Ya' know... sometimes less really is more.

[wolfwings]

Somehow I ended up wandering the Inhuman webcomic website and ran across this article he write. How Inhuman is not a furry webcomic and I read that... it's a slog. And suddenly, it went from piles of what felt like useless weasel-words, to a pair of paragraphs, back to weasel words again bouncing around in a box. That whole rant... all three or four screens of it... really boils down to this, and it's a very valid point:

Furry comics are essentially completely human characters dressed up in animal clothes. It does not matter if you were to strip them of their fur. Jack could still be the grim reaper, Mab could still be a fairy magician, Vinci and Arty would still be a gay couple struggling with their problems. The fur is unimportant to them.

It describes his core definiton he's basing his entire argument/rant around, and taken in that context, no, Inhuman is not a 'furry' webcomic. It's much more in the vein of Farscape or Star Trek or even Star Wars than Jack, or Dan and Mab's Furry Adventures. But his definition of 'furry' likely doesn't match the definitions of many of the people reading the comic, I'd imagine. And I fear that struggle to fight the label the general readership wants to apply to him for ease of pulling in other readers for him may end up backfiring in the long term, despite the really lovely art style and decently engrossing story so far.

Comments

[qdot.livejournal.com]

Yup.

[alaskawolf.livejournal.com]

http://www.websnark.com/archives/2004/09/breaking_an_unw.html
i like this persons thoughts on freefall

[finnkveldulfr.livejournal.com]

Haven't read his comic so far, and after checking out his rant, I'm unlikely to. While he is correct about a lot of furry comics that are out there, I do NOT accept his definition of what 'Furry' is, and I do not appreciate his broad stereotyping of Furries, Furry Artists, and Furry Fandom.... I think he made his point about negative perceptions, misconceptions, etc, quite while by displaying his own total ignorance regarding us (Furries) in a piece that otherwise had some good points when he wasn't bitching about being labeled 'Furry' or trying to tell the Furries who we are.

Not coincidentally, I do know a few Furries who DO consider 'Farscape' to be Furry or have Furry elements-- and who appreciate it all the more because the aliens are NOT human, in attitude, outlook, etc, as well as in appearance.

[funkicarus.livejournal.com]

i actually thank you for the plug and for the cool-headed response to what was essentially a rant gone awry. the rant itself wasn't so much written for furries to begin with. i've learned there's two types of furries out there: those that accept that the comic isn't furry and simply shrug or those who live in utter hatred of anyone who dares to not fly the furry banner.

the essay was more for the average websurfer who takes a look at anything with fur and turns up their nose, saying it's not for them. that's the crowd that's much harder to talk to and needs the point hammered home repeatedly. though, keeping the fanatical 'fursecution' furries from reading the comic was a nice side effect of the rant.

i'm glad you really enjoy the art and the story. the comic's been going since 2003 and really has only gained readers, though, so i'm not too worried about the rant backfiring :>

[wolfwings.livejournal.com]

First, thank you for actually taking the time to come here and reply. That's a rare sort these days, even as easy as it can be with trackback links and the like, especially with the link may not be entirely 'two thumbs up' as it were.

Seocnd, yes, I really do love the art style. It's... invitingly fuzzy somehow without coming across as just overly noisy. And the unique character designs are wonderful as well.

Didn't know the comic had been up since 2003, that's good to know, and I'm glad you're doing well with it. And you're right, it does nicely counter my concern about the essay. The page might do with a minor refresh if you think the original form went a bit awry, which was the impression I got as well (a gem, really, I honestly am impressed by that paragraph I highlighted for summarizing things so succinctly; it's a valid point across a lot of webcomics). If nothing else, the internal link to comic #7 is broken I just noticed. =^.^=

[funkicarus.livejournal.com]

dang! i'll go fix that. the link on the archives, or just from page 6 to page 7?

i do mean to update that essay...and about ten thousand other things, especially the alien indexs. yeegh.

[wolfwings.livejournal.com]

The 'when Soshika meets Grey' link points to what I'd guess is your original domain as an absolute link.

[funkicarus.livejournal.com]

hekshano.com? hmm. that's odd, hekshano.com should just mirror inhuman-comic.com.

ooooh i see. it's leading to the old .html link, and i switched to php since then. all fixed. danke! also the owl/grphon in your avatar is just obscenely cute.

[wolfwings.livejournal.com]

Ah, that's explains it. Du bist willkommen! And Danke as well, rosequoll drew the icon, and I do adore her work so. =^.^=

[vyl.livejournal.com]

I am reminded of the creepyness that is Beyond Good and Evil.

Many of the characters are clearly anthropomorphic animals, so it's furry in that way, but... it's never acknowledged. It's as if the writers were completly unaware of the models that would be used. They act human in every way, with not so much as a comment on tail/chair compatability. Not once is someone called by species, it's not joked about or commented on, and as for the issue of why half the population is furry... it's just never spoken of. The creepyness comes from the way everyone seems to completly ignore the species issue.