View source for Yummy Fur (comics)

{{short description|Comic book series by Chester Brown}}
{{Infobox comic book title
<!--Wikipedia:WikiProject Comics--> 
|title     = Yummy Fur
|image     = YummyFur20Cover.jpg
|alt       =
|caption   = Cover to issue #20 of ''Yummy Fur'', featuring the story "Showing Helder"
|schedule  = irregular
|ongoing   = N
|genre     = [[Alternative comics]]
|publisher = [[Self-publishing|Self-published]] (mini #1–7)<br />[[Vortex Comics]] (#1–24)<br />[[Drawn & Quarterly]] (#25–32)
|issn      = 
|nonUS     = yes
|date      = (mini) July 1983–September 1985<ref name=Young/><br />December 1986–July 1994
|issues    = 32
|creators = [[Chester Brown]]
|sort      = Yummy Fur
}}

'''''Yummy Fur''''' (1983–1994) was a comic book by Canadian cartoonist [[Chester Brown]]. It contained a number of different comics stories which dealt with a wide variety of subjects. Its often-controversial content led to one printer and one distributor refusing to handle it.

Some of Brown's best-known comics were first published in ''Yummy Fur'', including the surreal, taboo-breaking ''[[Ed the Happy Clown]]'' and the comics from his [[Chester Brown's autobiographical comics|autobiographical]] period, which included the [[graphic novel]]s ''[[The Playboy]]'' and ''[[I Never Liked You]]''. Also notable were the eccentric [[Chester Brown's Gospel adaptations|gospel adaptations]] that ran in most issues. The series and its collected volumes have won a number of awards, and have had a lasting influence on the world of alternative comics.

''Yummy Fur'' started as a [[self-publishing|self-published]] [[minicomic]] which ran for seven issues, the contents of which were reprinted in the first three issues of the [[Vortex Comics]] series which started publication in December 1986. The series switched publishers to [[Drawn & Quarterly]] in 1991 until the end of its run in 1994, when Brown started on his ''[[Underwater (comics)|Underwater]]'' series.

==Overview==
''Yummy Fur'' came at a time when [[alternative comics]] was<!-- "comics" here is uncountable --> still young, and is considered one of its defining titles. It was one of the earliest examples of a comic that would have its first success as a self-published [[minicomic|mini]]. It started in an era when comic books and their characters were generally considered to be ongoing, and finished when the self-contained stories of the [[graphic novel]] had begun to come into prominence. Brown's ambitions changed in step, ''Yummy Fur'' started with ''[[Ed the Happy Clown]]'', which Brown originally did not intend to have an ending; towards the end, he serialized two works, ''The Playboy'' and ''I Never Liked You'', which were conceived from the start as self-complete works.<ref name="D+QEd-9-notes1" /> Brown would thereafter make the production of graphic novels the main focus of his output.

''Yummy Fur'' quickly gained a reputation for [[taboo]]-breaking—''Ed the Happy Clown''{{'s}} [[plot (narrative)|plot]] revolved around a character who could not stop [[Defecation|defecating]], and whose [[anus]] was a gateway to [[Parallel universe (fiction)|another dimension]]; then-U.S. President [[Ronald Reagan]]'s head attached to the end of the [[protagonist]]'s [[penis]]; and a beautiful female vampire, who is out to get revenge on the boyfriend who [[murder]]ed her, and who usually appears entirely [[naked]]. Later, in ''The Playboy'', Brown would detail his [[Adolescence|adolescent]] obsession with the [[Playboy Playmate]]s in ''[[Playboy]]'' magazine, including explicit scenes of his teenage self [[Masturbation|masturbating]] and [[Ejaculation|ejaculating]]. In the short "Danny's Story", Brown had himself [[Nose picking|picking his nose]], and finished with him biting his neighbour. The book was often wrapped in plastic with an "adults only" label on it,{{sfnm|1a1=Mackay|1y=2005|2a1=Grammel|2y=1990|2p=88}} although it is not known if any issues of ''Yummy Fur'' were ever [[ban (law)|ban]]ned from any [[comic shop]].

The edgy content of the book was contrasted with his [[Chester Brown's Gospel adaptations|straight adaptations]] of the [[Gospel]]s which appeared in most issues of ''Yummy Fur''—albeit, adaptations that took a "warts and all" approach, in which characters pick their noses and [[Jesus Christ|Jesus]] is going bald.

''Yummy Fur'' had been a catch-all title for Brown's work, but since bringing the series to an end in 1994, he has published new stories, like ''[[Underwater (comics)|Underwater]]'' and ''[[Louis Riel: A Comic-Strip Biography|Louis Riel]]'', under their own titles. Much of the work from the series has been republished in book form—the short work in ''[[The Little Man (comics)|The Little Man]]''—but the Gospel stories and most of the later instalments of ''Ed the Happy Clown'' remain uncollected.

