Webcomic / Newshounds

Newshounds and its continuing series Newshounds II are a long-running Furry Web Comic by Thomas K. Dye (the author of, among other things, Something Happens). It's about a human woman, Lorna, and the six (originally four) dogs, one cat and one rat she has adopted and employed to work in television news. The original strip lasted from November, 1997 to December, 2006. The continuation started in July, 2007 and ended on September 29th, 2014. Rebooted as Newshounds Remastered in March 2016.

In the original Newshounds comic strip run, the team ran KPET, a television channel operating out of Lorna's home.

• Kevin J. Dog was the cameraman.
• Wolfram Blitzen and Renata Fayre (both dogs) were the news anchors.
• Alistair Katt (a cat) was the meteorologist.
• Sam Shepherd (a dog) was the sports reviewer.
• Ferris the Rat was the janitor.
• Rochelle O'Shea (a dog) was later hired then permanently adopted as an on-location news correspondent.
• Della (a dog), Kevin's steady girlfriend later in the story, was hired as a technician, then was stranded in a remote location after her owners abandoned her, but had moved in permanently by Newshounds II.

In Newshounds II, the comic developed a more page-oriented layout, with the entire team moving on to Mega News West to moderate video blogs as they slowly work to build lives of their own.

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Newshounds has the following tropes:

• Aborted Arc: Dorian looking for job originally was envisioned to take much longer, also making him a recurring character. But then the authour decided to end it in the the 6th strip.
• Affably Evil: "Crazy but polite napalm smuggler", who took Wolfram hostage. Lampshaded by Wolfram himself here.
• Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking:
  • Lorna's parting words: "You guys do whatever you want. Blow up the house. Nuke the neighborhood. Organize a terrorist strike against the Pork Council for not having strict enough standards for fat content."
  • Ferris' bad day: "First, I accidentally tripped Renata with the microphone cord... then I dropped the Mayor's Palm Pilot into his jacuzzi... then, as if it couldn't get any worse, I put too much ketchup on my curly fries."
  • Renata's interview with adult film star Angie Lishus: "Let me get this straight... you're not doing a TV special on my work for charity... I came all the way down here just so you could pester me with some stupid questions about Virgiltech... and you still won't pay for my jumbo parsley?"
• Asshole Victim: Randy, Della's cousin who used Sam for his money, cheated on him, got Della kicked out by her owners, and sold out Rochelle, was sold to a lab and experimented on. Not even her new eyepatch earned her any sympathy, although the fact that she clearly felt no guilt over selling Rochelle up the river and felt KPET owed her in a big way for the information didn't help.
• Attempted Rape: Sam's new boss Slab tries to rape him after seeing him being chummy with Nigel. Sam does a Groin Attack and the two fight each other until the police arrive.
• Babies Ever After: The original run of the comic ended with Rochelle giving birth.
• Back for the Finale: Della returns at the very end of the original Newshounds, and a very briefly mentioned character is reintroduced in the distant finale at the end of Newshounds II as Sam Shepherd's girlfriend.
• Barefoot Cartoon Animal: Some of the characters.
• Bestiality Is Depraved: Slab Hannibal, a human who has sex with dogs. The Bestiality Is Depraved trope is played with — the dogs in the series are sentient and verbal, and are perfectly capable of making informed decisions and saying yes or no, sidestepping a lot of the Squicky moral consent questions usually associated with sex with animals. But Hannibal rapes his canine bodyguards. He tried to rape Sam, but he fought back.
• Brainwashed: Wolfram has been brainwashed into thinking he has always been a fighting dog and doesn't recognize Rochelle, his wife.
• Cerebus Syndrome: Can anyone still remember when this was a light but somewhat political Gag A Day comic?
• Charles Atlas Superpower: Turns out that AOL Time Warner Corporate military's takeover of Starbuck's outlets has been largely unsuccessful. Why? Because the Starbuck's baristas wipe the floor with AOL Time soldiers. How? Because they know how to "handle caffeine crazed coffee addicts."
• Closet Key: Nigel. Alistair was already uncloseted when he and Nigel met, but Alistair's relationship with Nigel brings out his Straight Gay side.
• Cloudcuckoolander: Ferris.
• Cooland Unusual Punishment: How do you force a trespasser to tell you why he was spraying dangerous chemicals on your lawn? Simple: Force him to watch Baywatch with "Carl's Jr" commercials.
• Corporate Warfare: AOL attempted a military takeover of Starbucks, but their troops proved no match for stressed out baristas.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: Hal O'Peridol was more delusional than corrupt, but then there's General Swallowemup and several executives that the KPET crew interviewed back in the gag-a-day days.
• Darker and Edgier: Newshounds II takes on some significantly more mature themes, to say the least.
• Fake Memories: Rochelle's memories of being a death-defying thrill-seeker never happened.
• Foregone Conclusion: Thanks to Kid Gloves, we know that no matter what, Alistair and Nigel are staying together. Not to mention that things with Rochelle and Wolfram end up okay.
• Funny Background Event: In the gag-a-day era, there would often be a panel showing some people watching KPET at home while doing something (such as swearing while adjusting the rabbit ears on a television to clean up picture problems).
• Genre Savvy:
  • Granted Sam takes it too far, but he has some very realistic notions of relationships while on active military duty.
  • Lorna also is not impressed when something bad happens to Alistair after he rants about 9/11.
• Heel Realization: Virgil realizes how counterproductive his virus would really be.
• Hooker with a Heart of Gold: According to Lorna's mother, her dad's lover was one of these.
• Insane Troll Logic: Or as Lorna calls it, "Bankers' logic."
• Lame Pun Reaction: Renata does not appreciate Wolfram's holiday-themed renaming of himself.
• Lions and Tigers and Humans... Oh, My!
• Love Hurts: Kevin brooding over Stormy, and then again over Della when she's stranded far away.
• Logic Bomb: "It would be irresponsible to hail who was responsible for making us responsible?" Lampshaded in the next panel.
• MegaCorp: Swallowemup/Kerslake Enterprises. Also AOL once attempted a military takeover of Starbuck's.
• My God, What Have I Done?: "Read the story of Pandora's Box, kid. You'll learn something."
• Nice Guy: Nigel.
• Near-Death Experience: Renata deliberately causes one for most of the main cast after she sees everyone drifting apart, to remind them of what's truly important in life.
• Official Couple:
  • Wolfram and Rochelle.
  • Alistair and Nigel (currently separated).
  • Sam and Randy (broke up).
  • Kevin and Della.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: One would think that flying in a helicopter with an 19-year-old amateur pilot who was freaking out over sharing a cockpit with a rat (Ferris) would have appealed to Rochelle's dangerlust. It didn't... because she was pregnant (but didn't know it yet) and her maternal instincts had subconsciously kicked in.
• Open Mouth, Insert Foot: When you're trying to cover the kidnapping of several rats and mice, do not talk about Area 51.
• Parental Savings Splurge: During the introduction of Lorna's parents she learns that her father had been repeatedly raiding her piggy banks, when she was little. Her Christmas presents were always her cousin's hand-me-downs and her college fund also went missing. Her father is a gambler with too many get-rich-quick schemes. He's introduced being on the run from the mob after embezzling their money.
• Psychic Powers: Renata somehow develops these in Newshounds II. Up to and including near-omniscience.

