In the end, neither work won, but the fact that they had got that far concerned those who felt such works should not be considered for the award.įor the 2009 Awards, a rule blocking 'works of a predominantly sexual nature, or which include explicit sexual situations involving characters which may be underage or non-anthropomorphic animals' was added. The next year, both Softpaw #3 and #4 and Finding Avalon #1 made it onto the awards ballot, for Best Magazine and Best Comic Book respectively. Softpaw #2 was listed in the Ursa Major Awards's 2007 Recommended Anthropmorphics List in the Best Fanzine category. However, attempts by artists to distribute the comic at Eurofurence were thwarted when the convention banned the work, followed shortly after by a ban at Further Confusion, where publishers had planned to release Softpaw #3. Some contributors held events to promote the comic, such as the popular pizza parties at Further Confusion and Califur. As the production of Softpaw cost a large amount of money, pre-orders and donations were encouraged, with donators' nicknames printed on the last page of each issue. The publishers drew from a mix of established artists and authors on Secretmoon and Cub Central, as well as new artists on websites like Fur Affinity. Softpaw was partially inspired by Arcc's 'Ivan & Tas' series on the Secretmoon oekaki, a haven for fans of cub artwork.
Flier for a Softpaw pizza party at FC '07
