Dreaming of Utopia

Dreaming of Utopia is a crime/detective-themed furry webcomic created by Mark Savary. It depicts an alternate universe set in the early 1990s where the furry fandom is a religion, known as "Furryism", rather than a subculture. Members of this religion, known as "furries" or "Utopian furries", wear special fursuits the majority of the time, including at work and in public, and have their own distinct practices and beliefs. Wearing their fursuits is an emblem of their faith, and shows their fealty to Mother Nature, who they believe is the only true Divine Being.

Most of the furry characters reside a district known as "Furtown", within an as-yet-unnamed city. For the most part, other people are intolerant of the furries, and, as such, they are seen as outsiders and are heavily discriminated against. The story is meant to be an allegorical look at intolerance using furries in place of any actual minority.

Chapter 1: Barky Airedale
The chapter begins with Barky Airedale, walking home one evening, when he is accosted by a gang known as "The Skullz", who attack him for being a furry. After beating him, stealing his wallet, cutting off his tail as a symbolic gesture, and throwing him over a wall bordering Furtown, the gang run off. Barky, with life threatening injuries, crawls over to a nearby street and attempts to find help. Pawl Meowman finds him and calls for an ambulance, which shows up with Doctor Woofly, and two assistants. Unfortunately, Barky dies on the way to the hospital, so the ambulance diverts to the morgue, where Quince, the coroner, calls for Detective Furtaugh to investigate the case.

Furtaugh questions Pawl and takes him back to where he found Barky. He then follows the trail of blood back to the scene of the attack, and decides the the Skullz are the likely perpetrators. He makes plans to detain and question the gang by going to their hideout. At the hideout, the Skulls are discussing their latest attack and their plans if they get pulled in for questioning. Furtaugh then enters with his colleague, and they detain the members of the gang present.

Consumed by guilt at not being able to save Barky, Pawl becomes depressed and starts drinking heavily in a local bar. His friend, a fox named Reddy Blackpaw, tries to help him, but eventually becomes angry at him because of his demeanor, and takes him home to bed. After failing to get any conclusive evidence from their interrogation, Furtaugh is forced to let the members of the gang go. The next morning, Pawl's friend, Pinky, after seeing him, goes over to speak to Reddy, and meets Clarice, who tries to persuade Reddy to talk to Pawl again. Disgruntled, Reddy goes over and angrily tells Pawl to "smarten up". Clarice then confronts Pawl in the bar, who is drinking heavily again. She suggests he go to the funeral in order to get some closure, which Pawl is unsure about.

Meanwhile, Furtaugh is under pressure to drop the Barky case from Carson, due to city politics. Furious, he storms out of his office. In the end, Pawl decides to attend the funeral, where, as is traditional, all of the attendees scatter a small shovel of the deceased's ashes. When it comes to Pawl's turn, he hesitates, and asks whether he should. When another attendee asks why not, he breaks, and tells everybody about how he failed to save Barky. They respond by saying that it was not his fault, and that they are all very grateful for what he he did. Another attendee then helps Pawl to scatter some of Barky's ashes.

Woofly then delivers Barky's coroners report to Elder Fox, who comments on the violence and prejudice that their community endures, and the pride he feels in how furries cope with it. The chapter concludes with an as yet unknown furry being assaulted by the Skullz.

Chapter 2: The Shephard
The chapter begins with a canine furry being murdered at a subway station during rush hour on a Friday, by being pushed in front of an oncoming train. Furtaugh goes to investigate the case, but due to problems with the security cameras, there is not enough evidence to find any suspects. A week later, another furry is found dead, but again there is not enough evidence for any suspects. Furtaugh is convinced there is a connection, but his boss, Lt. Carson, is still skeptical. He agrees to send some plain-clothes officers to inspect subway stations at rush hour.

The following Wednesday, another furry is killed after being pushed onto the tracks and stepping on the third rail, again with no evidence as the cameras were down for repair. Furtaugh notices that another station is having its cameras repaired, and decides to go and talk to the crew. He is told that one of the work crew has gone to an adjacent station to fix another camera, so he heads off to investigate. Along with two patrolmen he meets at the scene, Furtaugh sees a furry waiting at the platform, and spots something else...