==Stories==

===''Ed the Happy Clown''===
{{Main|Ed the Happy Clown}}
The story that first drew attention for Brown's work—a surreal, [[Toilet humour|scatological]] tale of [[Black comedy|dark humour]]. The story was improvised for the most part, and grew out of a number of completely unrelated short comics that appeared in the earliest issues of ''Yummy Fur''. The story follows the large-headed, childlike Ed, a children's clown, who, after being submerged in the [[Feces|faeces]] of a man who can't stop [[Defecation|defecating]], finds the [[Glans penis|head]] of his [[penis]] has been replaced with the head of a miniature [[Ronald Reagan]].

The story makes use of a wide variety of media and comic-book [[trope (literature)|trope]]s and [[cliché]]s,{{sfn|Bell|2006|p=154}} such as [[vampire]]s, [[Werewolf|werewolves]], [[Frankenstein's monster]], [[Extraterrestrial life in fiction|aliens]], [[Parallel universe (fiction)|alternative dimensions]] and [[Human cannibalism|cannibal]] [[Pygmy|pygmies]], as well as a lot of dark religious imagery and potentially offensive imagery—[[nudity]], sex, [[graphic violence]] and [[body horror]].

Ed was intended to be a character Brown would use throughout his career, but after the first dozen issues, he grew dissatisfied with the direction the story had taken, and also wanted to change his drawing style. Inspired by the [[autobiographical comics]] of [[Julie Doucet]] and [[Joe Matt]],<ref name="D+QEd-9-notes1" /> Brown decided to bring the ''Ed'' story to an end in issue #18 of ''Yummy Fur'' and spent the next few years focusing on revealing autobiographical stories.

===Gospels===
{{Main|Chester Brown's Gospel adaptations}}
Brown's straight-faced cartoon adaptations of the ''[[Gospel of Mark]]'' and the ''[[Gospel of Matthew]]'', started as Brown, who had been raised in a strictly [[Baptist]] household, tried to find out for himself what [[Jesus Christ|Christ]] was all about, and what he really believed. The ''Gospel of Mark'' began in the fourth issue of the Vortex series, which was the first issue of new material. The ''Gospel of Matthew'' started in issue #15 of ''Yummy Fur'' and continued in most issues through the end of the series, and in all but the first issue of ''[[Underwater (comics)|Underwater]]''. ''Matthew'' is unfinished and has not continued since 1997.

===Autobiographical comics===
{{Main|Chester Brown's autobiographical comics}}
After completing ''Ed'', Brown moved on to a series of personally revealing [[autobiographical comics|autobiographical]] stories, starting with "Helder" in ''Yummy Fur'' #19. The drawing style, done with a brush, became more and more sparse in an attempt to move away from the style of ''Ed the Happy Clown'', which Brown had grown uncomfortable with. Most of the shorter stories, like "Helder", "Showing Helder" and "Danny's Story", took place not long before they were written, but the longer [[graphic novels]] took place mostly in Brown's adolescence in the 1970s.

====''Disgust''/''The Playboy''====
{{Main|The Playboy: A Comic Book}}
Narrated by a winged, not-so-angelic version of himself, the story details Brown's experiences as an adolescent obsessed with the [[Playboy Playmate|Playmates]] in ''[[Playboy]]'' magazine, while wracked with guilt over his obsessive [[masturbation]], and later his difficulty relating to women as an adult. The story is the source of some controversy, as it graphically depicted a [[Minor (law)|minor]] masturbating and [[Ejaculation|ejaculating]] and was also seen by some women to defend [[pornography]].

The story appeared in issues #21–23 of ''Yummy Fur'' and was originally titled ''Disgust'' and later ''The Playboy Stories''. The story was collected in 1992 under the title ''The Playboy''.

====''Fuck'' (or ''I Never Liked You'')====
{{Main|I Never Liked You}}
Another tale of Brown's adolescence. Brown has trouble relating with the opposite sex, even when they are the ones trying to connect with him. He is an awkward teenager who never [[Profanity|swears]], which is picked up by some of the other boys in his school, who constantly pick on him and try to get him to swear.

The story also depicts the final days of Brown's mother when he was 17. Brown is a difficult son, and has trouble expressing his affection for her. She has [[schizophrenia]] and dies in the hospital after falling down the stairs.

Originally titled ''Fuck'', the story was retitled ''I Never Liked You'' when collected.

