The Suburban Jungle
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| Suburban Jungle | |
|---|---|
 Cover of the 4th comic strip collection book |
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| Author(s) | John "The Gneech" Robey |
| Website | http://suburbanjungle.com |
| Current status | Updates Monday, Wednesday & Friday, with special artwork Saturday
Currently updating on Tuesday and Thursday for the summer |
| Launch date | February 1, 1999 [1] |
| Genre(s) | Comedy/Romance/Furry |
The Suburban Jungle is a webcomic written and drawn by John "The Gneech" Robey (author of NeverNever) and colored by K. "Hikaru" Dickinson. The Suburban Jungle is hosted on Keenspot and is indexed on the online comic search engine Oh No Robot. It belongs in the furry or anthropomorphic animal genre, with the furry fandom as its primary audience.
[edit] Premise
The comic's storylines are usually of the "slice-of-life" variety and are centered on model and actress Tiffany Tiger, her friends, and her relatives. The comic chronicles Tiffany's ventures into the world of fashion and entertainment, as well as her love life and the lives of those she knows. The writing style combines light humor, mostly appropriate for all ages, with romance, and sometimes even adventure.
The world of The Suburban Jungle is like our own reality but it is solely populated by anthropomorphic animals. Furthermore, predation (in the style of Kevin and Kell) exists, but with many laws, both written and moral, concerning where and when a kill may be made. While this was prominent in the early years of the strip (The Gneech has been overheard saying "I just thought that was how furry strips were done"), it has been relegated to the background in recent years.
[edit] Availability
The Suburban Jungle is available online free of charge at suburbanjungle.com. A new strip is usually released every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, with some artwork of interest on Saturday. The complete archives are also available. There have also been four books published by Plan 9 Publishing:
- La Vida Panthera: ISBN 1-929462-08-5
- Love Bites: ISBN 1-929462-46-8
- Orange Alert: ISBN 1-929462-69-7
- Tough Breaks: ISBN 1-929462-93-X
The books, along with additional merchandise, are also available at Merchandise Maven.
[edit] Characters
[edit] Main characters
[edit] Tiffany Tiger
- First Appearance: February 1, 1999 [2]
- Species: Siberian Tiger
Tiffany is the star of the comic - the website's main page even reads "The Suburban Jungle - starring Tiffany Tiger!" A young aspiring model, Tiffany struggles to make a name for herself in the entertainment industry, with varying degrees of success over the years. She has been in photo shoots, presented fashion awards, starred in a B-movie reminiscent of Barbarella called Tiffarella and is now starring in a similarly themed sci-fi television series called Kitten Kaboodle. For several years, she also worked in the Information Technology department of MegaHuge ConGloMaCo.
During this time, her love life has also been rather turbulent. Her good looks charm many, but until recently she hasn't managed to have a stable relationship, much to her dread. Her first serious relationship was with Conrad Tiger, but Conrad broke up with her after realizing that both needed things the other could not offer. They were together for just over three years. Things are looking up again, however; Tiffany rediscovered love in the face of her longtime friend and admirer Leonard Lion. She has now been with Leonard for roughly as long as she was with Conrad.
Tiffany is ambitious, bright, and persevering; although the way to fame is strewn with many obstacles, she always fights to overcome them.
[edit] Yin the Panda
- First Appearance: February 22, 1999 [3]
- Species: Giant Panda
Yin is Tiffany's roommate, a believer in UFO's, alternate dimensions, and the like, and is working against "The Conspiracy", which refers to her as "No. 6 7/8". She was recently abducted by aliens, who picked up the signal from a microtransmitter implanted in her spinal cord by The Conspiracy when it held her captive in "The Village", based on the one in the British television programme The Prisoner.
[edit] Leonard Lion
Leonard Lion is Tiffany's current boyfriend and the bartender of The Watering Hole, a bar famous for its "No Predation" policy, which allows both predator-type and prey-type customers to use it. A sheep, for instance, could enjoy a drink without worrying if the wolf across the room is going to change his dinner plans. While Leonard's job is more stable than Tiffany's, he hasn't fared much better in love. He is divorced from Glory, an ambitious lioness who left him when he was fired from a job, and he had been completely lonely since... until Tiffany came along.
For more than two years, Leonard bantered, flirted, and supported Tiffany emotionally, but to no avail. Tiffany remained oblivious to his advances, not realizing that casual flirting had become something more. When she finally saw the light, Leonard had just managed to get over his pain and stepped aside in favor of Conrad. After he and Tiffany broke up, however, Leonard finally got together with Tiffany.
Leonard is wise-cracking, but also fair and loyal. His support of the "No Predation" policy in his bar shows a degree of compassion towards prey species, a compassion which he leaves at the door when he goes hunting.
