The Katbox

The Katbox
Author(s)	Owner: ID Founder: SoulKat Webmaster: Mihari Administrators/management: ID, Curran, MrAMP Webcomic artists and writers: Amber Williams, Avencri, Bone, Cervelet, Chalo, Fox-Pop, Hiorou, Jon Ponikvar, Kadath, Mastergodai, Mihari, MoonlitCaitlyn, Nekonny, Nixie, Philip Brown, Phuufy, RazorFox, SageStrike2, Sahtori-Kamaya, SilverBlaze, Skidd, Snowdon, UStudios
Website	http://katbox.net/ Katbox Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Katbox
Status	Defunct
Launch date	September 2004
End date	December 2019
Genre	Web hosting
Rating(s)	(General access) (Restricted materials)

The Katbox was a website that hosted furry webcomics. It once had a World of Warcraft guild and a Steam group, both named Bought the Farm. The site's home page was a portal to various comics, 26 at its latest -- not counting "bonus comics," which were set in the worlds of the main comics and tell stories that would otherwise remain unseen in the main narrative. The web address now redirects to Kemono Café, one of two sites that took over hosting many of the webcomics from The Katbox. It is now represented on that site as the 'KatBox Inn'.

History

Early years: 2004 - 2009

The Katbox was founded by SoulKat, co-author of the site's first comic Las Lindas, which went online in September of 2004. It was joined in May 2005 by Nekonny's Caribbean Blue. A year later, the first page of Avencri's The Eye of Ramalach was posted in January, with regular updates beginning in March.

The total number of Katbox comics remained at three for the next several years. A fourth comic, Things Will Be Different, joined in November 2008 but was officially cancelled in January 2009 because the artist had lost interest. In October of that year, Running Wild, created by Jesonite ("Jeso") joined, but was canceled in February 2010. Katbox forumites referred to the "curse of the fourth comic."

Rapid influx: 2010 - 2012

In January 2010, Eye of Ramalach author Avencri began work on a second comic, Tina of the South, which was updated by donation. At the time of launch, it was treated as a "bonus comic" in site formatting, as Las Lindas had a number of bonus comics which were also updated by donation. However, unlike the Las Lindas bonus comics, Tina of the South told an independent story, and future site updates showed it as a top-level comic on the site's portal page.

On April 1, 2010, as part of a tradition of sitewide April Fools Day pranks, the number of Katbox comics abruptly jumped to 14. For the 11 new comics, each had one page posted, usually by different people (two, iMew and 88mm Neko, were drawn by Nekonny, author of Caribbean Blue). Over the course of April 1, most of the new comics were abruptly cancelled, with site staff feigning surprise. Two of the comics actually became established, however: iMew began donation-based updates in May, and Anthronauts began weekly updates in June.

Like Tina of the South, iMew was an independent creation of an existing artist, and was also treated as a bonus comic before receiving its own portal-page icon. When iMew concluded its run in September 2013, it was the first Katbox comic reach an official end.

Following the April 1 prank, the site homepage was restructured to reflect the new comics. With the addition of Anthronauts and iMew, and the recognition of Tina of the South as an independent comic, the site comic count jumped to six.

Changes: 2013 - present

In early 2013, Nixie began a second comic, Fungus Farm, which ran until June and was interactive. Anthronauts was rebooted at this point as well, and relaunched in July. The original version of the series remains archived as Anthronauts: Alternate Reality.

On February 17, 2014, two more comics joined The Katbox, UberQuest and Our World. Upgrades to the overall website also began.

On September 6, 2014, SoulKat announced on the site forum that Swashbuckled was being dismissed from the site because Mastergodai, the primary artist, was no longer interested in working on the project. On November 9, 2014, Nekonny and Mihari completed Caribbean Blue, which had run for nine years and 326 pages. It was the second Katbox comic to be completed, following iMew.

The site's policy for NSFW content was revised in the fall, separating the site's general PG-13 atmosphere apart from more mature material.

Ownership of The Katbox was transferred to ID in 2014.

More comics joined The Katbox in 2015 and 2016, including Peter & Company, Desert Fox, Itsy Bitsy Adventures, False Start and Mousechievous. Nekonny also began two new webcomics during this time, Paprika and Practice Makes Perfect. Nixie started another webcomic as well, called Debunkers.

On June 8, 2017, the webcomic Oasis joined The Katbox.

On June 24, 2018, Kuurion announced on the site forum that the webcomic Our World has officially been retired.

On September 30, 2018, the webcomic Eorah joined The Katbox.

On November 16, 2018, the webcomic Truck Off: The Treasure of the Horde joined The Katbox.

The Katbox began undergoing site upgrades in early 2019. Some of the webcomic pages were mirrored to the old Katbox After Dark site so people can still view them. As of mid-2019, the majority of the upgrades have been finished.

On May 15, 2019, ID announced on the site forum that the Katbox Forums will be permanently closing down in June due to a decrease in activity as many people are now in contact with each other through social media.

