Peach Fuzz
Encyclopedia
Peach Fuzz, is an original English-language manga
written and illustrated by Lindsay Cibos and Jared Hodges. It was published in North America and the United Kingdom by Tokyopop
in three volumes from January 11, 2005 to December 11, 2007. Peach Fuzz originally started as a short 17-page story in Tokyopop's 2nd Rising Stars of Manga
competition, where it won the grand prize. The series also appeared in a Sunday comic strip
form within Sunday newspaper comics sections. Peach Fuzz focuses on the relationship between a young girl and a ferret who believes herself to be a princess.
at the local pet shop. Her mother reluctantly yields to her decision on the condition that it should never injure her. Amanda names it Peach after seeing a fruit stand with peaches. Terrified of losing her new pet and companion, Amanda keeps Peach's biting a secret. Peach, in turn, rebels in a self-congratulatory way, maintaining that she is a ferret princess
who must heroically retain her composure and courage while being tormented by five-headed giant
s and their slaves. After being forced to fight Mr. Fuzzy — a toy given to Peach which she views as a servant, Peach bites Amanda and Amanda, in response, tries the "Bitter Bite" spray to discipline her. Amanda's actions reminds her of her mother and Peach softens her view of Amanda.
Amanda brings Peach to her class's show and tell
and because of Peach's popularity with the class, Amanda's friend Kim decides to get a ferret. Her ferret, Pavaratty, displays arrogance towards Peach and doubts her princess status since she lacks a palace, an entourage and treasure. Peach resolves to gain these things so she can impress the ferret prince. Meanwhile, two bullies turn Amanda's class against her after she wears a handmade ferret costume to school in an attempt to stand out. To collect more treasure, Peach secretly accompanies Amanda to school. Kim realizes Amanda's friendship is more important and admits she was wrong to turn against her. Peach accidentally saves the class's hamsters from being eaten by a snake which escaped during the show and tell. Amanda is redeemed in the class's eyes.
To ease Peach's boredom, Amanda gets another ferret, who is named Edwin after the hero of a romance novel. Initially Peach believes he is her ferret prince, but quickly becomes annoyed by him. Amanda brings the ferrets to her friend's house. There, Peach and Edwin meet Mimi's albino ferrets, the manic-depressive Spore and melancholy Truffle, who believe that they and anyone who enters their land is cursed. After Edwin breaks off a claw, Peach softens her view of him, but becomes ill. She recovers and decides that even if Edwin is not a prince, she still loves him.
and Gargoyles. After learning about manga, she preferred it to comics because it had art and female-centered storylines that appealed to her. She found it easier to get into manga because they were self-contained stories that started at the beginning. She learned about Tokyopop's Rising Stars of Manga
contest from a Tokyopop Newsblast e-mail but was unable to work on an entry for the contest because of other projects. For the second contest, she worked with Jared Hodges, whom she had met at an anime club in 1998, and set aside a month to work on her entry; she wanted to "make a good concise little story for the contest's 20-page limit." Based on a web-comic that the two had been working on, their entry "Peach Fuzz" won the grand prize, was published in Tokyopop's anthology and turned into a manga series of the same name. While drawing the series, Cibos and Hodges encountered the challenge of working with the screentone and "digitally inking" the comic.
Some of Peach Fuzz is based on real-life ferrets and places. The creators designed the ferret characters Peach and Edwin after Cibos's pet ferrets Momoko—Japanese for Peach—and Elf. They also modeled several of Edwin's mannerisms on Elf's. Elf's "single-minded obsession to a pair of headphones" became the model for "Pavaratty’s devotion to his toy microphone". In contrast, the human characters have no specific model. Cibos stated: "Bits and pieces were likely inspired from the people around me and from an amalgam of life experiences Jared and I had growing up: remembering what it was like to be in the fourth grade, having a pet for the first time, dealing with bullies, misunderstandings with parents, and so on." Several of the locations in Peach Fuzz, such as Mimi's apartments, were designed after real-life places.
from January 11, 2005 to December 11, 2007. The first six chapters of Peach Fuzz also appeared as a serial
in forty newspapers, including The Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times
, and Vancouver Sun, from January to July 2006. In Australia and New Zealand, Madman Entertainment
distributes the series. It is also licensed in Sweden by B. Wahlströms Bokförlag, in Germany by Tokyopop Germany, in Finland by Pauna Media Group, in Spain, and in Portugal.
