Recommended Furry Reading List for the year 2002

Last Update May 1, 2003

The Ursa Major Awards for 2002 were awarded at ConFurence 2003. While the contest is over, the following are still well worth reading. (Note - this is the full list of suggestions sent in for the best of the year, not just the nominee list.)

Recommended List for 2001
Recommended List for 2003
Recommended List for 2004
Recommended List for 2005
Recommended List for 2006
Recommended List for 2007
Recommended List for 2008
Recommended List for 2009
Recommended List for 2010
Recommended List for 2011
Recommended List for 2012
Recommended List for 2013
Recommended List for 2014
Recommended List for 2015
Recommended List for 2016
Recommended List for 2017
Recommended List for 2018
Recommended List for 2019
Recommended List for 2020
Recommended List for 2021
Recommended List for 2022
Recommended List for 2023

Table of Contents

Best Anthropomorphic Motion Picture
Best Anthropomorphic TV Series
Best Anthropomorphic Novel
Best Anthropomorphic Short Story
Best Anthropomorphic Other Literary Work
Best Anthropomorphic Comic Book or Strip
Best Anthropomorphic Fanzine
Best Anthropomorphic Published Illustration
Best Anthropomorphic Game

Best Anthropomorphic Motion Picture

Balto II: Wolf Quest (Universal Cartoon Studios, February 19, 2002)
The Country Bears (Disney, July 26, 2002)
Ice Age(20th Century Fox, March 15, 2002)
Lilo & Stitch (Disney, June 21, 2002)
Scooby-Doo (Warner Bros., June 14, 2002)
Snow Dogs (Disney, January 18, 2002)
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (DreamWorks SKG, May 24, 2002)
Spirited Away (Disney, September 20, 2002)
Stuart Little 2 (Columbia Pictures, July 19, 2002)
The Wild Thornberrys Movie (Paramount Pictures, December 20, 2002)

Best Anthropomorphic TV Series

Between the Lions (WGBH Boston and Sirius Thinking, Ltd. for PBS syndication; 2002 new episodes, 3rd season, #56 - #65, September 16 - November 18)
Digimon: Digital Monsters (Saban Entertainment/Toei Animation Company for the FoxKids/UPN network; 2002 new episodes, last part of Season 3 through first part of Series 4, #130 - #177, February 9 - December 19)
Dinotopia (Hallmark Entertainment and MAT I Production for ABC; 3 episode mini-series, May 12 - May 14). Dinotopia: The Series (Hallmark Entertainment and MAT I Production for ABC; 2002 new episodes, 1st season, #1 - #6, November 28 - December 26)
Greg the Bunny (Steven Levitan Productions for 20th Century Fox Television; 13 episodes, March 27 - August 25, 2002)
Inuyasha (The Ocean Group, in association with Viz Communications, for The Cartoon Network/Adult Swim; 2002 new episodes, Season 1, #1 (August 31) through #22 (December 28))
Redwall; a.k.a. Brian Jacques' Martin the Warrior: A Tale of Redwall (Nelvana Ltd. for Teletoon in Canada, December 2001 and PBS syndication in the U.S., 2002; 2002 U.S. new episodes, Redwall 3rd season #27 - #39; a.k.a. Martin the Warrior 1st season #1 - #13, April 14 - July 28)
Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat (CineGroupe, in association with Children's Television Workshop and IF/X Productions for PBS syndication; 2002 new episodes, #21 (February 13) to #40 (October 5))
Tokyo Pig (Miramax Television, in association with SME Visual Works, Inc., for ABC Family Channel; 2002 new episodes, Season 1, #1 (September 14) through #17 (December 21))
The Wild Thornberrys (Klasky Csupo, Inc., for Nickelodeon; 2002 new episodes, Season 4, #82 (February 16) to #83 (June 1))