[edit] Dover Cheetah
Dover is a computer programmer who worked in the I.T. Departments of MegaHuge ConGloMaCo and Amalgatronix Corporation. He is so good at his job that, until recently, working with computer code all day had afflicted him with a strange speech impediment: he could only talk in a strange amalgam of normal English and generic computer code, referred to by fans as "D-speak" or "Doverspeak". For example, "Hello Tiffany, my name is Dover" comes out as:
SET GREETING=HELLO(TIFFANY)
LET MYNAME=DOVER
This impediment, coupled with Dover's somewhat geeky personality (he has been known to follow trends such as trading card games, online shooters, and console video games) did not make him popular with girls, until Tiffany's half-sister Comfort took an interest in him. The two quickly fell in love, later got engaged, and eventually married.
Dover began college at DeMontfort University in 1992 and got his friend Kurt Kingston to get him on the football team as the school mascot in an effort to win the affections of their R.A., Chase Cheetah. He later transferred to Tech after being involved in the incident that partially destroyed Richter Hall, which may ultimately have been better for him since Tech had a stronger computer curriculum and an athletic department focused on track and field.
Dover has a likeable enough personality, but being an only child in a rich family has left him somewhat spoiled. Until recently, he would go to great lengths to get his way - in the most memorable incident, he caused a "BIG HONKIN' CRASH!", sabotaging MegaHuge ConGloMaCo's computer system so that Tiffany would have to work overtime and miss her date with Conrad. Dover was fired for his actions, though he was eventually rehired with a major pay cut. He also hacked the company's system once before, to make the hiring system recommended Tiffany for the vacant programming position. Comfort has had a beneficial effect on his personality since she makes him so happy.
When Amalgatronix took over MegaHuge, Dover was made I.T. manager. He had almost continual conflict with his boss, Lagston Swine, and nonexistent support for I.T. combined with the lack of employees left Dover to fend for himself, much to his annoyance. After Amalgatronix went under, Dover worked at a Roebucks coffee shop for about a year, at which time he was offered a job as a programmer at a new company started by former MegaHuge CEO Oswald Proboscis.
Another distinctive trait of Dover is his total inability to hunt, partly because he has never had to, partly because of his squeamishness, and partly because of his severe case of prey empathy. Leonard makes an effort to teach him, but Dover proves to be hopeless as a hunter. The final blow to his predatory career was being beaten up by Ramses after trying to eat him.
A current development in Dover's personality due to a mixture of several months of no real work except for a job at Roebucks and the shock of being offered a new technical position by Eddie Ape, Dover's D-Speak was jolted out of him, he now speaks with a normal, understandable language which, at times can be a bit of an annoyance with how many words one breath can send off.
[edit] Drezzer Wolf
Gay and single, Drezzer Wolf is an English fashion photographer, and Tiffany's agent. He gives some surprising insights into the other characters, and provided support for Conrad before and after the tiger broke up with Tiffany. Though he flirts with Conrad at every opportunity, he is one of Conrad's closest friends. He also performs "Bad Pickup Line Theater" with a friend, Brody Coyote on 'filler' days.
[edit] Conrad Tiger
- First Appearance: October 20, 1999 [7]
- Species: Siberian Tiger
Conrad is a model and Tiffany's ex-boyfriend. He was often described by Leonard as Tiffany's "big orange Fabio". Conrad is fraught with emotional issues, including low self-esteem, depression, guilt, and confusion, which ultimately lead to his break-up with Tiffany. He realizes that he can't give her the stability that she needs in a relationship and knows how much Leonard cares for her, so, though he loves Tiffany dearly, he steps aside so she and Leonard can be together. Before and after the break-up, he found a caring and supportive friend in Drezzer, who always managed to have some insight to share or a little something to lift Conrad's spirits.
[edit] Comfort T. Tiger
- First Appearance: February 23, 2000 [8]
- Species: Siberian Tiger
Comfort is Tiffany's half sister, and is married to Dover. Though they were engaged in 2001, she and Dover did not marry until 2004 so Comfort could finish school at DeMontfort University. She was very much the teenager when first introduced, but matures significantly over time, though she and Dover still love to play console video games.
[edit] Leona Lioness
As another aspiring model and actress, Leona Lioness saw herself as a rival to Tiffany. She was at the same photo shoot for Rowr Magazine that launched Tiffany's career, but she did not make the cover. She and Tiffany have often been involved in the same projects, including the movie Tiffarella and The Goody Awards, which has contributed to Leona's resentment of Tiffany. She felt that Tiffany had stolen her career, and tried to undermine Tiffany whenever possible for the majority of the strip's history. Tiffany's recent efforts to help Leona get on the cast of Kitten Kaboodle as Hart D'Steele and her recent success as a singer have helped Leona mellow a bit.
