and society background notes. Antarctic Press can be reached at P.O. Box 290221, San Antonio, TX 78280-1621.
An interesting new furry comic on the scene is Scrap City Pack Rats, by Mark Medford and Jay Piscopo. The set-up is a familiar one: Three ordinary rats are mutated by science into human-sized sentient critters. The difference is, this team of super-critters is handicapped: One member is blind, one is deaf, and one is a paraplegic. These three rats combine there brains and other talents, along with plenty of special, to help out people in trouble. This puts them right in competition with the dreaded and over-marketed Ice Age Sabre-Toothed Karate Gerbils! The project has been release under the guidance of Goodwill Industries, who have incorporated the comic into a program to raise the self-esteem of handicapped kids — and the awareness of others.
A new black-and-white comic title receiving a lot of good word-of-mouth is Bone, by Jeff Smith. In it, three rather schmoo-like critters (Fone Bone, Phoney Bone, and Smiley Bone) travel from their native land into a forest filled with magical creatures, unusual people and horrible danger. The book has been receiving favorable comparisons to Walt Kelly’s Pogo all over the place. Check for it at your local comic shop, or write to Cartoon Books, P.O. Box 212, Worthington, OH 43805.
Two upcoming anthropomorphic titles to look out for are Tall Tales from Daphne Lage, and “Dream Weavers” from Matthew Lunsford (both from Golden Realm Unlimited). Both these titles will be previewed in Revelations! from GRU this October.
Recommended Comic Shop — ConFurence supporter and sponsor Richard Brooks has recommended the Comic & Gaming Exchange in Sunrise, Florida as “the place to go if you want a wide selection of comics, videos, gaming stuff, whatever”. They’re located at 8432 W. Oakland Park Blvd., Sunrise, FL 33351. Drop by if you’re in the area.
A new furry-themed APA (amateur press association) has been created for Canadian Furfans, entitled Fur-Thest North. The zine is planned for a quarterly publication. Members must be 18 years old or above, and membership is currently limited to 35. Contact Growl (Paul Groulx — Editor) at the Enchanted Workshop, RR #1, Frankford, Ontario, Canada K0K 2C0.
Another furry fanzine, digest-sized with an interactive story-writing format, is Furr-thest Star, out of Georgia. Contact Camri Graphics, c/o Brian Douglas Shadrix, 4145 Berkely Lake Rd., Duluth, GA 30136-3017.
And, yet another furry APA is Midnight Sonata, an interactive story zine involving the adventures of a crew of largely anthropomorphic characters on the run from an interstellar war. For more information, send an SASE or IPC to Ryujin Productions, 552 S. Paula, Wichita, KS 67209-1617.
The Furry Press Network (FPN), an anthropomorphic APA, has moved to Idaho as of earlier this year. Also, FPN now has supporting memberships for those who would like to receive it, but do not wish to contribute on a regular basis. For complete information, send an SASE or IPC to Cat Otter, 2204 S. Indiana #4, Caldwell, ID 83605.
The New Affurmative Action, a planned bi-monthly fanzine of amateur anthropomorphic comics, is currently seeking submissions. For more information or to receive a submissions guideline, send a #10 SASE or IPC to The New Affurmative Action c/o Dave Peyton (editor and publisher), P.O. Box 10144, Austin, TX 78766-1144.
Furplay #1, noted last issue, has gone into its second printing, and now available is Furplay #2. Both issues feature artwork by Jerry Collins, Brian Sutton, Phil Folio, Brian O’Connell, Taral Wayne, and others, and are available for $3.75 postage paid. Also available is Midnight Sands, a portfolio of furry artwork dedicated to “ladies of the harem”, for $4.75 postage paid. Midnight Sands will be a limited print run of 100, which will not be re-printed. Checks should be made out and addressed to Michael Hirtes, 2623 So. 13th Street, Council Bluffs, IA 51501-7515.
