About The Suburban Jungle
The Strip's Origins
The Suburban Jungle was created in late 1998 / early 1999 after I was introduced to the world of "furry comics" by my old chum HantaMouse (who, in fact, gave me the idea for the first SJ strip I actually drew). I had put NeverNever up on the web shortly before, and thought it would be cool to do a furry strip -- never suspecting that it would take off the way it has. I won't even bother to deny that it was strongly influenced by the various other furry strips I was looking at as models ... specifically Kevin and Kell, Sabrina Online, Freefall, and of course, The Class Menagerie.
I had no real plan at the beginning ... HantaMouse suggested the idea of a mouse and a tiger on the beach (with the mouse clinging to the bottom of a beach ball). I made the tiger a woman in a bathing suit, and had a sudden flash to the end of Kathy Ireland's campy flick Alien From L.A.. So there she was, a tiger supermodel. The name "Tiffany Tiger" suggested itself as appropriate, as well as being a nod to one of my favorite artists (Louis Comfort Tiffany), and off I went.
I originally had a somewhat different vision for SJ than the "slice of life" strip it became. My earliest thoughts had a science fiction background that placed the strip on the surface of an Earthlike world orbiting Tau Ceti, and the furries there the creations of a somewhat sinister scientific experiment in "immortality" combined with an effort to rescue endangered wildlife. It was going to take place 17 years in the future, to allow TV and radio broadcasts from Earth to reach Tau Ceti, so the characters could comment on real life "news of the day." I decided that this idea was too dark, and would likely take over the strip the way the "Great Bird Conspiracy" had taken over Kevin and Kell, which I wanted to avoid. However, the occasional echo of that background is still present, notably in Yin's fretting about the number of pandas still alive in the world.
There has always been a strange relationship between SJ and NN. SJ is more emotionally-oriented, while NN is more of an intellectual exercise ... SJ is bright colors, while NN tends to be black and white, or more subtle tones ... and interestingly, SJ has more numerous fans, but the fans of NN tend to be more, well, fanatical. I don't know what it means, but I find it fascinating nonetheless.
The Characters: Who's Who
TIFFANY TIGER
Occupation: Aspiring Supermodel, Minor Tech Geek
Species: Siberian Tiger
Relations: Daughter of Natasha, half-sister of Louis and Comfort, ex-girlfriend of Conrad
Gorgeous, talented, and star of her own comic strip, Tiffany is the sun around which The Suburban Jungle orbits. She is bright, ambitious, and hard-working; her love life tends to be rocky at best, however. Conrad, her longest-running boyfriend yet, broke up with her on Christmas, 2002, but Leonard looks promising... |
LEONARD LION
Occupation: Owner and proprietor of "The Watering Hole"
Species: Lion
Relations: Ex-husband of Glory, brother of Richard
Owner and chief bartender of Tiffany's favorite bar, The Watering Hole (with its famous policy of "No Predation Allowed"), Leonard has been the reluctant victim on a crush on Tiffany for some time, but she sees his advances as being little more than smart remarks. Leonard's caustic and bitter exterior occasionally reveals hidden depths below, however. |
DOVER THE CHEETAH
Occupation: Programmer
Species: Cheetah
Relations: son of Chessie, fiance of Comfort
A dangerous combination of speed, ambition, and raw programmer cunning, Dover has an odd speech impediment which developed as a result of his doing nothing but programming all day for so long -- he speaks in a strange and barely-comprehensible mishmash of English and computer code. He has a certain charming innocence, combined with a less-than-charming tendency to be a brat when he wants something. |
LEONA LIONESS
Occupation: Aspiring Supermodel
Species: Lion
Walking the knife edge between ambition and obsession, Leona has had her life's plans unintentionally thwarted by Tiffany again and again, and is a bit ... irritated about it. She also seems to have a bit of an impulse-control problem. |
DREZZER WOLF
Occupation: Fashion Photographer
Species: Gray Wolf
A well-known and influential fashion photographer, Drezzer is also an insatiably flirty gay man who seems to derive immense pleasure from tweaking Conrad. Originally hailing from coal country in England, Drezzer has an accent which he describes as "dead common." |
YIN THE GIANT PANDA
Occupation: minimum-wage job-of-the-week
Species: Giant Panda
Tiffany's roommate is a True Believer in just about every conspiracy theory, alien abduction story, or crackpot claim ever made, no matter how contradictory or illogical. The fact that she seems to have attracted the attention of a dimension-hopping polar bear and some dark group known only as the "Furs In Black," has only reinforced her beliefs. |
CONRAD TIGER
Occupation: Model, Actor
Species: Siberian Tiger
Relations: ex-boyfriend of Tiffany
This tall, handsome hunk is conflicted, depressed, and fights against a bad case of self-loathing combined with roving eye. Since breaking up with Tiffany, he's all but disappeared ... leading some to wonder what's up with him. |
WENSLEY AND RAMSES
Occupation: Unknown
Species: Field Mouse
These two brothers are a study in contrasts. Wensley is sweet, soft-spoken, good-natured, and mild, while Ramses is rough, prone to violence, and widely regarded as "the world's angriest mouse." Wensley, brown, tends to wear a vest, and is often found riding around on Tiffany's shoulder, and not too long ago opened "Watering Hole-In-the-Wall," a bar in the baseboard of Leonard's "The Watering Hole." Ramses, gray and white, generally wears shorts, and is a tough martial artist. |
EDDIE APE
Occupation: Manager
Species: Great Ape