==Publishing history==

===Minicomic (1983–1986)===
[[File:YummyFurMini5Cover.jpg|thumb|left | 200px | Brown self-published seven issues of the ''Yummy Fur'' minicomic]]
In the early 1980s, Brown had been trying unsuccessfully to get his work published by publishers such as ''[[Raw (comics magazine)|Raw]]'', [[Fantagraphics Books]] and [[Last Gasp (publisher)|Last Gasp]]. He was convinced by his then-girlfriend, Kris Nakamura, to take the work he had piled up and publish them himself as [[Photocopier|photocopied]] [[minicomic]]s, distributing them on the streets of [[Toronto]]. Sales got off to a slow start, but eventually picked up. "Sales were brisk", with some issues topping 1000 copies,{{sfn|Grammel|1990|p=80}} as Brown sold the books on [[consignment]] in bookstores, local [[comic shop]]s, and through mail order,<ref name="D+QEd-1-notes2-3" /> while working a day job in a photography shop. Brown published the series under the "Tortured Canoe" imprint.

===Vortex (1986–1991)===

Brown had pitched his work to [[Vortex Comics]] publisher [[Bill Marks]] before 1986, but at the time, Marks was not prepared to publish an ongoing series. In 1986, at the urging of [[Mister X (Vortex)|Mister X]] artist [[Seth (cartoonist)|Seth]], Marks finally contacted Brown with a contract to publish three issues, which would reprint the entire contents of the seven issue minicomic series. The contract would be renewed depending on sales. The December 1986 first issue received preorders of 12,000 copies, a considerable number for a small-press, black-and-white comic book. The large number of orders was due in part to the black-and-white comics explosion of the mid-1980s, spearheaded by [[Kevin Eastman]] and [[Peter Laird]]'s breakout ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Mirage Studios)|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]''. The boom soon imploded, however, and ''Yummy Fur''{{'s}} sales dropped to a few thousand.

The book was dropped by a [[printer (publishing)|printer]] in the [[Provinces and territories of Canada|province]] of [[Ontario]] after the printer had used discarded pages of the fourth issue of ''Yummy Fur'' to pack boxes of a [[feminist]] publication. The issue included a nude scene from the ''[[Ed the Happy Clown]]'' serial in which the character, Chet, stabs his girlfriend, Josie, while they had sex. The feminist publisher lodged a complaint, and the printer informed Vortex that they would not handle ''Yummy Fur'' anymore.{{sfn|Mackay|2005}}<ref name="D+QEd-5-notes1" /> In 1989, the bindery Packaging Services & Supplies of Wisconisin refused to bind the first ''Yummy Fur'' collection and an ''[[Omaha the Cat Dancer]]'' collection, citing that employees found the content offensive; a spokesman for the company called them "worse than pornography".{{sfn|Powers|Baisden|1989|p=13}}

Sales saw their lowest point with issue #9, at 1673 copies, largely due to the fact that [[Diamond Comic Distributors]] had dropped the book{{sfn|Davis|1989}}—purportedly for low sales, despite the fact that ''Yummy Fur'' had been getting more orders than many other Vortex titles that ''hadn't'' been dropped. It was suspected that the book had actually been dropped due to its potentially offensive content. ''[[The Comics Journal]]'' had begun to investigate the incident, but a few issues later, Diamond started including ''Yummy Fur'' in its catalogue again, and sales started to rise, eventually reaching 7000 copies per issue.<ref name="D+QEd-8-notes2" />

===Drawn & Quarterly (1991–1994)===

[[Drawn & Quarterly]] publisher [[Chris Oliveros]] had been courting Brown for his newly established [[Montréal]]-based company, but Brown was comfortable where he was, and felt loyalty to Bill Marks for giving him his big break. While Marks had a poor reputation for his treatment of other cartoonists, Brown felt that he had been treated well. In 1991, just as his contract with Vortex had come up, Oliveros offered Brown an enticing deal—a 25% royalty, as compared to 13% at Vortex. That, combined with the fact that [[Julie Doucet]] and [[Seth (cartoonist)|Seth]]{{sfn|Groth|1997|loc=part 4}} had jumped aboard Oliveros' ship, convinced Brown join Drawn & Quarterly, starting with the 25th issue of ''Yummy Fur''.

Brown did not want to leave Marks up the creek, and so allowed Vortex to publish a second, "definitive" edition of ''Ed the Happy Clown'' in 1992, with a different ending from the one that had appeared in ''Yummy Fur''. Drawn & Quarterly, however, published in the same year the collected version of ''[[The Playboy: A Comic Book|The Playboy]]'', which had appeared in the Vortex-published issues #21–23 of ''Yummy Fur'', and they have continued to publish all of his work since.