Chapter 3: Skullmeet
The Skullz meet up in what they call a "Skullmeet," a gathering to plan mischief and mayhem. The three other gang members, Rollo, Shades, and Jimmy Porkchop are introduced. Two main topics of conversation are whether a regular person could or would have sex with a furry, and progress on paying off a car that Bobby wants for the gang. Later, Bobby and Slim assault another furry for beer money.

Chapter 4: Mr. Saturday Night
Pawl goes out to the Dancing Furry bar with Reddy and two other furries on a Saturday night, but winds up feeling isolated and depressed because no one seems to take him seriously or share any of his interests. Pawl is shown to be a fan of 'Godziller' movies. He also takes his faith very seriously, and is proud of the fact that his apartment has real hardwood floors. He says that polishing the natural wood helps him feel closer to The Mother, the Utopian Furries' version of God.

Chapter 5: A Case for Christmas
As Christmas approaches, a furry is attacked by a weird assailant who steals only the head from the furry's fursuit. Furtaugh investigates.

Chapter 6: Hopscotch
A rabbit furry, Ray Coney, was once a happy and successful member of furry society, until he is brutally beaten by The Skullz gang. This chapter chronicles Ray's downward spiral of despair and his hope for recovery.

#1: "It's Good to Be A Furry"
The story depicts a canine furry, as he goes for a job interview outside the community of Furtown. This chapter in particular highlights the discrimination and hatred that the furries suffer at the hands of the wider population.

#2: "Vacationtime"
In this story, Reddy, Pawl, and two other furries plan to go on a camping trip, but Pawl annoys everyone and they leave him behind.

#3: "Red Snow"
Furtaugh returns for another murder case set at Christmas. This time, a furry is bludgeoned to death and found on Santa's sleigh when the float comes down the street at the end of the annual City Merchants Association Holiday Parade. Who killed the furry, how, and what happened to Santa, are just a few of the questions facing the intrepid Detective Furtaugh.

"Secrets of the Furries"
Short look at details of the Utopian Furries and the way they live. These tend to be only one page. One shows how a cat furry puts extra care into making his fursuit more lifelike by adding a weight to make the tail sway more naturally. Another shows a diagram of the Utopian Furries' fursuit. Another shows in four pages how furries are "born," or rather, how a child is trained from infancy to be a furry.

Cast

 * Barky Airedale, a canine who is murdered by the Skullz.
 * Pawl Meowman, a yellow cat who is the first to find Barky.
 * Pinky Clawson, a pink cat, who is also Pawl's friend.
 * Doctor Woolfy, a red fox who tries to save Barky.
 * Quince, the coroner, who is not a furry.
 * Detective Furtaugh, a police detective who is a furry, but cannot wear his fursuit because of his job.
 * Lt. Carson, Furtaugh's boss, also not a furry.
 * Burke, overweight, doughnut-chomping detective, given to practical jokes. Not a furry.
 * Davison, rookie detective, an assistant to Furtaugh occasionally. He is also not a furry.
 * Reddy Blackpaw, another red fox, who is Pawl's friend.
 * Clarice, another red fox, who is Reddy's girlfriend.
 * Elder Fox, a member of the furry Elder Council, and Reddy's uncle.
 * Charlie, canine furry, bartender/owner of The Dancing Furry bar.
 * Bayree, a wolf furry, whom Reddy dislikes despite Bayree's attempts at friendship.
 * Bobby, the leader of the Skullz gang.
 * Slim, a member of the Skullz gang.
 * Rollo, a member of the Skullz gang. Rival for Bobby's authority within the gang.
 * Shades, a member of the Skullz gang. Always wears sunglasses.
 * Jimmy Porkchop, a member of the Skullz gang.
 * Skeet, the newest member of the Skullz gang, and Slim's cousin from the West Coast.