Best Anthropomorphic Novel

Richard Bach, Rescue Ferrets at Sea (The Ferret Chronicles #1, Scribner/Ferret House Press, June 2002.
Richard Bach, Air Ferrets Aloft (The Ferret Chronicles #2), Scribner/Ferret House Press, June 2002.
Richard Bach, Writer Ferrets: Chasing the Muse (The Ferret Chronicles #3), Scribner/Ferret House Press, October 2002.
Raven Blackmane, Ecce Femina, by in TSAT (Transformation Stories, Art, Talk) #25, December 2002-January 2003. [Note: Ecce Femina is published in the format of short fiction, but it is 83 pages/41,300 words which qualifies as novel-length.]
Alessandro Boffa, You're an Animal, Viskovitz!, translated from the Italian by John Casey, with Maria Sanminiatelli, A. A. Knopf, May 2002.
Doranna Durgin, Changespell Legacy, Baen Books, June 2002.
Marc Estrin, Insect Dreams: The Half Life of Gregor Samsa, Penguin Putnam/BlueHen Books, February 2002.
Garry Kilworth, Vampire Voles: A Welkin Weasels Adventure, Corgi Books, May 2002.
Ted MacKinnon, Scars: An Ironclaw Novel, Sanguine Productions, Ltd., January 2002.
Andre Norton & Mercedes Lackey, Elvenborn, Tor Books, August 2002.
Andre Norton, Year of the Rat, (in Mark of the Cat: Year of the Rat, by Andre Norton (Meisha Merlin Publishing, January 2002), a collection of two novels. Mark of the Cat is a reprint; Year of the Rat is a newly-published novel. The nomination is for Year of the Rat alone; not the combined publication of both novels.)
Kenneth Oppel, Firewing, HarperCollins Canada, April 2002.
Otrstf, Anthropomorphic Foxes in Space..., serialized on Otrstf's Slightly Better Looking Web Page from April 1999 through December 2002; the final chapters (Book 4, Chapters 2 through 7) posted from January 15 to December 29, 2002.
Christopher Rowley, Doom's Break: The Third Book of Arna, ROC Books, December 2002.

Best Anthropomorphic Short Story

Richard Chwedyk, "Bronte's Egg", in Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, August 2002.
Samuel C. Conway, "Six", in Anthrolations #5, July 2002.
Paul Di Filippo, "Ailoura", in Once Upon a Galaxy, edited by Wil McCarthy, Martin H. Greenberg & John Helfers.  DAW Books, September 2002.
Phillip Eggerding, "Code Blue", in Fur Visions #26, October 2002.
Phillip Eggerding, "Midnight Blue", in Fur Visions #24, April 2002.
Phillip Eggerding, "Our Child", in Fur Visions #24, April 2002.
Phil Guesz, "Common Ground", in TSAT (Transformation Stories, Art, Talk) #25, December 2002-January 2003.
Jim Hayden, "Milk Run", in Yarf! #65, July 2002.
Quentin Long & Hallan Mirayas, "Fast Break", on the Cubist's Stories website, posted September 17, 2002.
Karl F. Meyers, "The Flying Fox", in Fur Visions #24, April 2002.
Michael H. Payne, "Familiars", in Sword and Sorceress XIX, edited by Marion Zimmer Bradley. DAW Books, January 2002.
Richard Reid, "Treasure Grows There", in Fantastic Furry Stories #3, January 2002.
Kris Schnee, "Up From Nowhere", in Fur Visions #26, October 2002.
Tim Susman, "A Prison of Clouds", in Breaking the Ice: Stories from New Tibet, edited by Tim Susman. Sofawolf Press, January 2002.
"2", "Skin Deep", in Breaking the Ice: Stories from New Tibet, edited by Tim Susman. Sofawolf Press, January 2002.