Oliveros convinced Brown that the ''Yummy Fur'' title was no longer appropriate for the direction the book had taken, and Brown chose to publish his next major story, ''[[Underwater (comics)|Underwater]]'', under its own title. The last issue of ''Yummy Fur'' was #32, and was an issue-long instalment of his [[Chester Brown's Gospel adaptations|adaptation]] of the [[Gospel of Matthew]], which would continue in the pages of ''Underwater''.

===Lists of issues===

====Minicomic====
{| class="wikitable floatleft"
|-
|+ Issues of the ''Yummy Fur'' minicomic
|-
! scope="col" style="background:#B0C4DE;" | #
! scope="col" style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Date
! scope="col" style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Contents
! scope="col" style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:right;"|1
|style="text-align:right;"|June 1983
|
#"Walrus Blubber Sandwich"
#"The Toilet Paper Revolt"
|
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:right;"|2
|style="text-align:right;"|July 1983
|
#"Ed the Happy Clown"
#"Mars"
|
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:right;"|3
|style="text-align:right;"|August 1983
|
#"Bob Crosby and his Electric TV"
#"City Swine"
|
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:right;"|4
|style="text-align:right;"|September 1983
|
#"Catlick Creek"
#"The Eyelid Burial"
#"Adventures in Science"
#"Fire with Fire"
|
*12 pages<ref name="WorldCatMinis">{{Worldcat|oclc=29655057}}</ref>
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:right;"|5
|style="text-align:right;"|January 1984
|
#"Ed and the Beanstalk"
|
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:right;"|6
|style="text-align:right;"|
|
#"Adventures in Science"
#"Joke Time"
#"Joke Time"
#"Crime and Punishment with Ed the Happy Clown"
|
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:right;"|7
|style="text-align:right;"|September 1985
|
#"Adventures in Science"
#"Garbage Day"
#"My Old {{not a typo|Neighborhood}}"<!-- that's the correct spelling -->
#"The Man Who Couldn't Stop"
#"An Authentic {{not a typo|Innuit}}<!-- this is the correct spelling --> Folk Song"
#"I Live in the Bottomless Pit"
#"Ed the Happy Clown in Confinement"
#"Adventures in Science"
|
*20 pages<ref name="WorldCatMinis" />
|-
|}
Most issues were eight pages long, and were [[Photocopier|photocopied]] on sheets of [[Letter (paper size)|{{frac|8|1|2}}" x 11" paper]], folded in half and stapled together. In February 1985, Brown put out a 48-page, digest-sized compilation of the first six issues, with an extra one-page strip called "Fire with Fire".{{sfn|Bell|2006|p=147}}<ref name="WoldCatYFCollection">{{Worldcat|oclc=70659352}}</ref>

Brown filled up the first four issues with material that he had produced since 1980, putting out one issue per month. After the fourth issue, his backlog ran out. He had to start producing new material, and ''Yummy Fur''{{'s}} frequency dropped.
{{clear}}

