Ev-furry-body’s Got One: Nine Furry Comics Crushes [Love & Sex Week]

Created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee.

I watched a lot of X-Men: The Animated Series when I was a kid in that prime after-school period before dinner, and Beast was always one of my favorite characters. He’s a brilliant man trapped in a body he didn’t choose; one that will never be accepted by society. He’s exactly the sort of character that a loner kid who had a hard time making friends would be into. Think of the books we could share!

Plus, he’s totally sexy. He’s an older, professorial type who is also furry and blue; he’s like a combination cat/boyfriend. His fur would be so soft, and his muscles so hard. Put him in his glasses and I’m ready to swoon. [Emma Lawson]

Created by Dave Cockrum and Chris Claremont.

Some crushes inspire you to be more a more generous, romantic person, and some crushes inspire you into gloriously shooting down an army of stupid bird-people. Hepzibah, no surprise, is the latter.

This space-skunk, as some ingrates sometimes refer to her, may seem to be, basically, a madwoman --- but no, that madness is carefully constructed and part of her absolutely earned self-confidence. Although absolutely never to be parted from her #1 man Corsair, this space pirate races into battle filled with passion, rage, and clawed fury. She's an unstoppable, overwhelming force of adrenaline, smart and calculating, and better than anyone you'd ever find on Earth. What a woman. You know what? Let's go murder some Shi'ar, you guys. [Steve Morris]

Created by Dean Clarrain and Chris Allan.

On the cover of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures #50, there is a profile shot of the heroes --- including the original character Ninjara, a fox-woman ninja assassin with an instantly memorable look. This seems odd in retrospect, but it fit the book, because for over 40 issues, Ninjara was on equal footing with the rest of the TMNT. A member of a race of naturally-bred fox people, a ninja of equal skill with the Turtles, a master thief with a troubled past, a woman in an up-and-down relationship with the cool (yet crude) Raphael --- she was fantastic, and caught on with the fanbase instantly.

When her creators struck out and did their own comics with her, she was deemed important enough to Turtle lore that the character Alopex was created to fill the role she left. Alopex is also great, but I’ll always have a soft spot for Ninjara, and every list of furry crushes needs at least one vixen. [Charlotte Finn]

Created by Marguerite Bennett and Ariela Kristantina.

This insectoid pair of lustful lesbian lovers, blessed to become monsters in order to have a child, are more than enough to turn even the most straight laced into a full-on furry. Lady Lalita Bertram and her maid and paramour Mariah are revenge-seeking monsters, never denying their darkness, only using it to take on a world that constantly harms women. Theirs is a tale of horrifying creatures embracing their monstrosity, and all the body horror that comes with it, and throwing it back at the world.

The two love each other --- often, and explicitly --- and are one of the cutest couples in all of comics. As a trans girl, the idea of embracing the body horror intrinsic in your existence and using it as a weapon against the world that wants to kill you for it is very impactful to me. Their horror, power, and ferocity are why they're my furry comic crush. Plus their wings. Come on, you can't say the wings aren't hot. [Tara Marie]

Created by Juanjo Guarnido and Juan Diaz Canales.

John Blacksad is the archetypal noir detective; gallant, romantic, troubled, and as likely to take a beating as give one. He has moments of vulnerability and moments of brutishness, both typical of the hard-boiled tough guy trope. And, of course, he is a cat. A black cat. None more noir.

Counter-intuitively --- as most people would see it --- the fact that Blacksad is an anthropomorphic cartoon cat is what makes him a sex symbol. His wide-eyed whiskered feline face takes the edge off his machismo, draining some of the toxicity from his hyper-masculinity, and allowing him to be expressive without diminishing his stoicism. It  also creates a space onto which we can project the man we imagine him to be. Handsome, wry, broad-backed and square-jawed, with an imposing physicality. He's a very attractive man, that John Blacksad. But also, a cat. [Andrew Wheeler]

Created by Otto Binder and C.C. Beck.

Tawky Tawny is a dapper gentleman who knows his manners and will treat you right. He’s the best parts of both Alfred Pennyworth and Hank McCoy, without the questionable ethical boundary-breaking of the latter. If you want someone who is going to take the best bars, the best museums, and the best little holes in the wall that you never would have discovered yourself, this is the tiger-man for you.

Tawky Tawny is an exceptional conversationalist, but he’ll never talk down to you or make you feel less than. Simply put, he’s easily one of the most cultured gentlemen in comics, regardless of his feline nature. Just don’t expect to visit the zoo; that’s a bit of a sore spot for him. [Kieran Shiach]

Created by William Moulton Marston and H. G. Peter.

I don’t usually have furry crushes, but Cheetah does something for me. On one hand, she’s Barbara Ann Minerva, feminist academic and queer mean girl. But on the other hand, she has a literal wild animal within her, full of primal urges that will never be sated. As dualities go, that’s a pretty sexy one. She also likes to get really close to Wonder Woman when they talk, rubbing up against her like a cat that wants petting (which might actually be what she is).

I’m particularly fond of Liam Sharp’s take on her, which lacks the incongruous long hair and has a far more interesting, if less human, face. [Elle Collins]

Created by Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema.

I'm sorry, you were going to have a list of furry characters without including Ursa Major, The King of Bears? By the white wolf himself, however could you assume such a foolish thing? Mikhail Uriokovitch Ursus is the pride of the motherland, and the only leader anybody should ever take seriously from Russia. Ursa Major is a kind, charming fellow, utterly loyal, and immensely good company in every comic he appears in. He's also a man who turns into a bear whenever he wants, and whose most devastating move is, yes, a bear hug.

You don't want to cross him in battle --- but who would be able to say no to crossing him on a night out in Moscow? Imagine the drinking session you'd have, the stories he'd tell, and how nice it would be to receive a hug from this beariest of all the bears. All hail the king! [SM]

Created by Bill Finger and Wayne Boring.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, “mermaids and other ‘human up top, animal on the bottom’ beings don’t count as furries” --- whatever, I will not be silenced. Lori Lemaris is great, as quintessentially Silver-Age as Jimmy Olsen, the equivalent of the weird-but-cool crush from college that broadened your horizons and bridged that space between the first love of your life and the person you’ll eventually marry. It's just that, in Superman’s world, that person is a telepathic mermaid who you still occasionally hang out with, because if you could go hang out with mermaids whenever you wanted, don’t lie: you would.

They were from different worlds and it was never going to last, but both Superman and Lori were better off for it having happened. I have no idea if Lori Lemaris is still in continuity --- but in comics, all stories are true, and I have faith that when comics get a little less self-conscious, she’ll make way upstream once more. [CF]