The American Journal of Anthropomorphics

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The American Journal of Anthropomorphics, vol. #4

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.

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.

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.

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.

STATUS: Out of print/limited availability

External links[edit]