====Comic book====
All issues had black-and-white contents printed on [[newsprint]], with colour outer covers on heavier stock paper.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|+ Issues of the ''Yummy Fur'' comic book
|-
! scope="col" | #
! scope="col" | Date
! scope="col" | Main Story
! scope="col" | [[Chester Brown's Gospel adaptations|Gospel Stories]]<ref name="UW7GospelRef" />
! scope="col" | Publisher
! scope="col" | Notes
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:right;"|1
|style="text-align:right;"|December 1986
|rowspan="18"|''[[Ed the Happy Clown]]''
|rowspan="3"|
|rowspan="24"|[[Vortex Comics]]
|Reprints the minicomic issues #1–3
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:right;"|2
|style="text-align:right;"|January 1987
|Reprints the minicomic issues #4–6
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:right;"|3
|style="text-align:right;"|February 1987
|Reprints the minicomic issues #6–7<!-- two of the stories were from #6 -->
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:right;"|4
|style="text-align:right;"|April 1987
|{{bibleref2|Mark|1:01-39}}
|
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:right;"|5
|style="text-align:right;"|June 1987
|{{bibleref2|Mark|1:40-3:12}}
|
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:right;"|6
|style="text-align:right;"|August 1987
|{{bibleref2|Mark|3:13-4:14}}
|
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:right;"|7
|style="text-align:right;"|1987
|{{bibleref2|Mark|5:1-6:6}}
|
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:right;"|8
|style="text-align:right;"|November 1987
|{{bibleref2|Mark|6:6-7:23}}
|
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:right;"|9
|style="text-align:right;"|March 1988
|{{bibleref2|Mark|7:24-8:21}}
|
|-
! scope="row" | 10
|style="text-align:right;"|May 1988
|{{bibleref2|Mark|8:22-9:13}}
|
|-
! scope="row" | 11
|style="text-align:right;"|July 1988
|{{bibleref2|Mark|9:14-10:34}}
|
|-
! scope="row" | 12
|style="text-align:right;"|September 1988
|{{bibleref2|Mark|10:35-12:27}}
|
|-
! scope="row" | 13
|style="text-align:right;"|November 1988
|{{bibleref2|Mark|12:28-14:52}}
|
|-
! scope="row" | 14
|style="text-align:right;"|January 1989
|{{bibleref2|Mark|14:53-16:20}}
|
|-
! scope="row" | 15
|style="text-align:right;"|March 1989
|{{bibleref2|Matthew|1:1-2:13}}
|
|-
! scope="row" | 16
|style="text-align:right;"|June 1989
|{{bibleref2|Matthew|2:14-2:23}}
|
|-
! scope="row" | 17
|style="text-align:right;"|August 1989
|{{bibleref2|Matthew|3:1-4:17}}
|
|-
! scope="row" | 18
|style="text-align:right;"|October 1989
|
|
|-
! scope="row" | 19
|style="text-align:right;"|January 1990
|''[[Chester Brown's autobiographical comics#Helder|Helder]]''
|{{bibleref2|Matthew|4:18-4:22}}
|rowspan="12" style="text-align:center;"|[[Chester Brown's autobiographical comics|Autobiographical period]]
|-
! scope="row" | 20
|style="text-align:right;"|April 1990
|''[[Chester Brown's autobiographical comics#Showing Helder|Showing Helder]]''
|{{bibleref2|Matthew|4:23-5:10}}
|-
! scope="row" | 21
|style="text-align:right;"|June 1990
|rowspan="3"|''[[Chester Brown's autobiographical comics#Disgust/The Playboy Stories (aka The Playboy)|Disgust]]''<br><small>''[[The Playboy: A Comic Book|The Playboy]] stories''</small>
|{{bibleref2|Matthew|5:11-7:27}}
|-
! scope="row" |22
|style="text-align:right;"|September 1990
|{{bibleref2|Matthew|7:28-8:17}}
|-
! scope="row" |23
|style="text-align:right;"|December 1990
|
|-
! scope="row" |24
|style="text-align:right;"|April 1991
|''[[Chester Brown's autobiographical comics#Danny's Story|Danny's Story]]''
|{{bibleref2|Matthew|8:18-8:27}}
|-
! scope="row" |25
|style="text-align:right;"|July 1991
|''[[Chester Brown's autobiographical comics#The Little Man|The Little Man]]''
|{{bibleref2|Matthew|8:28-9:14}}
|rowspan="8"|[[Drawn & Quarterly]]
|-
! scope="row" |26
|style="text-align:right;"|October 1991
|rowspan="5"|''[[Chester Brown's autobiographical comics#Fuck (aka I Never Liked You)|Fuck]]''<br /><small>''[[I Never Liked You]]''</small>
|{{bibleref2|Matthew|9:14-9:17}}
|-
! scope="row" |27
|style="text-align:right;"|January 1992
|{{bibleref2|Matthew|9:20}}
|-
! scope="row" |28
|style="text-align:right;"|May 1992
|
|-
! scope="row" |29
|style="text-align:right;"|August 1992
|{{bibleref2|Matthew|9:18-9:30}}
|-
! scope="row" |30
|style="text-align:right;"|April 1993
|
|-
! scope="row" |31
|style="text-align:right;"|September 1993
|
|{{bibleref2|Matthew|9:31-10:42}}
|
|-
! scope="row" |32
|style="text-align:right;"|January 1994
|''Matthew''
|{{bibleref2|Matthew|11:2-12:45,14:2-14:12}}
|
|}

===Collections===
The ''[[Ed the Happy Clown]]'' storyline has been reprinted in a number of formats since: a 1989 book collecting material from the first 12 issues of Yummy Fur; a 1992 ''"Definitive Ed Book"'', which leaves out much of the later material and also provides a completely new ending; and a nine-issue ''Ed the Happy Clown'' series from [[Drawn & Quarterly]] with new covers, unpublished artwork and extensive commentary by Brown.

The [[autobiographical comics|autobiography]] work has been reprinted as ''[[The Playboy: A Comic Book]]'' in 1992 and ''[[I Never Liked You]]'' in 1994, with ''[[The Little Man (comics)|The Little Man: Short Strips 1980–1995]]'' collecting the remainder, along with other miscellaneous short works from other sources.

