Omaha the Cat Dancer
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Omaha the Cat Dancer was a highly acclaimed and controversial furry comic book created and drawn by Reed Waller and predominantly written by Kate Worley.
It featured the adventures of Omaha (her last name is never given), a feline exotic dancer, and her lover Chuck Tabey, who turns out to be the heir to Charles Tabey, Sr., a powerful but mentally ill millionaire.
This comic was one of the first major furry series to introduce a furry subgenre called "slice of life", in which the furry nature of the characters is mostly a cosmetic artistic style for realistic stories anchored in contemporary human society. The furry nature is usually restricted to animals' heads, fur colour, and tails. However, unlike Maus, Omaha was written more like a sexually explicit soap opera in plot structure and melodrama. It was highly praised for its writing, especially for its confident feminist sensibility.
The series drew considerable controversy with numerous obscenity charges for its sexual content. The Toronto police department, in one raid of a comic book store, charged that it depicted bestiality, an accusation fans dismissed as ludicrous. By contrast, the New Zealand government committee charged with examining books for their suitability for admission into the country deigned the series as suitable for all ages because of its mature depiction of relationships and sexuality.
The comic had an erratic publishing history aggravated by a serious accident suffered by Worley and the resulting poor medical care for it. In addition, Waller contracted cancer, prompting two fundraising comics called Images of Omaha but further interfering with publication.
Additionally, there was growing friction between the partners (Waller and Worley were romantically linked) which culminated in a violent incident at a convention. After that, the team disbanded and the comic ceased publication. In early 2004, there were reports that Waller and Worley had moved beyond their disagreement, and were collaborating to finish the hanging storyline, but Worley's death in June dashed those hopes.
However, its influence is noted in the furry comic book scene with Shanda the Panda being the most successful series to emulate Omaha in many respects.