' s Jennifer M. Contino enjoyed how much of the story focused on Peach's perspective and called the series "a promising debut". Danica Davidson of The Book Report praised the appeal of the "fun cast of characters" and described the series as "cute and warmhearted...with plenty of laughs." Johanna Draper Carlson, a longtime reviewer for Publishers Weekly
, noted the potential of the series but thought it could have "benefited from experienced editing" and commented on the mixed messages being sent, stating: "If we root for the character we see most often, Peach, then we’re hoping to see her continue to misbehave. If we root for Amanda teaching Peach how to behave, then most of the material is irrelevant or mistargeted."
Original English-language manga
Original English-language manga or OEL manga is the term commonly used to describe comic books or graphic novels in the "international manga" genre of comics whose language of original publication is English...
written and illustrated by Lindsay Cibos and Jared Hodges. It was published in North America and the United Kingdom by Tokyopop
Tokyopop
Tokyopop, styled TOKYOPOP, and formerly known as Mixx, is a distributor, licensor, and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa, and Western manga-style works. The existing German publishing division produces German translations of licensed Japanese properties and original English-language manga, as well...
in three volumes from January 11, 2005 to December 11, 2007. Peach Fuzz originally started as a short 17-page story in Tokyopop's 2nd Rising Stars of Manga
Rising Stars of Manga
Rising Stars of Manga was an English-language comic anthology published by TOKYOPOP from 2002 to 2008, and a contest held by the same company. It was originally semi-annual, but switched to annual beginning with the 6th volume....
competition, where it won the grand prize. The series also appeared in a Sunday comic strip
Sunday strip
A Sunday strip is a newspaper comic strip format, where comic strips are printed in the Sunday newspaper, usually in a special section called the Sunday comics, and virtually always in color. Some readers called these sections the Sunday funnies...
form within Sunday newspaper comics sections. Peach Fuzz focuses on the relationship between a young girl and a ferret who believes herself to be a princess.
Plot
The series begins when Amanda desires a unique pet and chooses a young ferretFerret
The ferret is a domesticated mammal of the type Mustela putorius furo. Ferrets are sexually dimorphic predators with males being substantially larger than females. They typically have brown, black, white, or mixed fur...
at the local pet shop. Her mother reluctantly yields to her decision on the condition that it should never injure her. Amanda names it Peach after seeing a fruit stand with peaches. Terrified of losing her new pet and companion, Amanda keeps Peach's biting a secret. Peach, in turn, rebels in a self-congratulatory way, maintaining that she is a ferret princess
Princess
Princess is the feminine form of prince . Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or his daughters....
who must heroically retain her composure and courage while being tormented by five-headed giant
Giant (mythology)
The mythology and legends of many different cultures include monsters of human appearance but prodigious size and strength. "Giant" is the English word commonly used for such beings, derived from one of the most famed examples: the gigantes of Greek mythology.In various Indo-European mythologies,...
s and their slaves. After being forced to fight Mr. Fuzzy — a toy given to Peach which she views as a servant, Peach bites Amanda and Amanda, in response, tries the "Bitter Bite" spray to discipline her. Amanda's actions reminds her of her mother and Peach softens her view of Amanda.
Amanda brings Peach to her class's show and tell
Show and tell (education)
Show and tell is the process of showing an audience something and telling them about it, predominantly in North America and also popular in Australia. It is usually done in a classroom as an early elementary school technique for teaching young children the skills of public speaking...
and because of Peach's popularity with the class, Amanda's friend Kim decides to get a ferret. Her ferret, Pavaratty, displays arrogance towards Peach and doubts her princess status since she lacks a palace, an entourage and treasure. Peach resolves to gain these things so she can impress the ferret prince. Meanwhile, two bullies turn Amanda's class against her after she wears a handmade ferret costume to school in an attempt to stand out. To collect more treasure, Peach secretly accompanies Amanda to school. Kim realizes Amanda's friendship is more important and admits she was wrong to turn against her. Peach accidentally saves the class's hamsters from being eaten by a snake which escaped during the show and tell. Amanda is redeemed in the class's eyes.
