Omaha The Cat Dancer
From WikiFur, the furry encyclopedia.
Omaha The Cat Dancer was a highly acclaimed and controversial comic book created and drawn by Reed Waller and predominantly written by Kate Worley. Its first episode was published in Vootie #8 as the response to Taral Wayne's question to Waller: "why isn't there more sex in funny animals?"
It featured the adventures of Omaha (her last name is never given), a feline exotic dancer, and her lover Chuck Tabey, who turns out to be the heir to Charles Tabey, Sr., a powerful but mentally ill millionaire.
This comic was one of the first major furry series to use an existing non-furry genre called "slice of life", in which the furry nature of the characters is mostly a cosmetic artistic style for realistic stories anchored in contemporary human society. The furry nature is usually restricted to animals' heads, fur colour, and tails. The environment is indistinguishable from the real world, and all characters have humanoid body shapes and wear regular clothing (but no shoes).
Omaha was written like a sexually explicit soap opera in plot structure and melodrama. It was highly praised for its writing, especially for its confident feminist sensibility. However, unlike the stereotyped stance, the series refused to flatly condemn erotic entertainment with the lead character usually enjoying her work and preferring it to other careers. For example, when she was once working in a clerical setting, she felt humiliated and belittled with the sexist management enough to quit in defiance and then immediately successfully auditioned at the local strip club.
The series drew considerable controversy with numerous obscenity charges for its sexual content. The Toronto police department, in one raid of a comic book store, charged that it depicted bestiality, an accusation fans dismissed as ludicrous. The series was eventually deemed legal in Canada. By contrast, the New Zealand government committee charged with examining books for their suitability for admission into the country ruled that the series was suitable for all ages because of its mature depiction of relationships and sexuality.
[edit] Publishing history
The comic had an erratic publishing history aggravated by a serious accident suffered by Worley and the resulting poor medical care for it. In addition, Waller developed cancer, prompting two fundraising comics titled Images of Omaha, published by Kitchen Sink Press in 1992 but further interfering with publication.
Additionally, there was growing friction between the partners (Waller and Worley had married) which culminated in a violent incident at a convention. After that, the team disbanded and the comic ceased publication.
In early 2004, Waller and Worley had moved beyond their disagreement, and were collaborating to finish the hanging storyline. However, Worley's death interrupted that work. Her widower, Jim Vance, using her notes, took her place. The title has been picked up by NBM Publishing, and resumed publication in November 2005 in the magazine Sizzle, as well as bringing back into print new trade paperback collections of the comics.
However, its influence is noted in the furry comic book scene with Shanda the Panda being the most successful series to emulate Omaha in many respects.
[edit] External links
- Omaha The Cat Dancer official website
- Reed Waller's Official Blog
- Yahoo! Groups, Cat Dancing with Omaha
- Hoot Reviews, Omaha The Cat Dancer
- "Omaha" The Cat Dancer Collectible Cards List
| Some of this page is derived from Wikipedia. The original article was at Omaha The Cat Dancer. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WikiFur, the text of Wikipedia is available under CC-BY-SA and the GFDL. |