Best Anthropomorphic Other Literary Work

Gary Akins, Jr., Fornax: Outtakes from a Recording Studio, Fauxpaw Productions, July 2002. [Error correction: This was previously listed under Best Novel, but it consists of two separate stories, neither of novel length, plus an extensive article on the Fornax series.]
Kathi Appelt, illustrated by Jon Goodell, The Alley Cat's Meow, Harcourt, Inc., October 2002. (Children's picture book)
Alan Dean Foster, The Founding of the Commonwealth, Science Fiction Book Club, February 2002. (Book Club collection of the three novels Phylogenesis, Dirge and Diuturnity's Dawn)
Michel Gagnè, A Search for Meaning: The Story of Rex, Color Edition, Gagnè International Press, May 2002. (Children's picture book. Note: there was a 1998 edition with different black-&-white art.  Since a children's picture book exists primarily for its art, the completely new art in this edition makes it a new 2002 work.)
Michel Gagnè, Zed. Vol. 1, Gagnè International Press, May 2002.  (Comic book collection)
Steve Gerber (story), Phil Winslade & Glenn Fabry w/Garry Leach (art), Howard the Duck (Volume 2), Marvel Comics, September 2002. (Comic book collection)
James M. Hardiman, The Collected Skunkworks, Radio Comix, September 2002. (Comic book collection)
Paul Kidd (story) & Mike Sagara (art), Tank Vixens: Divine Collection. United Publications, October 2002. (Comic book collection)
Rich Koslowski, Three Fingers, Top Shelf Productions, July 2002 (Cartoon art novel)
John Lithgow, illustrated by C. F. Payne, Micawber, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Children, October 2002. (Children's picture book)
David Simpson, Ozy and Millie IV: Authentic Banana Dye, Plan Nine Publishing, November 2002. (Comic strip collection)
Tim Susman, editor, Breaking the Ice: Stories from New Tibet, Sofawolf Press, January 2002. (Collection of short stories)

Best Anthropomorphic Comic Book or Strip

Comic Strips

For a comprehensive list of both newspaper and Internet Furry comic strips (without regard to quality), see The Belfry: Furry Comics Online

1/0, by Tailsteak. (Comic strip, Internet, daily, 2002 strips from January to December 31)
The Adventures of Fifine, by Normand Bilodeau (Henbe). (Comic strip, Internet, irregular but about monthly, 2002 strips from February or March to December)
Alice Otter, by Miguel Estrugo. Comic strip, Internet, weekly/bi-weekly, 2002 strips from January 6 (#19) to December 30 (#50))
The Class Menagerie, by Vince Suzukawa. (Comic strip, Internet, daily, 2002 strips from January 1 through November 16/final)
Come What May, by Gaby "Redmoon" Fullerton. (Comic strip, Internet, irregular, 2002 strips from October 27 to November 3)
Commander Kitty, by Scotty Arsenault. (Comic strip, Internet, approx. four-weekly, 2002 strips from April 16 to December 30)
CoyoteVille, by Steven Graziano. (Comic strip, Internet, daily, 2002 strips from January 1 to December 5)
Dandy & Company, by Derrick Fish. (Comic strip, Internet, daily, 2002 strips from January 1 to December 31)
A Doemain of our Own, by Susan Parkin. (Comic strip, Internet, tri-weekly, 2002 strips from January 4 to December 25)
Faux Pas, by Robert & Margaret Carspecken. (Comic strip, Internet, tri-weekly, 2002 strips from January to December 30)
Freefall, by Mark Stanley. (Comic strip, Internet, tri-weekly, 2002 strips from January 2 to December 30)
Kevin & Kell, by Bill Holbrook. (Comic strip, Internet, daily, 2002 strips from January 1 to December 31)
Latex Blue, by Dragonfly. (Comic strip, Internet, tri-weekly, 2002 strips from January 11 to December 30)
Master Zen-Dao Meow: The Spiraling Heart, by Patrick Schaefer & Bret Ward. (Comic strip, Internet, tri-weekly, 2002 strips from March(?) (#1) to December 30 (#115))
Modem Problems, by Matthew McAndrews. (Comic strip, Internet, weekly, 2002 strips from January 7 to December 30)
Nip and Tuck, by Ralph E. Hayes, Jr. (Comic strip, Internet, tri-weekly, 2002 strips from January 1 to December 31)
Ozy and Millie, by David Simpson. (Comic strip, Internet, daily, 2002 strips from January 2 to December 31)
Scrued, by Melissa Jewel. (Comic strip, Internet, irregular, 2002 strips from March 13 to December 23)
SpellShocked, by Benjamin Yackley, Charles Caffrey and Mark Freid. (Comic strip, Internet, semi-monthly, 2002 strips from January 1 (#25) to December 15 (#48))
The Suburban Jungle, starring Tiffany Tiger, by John Robey. (Comic strip, Internet, tri-weekly, 2002 strips from January 2 to December 30)
Tales of the Questor, by Ralph E. Hayes, Jr. . (Comic strip, Internet, weekly, 2002 strips from January 6 to December 29)
Under the Lemon Tree, by Ralph E. Hayes, Jr. . (Comic strip, Internet, tri-weekly, 2002 strips from January 2 to December 30)
Unicornography, by Tanamin! (Comic strip, Internet, weekly, 2002 strips from July 28 to December 29)
Wild Angels, by G. Raymond Eddy. (Comic strip, Internet, approx. weekly, 2002 strips from August 16 to December 27)
The World of Vicki Fox, by Laura Howell & Michael Russell. (Comic strip, Internet, semi-monthly, 2002 strips from January 6 (#38) to December 22 (#57))

