Mike Curtis

July 27, 2024 Mike Curtis is the owner of Arkansas-based comic publishing company Shanda Fantasy Arts, which he founded with his wife Carole. He is also the creator of the popular furry comic series Shanda the Panda.

Life issues
Curtis has been a theatre manager, a reporter, and a writer, using all these life experiences in his work. His work is known for being anthropomorphic, and is meant to be very realistic. He doesn't shy away from controversial real-life issues such as racism, homosexuality and divorce. While his work is very explicit with its depictions of sexuality and violence, he shies away from making his work pornographic. Curtis strives to make his work true to life, even in the fantastic setting of anthropomorphic characters.

Superman memorabilia
Mike is also known as the third largest collector of Superman memorabilia, and writes on comic history for The Comics Journal, the Comics Buyer's Guide, Comic Book Marketplace, Comics Buyer's Guide and does a weekly column called "Comics Obscura" for Comic Book Electronic Magazine (CBEM).

Dick Tracy
Mike is currently working on a Dick Tracy project with Joe Staton, and writing a mystery novel titled ''Action! Adventure! and Mystery!''.

At the end of March, Mike will be reviving his TV horror film host character from Jackson Tennessee television in the 1970's COUNT BASIL at the SIVADS OF MARCH event in Memphis.

In 2011, it was announced that he and Staton would be taking over the Dick Tracy newspaper comic strip.

Fandom involvement
Mike Curtis created Shanda the Panda while he was working as a movie theatre manager. Reportedly he drew a simple sketch of Shanda while in a boring meeting with theatre heads and wrote the story based around that first sketch.

Previous to writing Shanda, Mike was the main writer for Harvey Comics, doing scripts for Richie Rich and Casper the Friendly Ghost as well as the comic based on New Kids on the Block.

Mike and Carole Curtis were guests of honor ConFurence 9 (1998), the Mephit Furmeet 1, and at Morphicon 2005.

Mike and Carole have announced that they will be ending their comic book series over the next two years. The last issue of Katmandu (37) is now at press, but the concluding KATMANDU story will run as a backup in SHANDA 49.

In addition, Richard Thatcher has completed a third issue of MORPHING PERIOD, SHANDA'S BEDTIME TAILS 3 will be coming out in early 2011 along with SHANDA 49. In SHANDA 50, Shanda gets married and the series concludes in a new backup story my Mike and original series artist Mike Sagara.