To ease Peach's boredom, Amanda gets another ferret, who is named Edwin after the hero of a romance novel. Initially Peach believes he is her ferret prince, but quickly becomes annoyed by him. Amanda brings the ferrets to her friend's house. There, Peach and Edwin meet Mimi's albino ferrets, the manic-depressive Spore and melancholy Truffle, who believe that they and anyone who enters their land is cursed. After Edwin breaks off a claw, Peach softens her view of him, but becomes ill. She recovers and decides that even if Edwin is not a prince, she still loves him.
Development
As a young girl, Lindsay Cibos frequently read comic books such as Sonic the HedgehogSonic the Hedgehog (comics)
Sonic the Hedgehog is an ongoing series of American comic books published by Archie Comics, featuring Sega's mascot video game character of the same name. The comic book series debuted in the United States as a 4 part mini-series published between November 1992 and February 1993...
and Gargoyles. After learning about manga, she preferred it to comics because it had art and female-centered storylines that appealed to her. She found it easier to get into manga because they were self-contained stories that started at the beginning. She learned about Tokyopop's Rising Stars of Manga
Rising Stars of Manga
Rising Stars of Manga was an English-language comic anthology published by TOKYOPOP from 2002 to 2008, and a contest held by the same company. It was originally semi-annual, but switched to annual beginning with the 6th volume....
contest from a Tokyopop Newsblast e-mail but was unable to work on an entry for the contest because of other projects. For the second contest, she worked with Jared Hodges, whom she had met at an anime club in 1998, and set aside a month to work on her entry; she wanted to "make a good concise little story for the contest's 20-page limit." Based on a web-comic that the two had been working on, their entry "Peach Fuzz" won the grand prize, was published in Tokyopop's anthology and turned into a manga series of the same name. While drawing the series, Cibos and Hodges encountered the challenge of working with the screentone and "digitally inking" the comic.
Some of Peach Fuzz is based on real-life ferrets and places. The creators designed the ferret characters Peach and Edwin after Cibos's pet ferrets Momoko—Japanese for Peach—and Elf. They also modeled several of Edwin's mannerisms on Elf's. Elf's "single-minded obsession to a pair of headphones" became the model for "Pavaratty’s devotion to his toy microphone". In contrast, the human characters have no specific model. Cibos stated: "Bits and pieces were likely inspired from the people around me and from an amalgam of life experiences Jared and I had growing up: remembering what it was like to be in the fourth grade, having a pet for the first time, dealing with bullies, misunderstandings with parents, and so on." Several of the locations in Peach Fuzz, such as Mimi's apartments, were designed after real-life places.
Release
Written and illustrated by Lindsay Cibos and Jared Hodges, Peach Fuzz was published in three volumes in North America and the United Kingdom by TokyopopTokyopop
Tokyopop, styled TOKYOPOP, and formerly known as Mixx, is a distributor, licensor, and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa, and Western manga-style works. The existing German publishing division produces German translations of licensed Japanese properties and original English-language manga, as well...
from January 11, 2005 to December 11, 2007. The first six chapters of Peach Fuzz also appeared as a serial
Serial (literature)
In literature, a serial is a publishing format by which a single large work, most often a work of narrative fiction, is presented in contiguous installments—also known as numbers, parts, or fascicles—either issued as separate publications or appearing in sequential issues of a single periodical...
in forty newspapers, including The Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, and Vancouver Sun, from January to July 2006. In Australia and New Zealand, Madman Entertainment
Madman Entertainment
Madman Entertainment is an Australian company that distributes international films as well as Japanese anime and manga in Australia and New Zealand. The company is owned by Funtastic Limited and is one of the major entertainment companies in Australia. It employs 130 people and has an annual...
distributes the series. It is also licensed in Sweden by B. Wahlströms Bokförlag, in Germany by Tokyopop Germany, in Finland by Pauna Media Group, in Spain, and in Portugal.
Volume list
Reception
Peach Fuzz received positive reviews from English-language critics. Newtype USAPublishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
, noted the potential of the series but thought it could have "benefited from experienced editing" and commented on the mixed messages being sent, stating: "If we root for the character we see most often, Peach, then we’re hoping to see her continue to misbehave. If we root for Amanda teaching Peach how to behave, then most of the material is irrelevant or mistargeted."
External links
- Peach Fuzz at Tokyopop's website
- Peach Fuzz at Lindsay and Jared's official website