Comic Books

Animal Farm in Fables, by Bill Willingham (story), Mark Buckingham (pencils) & Steve Leialoha (inks). (Comic book, DC Comics/Vertigo, five-issue story arc in Fables #6-#10, monthly, 2002 issues include Animal Farm, Part 1/Fables #6, December 2002 to Part 3/Fables #8, February 2003 (published December 2002))
Anubis: Dark Desire, by various. (Comic book, Sin Factory, one-shot(?), 2002 issues starting with #1, June)
Bureau of Mana Investigation, by Smudge (Christina Hanson) & Ed Garcia. (Comic book, Radio Comix, bi-monthly, 2002 issues from #1, January to #5, November)
Circles, by Andrew French, Steve Domanski and Scott Fabianek. (Comic book, RABCO Publishing, irregular, 2002 issues from #2 (dated Summer 2001 but published March 15, 2002) to #3 (dated Fall 2001 but published July 2002)
De Cape et de Crocs, by Alain Ayroles & Jean-Luc Masbou. (Comic book, Delcourt, annual, volume 5, Jean sans Lune, published September 13, 2002)
Furrlough (Comic book, Radio Comix, monthly, 2002 issues from #109, January to #120, December)
Genus, by various. (Comic book, Sin Factory, bi-monthly, 2002 issues from #52, February, to #57, December)
Genus: Male, by Daria McGrain, Miu & Richard Moore. (Comic book, Sin Factory, annual(?), 2002 issues include #1, January 2002)
Herobear and the Kid, by Mike Kunkel. (Comic book, Astonish Comics, irregular, 2002 issues from #4, undated but published in January, to #5, undated but published in November)
Howard the Duck (Volume 2), by Steve Gerber (story), Phil Winslade & Glenn Fabry w/Garry Leach (art). (Comic book, MAX (Marvel) Comics, monthly, 2002 issues from #1 (March) to #6 (August))
Kitty Meets the Furries, by Jen Collins. (Comic book, Kitty Bukkake Productions, one-shot, 2002, published in September)
Mutant, Texas: Tales of Sheriff Ida Red, by Paul Dini (story) and J. Bone (art). ((Comic book, Oni Press, bi-monthly, 2002 issues from #1, May to #3, October)
My Monkey's Name is Jennifer, by Ken Knudtsen. (Comic book, Amaze Ink/Slave Labor Graphics, bi-monthly, 2002 issues from #1, March to #5, November)
New Horizons, by various. (Comic book, Shanda Fantasy Arts, irregular, 2002 issues from #12, April to #13, July)
Skunkworks Reflections, by various. (Comic book, Sin Factory, one-shot(?), 2002 issues starting with #1, July)
Stan Winston's Realm of the Claw, by Francis Takenaga (story), Gabriel Rearte (#1-#2) & Liam M. Sharp (#3) (art). (Comic book published combined with Stan Winston's Mutant Earth, Image Comics, bi-monthly, 2002 issues from #1, April to #3, September)
Tea Club, by "PMBQ" (Phuong-Mai Bui-Quang). (Comic book, Icarus Publishing, bi-monthly, 2002 issues from #1, September to #2, November)
ThunderCats, by J. Scott Campbell (#0), Ford Lytle Gilmore (#0-#5) (story), Ed McGuinness & Jason Martin (art). (Comic book, DC Comics/WildStorm, monthly, 2002 issues from #0, October to #5, February 2003 (published December 2002))
Usagi Yojimbo (Comic book, Dark Horse, monthly, 2002 issues from v. III #54, January to #62, November)
Woof, by Louie Furrywolfy. (Comic book, self-published, 2002, first issue (unnumbered) published in June)

