SKIN HORSE by Shaenon K. Garrity & Jeffrey Wells

SKIN HORSE, a comic strip written by Shaenon Garrity and drawn by Jeffrey Wells (although Mr. Wells has collaborated on the writing, and Ms. Garrity developed the character designs), launches over at Universal Press Syndicate's GoComics site soon. Currently, it's over at WebcomicsNation, where it's been since its 2007 inception.

(UPDATE: as Ms. Garrity points out in her comments below, I'm wrong! " ... [A]ctually I'm the artist and Jeff and I are cowriters." Sorry about that, Shaenon & Jeffrey!)

I've only read the first couple of months of the strip, having been unaware of it until now. (Sorry, Shaenon!)

Shaenon the writer puts us in the thick of it. She very quickly puts a foursome of characters (half of them human, half animal) in action in the initial week. We are plunked into the middle of the story and, through the pictures and conversations, are expected to grab on and ride.

It's the best way to start: in the middle. It pricks up the ears and eyes. And you have to pay attention. She has a whole world to introduce us to, starting with Tip, Unity, and Sweetheart.

I don't usually do reviews here, but I'd like to recommend the strip if you enjoy fantasy mixed with comedy. There are references to seminal fantasy stories (Baum, and, of course, THE VELVETEEN RABBIT, where the "Skin Horse" quote is from; "Real isn't how you are made,' said the Skin Horse, 'It's a thing that happens to you ... Then you become Real.")

I was laughing out loud at some of Unity's dialogue, like when she's urging Tip to resolve the problem in a more action-oriented way: "Less yap-yap! More boom-boom-pow!"