• Sequel Hook: The jobs offered to the characters at the end of the original Newshounds run to work at Mega News West.
• Shout-Out:
  • To TV Tropes or Websnark, with this page's reference to Cerebus Syndrome.
  • And to Monty Python's Flying Circus here with an extra:
    Cat: Geez, I'll be late for my Fresh Fruit Defense class...
  • And a subtle name-combining one to The Chronicles of Prydain here with the name of the "Grape Nuts for Tots" program head, Taran Dallben.
  • A lampshaded Shout Out to The Shining here.
  • To Top Cat in the third panel of this strip.
  • To Nin Wah of Commander Kitty in the last panel of this strip.
  • To Scooby-Doo here with City Councilman Fred Daffney, who's decided to prepare the following year's haunted house early... and planning to build it in an actual cemetery.
  • To Edgar Allan Poe's The Cask of Amontillado here.

• Straw Character: Ferris is one, not for any political or philosophical position, but for fans of any part of pop culture Dye doesn't like. If any performer or genre is going to be lampooned in the comic, Ferris is invariably portrayed as being slavishly devoted to them. (examples include Céline Dion, Britney Spears and of course his long-time celebrity crush Tori Spelling)
• Take That!:

Policeman: All right, Mr. Spleen, don't hurt anybody in there. Just tell us your demands.
Mr. Spleen: I want someone to run over Michael Bolton with a steamroller!
Policeman: (Beat) (into bullhorn) WHAT'S THE CATCH?

• Apparently, the fact that Amazon once made Jackie Collins author of the month is considered their darkest, dirtiest secret.

• Throw The Rat A Bone: Ferris has finally sold one of his many, MANY ideas, and it's being optioned as a TV Series.

• T-Word Euphemism: Whereas the original Newshounds was almost completely devoid of harsh language, Darker and Edgier Newshounds II has some characters frequently cursing aloud, with their still-obvious words masked with strategic scribbles over most (but not all) of the letters. Sam, Slab and Randy do this the most.

• Villain Ball: Swallowemup's less than ethical moves led his enterprises into bankruptcy.

• What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Recently, Sam's legal rights have been brought into question by Alistair. Among an increasing number of other incidents.
• "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: Newshounds II ended with one of these, showing the lives that the characters had built for themselves after the end of the series.

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