2016 malware complications and website reconstruction

In the latter part of 2016, The Katbox experienced a virus which installed mail scripts and sent spam messages across the internet as well as generating numerous error logs which caused significant problems. It was also blocking legitimate e-mails from the website. An investigation found that this was apparently a local issue and it was not affecting computers of any site visitors. After unsuccessful attempts at cleanup and the web server being unable to help, the staff decided to erase the website and rebuild from scratch although many pages were already backed up.

All active webcomics have been re-posted online as of late July 2017.

Katbox After Dark

On August 5, 2017, ID announced on the site forum that a new adult section of The Katbox called "Katbox After Dark" has been created. The first webcomic to be added to Katbox After Dark, False Start by Bone, took place in early August 2017. A second webcomic, The Sprawl by Snowdon, was added on September 28, 2017. Four days later, the webseries of Olivia by Kadath was added. Katbox After Dark continued until overall website upgrades began in 2019.

The former Katbox After Dark section hosted some of the webcomics through mid-2019 while the main sections were undergoing upgrades.

The most recent Katbox logo before its closure in 2019.

Website closure

On July 20, 2019, ID announced on the front page and Patreon site that The Katbox will no longer be hosting webcomics. Over the next few months, the hosted webcomics would be transferred over to other webhosts if a co-host site isn't already running. The front page for The Katbox temporarily remained as a hub for directing viewers to those webcomics the website once hosted. ID thanked everyone for their longtime support to The Katbox. Those who wish to continue their support for the webcomic artists may do so through their respective Patreon sites.

There are two web portals recently created that will now host a number of webcomics previously hosted by The Katbox...Kemono Café and Studio Khimera. As of 2020, the main web address for The Katbox redirects to Kemono Café.

