by Quentin Long ©2005 Quentin Long

   Welcome to the first issue of Anthro! It’s going to be the first of many, if I—Quentin Long, your not-entirely-humble editor—have anything to say about it. Exactly how much I have to say about it is another matter entirely, of course. Getting this zine up and running has been decidedly more chaotic than I’d expected beforehand! I mean, I’ve already managed to lose one author’s e-mail address, okay? So if you’re out there, Michæl Brenner, please get in touch!
   But I digress.
   This being a first issue, it’s reasonable that a prospective reader might ask themselves what’s so spiffy about this zine that they should even care about the silly thing, let alone bother to read it. Or, in short: “Why Anthro?” Here’s why: Although finding furry material is trivially easy (because there’s an awful bloody lot of the stuff floating around the Web), finding good furry material is an appreciably more difficult task. Let’s put it this way: Sturgeon’s Law has not yet been repealed! Thus, there is a place for someone to act as a filter, winnowing out the wheat from the chaff… and that is the answer to “why Anthro?”
   It’s really quite simple: I intend to fill Anthro with the best in furriness I can find and/or encourage the creation of. In Anthro’s first issue, this means the stories Drama Class, by Phil Geusz; The Human Memoirs, by G. Howell; The Three Minute Ecosystem, by Oren Otter; and, last but certainly not least, Homecoming by Michæl W. Bard. It also means Howell’s own illustrations for his story, among other pieces of art.
   Anything else? Well… at the risk of sounding like a commercial for Ginsu knives, there’s more! In addition to all the stuff mentioned above, Anthro proudly carries webcomics, starting with one from the multiply talented Oren Otter—Castle Horsetooth, a more-than-mildly demented tale of high fantasy which is firmly in the tradition of Jay Ward’s legendary Fractured Fairy Tales. And let’s not forget the esteemed Mr. Geusz’ column, Down the Rabbit Hole (which will focus on the sometimes-fractious relationship between the furry community and the rest of the world), or our regular editorials, From the Editor’s Maw (which you’re reading now) and Bard’s Through the Looking-Glass!
   All in all, I think we’ve got a pretty darned good zine here. Which is not to say that it’s perfect, of course; for one thing, we don’t (yet) have any reviews. Or interviews. Or any of a variety of other things I’d like to see in Anthro. Do I want to fill these holes? You bet I do! And in this connection, I would like to encourage you, the reader of these words, to let me know if you’d like to help out, either by writing such things yourself or by suggesting someone else that you think might be a good choice for them.
   If you think my plans for Anthro might be a trifle grandiose, I won’t disagree. I will merely say this: Aiming high means that even if I fall short of my goals, I’ll still have achieved something worthwhile. And while I’m talking about grandiose plans, here’s a tantalizing hint of something which just might happen, depending on how on how furdom-at-large responds to the zine: Print edition. That’s a bit of a crapshoot, but I’m doing my best to load the dice in my favor, and we shall see how it works out… For now, pay no attention to ‘the Ghosts of Anthro Future’; I’d much rather have people judge the zine on what it is right now, than what it could be at some later date.
   And on that note, I invite you to direct your mouse to the navigation menu on the left side of the zine-window, and click on whatever happens to catch your fancy. Thanks for your attention, and enjoy!