A fan's treatise on the state of Furry Comics.
Dated Aug 24, 1997
By Allen Kitchen



	This is an exploration into the current state of affairs in furry 
comics, as seen from a fan's point of view.  

	First of all, although I call myself a fan, I do not consider 
myself a fanatic.  I do purchase furry items and comics, feeling I 
should put my money where my mouth is. I do not purchase every 
comic or figurine that I see, I loathe the superhero scene, and I have 
never once gone to a con.  I guess you would call me a discerning fan.  
One who is particular about where he spends his money.  In my case, 
I purchase only furry comics.  I prefer my fantasy be quite fantastic, 
and not include men in tights. :)

	But I have noticed a disturbing fact about furry comics.  One I 
feel strongly enough about to bring out to the open forum.  I have 
never published a comic book, nor have I worked for a comic book 
company.  I am only a fan...

	But I wonder why comics that are furry in nature seem to be 
"invisible", even to the fans who buy them?



	Case in point.  "Guardian Knights" is a comic put out by Tygger 
Graf.  I have never seen a copy.  I don't know who publishes it, sells 
it, what issues are available, or anything.  None of my other fur 
friends do either.  None of the comic book stores in town (I am 
fortunate, since I have several and two of them are furry friendly.  
Not everyone is as lucky.) have the slightest idea what I am even 
talking about.  

	As another example, I fell in love with the comic "Wildlife" 
when I found it in an overstock shelf.  I immediately went to have it 
added to my routine order folder, so that I would always have a copy 
each month.

	Imagine my disapointment when I learned that the strip had 
already been canceled just months earlier, due to slack sales.  All I 
could do was shake my head, buy all the backstock I could find, and 
wonder why the sales were so low.  I certainly would have bought it, 
if I had known about it.  Could the poor sales have been due to 
nobody knowing that the comic even existed?  Could new fans be 
totally in the dark about what was available?  Even older fans?

	That strip was from an established comic company too.  
Antartica Press, one of the bigger names in furry publishing.  I never 
once saw the title until it was in a dusty halfprice shelf in the back of 
the store.  Smaller publishers seem to fare far worse, not even 
making it into the stores.  The only way I found out about "Milikadro 
Knights" was by recieving an Ashcan version from someone who 
knew the artist personally.  I still don't know how to find "Beatrix", 
"Guardian Knights", or certain other titles.  

	And those are just the stories that I know of!  How many more 
titles are out there that I haven't heard of before?  How many more 
comics exist that thousands of fans or potential fans would purchase, 
if only they knew about them?  This then is what I call the "invisible 
story".  It is a printed and produced work, but only certain people in 
certain circles seem to know about them.  

	Apparently the main form of advertisement in furrydom today 
is word of mouth.  This can be a useful medium, and it can create a 
wonderful momentum for an excellent piece of work.  But it is not 
something to base a business upon.  If you want people to buy your 
comic, you have to let them know that your comic exists!  Do realize 
that not everyone who buys furry books is inside a tightly-knit circle 
of like-minded friends who pass the word around about what is 
available. 

	Have you noticed how many car commercials there are on TV?  
Ever wondered why?  The big car companies don't spend billions on 
advertising just because they enjoy the evening news.  They are 
trying to make their car stand out from all the others.  They are 
trying to make you remember their product.  

	So why aren't furry comic publishers doing something like 
that?  Not that I recommend ads on TV (unless you want a comic to 
cost 55$), but some sort of routine advertising campaign IS needed to 
let people know what is on the shelves.  Furry works must compete 
with the latest Xman/Superman/Batman saves the universe by 
sacrificing a toenail and grimacing episode.  They must compete for 
shelf space.  If the comic doesn't sell, the store owner will put 
something else on the shelf that will, and the title sells even less.  
Something (anything!) must be done to make the furry comics more 
visible, not only to the established furry fan, but to potential fans as 
well.  

	And advertising in the back of another comic book really isn't a 
viable campaign, may I point out.  It is a gimmick that only catchs 
the attention of a subset of the established fan base.  Those people 
who don't know about your book, likely don't know about the other 
book either.  What good is it to sell your story in a comic that isn't 
very visible itself?  How is this going to catch attention?  Sure, the ad 
is there anytime somebody buys a copy and that person is likely to 
buy your story also.  But that doesn't do anybody any good when the 
ad gets shelved in the dusty halfprice bin and sits there for a year, 
now does it?