Brown decided not to reprint the early ''Yummy Fur'' stories which had borrowed from other works. The Gospel adaptations also remain unfinished and uncollected.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Title
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Publisher
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | ISBN
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes
|-
|1989
|''[[Ed the Happy Clown|Ed the Happy Clown: a Yummy Fur Book]]''
|rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|[[Vortex Comics]]
|{{nowrap|{{ISBN|978-0-921451-04-4}}}}
|
*foreword by [[Harvey Pekar]]
*not complete
|-
|rowspan="2"|1992
|''[[Ed the Happy Clown|Ed the Happy Clown: the Definitive Ed Book]]''
|{{ISBN|978-0-921451-08-2}}
|
*abridged
*changed ending
|-
|''[[The Playboy: A Comic Book]]''
|rowspan="4" style="text-align:center;"|[[Drawn & Quarterly]]
|{{ISBN|978-0-9696701-1-7}}
|Collects the ''Disgust''/''Playboy'' stories from ''Yummy Fur'' #21–23
|-
|1994
|''[[I Never Liked You]]''
|{{ISBN|978-0-9696701-6-2}}
|Collects the ''Fuck'' stories from ''Yummy Fur'' #26–30
|-
|1998
|''[[The Little Man (comics)|The Little Man: Short Strips 1980–1995]]''
|{{ISBN|978-1-896597-13-3}}
|Collects miscellaneous stories from ''Yummy Fur'' and elsewhere
|-
|2002
|''[[I Never Liked You|I Never Liked You: The New Definitive Edition]]''
|{{ISBN|978-1-896597-14-0}}
|
*Black page backgrounds changed to white
*Appendix of notes by Brown
|}

==Reception==
The series was recognized by his peers early on, such as [[Seth (cartoonist)|Seth]], who recommended to Bill Marks to pick it up as a [[Vortex Comics|Vortex]] title; and got good reviews from publications like ''[[The Comics Journal]]'' as early as its [[minicomic]] days.

===Critical views===
Joseph Witek wrote of the difficulties ''Yummy Fur'' presented—in the context of the "[[High culture|high art]]/[[Low culture|low art]]" split in [[alternative comics]] in the 1980s, best represented by division of visions in [[Art Spiegelman]]'s ''[[Raw (comics magazine)|Raw]]'' and [[Robert Crumb]]'s ''[[Weirdo (magazine)|Weirdo]]'', the combination of Brown's grotesque adventures in ''[[Ed the Happy Clown]]'' and the straight renditions of the [[Gospel]]s seem to straddle this line.{{sfn|Witek|1992|p=77}}

Chris Lanier, writing in ''[[The Comics Journal]]'', placed ''Ed the Happy Clown'' in a tradition that included [[Daniel Clowes|Dan Clowes]]' ''[[Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron]]'', [[Max Andersson (cartoonist)|Max Andersson]]'s ''Pixy'' and [[Eric Drooker]]'s ''Flood!'', works in which symbols appear with such frequency and importance to suggest significance, while remaining symbolically empty.{{sfn|Lanier|1995|p=99}} He finds predecessors for these works in German [[Dada]]{{sfn|Lanier|1995|p=102}} and the [[Theatre of the Absurd]].{{sfn|Lanier|1995|p=100}}

===Awards===
The following are awards or nominations for ''Yummy Fur'' or collections of work that first appeared in it:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Organisation
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Award
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Result
|-
|rowspan="4"|1989
|rowspan="4"|[[Harvey Award]]s
|'''Best Writer'''<ref name="HarveysNom1989" />
|{{nom}}
|-
|'''Best Cartoonist'''<ref name="HarveysNom1989" />
|{{nom}}
|-
|'''Best Continuing or Limited Series'''<ref name="HarveysNom1989" />
|{{nom}}
|-
|'''Special Achievement in Humor'''<ref name="HarveysNom1989" />
|{{nom}}
|-
|rowspan="4"|1990
|U.K. Comic Art Award
|'''Best Graphic Novel/Collection'''{{sfn|Bell|2006|p=150}}<br /><small>for the first edition of ''Ed the Happy Clown''</small>
|{{won}}
|-
|rowspan="8"|[[Harvey Award]]s
|'''Special Award for Humor'''<ref name="HarveysNom1990" />
|{{nom}}
|-
|'''Best Cartoonist'''<ref name="HarveysWin1990" />
|{{won}}
|-
|'''Best Graphic Album'''<ref name="HarveysWin1990" /><br /><small>for the first ''[[Ed the Happy Clown]]'' collection</small>
|{{won}}
|-
|rowspan="3"|1991
|'''Best Continuing or Limited Series'''<ref name="HarveysNom1991" />
|{{nom}}
|-
|'''Best Single Issue or Story'''<ref name="HarveysNom1991" /><br /><small>for ''"[[The Playboy: A Comic Book|The Playboy Stories]]" in Yummy Fur #21–23''</small>
|{{nom}}
|-
|'''Best Cartoonist (Writer/Artist)'''<ref name="HarveysNom1991" />
|{{nom}}
|-
|1992
|'''Best Cartoonist'''<ref name="HarveysNom1992" />
|{{nom}}
|-
|1993
|'''Best Graphic Album of Previously Released Material'''<ref name="HarveysNom1993" /><br /><small>for ''[[The Playboy: A Comic Book|The Playboy]]''</small>
|{{nom}}
|-
|1998
|[[Ignatz Award]]s
|'''Outstanding Graphic Novel or Collection'''<ref name="Ignatz1998" /><br /><small>for ''[[The Little Man (comics)|The Little Man]]''</small>
|{{nom}}
|-
|rowspan="3"|1999
|rowspan="2"|[[Harvey Award]]s
|'''Special Award for Excellence in Presentation'''<ref name="HarveysNom1999" /><br /><small>for ''[[The Little Man (comics)|The Little Man]]''</small>
|{{nom}}
|-
|'''Best Graphic Album of Previously Published Work'''<ref name="HarveysNom1999" /><br /><small>for ''[[The Little Man (comics)|The Little Man]]''</small>
|{{nom}}
|-
|[[Urhunden Prizes]]
|'''Foreign Album'''{{sfnm|1a1=Hammarlund|1y=2009|2a1=Hahn|2y=2006}}<br /><small>for ''Ed the Happy Clown''</small>
|{{won}}
|-
|}