(From Robert Deighton, Yorkshire, England)
No doubt you’ll know that Jeff Ferris, Fred Patten, Kris Kreutzman, Jim Groat, Edd Vick and Monika Livingston weren’t present at the last ConFurence because they were in France at the Angouleme Comics Festival. But that’s not all. These fine people were present at the first ‘event’ of its kind in England — Unofficially called the “U.K. MicroConFurence”. Actually, it was more of an informal get together whilst they stopped off en route back to the states, held at the residence of Ian Curtis at Yateley, in Surrey. But at least it was a chance to all six British Furfans (yes, six!) to meet some of the legends of Furrydom. Even though it was an extremely small affair, I felt privileged to be able to meet, and get to know closely, our U.S. visitors. We were able to buy lots of stuff like comics, zines, etc. which were usually impossible to find here; the artistically inclined even got involved in an ‘artists masterclass’ (and a ‘juggling masterclass’ with Mr. Kreutzman!). And above all, we talked — and boy, did we do a lot of that! We even had a kind of ‘Furry Party’ at a local pub, where we did more talking, and more drawing as well. I don’t know if we’ll ever have anything like that again (unless anthropomorphics really takes off here like is has in the U.S.), and I know I’ll never afford to go to a ConFurence proper, but it was an event I’ll never forget.
As noted in the April In-Fur-Nation, the soundtrack album to the Walt Disney Pictures 1987 film “Adventures of the Great Mouse Detective” (music by Henry Mancini) has been released. Now, hot on those heels Disney has finally released “Mouse Detective” on home video, with a laser disc release to follow soon.
This looks to be a good year for furries on TV, at least as far as Saturday morning and syndicated channels are concerned. Among the new entries — Fievel’s American Tail (based on the movie and sequel); Disney’s Raw Toonage, an anthology show featuring the live action/animated mix Bonkers and the adventures of the Marsupillami (from a famous French comic); Goof Troop, also from Disney; C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa; Eek the Cat from “savage” Steve Holland; and a re-made version of the classic Crusader Rabbit series. Plus the return of shows like Grimmy (formerly Mother Goose & Grimm), Garfield, Ninja Turtles, The Bugs & Tweety Show, Darkwing Duck, Tiny-Toons, and Taz-mania!
(Special thanks to Jed Martinez of Elmont, New York, for his great help in compiling info on new comics and TV shows!)
(From David Bliss, Riverside, California, USA)
Anicom (A group of “FANamators” put together for this project) is making a four minute animated short in the style of the Daicon films for public access T.V., and needs your help. We are looking for inkers, painters, in-betweeners, background artists, people with experience in 16mm film making, and most of all ANIMATORS. We can’t guarantee you wealth from working on this project (those involved are paying for it out of their own pockets, and copyright restrictions will keep us from selling copies), just a little bit of egoboo and the satisfaction of a job well done. Plus of course the experience you will gain from working on the film. If you would be interested in working on this project, or would just like more information, contact David Bliss at Anicom, P.O. Box 70014, Riverside, CA 92513.
Touch #2, the magazine of adult relationships in Furry and Fantasy, is still available from ConFurence for $7.00 postage paid. And now, we proudly present Touch #3, with new stories by Watts Martin, Ed Kline and Kishma, Mitchell Biero, and Mark Merlino; and artwork by Kyla Littlejohn, Ed Kline, Mitchell Biero, and Bill Fitts!
Advertising in In-Fur-Nation: For those who’ve been asking, ads in In-Fur-Nation come in two sizes: 1/8-page “business card” size for $5.00 per issue, and 1/4-page size (4 1/2″ tall by 3 1/4″ wide) for $10.00 per issue. Check should be made out to ConFurence. Send camera-ready art and text to P.O. Box 1958, Garden Grove, CA 92642-1958.
Errata and Goofusses…
In our review of ConFurence Three, we somehow left out the name of one of our guests (John Cawley of Get Animated) and one of our sponsors (Paul Groulx of Ontario). We heartily apologize! Simply an oversight on the part of our writers…
Sightings
Our thanks to the folks at Antarctic Press, for including information about and a plug for ConFurence in the latest issue of Furrlough. And, our thanks to the folks at M.U. Press, for working in a spot about In-Fur-Nation in several of their titles.
Fruit Flies like a banana…
And now, on to the
ConFurence Four Progress Report
We’ve been hitting a lot of conventions recently, passing out the word and letting people know about ConFurence. We may well be appearing soon at a convention near you! For now, we’ll keep you up to date with the latest happenings for ConFurence Four.
Your Special Guests!
We are proud as anything to announce our special guests for the next ConFurence gathering. They are: Mercedes Lackey, Larry Dixon, and Ken Fletcher.
