"Real isn't how you are made...": seanan

"Real isn't how you are made..."

"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but really loves you, then you become Real."

Flashback: I was attending the Alternative Press Expo (APE) in San Francisco when I came across a table, staffed by a friendly, curly-haired brunette woman in round geek-girl glasses, which boasted a wide assortment of mad science-themed images, all centering around a pretty, realistically-proportioned mad scientist named Helen Narbon. This was relevant to my interests. I grabbed some of the hand-outs, chatted briefly with the brunette—who turned out to be the strip's creator, Shaenon Garrity—and moved on, unaware that I had just discovered a six-year obsession.

Narbonic turned out to be an epic tale of mad science, romance, destruction, and, of course, gerbils. I visited Narbonic Labs every day for six years. When I was in Europe, paying for DSL in exotic cafes staffed by people who liked to dodge the crazy American, I paid about half-a-quid for the privilege of my mad science fix. I have no regrets. And yes, "Oh, Helen" on Red Roses and Dead Things was inspired by this comic strip.

Narbonic eventually had to end, coming to a solid and satisfying conclusion. The strip was collected in dead tree editions, each with lovely bonus features; sadly, some of them are now out of print. Not so sadly, there are plans in the works for a single omnibus edition, which will doubtless blow a whole lot of socks off. In the meantime, the full archives of the strip are available online, along with Shaenon's ongoing Director's Cut (she's going back and adding commentary to every single day). It's so, so worth reading, although I warn you, you're gonna lose some time. (Yes, the art starts out fairly primitive. Watching it improve is one of the true joys of the strip, since the art gets more complex even as the story gets more addictive.)

But that's not the point.

After Narbonic, Shaenon teamed up with Jeffrey Wells on a new project: Skin Horse, the story of a Black Ops Civil Service Agency dedicated to helping—and almost entirely staffed by—non-human transgenic individuals. The main team consists of a genetically-engineered Siberian Husky named Captain's Fancy Valentine Sweetheart, a dangerously unstable and heavily medicated necrotic-American named Unity, a cross-dressing ex-Army psychologist named Tip, and their boss, Gavotte, who is, well, a swarm of bees.

Yes. A swarm of bees.

And did I mention the huggy cobras?

The first year of Skin Horse is available now in dead tree format, and seriously, that was the best fourteen dollars I've spent all year. (Some other amounts may have been equally awesome, but fourteen dollar amounts? Nothing beat it.) Talking lions! Killbots! Opera-singing silverfish! HUGGY COBRAS! Seriously. If you like fun, you'll love Skin Horse. Also, if enough orders come in unexpectedly, Shaenon's head may explode. You like making people's heads explode, right?

You can view the strips included in the book at the Skin Horse website totally for free, but you can't take the website in the bathtub (unless you feel like living dangerously). Go, read, enjoy, and experience the HUGGY COBRAS.

Ssssssss.

stagemanager

April 13 2010, 00:02:06 UTC 7 years ago

New comment

Fun Fact: When I searched my local library for "Skin Horse" I got four hits for The Velveteen Rabbit.

Strange.

seanan_mcguire

April 13 2010, 00:43:09 UTC 7 years ago

That's where the title comes from! A quote from The Velveteen Rabbit.

7 years ago

mariadkins

April 13 2010, 00:57:52 UTC 7 years ago

the velveteen rabbit is my favorite story.

April 13 2010, 01:02:23 UTC 7 years ago

I hugely recommend the comic.

deire

April 13 2010, 00:59:21 UTC 7 years ago

:dips toes: :retreats: The art needing to improve is what has me still whiffling over the webcomic I've been scripting but have not inked. I know, I know, all of them improve, et cetera, but.... :whimper:

April 13 2010, 01:03:08 UTC 7 years ago

I really think it's the "doing it every day" that causes that improvement. I mean, look at Questionable Content. That's like, a universe of improvement, and it came because he did it every day for years.

danceswthcobras

April 13 2010, 01:03:13 UTC 7 years ago

Huggy cobras? Where specifically? Those are relevant to my interests, though they don't actually exist in the real world, alas.

hsifyppah

April 13 2010, 01:14:56 UTC 7 years ago

Just start at the beginning, they come along in the first or second story arc! AND THEY ARE SO ADORABLE.

April 13 2010, 02:48:30 UTC 7 years ago

This introduces the huggy cobras.

Although Brooke's right; it's funnier, and makes more sense, in context.

jeffreycwells

April 13 2010, 01:52:42 UTC 7 years ago

Thanks so much for the kind words, Seanan. I've been digging on Toby Daye and, frankly, turning a little bit green whenever I think about the fact that you can crank out both a book like that and an album like "Red Roses and Dead Things". That you enjoyed something I worked on right back does wonders to return me to my normal color. :)

April 14 2010, 14:31:52 UTC 7 years ago

Oh, hey, you're you! Awesome! I...somehow totally failed to put that together before. Sometimes, I am very blonde, and also, hi. As for my enjoying something you worked on, don't even ask Shaenon how many copies I wound up buying during Wondercon. It was tragic.

If you like Toby, you'll probably love the InCryptid girls, when we get there. Talking mice make everything better.

And I love Skin Horse.

April 13 2010, 01:54:34 UTC 7 years ago

They have the cutest little killer bots ever!

April 14 2010, 14:31:59 UTC 7 years ago

DESTROY.

silvertwi

April 13 2010, 02:21:49 UTC 7 years ago

Aww, Seanan, you're assuming that all of us have *access* to a bathtub of any kind. College kids don't tend to have that privilege, sadly. It's exclusively showers in a lot of dorms.

However, I like curling up in bed with a book much better than with my computer, so I see your point.

*will check them out when she isn't supposed to be doing homework*

April 14 2010, 14:32:17 UTC 7 years ago

This is fair, and very true. Plus, books + showers = even less good.

markbernstein

April 13 2010, 03:43:12 UTC 7 years ago

I love Skin Horse! I've been following it for a couple of years now. I even nominated one of the storylines for the Graphic Story Hugo last year.

April 14 2010, 14:32:27 UTC 7 years ago

Awesome!

kyra_neko_rei

April 13 2010, 15:17:28 UTC 7 years ago

Huggy Cobras sounds like the most epic thing ever. I want there to be a T-shirt.

April 14 2010, 14:32:39 UTC 7 years ago

Or a band. It could so be a band.

ladymondegreen

April 13 2010, 16:17:12 UTC 7 years ago

Skin Horse is made of awesome. I adore Tip's negotiation style.

April 14 2010, 14:32:56 UTC 7 years ago

"Hit me with your best shot!"

*new panel*

"Oh. Oh, my."

ladyfox7oaks

April 14 2010, 03:49:44 UTC 7 years ago

Have bookmarked for future archive-binge! :) Thank you!

April 14 2010, 14:33:07 UTC 7 years ago

Very welcome! Enjoy.

mneme

April 14 2010, 20:51:24 UTC 7 years ago

I've been following and very much enjoying Skin Horse since it started.

I'm rather embarrassed to admit that I didn't get Tip's name (and the book he comes from...more or less) until over a year in -- despite Land of Oz being one of the two Oz books I grew up with.

April 23 2010, 06:46:47 UTC 7 years ago

Whoops!

Post a new comment
37 comments

Log in

"Real isn't how you are made..."

Error