InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "lmao!!!"

roguefankc (roguefankc) wrote in scans_daily,
@ 2009-09-25 08:56:00

Current location:	California
Current mood:	anxious
Entry tags:	creator: vince suzukawa, genre: furry, genre: humor, theme: homosexuality, title: i.s.o.

A comic series called "I.S.O."
Greetings people of scans_daily! Thought I could share some scans of a comic series created by an independent comic author-artist named Vince Suzukawa who does wonderful work as a gay furry artist who also did the webcomic The Class Menagerie. Well, though he's published 8 issues, he posted the first three issues on public domain, and I figured I could share a few scans about the life of a furry freshman in college coming to terms with being gay in a hilarious and deep story of crazy roommates, bartenders, and finding true friends in a comic called "I.S.O." (aka "in search of")

First off, for dial-uppers, here's the site where you can see the rest of the scans in chronological order:

I.S.O. Archives

First, let's meet our main character, Cody, a senior high-school grad enjoying the last days of summer in Hawaii before going to college.

The other tiger he runs into is Todd, a close friend since sixth grade who recently had a falling out with Cody before they graduated high school.

Three guesses what they fought over, and the first two don't count...

Once on the plane, Cody gets a rather "interesting" neighboring passenger who happens to be an Aussie wolf named Jake.

What makes things worse (for Cody) is that Jake happens to be his assigned dorm-mate at the university where Cody's attending (wow, what are the odds?):

I had to laugh at Jake wagging his tail when the Dean figured out that Jake was seeing his son.

Needless to say, Jake found himself "volunteered" in the Student Exchange program for America. And Cody, still hiding in the closet and realizing that this is the last thing he needs (being in the closet, Cody knows this is a big temptation), tries to find another college student to exchange dorm-mates with him. But he soon finds that there are roommates worse than Jake:

Needing to step outside, Cody meets up with the university hall's handyman/janitor, Jeff...and the university's gardener, Thor, a bison who has a personality that could give Marvel's Wolverine a run for his money.

Cody then feels quite lonely in his first day of college even before classes start (even though he makes an acquaintance with a fellow alligator freshman named Boris). Then he remembers that Todd (though Todd and Cody are both attending the same college) isn't on speaking terms with him, and Cody knows why:

Feeling the need to get away from Jake and another annoying dorm-mate named Zach, a surfer skunk, Cody then realizes a perfect way for him to avoid his growing attraction to Jake and keep his desires in control.

Unfortunately, plans go awry when Zach and Jake both try to give Cody some useless (and unwanted) job advice.

But as luck would have it...

This, I admit, is a bit illogical; if I see a hulking muscle guy who towers over me by a foot and who wears glasses, I'm not going to think he's a pushover and I can mess with him just because he wears glasses.

Still, Sam has misgivings about hiring Cody while Cody, as much as he tries to deny his feelings, can't help but have some attraction to Doug. And then he runs into Jeff:

Yes, Cody, it's exactly what you think it means. But Cody, still insecure about his homosexuality, then finds that life in college got much more difficult when he: 1.) runs into Todd, 2.) has Sam humiliate him in the bar on his first night of work, 3.) lies to his father about finding a girlfriend when he confesses to his parents that he got a job and needs funds to take his "girlfriend" out, and 5.) gets into a fight with Jake and Zach.

It's a lot for Cody who suddenly realizes that because he's been pushing people away so that they wouldn't discover his secret...

Jeff, then seeing that Cody needs a friend, invites Cody to his apartment to watch the Superbowl.

And then Cody gets another revelation:

Unfortunately, Cody doesn't know the way back to the dorm campus, and Jeff realizes that Cody guessed the truth that Jeff's gay, but Jeff misunderstands this reaction from Cody...

I love, love, LOVE these next pages. It's rare to see a comic that addresses being gay in a serious tone and without mocking it or making it sound weird or superficial, so if anything, the mentor role Jeff assumes for Cody is heart-warming.

And so now, Cody realizes that Jeff was right. He can be gay and no one will make a big deal over it, he shouldn't try to hide and suppress, and if Doug likes him (as evidenced by the spilling of the drink), then perhaps it's not the end of the world to accept his sexuality. So everything's solved, and Cody is going to grow and get a "happily ever after", right?

WRONG!

And this is only the first two issues on public domian. Vince Suzukawa published 8 issues, and the 9th one will be out in January 2010 (this comic is released biannually). More information about the comic and how to order it can be found here:

I.S.O. comic Website

I.S.O. comic LiveJournal community (note: you must join to see previews of future issues)

Mods, let me know if anything's wrong.