[edit] Secondary Characters
[edit] Wensleydale
- First Appearance: February 2, 1999 [10]
- Species: Mouse
Named after a type of British cheese, Wensley is the brother of Ramses and co-owner of The Watering Hole-in-the-Wall. His personality is the polar opposite of Ramses - bright, friendly, and positive. He likes to ride on Tiffany's shoulder, since she doesn't like the taste of mice and other predators won't bother him there.
[edit] Ramses
- First Appearance: February 12, 1999 [11]
- Species: Mouse
Ramses is the brother of Wensley, and co-owner of The Watering Hole-in-the-Wall. Ramses also studies martial arts, and has been described as "the angriest mouse in the world", the origins of which have something to do with Byron the bat.
[edit] Natasha Tiger
- First Appearance: June 18, 1999 [12]
- Species: White Siberian Tiger
Natasha is the mother of Tiffany, Comfort, and Louis T. Tiger. She escaped from Siberia in 1972 with the help of Tiffany's father, to whom she was married for five years. When extremely angry, she reverts back to speaking Russian [13].
[edit] Wally Roo
- First Appearance: November 4, 1999 [14]
- Species: Kangaroo
Wally was an Australian bartender at The Watering hole, but has recently moved to Pittsburgh to study for his Ph.D. in Engineering at Carnegie-Mellon. He still makes occasional appearances in the strip, such as when he comes home for holidays or spring break. Wally, who we discover is gay early on when he flirts with Drezzer[15], has a romantic interest in Mikey Hopkins.
[edit] Mikey Hopkins
- First Appearance: April 25, 2003 [16]
- Species: Kangaroo
- Original Strip: The Class Menagerie by Vince Suzukawa
A student at DeMontfort University, Mikey is also a love interest of Wally Roo. He meets Wally in the school library, then goes with Wally to a Roebucks coffee shop. Once there, Wally asks him out on a date, which Mikey is not at all prepared for, since he has never given romantic interests any thought. Mikey is still very much in the closet and quite paranoid about being found out.
[edit] Brody Coyote
- First Appearance: January 24, 2005 [17]
- Species: Coyote
Another gay character with a perky, outgoing personality, Brody, like Tiffany, is completely obsessed with 80's music. He once worked at his family's record store, but when they decide to sell the store and retire, Brody ends up job searching. Refusing Drezzer's offer to help him get into the music industry, he ultimately begins working at the local Roebucks coffee shop with Dover, starting on the same day that Dover gets the new programming job offer from Eddie.
[edit] Katie Kodiak
- First Appearance: October 8, 2003 [18]
- Species: Kodiak Bear
Katie is the new bartender at The Watering Hole from Alaska, taking Wally's old job.
[edit] Eddie Ape
Eddie was Dover and Tiffany's boss at MegaHuge ConGloMaCo. When MegaHuge was bought out by Amalgatronix Inc., Eddie was downsized, but with the recent demise of Amalgatronix due to corporate fraud, he has started working for a new company started by Oswald Proboscis, former CEO of MegaHuge, in summer 2005.
[edit] Kurt Kingston
- First Appearance: January 21, 2002 [20]
- Species: Lion
An old high school buddy of Dover's, Kurt began college with him at DeMontfort University in 1992 and is currently an English professor there. After not seeing Dover for nine years, he was best man at Dover's wedding.
[edit] Jessica (Chessie) Cheetah
Chessie is Dover's mother. She runs a shipping company and is very generous with her family's wealth, bringing the hired chef to her first meeting with Natasha after Dover and Comfort's engagement, and buying Natasha a new car, since her old one had broken down.
[edit] Glory Lion
- First Appearance: September 8, 2003 [22]
- Species: Lion
Glory is Leonard's ex-wife. She comes to him for help after being displaced as alpha female in her pride by Athena Lion.
[edit] Athena T. Lion
Athena is the new alpha female in the pride of Gregory Lion, to which Glory belonged. She is a ruthless lawyer and showbiz agent who now owns Leona's contract. Unable to have children of her own, she asked Leona to act as surrogate mother for her and Gregory, but was turned down because Leona didn't feel ready for the task.
[edit] H. Wood "Woody" Wolf
Woody was Leona's talent agent, but conflict arose when he wouldn't sign the deal for a part in Kitten Kaboodle. Leona's belligerent attitude was ruining his reputation, but he wasn't willing to release her from her contract because he didn't want it to get around that he had client problems, so he was trying to make Leona disgusted enough with the business that she would give up and leave town. He eventually struck a deal with Athena for Leona's contract that protected his reputation and satisfied his greed.
[edit] Byron the Bat
- First Appearance: February 20, 2004 [26]
- Species: Bat
Byron was in prison, having stolen money from Ramses and Wensley, and returns to them after his release because he wants to make it up to them. Despite Ramses's strong misgivings, Wensley and Leonard agree to give Byron a job as janitor for both The Watering Hole and The Watering Hole-in-the-Wall, because neither bar can afford another employee on its own.