Mercedes Lackey
She is one of the fastest rising and most prolific authors in the field of high fantasy today! Beginning with the Arrows of the Queen and Last Herald-Mage series, “Misty” (as friends know her) has gone on to not only to write numerous best-sellers herself, but has collaborated with some of the grandmasters of science fiction and fantasy. Names like Andre Norton and Anne McCaffery. And throughout, her stories have been distinguished by well-rounded characters and relationships, and a host of imaginative creatures. Folks like the horse-like Companions from the Herald-Mage series, and the shape-shifting dragons from Elvenbane. And on top of all that, she is well-known throughout filk fandom as a prolific songwriter. (More info about Mercedes can be obtained through her fan club, The Queen’s Own, at P.O. Box 43143, Upper Montclair, NJ 07043.) ConFurence is pleased and proud to welcome Ms. Lackey as our guest for one of her few west-coast appearances!
Larry Dixon
In addition to his many other accomplishments, Larry has the distinction of being Mercedes Lackey’s husband. Prior to and since that big step, Larry has been well-known for his crisp black-and-white illustrations in such diverse locations as TSR Publications (Dragon magazine), the comic book Fusion, and the cover of Origin Game’s Wing Commander II. More recently, he’s turned to book illustration, putting pictures in several of Mercedes’ books (like Elvenbane, Winds of Fate, and Winds of Change) and recently completing a cover for Baen Books. More recently still he’s turned to writing, collaborating with Mercedes on several projects and creating the Serrated Edge series. On top of all that, Larry has been Artist Guest of Honor at more than two dozen conventions, and Toastmaster at a handful more. Whew! And now you get to meet him yourself, at ConFurence Four!
Ken Fletcher
He was one of the infamous instigators of the Funny Animal Liberation Front in Minneapolis in the 1970’s (along with Reed Waller, one of our special guests from ConFurence Two). The FALF was instrumental in the creation of Vootie, the very first amateur press association (APA) dedicated to funny animals. And the very first editors were Ken and Reed. Ken has been active in numerous aspects of cartoon fandom and science fiction fandom for years. Come and let him fill you in on how folks did things before! We might all learn something.
Your Place of Residence
We have moved next year’s gathering to the spacious Red Lion Inn Orange County Airport in Costa Mesa. Located across the street from the location of ConFurence Zero and One, the Red Lion Inn is part of a large chain which has built a larger reputation for their friendliness toward science fiction and fantasy conventions. With its huge seven-story atrium, glass elevators, and two levels of convention space, the Red Lion Orange County is truly a sight to behold! What’s more, ConFurence has booked one entire floor of meeting rooms, away from the rest of the hotel. Our floor has access directly to the parking garage, making the loading and unloading of costumes or dealer supplies a snap! The Red Lion Inn has a pool, an exercise room, nightly entertainment, and is located just one block south of South Coast Plaza — the Queen of Malls! ConFurence at the Red Lion even offers a Presidential Hospitality Suite –complete with hot tub! And you get all of this for the price of rooms back at ConFurence One! That’s just $65.00 nightly for singles/doubles, $75.00 nightly for triples and quads, and $85.00 nightly for the Executive Level (lots of cool perks). For reservations, call (714) 540-7000, and be sure to tell them you’re with ConFurence Four!
Your Dealers’ Den
We’ve managed to fit in even more space for dealers at the new hotel! Comics, art prints, T-shirts, books, toys, music, costumery, and many other items of interest to the well-rounded furry fan will be on hand and for sale. For dealers, full 6 ft. by 2 1/2 ft. tables sell for only $50.00 with two full memberships included, and additional tables are only $20.00. Or, half-tables (3 ft. by 2 1/2 ft.) sell for only $30.00, with one full membership included. Contact Rod O’Riley at ConFurence for more dealers’ information.
Outside of the Dealers’ Den is the Artist Alley, a less formal (and cheaper!) gathering place for creative people to show off and sell their stuff. Half-tables (same as above) are available free of charge, on a daily first-come, first reserved basis. Sign-ups are first thing each morning, so come early!