Best Anthropomorphic Fanzine

Anthrolations (2002 issues from #5, July, to #6, November)
Fang, Claw & Steel (2002 issues from #12, Winter, to #15, Autumn)
Fur Plus (2002 issues from #13, January, to #16, October)
Fur Visions (2002 issues from #23, January, to #26, October)
Huzzah! (2002 issues from #45, February, to #48, November)
South Fur Lands (2002 issues from #24, March, to #27, December)
Tales of the Tai-Pan Universe (2002 issues from #29, March, to #31, December)
Yarf! (2002 issues from #63, January, to #65, July)

Best Anthropomorphic Published Illustration

Kjartan Arnorsson, cover painting for Huzzah! #45, February 2002.
Heather Bruton, cover painting for Anubis: Dark Desire #1, June 2002.
Heather Bruton, cover painting for Furrlough #112, April 2002.
Walter Crane, cover painting for Sheba v.3 #2, June 2002.
"Dr. Comet", cover painting for Hit the Beach (2002) #9, July 2002.
Chris Goodwin, cover painting for Circles #2, Summer 2001 [March 2002]
Odis Holcomb, cover painting for Breaking the Ice: Stories from New Tibet, edited by Tim Susman, January 2002.
Troy Howell, cover painting for Triss, by Brian Jacques, September 2002 (U.S. edition)
Mike Luce "'T", back cover of Circles #3, July 2002
Mike Luce "'T", front cover of Circles #3, July 2002
Brian McPherson, cover painting for Fornax: Remix 1.1, by Matt J. McCullar, January 2002.
Chuck Melville, cover painting for Wild Kingdom #13, April 2002.
Natasha Mleynek "Dark Natasha", Cover for Furrlough #109, January 2002
Brenden Smith, cover for South Fur Lands #26, September 2002.
Kevin Tweddell, cover painting for Vampire Voles: A Welkin Weasels Adventure,by Garry Kilworth, May 2002.

Best Anthropomorphic Game

Animal Crossing. Developer: Nintendo (Takashi Tezuka, project leader); Publisher: Nintendo, September 16, 2002.
Blinx: The Time Sweeper. Developer: Artoon; Publisher: Microsoft Corp., October 8, 2002.
JADECLAW: The Anthropomorphic Fantasy Role-Playing game! Publisher: Sanguine Productions, Ltd., January 2002.
Kingdom Hearts. Developer: SquareSoft; Publisher: Square Electronic Arts, September 17, 2002.
Ratchet and Clank. Developer: Insomniac Games; Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment, scheduled for November 15, 2002.
Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus. Developer: Sucker Punch; Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment, September 24, 2002.
Star Fox Adventures. Designer: Rare, Ltd.; Publisher: Nintendo, September 23, 2002.
Tank Vixens: The Card Game, by Paul Kidd (writer) & Greg Panovich (artist). United Publications, November 2002.