Formerly Dover's and Tiffany's boss, Eddie is a genuinely nice guy, working his way up the corporate IT ladder. Only seen once since the massive downsizing at Megahuge ConglomaCo, Eddie's current status is unknown. |
NATASHA TIGER
Occupation: Writer, Columnist
Species: Siberian Tiger
Relations: Mother of Louis, Comfort, and Tiffany
A refugee from behind the Iron Curtain during the depths of the Cold War, Natasha fled to America with Tiffany's father, who was (and presumably still is) some sort of Federal agent. Her strong will and deep commitment to individual liberty are a strange counterpoint to her very traditional, almost stodgy personal tastes. |
COMFORT TIGER
Occupation: Student
Species: Half-Bengal, Half-Siberian Tiger
Relations: Daughter of Natasha, half-sister of Tiffany and Louis, fiance of Dover
Tiffany's perky and bubbly half-sister goes to DeMontfort University, where she studies linguistics to puzzle out the strange affliction that has struck her "cute cheetahboy." Bright but somehow strangely vacuous at times, she has also inherited Natasha's temper. |
WALLY ROO
Occupation: Student, part-time bartender
Species: Red Kangaroo
One of those quiet guys who stands in the back and never says anything, but always gives the impression of knowing a lot more than they let on, Wally seems to take everything in stride. Inoffensive and apparently inoffendable, he is everybody's friend, even though almost no one can honestly say they know him very well. He is also gay, and occasionally enjoys a bit of flirting with Drezzer Wolf. |
Frequently Asked Questions
How does society work if the predators eat prey species?
Perilously. There are very specific rules about who can make a kill, who can be killed, when and how it can happen, and what is done afterward, and those rules are taught to everyone from the moment they are born. However, to the inhabitants of the SJ world, that's just "the way it is," and while change is possible, it's long and difficult in coming.
Why doesn't Comfort/Drezzer/Yin/Wensley wear pants?
SJ is a purely clothing-optional world. Fur (and the laws of 'toon anatomy) take care of most needs for warmth and/or modesty, so all clothing is an accessory, and its use is determined by the habits or interests of the individual.
Can different species have children? Are hybrids possible?
Generally, the laws of what types of breeding are possible in the SJ world follow those of the real world, with one major exception: scientific intervention can create cross-species mixed breeds, but it is rare and expensive.
What does MegaHugeConglomaCo do, exactly?
They merge with, take over, or establish corporate relationships with other huge companies with similarly vague names.
Who ARE the furs in black? And what is the purpose of The Village?
That would be telling.
What's up with the alliterative names? And why do people use species for the last name? Isn't that terribly unoriginal?
It's a cultural thing. In a world where knowing the species of whom you're dealing with makes the difference between being a bigwig or being a breakfast, it's considered good form by predators especially to announce their presence in any way possible, including formally declaring, by way of their name, what their species is. The fact that Tiffany Tiger and Conrad Tiger are both "-- Tiger" doesn't mean that they're related, it just means, as you can probably gather, that they're both tigers. As for the alliteration, it's just traditional to favor alliterative names when possible.
What's up with all these cameos?
I donate "guest appearances" in The Suburban Jungle to charity auctions at furry conventions. The winner's "personal furry" character appears in a Sunday-style strip.
Who's your favorite character?/Which character is most like you?
They're all like me in one way or another! I suppose I could say I'm least like Comfort or Eddie Ape. I tend to think of myself as being like Leonard, although Tiffany, Drezzer, and Conrad are all strong contenders. As to who's my favorite, I don't think I could pick just one.
What's up with all these guest strips?
Occasionally, friends or fans will create "filler" strips for me while I am unable to keep the strip running, or if I need a short break. If you'd like to donate a guest strip, e-mail me!
What's up with all these outages?
I occasionally suffer from mood swings, stress, or just simply being really, really busy. Sorry about that!
Do you take commissions? Do you have any merchandise?
I have been known to take commissions, but I generally do them as one-time events (usually auctions) these days. As for merchandise, Mammallamadevil the Merchandise Maven is your source for SJ t-shirts, buttons, prints, mousepads, and other cool swag, while the good people at Plan Nine Publications have the current run of Suburban Jungle and NeverNever books.
About the Cartoonist
 John "The Gneech" Robey has spent most of his life either drawing cartoons or writing fantasy and science fiction stories. During his years spent gaining a B.A. in English from Virginia Commonwealth University, he created a strip named Whistling in the Dark that ran in the college newspaper and was quite popular as well as counting as his term paper for a course entitled "History of the American Comic Strip." Gneech currently spends his days building websites for various Federal agencies in northern Virginia, and his nights continuing to pursue his cartooning and writing.
All text and images on this and associated pages are copyright ©2003 by John "The Gneech" Robey unless specified otherwise. All Keenspot-specific logos, code, and related artwork are the property of Keenspot. You have permission to read, peruse, enjoy, download, and print anything you want from this site for personal use only, and I'm glad you like my comic strip. But all other use, including commercial use of any kind, is forbidden without express written consent. Please don't steal my stuff.
|
