''Critters'' was an

anthropomorphic animal Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to ...

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

published by

Fantagraphics Books Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and (formerly) the Erotic comics, erotic Eros Comix imprint. They have managed sev ...

from 1985 to 1990 under the editorship of

Kim Thompson Kim Thompson (September 25, 1956 – June 19, 2013) was an American comic book editor, translator, and publisher, best known as vice president and co-publisher of Seattle-based Fantagraphics Books. Along with co-publisher Gary Groth, Thompso ...

. Prior to ''

Furrlough ''Furrlough'' is a furry fandom, furry comic book originally published by Antarctic Press and continued by Radio Comix. It is edited by Elin Winkler and is nicknamed (dubbed) "Your Funny Animal Anthology". First published in 1991, ''Furrlough'' o ...

'' and ''Genus'', this was the longest running talking-animal anthology comic book series. The title lasted for 50 issues. Furthermore, it served as the flagship title of Fantagraphics' line of talking animal series in the 1980s.

Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including ''Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', ''The Ballad of Halo Jones'', Swamp Thing (comic book), ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman: The Killing Joke' ...

released a single "March of the Sinister Ducks" as a flexi disc in the comic's 23rd issue. The 11 issues prior to issue 50 were switched to revolving features of issue-long stories, rather than the anthology format. The final issue returned to the standard format, with the 11 submissions to the issue published in the form of an anthology. Declining sales led to this title's cancellation in 1990.

Series

The series included in the book were: * "

Birthright Birthright is the concept of things being due to a person upon or by fact of their birth, or due to the order of their birth. These may include rights of citizenship based on the place where the person was born or the citizenship of their paren ...

" by Steve Gallacci– dystopian science fiction story set a few generations after his " Erma Felna: EDF" series in ''

Albedo Anthropomorphics ''Albedo Anthropomorphics'', or ''Albedo'' for short, is a furry comic book anthology series which was credited with starting the furry comic book subgenre that featured sophisticated stories with talking animals primarily intended for an adult ...

''. * " Fission Chicken" by

J.P. Morgan JP may refer to: Arts and media * ''JP'' (album), 2001, by American singer Jesse Powell * ''Jp'' (magazine), an American Jeep magazine * '' Jönköpings-Posten'', a Swedish newspaper * Judas Priest, an English heavy metal band * ''Jurassic Pa ...

– the adventures of an ill-tempered

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

. * " Gnuff" by Freddy Milton– a translation of Danish comics about a family of

dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...

s written and drawn much in the style of

Carl Barks Carl Barks (March 27, 1901 – August 25, 2000) was an American cartoonist, author, and painter. He is best known for his work in Disney comics, Disney comic books, as the writer and artist of the first Donald Duck stories and as the creator of ...

. * "

Usagi Yojimbo is a comic book series created by Stan Sakai. It is set primarily at the beginning of the Edo period of Japanese history and features anthropomorphic animals replacing humans. The main character is a rabbit '' rōnin'', Miyamoto Usagi, whom ...

" by

Stan Sakai is a Japanese Americans, Japanese-born American cartoonist and comic book creator. He is best known as the creator of the comic series ''Usagi Yojimbo''. Early life Sakai was born Masahiko Sakai (坂井雅彦) in Kyoto, Japan, to Akio and Ter ...

– the adventures of the

rabbit Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also includes the hares), which is in the order Lagomorpha (which also includes pikas). They are familiar throughout the world as a small herbivore, a prey animal, a domesticated ...

ronin before the strip got its own book. * "Lionheart" by Tom Stazer– in which the title character (a journalist

cat The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...

) relates the bizarre stories he investigates. * "Duck 'Bill' Platypus" by Kyle Rothweiler– an antic, knockabout humor strip about the eponymous character and his strange friends, set allegedly in Tasmania. * "Lizards" by J. Holland (story) and Ron Wilber (art)– this series depicted the day-to-day life of Dweezil, a teenage anthropomorphic lizard, his family and friends, set on an alternate (future?) world. * "Creepy Crawlies" by Mathson Manger– this series goes through the life of five different creepy crawlies and all the troubles they go through.

References

Comics anthologies Fantagraphics titles 1985 comics debuts 1990 comics endings Comics about anthropomorphic animals {{Comics-stub