Your Art Show
Plainly put, the ConFurence Four Art Show will be the biggest yet! At very least, in square footage! And once again we’re expecting to grow into our available space, giving you even more drawings, paintings, sculpture, displays, prints, and other stuff to tempt your wallet. Once again, with the standard demand for space at a ConFurence Art Show, not to mention our never-full policy, we’re requesting that anyone planning to sell art through our show please register your total number of panel/table spaces with us prior to the convention. Remember, one 4 ft. by 4 ft. horizontal or vertical space is available free with your paid attending or supporting membership, but we need to know if you intend to use it! Additional 4 by 4 ft. spaces are available for only $5.00 each, but we need to know how many you’ll need, whether it’s for art to auction or art to display. Mailed-in art, agented art, or art you bring in yourself are all acceptable, but you must fill out an art registration packet prior to displaying in the show. Contact John Stanley at ConFurence for more Art Show and Auction information.
Your Costume Presentation
As before, a popular vote will be held for the best costumes seen at ConFurence Four. Costumers have an opportunity to show off their stuff at a special SIG meeting on Saturday afternoon, or just wear their costumes around the con. All costumes seen will be photographed, and the photos displayed at the Saturday Night Feed for voting. By popular demand, this year we will be voting for first and second place best costumes, plus some other special awards. Maybe. If you plan on presenting a costume Saturday, and have any special sound or lighting needs, make sure to get in touch with ConFurence right away!
Your Game Room
No, this is not where the elk and gazelle gather! This is where the players gather, be it for Justifiers, or GURPS, or Albedo, or Other Suns, or Toon, or whatever! Play the dice to your heart’s content through the night. Contact Shayn Raney at the ConFurence address for more information, or to arrange specific games.
Your Night Filk
With a guest like Mercedes Lackey, we are not going to pass up the opportunity to have a real wiz-bang of a Saturday night filk contest! Those who write or parody songs of a science fiction nature (especially furry!) can sing or read their lyrics, or find some brave soul to do it for them. Then, the audience votes the best song! Songs can be of our special theme, creatures of legend and fantasy, or any topic of furry interest. Following the contest, it’s singing as you please into the wee hours of the mornin’. Write to Rod O’Riley at the ConFurence address for more filking info.
Your Computer World
And welcome to it! Whether your bit is computer games, graphics, animation, networking, or virtual reality role playing, you’ll find plenty of kindred here! Displays and live network tie-ins will be available at ConFurence, so bring your imagination and your curiosity.
Your Roster of Events
Food
As before, Friday night we’ll be presenting our special all-you-can-eat ice cream social, included free with your membership. Come hob with the nobs and chill for the ill. But, Saturday, it’s an all new story — Pizza! Stacks and stacks of your favorite toppings and drinks, all at a modest price-per-slice. Tickets for this special event go on sale Friday, so get yours early — you know how fans can polish off pizza!
Friends
We continue our popular round-robin style SIG (special interest group) meetings, dedicated to comics, art, writing, universe creating, computers, networks, and many other topics. Special SIGs will be dedicated to our special theme, In Search Of Ancient Furries. That is, furries in myth, legend, and history of many cultures, from dragons, unicorns, gryphons and satyrs to the Coatl, Coyote, and the Monkey King. Also, Four will see the return of the popular species SIGs, for people with an interest in particular types of animals. Have suggestions on any of this? Get in touch with us!
Folks
Each of our special guests will have a special solo meeting to meet with their fans, answer questions, and tell us everything about becoming a name — except what they don’t want to tell us! And, our guests will be available at their own tables for autographs and other socializing things.
Film
Video, actually. The amount of anthropomorphic material available, from movies and TV around the world, has exploded lately! And we plan to take advantage of it. Plan to see an amazing spread of movies, episodes, shorts, and other goodies — some you may not believe! If you have suggestions or stuff to offer, get in touch with Jim Lomax at the ConFurence address.
Your Assistance… is Appreciated
Our Sponsors
Sponsors are the wonderful people who help keep ConFurence going by giving just a little extra bit (or a lot extra bit!) of financial help. This is money for transporting, lodging, and feeding our special guests, as well as off-setting complimentary memberships. How can you become a sponsor? Just contribute a minimum of $20.00 over and above your membership fee, up to $99.00. Indicate which of our special guests this money is to help toward, or just mark it “general fund” — we’ll split it among all of them. More importantly, what do you get for being a sponsor? Sponsors are the only folks (besides committee and guests) allowed in the V.I.P. Lounge, a special place set aside where folks can relax away from the hubbub of the con. Guests and sponsors can attend a free sandwich-feast on Sunday evening, after the con. And, sponsors get some special prices on materials from the ConFurence store. And, sponsors get — our unending gratitude! (Not to mention, their name in the souvenir book!)