(Post a new comment)

	arilou_skiff 2009-09-25 04:36 pm UTC (link)
	That's some serious TaleSpin Shere-Khan there on the cover. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	icon_uk 2009-09-25 05:55 pm UTC (link)
	Yeah, my thought exactly throughout this to be honest. Not that it's not fun though. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	Funnily enough, I never noticed it before roguefankc 2009-09-25 06:48 pm UTC (link)
	Now that you two mention it...Cody does look like a teenage version of Shere Khan. And given how annoying Zach and Jake can be, can you really blame Cody for being mad on the cover? (Reply to this) (Parent)

	ex_menagerie993 2009-09-25 08:08 pm UTC (link)
	It's cute. Though it does bring up one of those things I always find funny about furry comics. How does a anthropomorphic animal blush? :D (Reply to this) (Thread)

Good point

roguefankc
2009-09-25 09:33 pm UTC (link)

Underneath all that fur, it would be hard for Cody to blush or show he's blushing.

Artistic reasons aside, I recall Vince wrote a little bit in a future issue where Cody complains to Doug that having a thick coat of fur was annoying due to static electricity and having difficulty in his muscles showing underneath. So arguably, if the fur shows muscle definition, then perhaps it's thin enough to show when Cody's face is turning red.

Plus, let's not forget that some comic characters like Starfire or Beast Boy who both have different-colored skins have shown to show blushing despite it technically would be difficult to do so with their complexions.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

	ashtoreth 2009-09-25 11:27 pm UTC (link)
	Thanks for showing this! I got so interested in the first couple of scans, I just hopped off to the site. Sometimes, as nice as scans are, they miss the downbeats that are so important to set a mood. Australians just walk around saying "Oi!" all the time, don't they?:) (Reply to this) (Thread)

	You're welcome roguefankc 2009-09-26 04:23 pm UTC (link)
	Hey, it's always a pleasure to share good comic stories around this community. Australians just walk around saying "Oi!" all the time, don't they?: Perhaps, but I know for a fact that not all muscular, hunky, Australians walk around shirtless. ^_~ (Reply to this) (Parent)

	joysweeper 2009-09-26 12:10 am UTC (link)
	Interesting. ...Okay, I'll bite. opens new tab to try the archives (Reply to this)

	magus_69 2009-09-26 04:16 am UTC (link)
	For those who like this, I recommend the author's earlier webcomic, The Class Menagerie. It's set in the same universe (set on a different floor of the same dorm, albeit a few years earlier). It's more overtly wacky, but there are some strong moments between the characters, and it's fairly neat to see how his art style has matured from then to now. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	*hugs* roguefankc 2009-09-26 04:28 pm UTC (link)
	Magus! Missed you! hugs Glad you enjoyed the scans; I remember you showed interest in Vince's work previously and you enjoyed </i>The Class Menagerie</i>. I'm in the process of replying back to your e-mail; just give me some time. Things got a little hectic lately. And I agree; Vince's artwork vastly improved from CM to this. (Reply to this) (Parent)

silverzeo
2009-09-27 05:32 am UTC (link)

Interesting story. Decent characters and interactions. And just love how most of the panels seem to inter act with the whole page, like scan 17 and especially scan 28 because it seems to make fun of the fact that page is about looking deeper into Cody so it won't seem like a melodramatic afterschool special, which the cartoon style of the furries seem to help amp with the addition with their expressions. Overall, I may want to dive deeper into this series... if I have the guts to stand to what people might think if I have that. Seriously, I'm enjoying the story like any other book, but I would hide like it was a Death Note or something, and that's for the reason because it looks cartoonish, my folks have been busting my chops for wasting time on stuff like this.

This also makes me think about homosexuality portrayed in graphic literature. Has there been any characters, like Tasmanian Devil or Northstar, have portrayed of their relationship in a tasteful manner rather than be just a panel of that just simply says, "hey, look how those two are interacting, they had sex/gay!" kinda like nearly every bed-shot of Scott with Emma or Batwoman with other female characters? And what about manga? Aren't most School theme stories have homosexual characters as the 2nd characters to the main character, who is mostly a girl/boy trying have the nerve to ask their perfect dream girl out? Aren't there stories just like this? just about a character coming in terms with one's sexuality and position he/she has in society?

(Reply to this) (Thread)

Glad you enjoyed it!

roguefankc
2009-09-27 11:55 pm UTC (link)

Motto; one thing I enjoy about Vince is that he artistically managed to shape the panels to display or interact with the character as part of the mood or the background to emphasize what's going on or as part of a segue.

You don't need to be scared of what people would think if they see you looking at this. This is PG-13 friendly, and the cover just shows a comic. Anyone passing by will just assume it's another comic like X-Men or Teen Titans, and if anything, what's wrong with looking furry comics? People like Lackadaisy Cats or Blacksad and those are widely popular.

I know, it's rare to see any comic that displays homosexuality in a real or serious setting without melodrama. I.S.O. is really a bit like a "slice-of-life" in that Cody is merely going through what many gay teenagers are going through.

There are some good comics that deal with homosexuality; Circles is one I can think of, but you can find others here:

http://gaycomicslist.free.fr/pages/listecat.php

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