Webcomics hosted

Title	Run dates	Author(s)	Updates	Current host	Format	Notes
Addictive Science	April 2009 - present	Artist and writer: Cervelet	Daily	Kemono Café	Black and white
Anaria	August 2014 - December 2017; on The Katbox from August 2016 - December 2016	Artist and writer: Leah Briere	Irregularly	Dreamy Star Comics (archived)	Color	Dismissed from The Katbox in December 2016. The webcomic is currently inactive.
Anthronauts	April 2010 - June 2013; Reboot July 2013 - April 2016	Artist and writer: Nixie	Weekly (Mondays)	Webtoon	Color	Originally part of an April Fools prank. The webcomic is currently inactive, but was restarted from its beginning in late 2019 until April 2020.
Artificial Incident	April 2016 - present	Artist and writer: Philip Brown	Weekly (Wednesdays)	Independently hosted	B&W/Color
Breasts are the Best	2010 - March 2016	Artist: Chalo, writers: SoulKat and ID	Irregularly	None	Color	Cancelled.
Building an Empire	2007 - February 2012	Artist: Chalo, writers: SoulKat and ID	Irregularly	None	Color	Cancelled.
Caribbean Blue	May 2005 - November 2014	Artist and writer: Nekonny, writer: Mihari	Weekly	Kemono Café	B&W/Color	Finished run. Some guest comics in black and white.
Chitsu Anddo Asu	February 2014 - present	Artist and writers: Mastergodai, UStudios, former writer: ID	Irregularly	None	Color
Crest Diaries	2007 - October 2012	Artist: Chalo, writers: SoulKat and ID	Irregularly	None	Color	Cancelled.
Dan and Mab's Furry Adventures	1999 - present; on The Katbox since September 2013	Artist and writer: Amber Williams	Weekly (Wednesdays)	Independently hosted	B&W/Color
Debunkers	September 2016 - present	Artist and writer: Nixie	Irregularly	DeviantArt (webcomic and story posts)	B&W/Color
Desert Fox	February 2016 - present	Artist and writer: SageStrike2, Co-writer MoonlitCaitlyn	Irregularly	Independently hosted	Color
The Draconia Chronicles	January 2005 - present; on The Katbox since January 2011	Artist and writer RazorFox. Former staff: Donnie Sturges (writer-in-chief), Jen Starling (Photoshop), and Jason Cumberledge (lettering)	Monthly	Independently hosted	B&W/Color	Originally hosted independently at 2wconline.net
Dungeons & Dames	2009 - December 2011; Reboot October 2013 - November 2015	Artist: Chalo, writers: SoulKat and ID	Irregularly	None	Color	Cancelled.
Eorah	June 2013 - present; on the Katbox since September 2018	Artist and writer: Hiorou	Monthly	Fur Affinity	Color
The Eye of Ramalach	January 2006 - present	Artist and writer: Avencri. Former writers: ID, G3off	Bimonthly	Kemono Café	Color
False Start	2012 - present; on The Katbox since March 2016	Artist and writer: Bone	Irregularly	TBA	Color	Originally published independently. Moved to Katbox After Dark in August 2017.
Fungus Farm	February 2013 - June 2013	Artist and writer: Nixie	Irregularly	None	B&W/Color	Cancelled. Story was reader-interactive.
iMew	April 2010 - August 2013	Artist: Nekonny, writer: Curran	Irregularly	Kemono Café	Black and white	Finished run. Updates were by donation.
Itsy Bitsy Adventures	December 2012 - present; on The Katbox since January 2016	Artist and writer: SilverBlaze	Weekly (Fridays)	Ringtail Café Productions	Black and white	Originally published independently.
Knighthood	June 2008 - present	Artist: Chalo, writer: Curran	Irregularly	Kemono Café	Color
Knuckle Up	April 2012 - present	Writer and illustrator: Mastergodai, soft brushed: UStudios	Weekly	Kemono Café	Color
Las Lindas	September 2004 - present	Artist: Chalo, writer: SoulKat, former writer: ID, side comic writer: Curran.	Weekly (Wednesdays)	Kemono Café	Color
Learning Curves	2007 - August 2016	Artist: Chalo, writers: SoulKat, Curran and ID	Irregularly	None	Color	Cancelled.
Mousechievous	May 2015 - August 2016; Reboot March 2019 - present	Artist and writers: Skidd, Phuufy, former writer: Xivk	Irregularly	Studio Khimera	B&W/Color
Oasis	February 2016 - December 2019; on The Katbox since June 2017	Artist and writer: Sahtori-Kamaya	Irregularly	None	Color	The webcomic is currently inactive.
Olivia	July 2014 - present; on The Katbox since October 2017	Artist and writer: Kadath	Irregularly	Fur Affinity	Color	Part of Katbox After Dark.
Our World	December 2010 - January 2018; on The Katbox since February 2014	Artist: Kuurion, writer: Captain Video	Biweekly (Tuesdays and Fridays)	None	Black and white	Originally published independently. Officially retired on June 24, 2018.
Paprika	March 2015 - present	Artist and writer: Nekonny	Irregularly	Kemono Café	Black and white	A remake of an earlier comic called Tina OnLine, with a continuity to unfold on either side of Caribbean Blue.
Peter & Company	January 2005 - present; on The Katbox since March 2015	Artist and writer: Jon Ponikvar	Monthly	Independently hosted	B&W/Color
Peter & Whitney	May 2016 - present	Artist and writers: Jon Ponikvar, Whitney Ponikvar	Monthly	Independently hosted	Color
Practice Makes Perfect	February 2016 - present	Artist and writer: Nekonny	Irregularly	Kemono Café and Ringtail Café Productions	Color
Project Zero	October 2012 - present	Writer and illustrator: Mastergodai, soft brushed: UStudios	Irregularly	Petite Symphony (archived)	Color
Rascals	September 2009 - present; on The Katbox since August 2012	Writer and illustrator: Mastergodai, soft brushed: UStudios	Weekly (Fridays)	Kemono Café	Color
Rascals Goyoku	December 2011 - present	Writer and illustrator: Mastergodai, soft brushed: UStudios	Irregularly	Petite Symphony (archived)	Color
Running Wild	October 2009 - February 2010	Artist and writer: Jeso	Weekly (Fridays)	None	Color	Cancelled.
The Sprawl	January 2014 - present; on The Katbox since September 2017	Artist and writer: Snowdon	Weekly (Wednesdays)	Independently hosted	Color	Part of Katbox After Dark.
Swashbuckled	August 2012 - September 2014; on The Katbox from February 2013 - September 2014	Mastergodai, KingofKOF, RubyLuvCow	Irregularly	None	B&W/Color	Originally posted on Fur Affinity starting in May 2012. Dismissed from the Katbox in September 2014.
Things Will Be Different	November 2008 - January 2009	Artist: Spazzy Koneko, writer: KingofKOF	Weekly (Saturdays)	None	Color	Cancelled.
Tina of the South	January 2010 - present	Artist: Avencri, writer: G3off	Irregularly	Kemono Café	Black and white	Published by donation.
Tora Tora Tokyo	March 2015 - December 2015	Artist: Nekonny, writer: SoulKat	Weekly	MediBang	Black and white	This comic was posted on The Katbox Forums. Finished run, 20 pages.
Truck Off: The Treasure of the Horde	November 2018 - July 2020	Artist and writer: FOX-POP	Weekly	Fur Affinity	Color	The webcomic is currently inactive.
UberQuest	February 2014 - present	Artist and writers: Skidd, Phuufy	Irregularly	Studio Khimera	Color
Ventura City Drifters	June 2020 - present	Artist and writer: Sonokido	Weekly	Webtoon	Color
Yosh!	November 2003 - present; on The Katbox since February 2012	Writer and artist: Philip Brown, Co-writer: Alex Petersen	Monday and Friday	Independently hosted	B&W/Color	Originally published independently.

See also

• Kemono Café
• Studio Khimera

External links

• The Katbot (Katbox Comics) on Twitter