==See also==
{{Portal|Comics}}
*[[Autobiographical comics]]
*[[Eightball (comics)|''Eightball'' (comics)]]
{{clear}}

==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=20em|refs=

<ref name="HarveysNom1989">{{Cite web
|url        = http://www.harveyawards.org/awards_1989nom.html
|title      = 1989 Harvey Award Nominees
|publisher  = [[Harvey Awards]] 
|access-date = 2011-11-30}}</ref>

<ref name="HarveysWin1990">{{Cite web
|url        = http://www.harveyawards.org/awards_1989win.html
|title      = 1989 Harvey Award Winners
|publisher  = [[Harvey Awards]]
|access-date = 2011-11-30}}</ref>

<ref name="HarveysNom1990">{{Cite web
 |url         = http://www.harveyawards.org/awards_1990nom.html
 |title       = 1990 Harvey Award Nominees
 |publisher   = [[Harvey Awards]]
 |access-date  = 2011-11-30
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20040625143735/http://www.harveyawards.org/awards_1990nom.html
 |archive-date = 2004-06-25
}}</ref>

<ref name="HarveysNom1991">{{Cite web
 |url         = http://www.harveyawards.org/awards_1991nom.html
 |title       = 1991 Harvey Award Nominees
 |publisher   = [[Harvey Awards]] 
 |access-date  = 2011-11-30
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20120206120715/http://www.harveyawards.org/awards_1991nom.html
 |archive-date = 2012-02-06
}}</ref>

<ref name="HarveysNom1992">{{Cite web
 |url         = http://www.harveyawards.org/awards_1992nom.html
 |title       = 1992 Harvey Award Nominees
 |publisher   = [[Harvey Awards]] 
 |access-date  = 2011-11-30
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20110928211400/http://www.harveyawards.org/awards_1992nom.html
 |archive-date = 2011-09-28
}}</ref>

<ref name="HarveysNom1993">{{Cite web
|url        = http://www.harveyawards.org/awards_1993nom.html
|title      = 1993 Harvey Award Nominees
|publisher  = [[Harvey Awards]] 
|access-date = 2011-11-30}}</ref>

<ref name="HarveysNom1999">{{Cite web
 |url         = http://www.harveyawards.org/awards_1999nom.html
 |title       = 1999 Harvey Award Nominees
 |publisher   = [[Harvey Awards]] 
 |access-date  = 2011-11-30
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20110928210957/http://www.harveyawards.org/awards_1999nom.html
 |archive-date = 2011-09-28
}}</ref>

<ref name="Ignatz1998">{{Cite web
|url        = http://www.spxpo.com/1998-ignatz-award-recipients
|title      = 1998 Ignatz Award Recipients
|publisher  = [[Small Press Expo]]
|access-date = 2011-11-30}}</ref>

<ref name="UW7GospelRef">Brown, ''Underwater'' #7. pp. 26–27</ref>

<ref name=Young>{{cite web
|last       = Young
|first      = Thom
|title      = Top 10 Alternative Comic Book Series
|website    = Comics Bulletin
|url        = http://www.comicsbulletin.com/topten/128089799951630.htm
|access-date = 2011-04-25}}</ref>