Soooooooper Sponsors!
Super Sponsors are people who really want to help out the convention — and think they deserve something special in return. Supers sponsors are maniacs wonderful people willing to contribute $100.00 or more above their membership costs toward our special guests. Super Sponsors get all the same neat stuff as other Sponsors, plus an added bonus of a personalized commission from a famous furry artist! (Write for a list of participating artists.) 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!
Our Souvenir Book
The ConFurence Souvenir Book is one of the high points of any ConFurence; a compact collection of Furry reflections and artwork, with no convention biz to clutter it up (that stuff all goes in the Pocket Program). Once again, our convention/book theme for this year is In Search of Ancient Furries.
Art Work: We need black & white anthropomorphic art in an 8 1/2 by 11 inch vertical format, on our convention theme, or a general furry theme. With Mercedes Lackey as a special guest, that throws open the doors for elven-types and medieval folks in art as well, so long as furry themes are also included. We are also accepting spot-illos. Please send only camera-ready photocopies (no originals!).
Articles: We need writings of 500 words or less, on any aspect of our convention theme. Reflections on dragons, unicorns, gryphons, satyrs, lycanthropes, or famous creatures of legend; historical perspectives; insider knowledge; or maybe legends we may not have heard of. Remember — give references, and give credit where due!
All printed art or articles will be credited to their creators, and all rights returned to those creators. ConFurence retains the right to accept or refuse any contribution, to correct spelling and grammar on articles, and to alter artwork slightly to fit in available space. Our deadline is early January, so get those fingers moving!
Our Staff
We had great response to a mailing we did to the local area, asking for volunteers for the ConFurence staff. After a couple of meetings, we’ve established a core group of folks who provide us with lots of good ideas, or perhaps just a willingness to put in a little elbow-grease (or bench-warming) where and when the con needs it. We may need some more help when the con itself rolls around; we’ll let you know in a future In-Fur-Nation. But for now, we’re not looking for any more folks to join our staff.
So, until those clear autumn nights of October… See You!
CONFURENCE FOUR — Here, Now, De-Tails:
WHEN:
Friday, Saturday, Sunday, January 22, 23, 24, 1992
WHERE:
Red Lion Inn, Orange County Airport
3050 Bristol St., Costa Mesa, CA 92626
$65.00/night, single or double rooms.
Call (714) 540-7000 for reservations, and be sure to mention ConFurence Four
HOW MUCH:
$20.00 for a full attending membership, until 12/01/92
$25.00 for a full attending membership received between 12/01/92 and 01/15/93
$30.00 for a full attending membership bought at-the-door (after 01/15/93)
$10.00 for a supporting membership, anytime
(Gets all mailings, including In-Fur-Nation, and the Souvenir Book)
Our Special Offer: $17.00 full attending membership, for previous ConFurence members only (please include your previous membership number with your check!)
Sponsorship: A minimum contribution of $20.00 above your membership.
Super Sponsorship: A minimum contribution of $100.00 above your membership, singly or in multiple payments of $50.00 or $25.00.
WRITE TO:
ConFurence
P.O. Box 1958
Garden Grove
CA 92642-1958
WHO ARE WE?
Mark Merlino, Rod O’Riley, John A. Stanley, Shayn Raney, Jazmyn, Wolf, Henry Brown Jr., Jim Lomax, David Bliss, Ken Neilsen, Leon Self, Fairx, John Cawley, Pete Miller, Vicky Levitin, Kay Shapiro, and xxx. Snorx!
Missing in Acton (and other places!)
The following people have written us in the past, and/or ordered materials, and now their mail is being returned to us with no forwarding location: F.L. Ahsh (Alex, VA), Ian R. Catsiff (Granada Hills, CA), Robert K. Davis (San Diego, CA), M. Filmore (Irvine, CA), Eve Forward (Idyllwild, CA), John W. Penniman (Costa Mesa, CA), Judith & Bruce Ritter (Granada Hills, CA), Lori Sandoval (Los Angeles, CA), and Adam Van Wyk (Los Angeles, CA). Anyone with info on the whereabouts of any of these furry friends, please get in touch with us!