Extinctioners



Extinctioners is a science fiction, action and adventure comic book that follows in the superhero genre, but uses anthropomorphic animals as its main characters. It is written and drawn by Shawntae Howard.

Its original release in 1998 was by the independent comic book company Vision Comics. After a year of hiatus it was picked up by Shanda Fantasy Arts due to Vision Comics having some publishing problems. It was published quarterly by Shanda Fantasy Arts, and is currently published quarterly by Angry Viking Press with the most recent issue, 17, released November 2010. There are a total of 18 issues with 3 Annual comics.

Publication
The first issue of Extinctioners (book one according the cover), entitled "Countdown to Extinction", was published in July 1998 by Vision Comics. It had a cover price of $3.95 US or $5.50 Canadian, and is 32 full-color pages on glossy paper. The story and pencils are by Shawntae Howard, and the inks by Malcolm Earle. The digital color is by Eric Blumrich and Scotty Arsenault.

The second issue of Extinctioners, issue 1 of volume 2, was published in April 1999 by Shanda Fantasy Arts. It had a color cover, and 32 black and white interior pages containing two stories: "Countdown to Extinction Part Two" (story and art by Shawntae Howard, inks by Malcolm Earle, lettering by Fender and Tom Ziolkowski) and "Freedom" (story, pencils, and inks by Shawntae Howard; letters by Fender).

A relaunch of the series began in August 2009, from Angry Viking Press with the release of Extinctioners #16, fully colored, and Extinctioners Origins #1,a refining expansion of the intial story in full color, in Winter of 2009.

Story
Extinctioners follows a group of characters who learn that they are 'hybrids' possessing special powers, and that their creators are on their way back to their planet with plans of taking over. The humanoid animals on the planet Alden, or humanimals, were genetic constructs created by humans for the purpose of avoiding having animals become extinct on an over-populated Earth, with the idea that more humanoid animals would be able to better adapt to the changing reduction to their natural environments and increased pollution.

During the time of a global war, the humans discovered a new fresh planet though a wormhole that would be inhabitable for mankind, so they sent a seeding of humanimals with human trainers to the planet to terraform the planet, building cities and setting up social organizations, so that upon the humans' arrival the transition to the new planet would go smoothly. However, a miscalculation in the wormhole's temporal properties caused the humans to lose contact with their humanimal constructs, leaving them alone on the planet for years.

Without direct guidance, the humanimals developed on their own, and would eventually create a social structure suitable for their vastly diverse races. Now with the memory of mankind vague in the social conscious, humans, or The Makers, have been elevated to an virtual deity status among much of the humanimal population. The humans, however, are still on their way to Alden and the Extinctioners are the only ones that know that they are coming, due to less than positive encounters with a small faction of humans. What the humans ultimate plans for Alden and its humanimal population has yet to be revealed, whether they will be benevolent creators or an angry destructive force has yet to be determined.

The main heroes of Extinctioners consist of two major groups that at the beginning of the series came together to fight the first wave of an invasion fleet, then later went their separate ways.

Characters
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The Extinctioners

 * Phenix
 * Alleycat (Katherine Fela)
 * Vague (Catrina Fela)
 * Copycat (Maxwell Manx)
 * Scarlet Ann Starfox
 * Forcewave (Walice Weazel)
 * Jacob WhiteEye (Micro)
 * Pandamonium (Pandora Lee)
 * Mindswipe (Cee Cee Reese)
 * Warfare (Adam Prime)
 * Umnus Nightcreeper (Shadowstalker)

The Solar Foxes

 * Redford Firefox
 * Artica Lagopus
 * Erica Starfox (Foxy)
 * Slyvester Greytail (Sly)
 * Gin Jikitsune
 * Reggy Bryghttail (Prophet)

MechaRoos

 * Thomas Bushtail
 * Tisha Roo Bushtail
 * Ryan Roo Jr.
 * Tina Hopster
 * Illaroo Joey

Andorozon

 * Merry
 * Tsuneko
 * Rokki
 * Sue-chan
 * Sachi

Enemies

 * Omega Hunters
 * Takemitsu SeiRyu
 * Akema and Akera
 * Xenif
 * Terrorbull
 * Onex
 * Jeran Lobo
 * Maelstrom
 * Corruption
 * The Cerberus Brothers

Hunters & Trackers

 * Bajer Blaquestrype
 * Farsight and Ashen Msaka
 * Harvest and Kanati
 * Lynx Wylde and Stalker
 * Seek and Shepherd
 * Spitfire and Dragon Lady
 * Trojan and Cupid
 * Eve Mahn
 * Streak
 * Twister

ECS (Evil Cat Sisters)

 * Zora De Facto
 * Tonya DeFault
 * Pandora Panovich
 * Chekari Van Burden 2

Fem Fatales

 * Hyesteria
 * Misery
 * Passion
 * Pain

Guardians of the Garden

 * Dre
 * Krystin Lobo
 * Lucus Lobo
 * P'Tar the Catarian
 * Prophetess
 * Unicor

L.A.P.D.O.G.S.

 * Cassie Collins
 * Damion Pincer
 * Gerald Shepardson
 * Domino Doz
 * Russell Jackson

Other characters

 * Angelica Ferroti
 * Data
 * Flash WhiteEye
 * Frigit the Aquanix
 * Frostbite
 * Kronis the Arbitrator
 * Miki WhiteEye
 * Moriko Chiro
 * The Oddersons
 * Radica Procyon
 * Remalons
 * Richard Greytail
 * Rokko WhiteEye
 * Satoru Aka
 * Sgt. Greystoke
 * Short WhiteEye
 * Slash WhiteEye
 * }

Fan creations

 * The Extinctioners fandom grew rather quickly, and fan response was quite varied. Not only did some fans create their own fan-characters inspired by the story, some even created fan teams.
 * The character Artica had a strong enough fan response that a "Yahoo! Groups" Fan Group devoted specifically to her was created. However, the group receives a lot of content about the character Scarlet, making it a fan club for both vixens.

Trivia

 * The Andorozons were featured in Extinctioners Vol. 2 #11. They are anthroids, which are made from a blend of synthetic-organics and cybernetics, but possess the minds of living beings.