<ref name="D+QEd-1-notes2-3">Brown, ''Ed the Happy Clown'' #1, notes page 2</ref>
<ref name="D+QEd-5-notes1">Brown, ''Ed the Happy Clown'' #5, notes page 1</ref>
<ref name="D+QEd-8-notes2">Brown, ''Ed the Happy Clown'' #8, notes page 2</ref>
<ref name="D+QEd-9-notes1">Brown, ''Ed the Happy Clown'' #9, notes page 1</ref>

<!-- end {{Reflist}} -->}}

===Works cited===
{{refbegin|colwidth=40em}}

* {{cite book |author-link=John Bell (historian) |last=Bell |first=John |title=Invaders from the North: How Canada Conquered the Comic Book Universe |publisher=[[Dundurn Group|Dundurn Press Ltd.]] |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-55002-659-7 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/invadersfromnort0000bell}}
* [[Chester Brown|Brown, Chester]]. ''Ed the Happy Clown''. [[Drawn & Quarterly]]. Nine issues (February 2005–September 2006). (notes pages unnumbered, counted from first page of notes)
* {{cite journal |last=Davis |first=Erik |date=January 1989 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gJX3jzxQYbMC&pg=PA1 |title=Ed's Big Boy |journal=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]] |volume=4 |issue=10 |page=13 |access-date=2011-04-07}}
* {{cite journal |last=Grammel |first=Scott |date=April 1990 |title=Chester Brown (interview) |journal=[[The Comics Journal]] |issue=135 |pages=66–90 |publisher=[[Fantagraphics Books]]}}
* {{Cite journal |url=http://www.tcj.com/the-seth-interview/4/ |journal=[[The Comics Journal]] |publisher=[[Fantagraphics Books]] |author-link=Gary Groth |last=Groth |first=Gary |title=The Seth Interview |date=February 1997 |access-date=2011-12-01}}
* {{Cite web |url=http://www.hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/urhunden.php |title=Urhunden Prize |access-date=2011-05-02 |year=2006 |first=Joel |last=Hahn |publisher=Comic Book Awards Almanac}}
* {{Cite web |language=sv |url=http://www.serieframjandet.se/912/seriepris-till-joakim-pirinen-och-jan-loeoef |title=Seriepris till Joakim Pirinen och Jan Lööf |access-date=2011-05-02 |date=2009-09-20 |first=Ova |last=Hammarlund |publisher=[se Seriefrämjandet] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111122161958/http://www.serieframjandet.se/912/seriepris-till-joakim-pirinen-och-jan-loeoef |archive-date=November 22, 2011}}
* {{cite journal |last=Lanier |first=Chris |title=''Pixy'' and the Post-Nuke Protagonist |journal=[[The Comics Journal]] |issue=174 |publisher=[[Fantagraphics Books]] |date=February 1995 |pages=96–102}}
* {{Cite web |url=http://www.cbc.ca/arts/books/edclown.html |title=Special Ed |access-date=2011-11-14 |date=2005-07-18 |first=Brad |last=Mackay |publisher=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]]}}
* {{cite journal |author=Tong |first=Ng Suat |date=March 31, 2010 |title=Old Wine in New Wineskins: The Gospel According to Chester Brown |journal=[[The Comics Journal]] |issue=261 |pages=31–37 |publisher=[[Fantagraphics Books]] |url=http://hoodedutilitarian.com/2010/03/old-wine-in-new-wineskins-the-gospel-according-to-chester-brown/ |via=The Hooded Utilitarian |access-date=2011-04-07}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Powers |first1=Thom |last2=Baisden |first2=Greg S. |date=November 1989 |title=Bindery Refuses ''Yummy Fur'' and ''Omaha'' Collections |journal=[[The Comics Journal]] |issue=132 |pages=13 |publisher=[[Fantagraphics Books]]}}
* {{cite book |last=Witek |first=Joseph |chapter=From Genre to Medium: Comics and Contemporary American Culture |title=Rejuvenating the Humanities |publisher=Popular Press |year=1992 |pages=71–78 |isbn=978-0-87972-546-4}}

{{refend}}

==External links==
*{{comicbookdb|type=title|id=3538|title=Yummy Fur}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20101021114355/http://comicscomicsmag.com/2010/10/class-with-frank-part-2.html Dissecting ''Yummy Fur'' #19]

{{Chester Brown}}
{{Drawn & Quarterly}}
{{Canadian comics}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yummy Fur}}
[[Category:1983 comics debuts]]
[[Category:1986 comics debuts]]
[[Category:Drawn & Quarterly titles]]
[[Category:Black comedy books]]
[[Category:Defunct comics]]
[[Category:Horror comics]]
[[Category:Comics by Chester Brown]]
[[Category:Vortex Comics titles]]
[[Category:Canadian comics titles]]