The American Journal of Anthropomorphics
The American Journal of Anthropomorphics (AJA) was a series of furry art books edited by Darrell Benvenuto and published by his Med Systems Company, with four issues released between 1993 and 1997. (The ISSN was 1071-8745.) The cover price was US$10.
The mainstay of the series were its artist sections, typically a half dozen pages each of illustrations by various artists. The intent of the Journal was to present furry artists in as professional a light as possible, and for it to be used as a talent catalogue for publishers seeking artists in the field of anthropomorphics or funny animals.
The variety of artists in the journal showed different styles of furry artwork, although the number of artists included may make it less appealing to collectors looking for a lot of one particular style.
The Journal also included art tutorial articles ("Artist's Corner"), serial art ("graphic stories") and "reviews", although these were generally advertisements rather than criticism.
The front and back covers were printed in color, while the interior art was black-and-white.
Issue #1[edit]
Published in September 1993, the first AJA was 104 pages long. It lacked page numbers. The front cover was a beach scene by Steve Martin, featuring his character Mauvette. The back cover was "I hate shedding season!" by Roy D. Pounds II.
- Artist sections: Eric Schwartz, Robert Guthrie, Steven Martin, Kyla Littlejohn, Daphne Lage, Jeff Wood, Josef Ricketts, Dan Flahive, Mark Mandolia, Michael-Scot McMurry, Ruben Rodriguez
- Reviews: Cerebus, Tall Tails, Revelations
- Artist's Corner by Kyla Littlejohn
- Fiction: "Peacock" by Kishma Danielle, illustrated by Kyla Littlejohn; and "Tales from the Reservationpart 1" illustrated by Daphne Lage.
STATUS: Out of print/unavailable
Issue #2[edit]
Released in August 1994, this issue had 124 pages. The front cover was a jungle portrait by Monika Livingstone of her persona character SiberKat. The back cover by Taral Wayne featured his character Dixie wading through a swamp.
- Graphic stories: "The Dragonslayers" by Daphne Lage, "Male Prerogative" and "Horse-Fly" by Jeff Wood, "Dream City" Part One by Craig Carrington, "Hotel California" by Mitchell R. Beiro
- Artist sections: Steven Martin, Robert Guthrie, Eric Schwartz, Taral Wayne, Roy D. Pounds II, Michele Light, Kevin Vetrone, Tom Verre, Dan Flahive, Michael Flynn, Bryce Nakagawa, Jay Shell, Diana Harlan Stein, Mark Mandolia
- Reviews: Buffalo Wings
- Artist's Corner by Dan Flahive
- Fiction: "Tales from the Reservation part 2" illustrated by Daphne Lage.
STATUS: Out of print/unavailable
Issue #3[edit]
The March 1995 issue was 118 pages. Both the front cover ("A Two-Fisted Christmas") and back cover ("The Awakening") were acrylic paintings by Steven Martin. The back inside cover carried a full-page ad by Eric Blumrich.
- Artist sections: Eric Schwartz, Shea Ryan, Terrie Smith, Kenneth Sample, Daphne Lage, Josef Ricketts, Joseph D. Ny, Ronald Van Bokhoven, Joshua Kennedy, Genesis Eve Cook, Taral Wayne, Timothy Fay, Michelle Parker
- Graphic stories: "Open Season" by Kjartan Arnorsson, "Home Sweet Span" by Bill Fitts, "Dream City" Part Two by Craig Carrington
- Fiction: "Tales from the Reservation part 3" illustrated by Daphne Lage.
STATUS: Out of print/limited availability
Issue #4[edit]
The final, 126 page book of the Journal (ISBN 1-887038-01-9) was published in January 1997 by Vision Books, Med Systems Company's new print subsidiary. The front cover ("Kalinda", 1996) and back cover ("Chained", 1995) were both ink and marker pieces of an anthro husky character by Michele Light. The back inside cover carried ad for Margaret Carspecken's Sweet Treats cookbook. The book was almost entirely dedicated to artist sections and featured not only a very large number of artists, but many artists not usually considered part of the furry fandom.
- Artist sections: Michele Light, Terrie Smith, Eric Blumrich, Jim Burns, Jill Bauman, Kathryn Bolinger, Enrique Rosenthal, Shane Fisher, April Lee, Andrew Pidcock, Shawntae Howard (model sheets for Extinctioners), Joshua Kennedy, Jay Naylor, Brian Ahern, Gwenn Seuling, Steve Simpson, Brian McPherson, Mark Shaw, Clark Alan Corwin, L. S. McGill, Scott Rosema
- Graphic stories: "The Fall" by Eric Blumrich.
STATUS: Out of print/limited availability
External links[edit]
- AJA page on the Vision Entertainment Group web site
- Amazon.com has issue #3 and issue #4 for sale as of March 2006