	A perfect example of what I am talking about.  I have ad after 
ad for "Tales from the Fehnick" in my personal comic collection.  
Somebody laid out considerable amounts of capital to get the title 
some recognition.  But can I buy a copy?  No, of course not.  It saw its 
day, and now it is gone.  So, did that ad help the publisher sell more 
comic books?  Even to a fan like me?  No, it did not.  Why not?  
Because I didn't see the ad, as I didn't see the other comic either 
until it was too late to subscribe to either of them.

	Now, if there had been a poster or something similar showing 
the art and a snippet of the story, I could have bought a copy when it 
was still being printed.  Maybe I would have gotten a subscription, if 
I liked it.  The comic store might have sold out, and had to ask for 
more.  The publisher could have gotten requests for more copies, and 
made more money.  Everyone would have come out ahead.  The fans, 
the comic store owners, the publishers, the artists, everyone.  

	As it stands today though, my odds of getting a copy of 
"Fehnick" rank right up there with winning the lottery or having a 
martian meteorite bonk me on the head.

	My complaint with comic publishers is simple:  let people know 
what it available.  The fans, the comic store owners, tell everyone 
who will stay concious long enough to listen.  Don't complain that 
furry comics don't sell, when you haven't tried to expand the sales.  
Don't write off a series that isn't moving very quickly, when you 
haven't tried to advertise it.  This is basic business stuff people!  It 
doesn't take a lot of money to do an ad blitz, if you are careful and 
creative about it.

	As a fan, I want to buy furry comics.  As a publisher, you want 
to sell comics of all kind.  Well, we can both be happy if you tell me 
(and my comic stores) what you have to offer.  My crystal ball is 
currently up on the rack having the transmission repaired, so I 
cannot magically detect the presence of your work.  If you want to 
sell more copies and grow, inform the fans and nonfans about your 
comic.  It is that simple.

	And who knows?  As more nonfans see the ads, they may 
become fans.  I personally owe my entrance to Greywolf and to 
Richard Bartrop.  Greywolfe's work crossed my computer screen, and 
caused me to notice furry fandom.  Bartrop's series "Zaibatsu Tears" 
was the first furry comic I ever saw.  I've been buying them and 
searching for other titles ever since. 

	Now, if only I could find some that haven't been cancelled due 
to slack advertising...

	The fans complain that there is nothing for them to read.  
Companys complain that sales are stagnant.  Right there, just 
listening to those two sides, you should get the feeling that 
something is seriously wrong.  You should realize that there is a clog 
in the pipe between supply and demand, and both sides are getting 
put out with each other.  But the problem is really in the pipe, now 
isn't it?  What can we do to open up the pipe so that more comics 
flow and everyone is happy?

	Well, for starters, some kind of poster for the titles every few 
months may be useful.  Comic stores can display your titles and art 
on their walls so people can see if there is something to interest 
them.  Fan or no fan.  I've watched dozens of people buy an extra 
comic just because they had the cash and wanted to see something 
different.  The money is there, and the people will part with it if you 
can just catch their attention.

	For the computer set, a webpage announcing what titles are 
alive, new, and coming soon would be a help.  It doesn't have to be 
large or fancy.  Just a list of what's out there and maybe a sample 
image or two along with data on how to get a copy (since not 
everyone has a comic store).  But it must stay up to date.  I quit 
looking at AP's site, because it was always about 3 months behind.

	I'm certain there are many more possibilities.  I don't profess 
to be Mr. Answer... But I do see that there is a problem in our 
fandom today, and it will eventually go away.  It will vanish in one 
of two ways:  more comics will get out and companies will make 
more money off them, or the companies will get out of the business 
completely!  After seeing what happened to MU, I am quite 
concerned about the latter possibility.  

	I wonder what would happen if someone showed a commercial 
for "Furrlough" in the middle of Tiny Toons Adventures, just once.  
Only one time.  I wonder what would happen to sales over there at 
Radio Comix.  How expensive can a 30 second spot selling stuff like 
ZAND be?  I wonder...


	This then, is my viewpoint as a buying furry.  I can't purchase 
an invisible comic book you know.  And besides, have you any idea 
how easy they are to misplace?  

Allen Kitchen