Furtherance

Furtherance was a fanzine with three issues released between 1989 and 1991. Unlike most furry publications, which focus on delivering primary art and stories, Furtherance focused on secondary news, criticism and articles about other primary publications. It was the first such furry review zine.

The fanzine was produced by the Philadelphia-based Funny Animal Anti-Defamation League. Ray Rooney published the zine and co-edited with Luke Menichelli, who also did the design. Jonathan Cunningham, Mitch Marmel and Bill Thomas assisted with text entry and picture research.

Issues were US letter-sized, each roughly 40 pages, slim enough to be bound comic-style with a stapled spine. Covers were on colored paper, but both the covers and the interior pages were printed in black and white.

Issue #1
Furtherance #1 was the summer 1989 issue. It was 40 pages long, with a cover price of USD $2.50. The front cover was by Charles Melville, and the back was Kimba fan art by Ray Rooney. Interior illustrations were contributed by Scott Alston, Shon Howell, and Colleen Winters.

Articles

 * "Furthering the Form: An Examination", an editorial by Ray Rooney describing the history of funny animal comics and particularly the 1980s black-and-white indie comics boom and bust
 * An obituary for Osamu Tezuka
 * A description of Tezuka's Kimba the White Lion cartoon and its role in breaking japanese animation into american television
 * "Vas Ist Das BARR WARS?", about the Barr Wars.
 * A Fran an' Maabl comic by Ed Zolna criticizing the comic retail industry for not distributing small press publications.

Reviews

 * Morphs #4 (★★★★)
 * The Weasel Patrol #1 (★★★)
 * Animal Man #5 (★★★)
 * The Centaurs Gatherum Newsletter #16 (★★★★★)
 * Mangazine #1 (volume 2) (★★)
 * Karno's Klassics #1-30 (★★★)
 * The Contest of Familiars, comic by Tracy Horton featuring her weasel character Shadow (★★★★★)
 * The Bestiary #2 (★★★★)
 * Interview with Rocky (Hominids, Oh! #1), small-format fictional biography of Rocket J. Squirrel by Taral Wayne (★★★★★)
 * FurVersion #14 (★★★)
 * Pandora P. I., comic by Juan Alfonso and Scott Alston (★★★)
 * Lightwood #3, comic by Jerry Collins (★★★★★)

Issue #2
The second issue of Furtherance was the spring 1990 issue, again 40 pages but with the cover price edging upward to USD $2.75. The cover art depicted Red Shetland holding a smurf at knifepoint, by Jim Groat. The back cover was a 1989 male feline by Monika Livingstone, and interior illustrations included works by David P. Cannon, Mike Higgs, Roy D. Pounds II and Colleen Winters.

Articles

 * "Alf Accused of Flashing!", an article about a subliminal frame in the Alf TV cartoon.
 * "The Horseman", an interview with Jim Groat
 * "Furthering the Form: The Critters Collapse", another editorial by Rooney, this time focusing on the rise and fall of the Critters anthology.
 * "Not So Alien" by Kay Shapero, about using animals as inspiration for SF aliens
 * "How to Convince your Comic Store to Carry your Favorites...", single page comic by Donna Barr
 * "One of the Young Teen Cats gets Religion", single page comic written by D. A. C. Crowell and drawn by Eric Blumrich
 * "Tails of Chanjonn: Attempted Kidnapping 2138 M.C. (Merthian Calendar)", fiction by Stanley L. Alston Jr

Reviews

 * Varcel's Vixens
 * Disney's The Little Mermaid (★★★★)
 * The Be(a)st of Warthaven, collecting Mark Wallace's Warthaven cartoons (★★★★)
 * Barr Wars #2 (★★★★)
 * Hepcats #1-3 (★★★★★)
 * The introductory issue of Felicity (★★★★★)
 * The Rowrbrazzle Sampler (★★★★)
 * The Bestiary's Terrie Smith Does Art Special (★★★★★)
 * The Bestiary #5 (★★★★½)
 * Red Shetland #1 (★★★½)
 * Equine the Uncivilized #6 (★★★★)
 * Ratha's Creature and Clan Ground, novels by Clare Bell (★★★★★)
 * Quozl, novel by Alan Dean Foster (★★★★)
 * Sherlock Hound, a canine animé based on Sherlock Holmes (content ★★★★★ / presentation ★½)

Issue #3
The final Furtherance was the winter 1991 issue, with 44 pages and a USD $2.75 cover price. The front cover art was a scene of a marooned furry space traveller by D. P. Cannon titled "Missed Last-Chance". The back cover was 1988 illustration of a dancing persian cat houri by Monika Livingstone. Other interior illustrators included Eric Nelson, Mike Higgs, Scott Alston and Colleen Winters

Articles

 * "Bonzo" by Ian G. S. Curtis, about the cartoonist George Studdy (1878-1948) and his canine character Bonzo the dog, popular in the 1920s
 * "The Horseman", part 2 of the interview with Jim Groat
 * "Furthering the Form", Ray Rooney's regular editorial, analyzing the market (or lack of same) for anthropomorphics
 * An interview with Tad Stones (supervising story director, Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers)
 * A 1989 Galen the Saintly comic by G. Raymond Eddy

Reviews

 * Assorted portfolio collections: "Jackalopes" by Joe Rosales, "The Swords of Babylon" by Steve Krueger, "Girls of the Serengeti" by Brian Sutton, "10-10" by Shon Howell, "Cyberfox" by Matt Broersma, "Aphrika" and "Panzerbabes" by Brian Sutton, "Brixoi" by Tom Foster and Ken Fletcher
 * Howling Mad, novel by Peter David (★★)
 * Cathouse, novel by Dean Ing (★★★★★)
 * Real Scream Comics #17 (★)
 * Galen #1 (★★)
 * Xtra Spicy Tails #1, 2 (★★★★)
 * Stinz #5 (★★★★★)
 * Mighty Mouse comic (★★)
 * Hey Neeters!, comic by Mike Sagara (★★★)
 * Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers comic (★★★★★)
 * Mythagoras #1 (★★★★) #2, 3 (★★★★★)
 * The Ever-Changing Palace #1, 2 (★★★★★)
 * The Zoo #1, 2 (★★★)
 * Red Shetland #2 (★★★★)
 * Rhuddiprt, Prince of Fur (★★★★)
 * .357!, comic by Roz Gibson featuring Jack Salem (★★★)
 * I ♥ Cat-girls, Too, mini-comic portfolio of catgirls by various artists, edited by Randy H. Crawford (★★★★)
 * Gallery #0-4 (★★★★★)
 * Karno's Klassics #32 (★★★★)
 * Sleepers, graphic novel by Vito Bianca and Kevin Vetrone (★★★★)