[edit] Stretch
- First Appearance: January 30, 2006 [27]
- Species: Ferret
The brains behind 'Squash and Stretch, Private Investigators', Stretch is hired to find Yin after her recent alien abduction. The series involving Stretch parodies film noir and Mickey Spillane. He comes off as rather annoying at times, harassing the majority of the Watering Hole-in-the-Wall staff during his investigation and quickly enciting Ramses' wrath, getting violently thrown out of the bar and then later threatened by him.
[edit] Squash
- First Appearance: January 30, 2006 [28]
- Species: Otter
The brawn behind 'Squash and Stretch, Private Investigators', Squash is generally easy-going but not terribly bright. He loves fish. He and Ramses have also struck up a friendship after a brawl at the Watering Hole-in-the-Wall where the two were mutually impressed with the other's fighting prowess, much to Stretch's chagrin.
[edit] Locations
[edit] The Watering Hole
The Watering Hole is the bar owned and operated by Leonard Lion. It has a strict "No Predation" policy, allowing predatory and prey species to mingle. It is also the social hub of the story, with many strips being set there, and many new characters being introduced there, as well as the occasional 'bad pick-up line theater' filler strips. Its employees over the life of the strip are:
- Leonard Lion, proprietor
- Wally Roo, bartender
- Katie Kodiak, bartender
- Byron the bat, janitor
[edit] The Watering Hole-in-the-Wall
The brainchild of Wensley and owned and operated by him and his brother, Ramses, The Watering Hole-in-the-Wall is found inside The Watering Hole and caters to those customers who are small in stature. It also has a strict "No Predation" policy, but there are no protections against being mauled by Ramses. Its employees over the life of the strip are:
- Wensley, proprietor
- Ramses, proprietor/bouncer
- Byron the bat, janitor
[edit] MegaHuge ConGloMaCo/Amalgatronix Corp.
Tiffany, Dover, and Eddie worked in MegaHuge's I.T. department in the early years of the strip. It was bought out by Amalgatronix in late 2002, at which time everyone except Dover was fired by the new V.P. of Technology Lagston Swine without notice or severance pay. Dover was given Eddie's old position as I.T. manager and was left to fend for himself. Amalgatronix was dissolved by the S.E.C. in May 2004 when it was discovered that Lagston and ten other executives had forged financial documents to inflate the company's stock values, which ultimately led to Dover being unemployed again.
[edit] DeMontfort University
Originally the setting of Vince Suzukawa's webcomic The Class Menagerie, several characters have connections to the institution. Dover attended for short period before transferring to Tech after the incident that destroyed the top floors of Richter Hall, and currently teaches a night class in computer programming there. Kurt entered with Dover in 1992 and graduated in 1996, as did Comfort in 2004. Wally, who was a graduate student, and Mikey met in the school's library. Also, Tiffany and Comfort's half-brother Louis has recently enrolled.
[edit] Notable guest artists
There have been a number of times over the years that fanart and guest artist strips were featured in the comic. Among the other artists that have contributor are a number of other web comic artists:
- Vince Suzukawa [29] (The Class Menagerie)
- R.L. "Nekumimikun" Peterson [30] (Go For It [31])
- Allan Ecker [32] (Umlaut House)
- Scott Kellogg [33] (21st Century Fox)
- Isabel Marks [34] (Namir Deiter)
- Thomas K. Dye [35] (Newshounds)
- Tyrnn Eaveranth [36] (Boomer Express [37])
- Tracy "Neverwench" Pierce [38] (Catena Manor [39])
- Susan Rankin [40] (A Doemain of Our Own and current artist for NeverNever)
- Heather L. "Kheetor" Haskett [41] (Ranking Signs [42])
- Jon "Tiger Claw" Stelter [43] (Fletcher Apts. [44])
[edit] Noted guest stars
- B.J. Buttons: B.J. Buttons is most noted for being the most current guest star, and he is also noted for several cartoony jokes including a guest spot from the one and only Yogi Bear. He is a brown bear who wears a vest covered with several buttons, he's more often seen with Katie Kodiak.
- Punk Tiger: An orange tiger with a wild white mohawk hairdo. He has appeared in two (if not more) guest strips and usually comes complete with a reference to a band.
- Arden: A dimension hopping polar bear who's unofficially involved with Yin. He's the creation of the strips primary colorist, K. "Hikaru" Dickinson, and is the main character in an on-line epic story called Identity Crisis.
- Zig Zag: A famous furry character (a skunk/tiger cross) appearing in many webcomics, she appeared in Tiffarella.
[edit] Collected Editions
- La Vida Panthera ISBN 1-929462-08-5
- Love Bites ISBN 1-929462-46-8
- Orange Alert ISBN 1-929462-69-7
- Tough Breaks ISBN 1-929462-93-X
