Professor Amazing and The Incredible Golden Fox
is webcomic by John and Holly Prengaman following the lives of Parker Abernathy, aka Professor Amazing, and Isla Grace Abernathy (nee Fox), aka The Incredible Golden Fox. Parker and Isla Grace are two seemingly normal people who meet, fall in love, and then suddenly find themselves thrust into the roles of modern day superheroes.
Isla Grace is the main protagonist of the story. She was born into a military family and spent much of her youth living on various army bases throughout the world. When she was just eleven, her father lost his life in service to his country. Despite their loss, Isla Grace and her mother remain close with his commanding officer, General Charles Stanley. With the original surname of Fox, it wasn't surprising that Isla Grace always held an affinity for that particular animal. When she met Parker, she knew almost immediately what they'd found in each other. In a very short time, they became engaged to be married. After receiving an appropriately fox-shaped engagement ring, Isla Grace suddenly developed the strange habit of turning into a fox herself. (She's usually a Fox Folk Person, but can also become a feral fox.) Having grown up with a father in the service, she felt it only appropriate to put these new powers to use in the service of her community.
Parker Abernathy was afforded a sneak peek at his future, having first met Isla Grace in a dream when he was six years old. His decades long dream finally came to fruition after he met Isla Grace at a coffee shop for the first time in real life. He'd always had premonitions about the future - a strange ability to know things before others. He trusted those instincts throughout his life, and they always seemed to steer him down the right path. They hadn't warned him of what would happen when he put the fox-shaped ring around his wife-to-be's finger, however.
The main link for the comic... http://paigf.thecomicseries.com/
A video introduction to the comic... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QxoaEp6OLc
The comic's Patreon page... https://www.patreon.com/prengaman
The comic has been on hiatus since 2021, however an animated adaptation titled Vixen Park debuted on YouTube in 2023.
Professor Amazing and The Incredible Golden Tropes:
- Action Mom: Isla Grace is an active superheroine with three kids.
- Animal-Themed Superbeing: With Isla Grace, it's more than just a theme.
- Animorphism: The power given to Isla Grace by the engagement ring.
- As the Good Book Says...: As they head for a meeeting with General Stanley, Isla Grace and Parker see a homeless man holding a sign with a Biblical quote. The chapter and verse for that quote turn out to be the access code for the secret elevator to CACTUS headquarters.
- Barefoot Cartoon Animal: Isla Grace while in her mostly clothed humanoid form.
- Cold Open: Chapter 4 starts with Isla Grace tied up and lamenting that she can't use her powers to get out of this one. The very next page shows that she's just playing a game with her daughters.
- Cool Old Guy: General Stanley, who was the commanding officer for Isla Grace's father and now runs a secret anti-terrorist group.
- Cool Old Lady: Isla Grace's mother. When her daughter admits to being the Golden Fox, she reveals that she Knew It All Along and is okay with it.
- Dreaming of Things to Come: Parker has recurring dreams about Isla Grace decades before they actually meet. This precognition is his superpower.
- Elaborate Underground Base: CACTUS' secret headquarters.
- Everybody Knew Already: Parker, Isla Grace's mother, and General Stanley knew about Isla Grace's Animorphism before she opened up to them about it.
- Fantastic Foxes: A variation; Isla Grace is a human who can turn into a fox.
- Fun with Acronyms: General Stanley recruits the heroes to his black ops organization, CACTUS (Coalition for Advanced Counter-Terrorism and United Support). The group has a testing site that's usually called the Yard, but is also known as SANCTUARY (Strategic Advanced Non-Lethal Counter-Terrorism and Unlimited Applied Research Yard). As John Prengaman notes in the Alt Text, "Acronyms are fun!"
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Isla Grace is the main hero and has blond hair which she retains in human(oid) form.
- Hero with Bad Publicity: A TV news report says the police are after the Incredible Golden Fox because of her "vicious attacks". Isla Grace and Parker aren't happy when they see it.
- In Medias Res: The comic begins with Isla Grace in feral fox mode, then shows How We Got Here through a series of Flashbacks. The story catches up to The Present Day in Chapter 3.
- Involuntary Shapeshifting: In the beginning, Isla Grace has no control over when and where she transforms. Also, her first transformation from {{fox |Folk}}person to feral form is brought on by stress.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: She learns how to control her power as the story progresses.
- Little Bit Beastly: As Isla Grace navigates an obstacle course in this strip, she sprouts fox ears and a tail while still in human form. Parker tells General Stanley that this is because "the human body simply isn't built to do the things she can do."
- Meaningful Name: Isla Grace Fox. Since she started transforming, it's become a kind of Species Surname.
- Military Brat: An important part of Isla Grace's Backstory.
- Mystical Pregnancy: Isla Grace was pregnant with her and Parker's first child when she started transforming. In addition all three of her pregnancies only lasted seven months but the kids were born perfectly healthy.
- Our Werebeasts Are Different: Isla Grace, partially because she can turn into two different kinds of foxes.
- Psychic Powers: Parker has precognitive dreams, seeing Isla Grace in them when he was six. After joining CACTUS he apparently starts training for more abilities but shows little progress.
- Semper Fi: Hinted at. General Stanley is briefly shown wearing a USMC cap.
- Simultaneous Arcs: While the framing devices take place at different times, the first two chapters show flashbacks to the same events, just from the perspectives of Isla Grace and Parker Abernathy. respectively.
- The Speechless: Isla Grace can't talk while in feral fox form.
- Time Skip: The Flashbacks during the first two chapters cover a lot of territory, following Isla Grace and Parker from childhood through their first meeting, courtship, marriage, and parenthood as well as introducing their powers.
- Transformation Comic: Isla Grace's shapeshifting power is the basis of the plot.
- Transformation Trinket: The fox-shaped engagement ring that gives Isla Grace her shapeshifting powers. Though she doesn't need to be wearing it to transform, Parker thinks it was just a "catalyst" of sorts.
- Translator Mask: Parker invents a smartphone-linked mind-reading device shaped like a Domino Mask so Isla Grace can communicate in full fox form.
- Urban Fantasy: The heroes' powers are the only fantastic elements so far.
- Vigilante Man: A news report describes the Incredible Golden fox as a "costumed vigilante".
- Wild Teen Party: After she transforms during a weekend camping trip, Parker sneaks Isla Grace into his office late on a Saturday night to run some tests on her. Some of Parker's students, aware of the camping trip, sneak into the office while he's gone so they can use his pool table while they party. Isla Grace hides in the ceiling until Parker discovers the students and sends them away.
