Albedo Anthropomorphics & Steve Gallacci
10/21/2023
Among the many furry comic publications of the 1980s, Albedo Anthropomorphics, often known simply as Albedo, is perhaps the most renowned. It was an anthology centered around funny animal comics, and was intended to cater to fans who wanted more "serious" stories featuring funny animals, rather than the satire and slice-of-life style that many other comics involved (Fredrik Knudsen, 2018). The creator of Albedo, Steve Gallacci, had his own expansive story that served as the main feature of the anthology: Erma Felna, EDF (an acronym for Extraplanetary Defense Force). The titular character, Erma Felna, was an anthropomorphic feline, and was first conceptualized and drawn in 1978 during Gallacci's time overseas in the United States Air Force. According to Gallacci, she was not originally going to be the protagonist; he had planned to make a light-hearted satire comic revolving around a character named Astroduck, with Erma as a secondary character, but upon deciding to write a heavier, more serious story, he ultimately chose Erma as the main character because, in his words, "everyone does heroic guys... I wanted something more, better, different." (From Dragon Ink Comics' interview with Steve Gallacci, 2022.) The very first issue of Albedo, however, technically did not feature Erma at all; it was a funny animals satirical parody/fanzine of Blade Runner (1982) called "Bad Rubber". It was Gallacci's first completed mini-comic at twelve pages in length, and a friend from the Seattle science fiction community offered to print it (Gallacci & Dragon Ink Comics, 2022). This became the "proto-Albedo", or issue #0. It, along with every other issue to come, was published under Gallacci's own publishing label, Thoughts & Images. Though it had a fairly long and impactful run, Albedo entered an indefinite hiatus in 2005 (Patten, 2012).
Above: the first printing of the Albedo prototype issue from 1983. Only the first 50 issues printed (out of 500) featured the yellow drawing table; a printing error caused the final 450 issues to be printed with fully black-and-white cover art. (Via recalledcomics.com.)
The other long-running work that Albedo is known for publishing is the Usagi Yojimbo series by Stan Sakai. Sakai first got involved with Albedo in 1984, the year that the first two issues were published; he and Gallacci first met in the Los Angeles area. Though Sakai had been working on Usagi prior to their meeting, the first time it was officially published was in the second issue of Albedo.
Above: Albedo Anthropomorphics #2, featuring the beloved rabbit rōnin Miyamoto Usagi, the protagonist of Usagi Yojimbo. (Via recalledcomics.com.)
As the turn of the century neared, table-top roleplay games were rising in popularity, especially in the sci-fi community; it is no large surprise, then, that an Albedo TTRPG was released by Chessex in 1989, featuring anthropomorphic character creation, intricate sci-fi starships and weapons, and everything that fans loved about the world of Erma Felna. Chessex went on to release a second edition of the game in 1993. It was apparently a very combat-focused gameplay experience, with a wealth of detail about weaponry, machinery, and space combat. Fans have claimed it to be clunky and haphazardly built (Lafayette, 2013). In 2004, at GenCon in Indianapolis, Indiana, yet another version of the game made its debut: Albedo: Platinum Catalyst, released by game and comic publisher Sanguine in celebration of Albedo's 20th anniversary. This version was not affiliated with the previous titles, and claimed to be "a completely re-engineered game." (Sanguine, 2004.)
Sources:
Dragon Ink Comics. "An Interview with Albedo Anthropomorphics Comic Creator Steve Gallacci - Erma Felna - Usagi Yojimbo." YouTube, 7/9/2022. Online video.
Fredrik Knudsen. "Furries | Down The Rabbit Hole." YouTube, 8/13/2018. Online video.
Fred Patten. "Retrospective: An Illustrated Chronology of Furry Fandom, 1966-1996." flayrah, 7/15/2012. Online article.
"Albedo #0 1st Print / 1st batch: White cover with yellow table." Recalled Comics. Database entry.
"Albedo Anthropomorphics #2." Recalled Comics. (The one with Miyamoto Usagi on the cover!) Database entry.
Lev Lafayette. "Review of Albedo: The Role-Playing Game Second Edition." RPGnet, 8/30/2013. Online article.
"Albedo: Platinum Catalyst - Sanguine Productions." Sanguine, 2004. Accessed through the Internet Archive. Online article.