Umlaut House

The original Umlaut House was a Furry Comic that started out with grad student Saundra Bifrost's bickersome friend Volair Lee moving in to replace her roommate, their mutual ex-boyfriend Jake Miller, when he begins working for, and before long, seeing quasi-Flamboyant Gay Mad Scientist Rick Hundecoph, whom Volair is tracking in his job as an international spy.

The comic could be said to mix a number of genres. Other characters are:
 * Liz Parker, Volair's partner and general voice of reason. Also the straightest cast member. Really. She swears.
 * Amanda Cartwright - "Queen of weird," Volair's Distaff Counterpart plus some grade points and dignity and minus some international espionage.
 * Calvin Gauss - A nerdy classmate of Saundra's who develops a crush on her.
 * Ascii - You don't want to know.

In 2004, the comic ended after four years, and after some randomness, gave birth to a sequel, UH2, set some time later and moved from grad school to high school, primarily about Volair's son, Jake's daughter, and Rick's protégée. Yes, that's vague, but this is a sequel comic, so for the more detailed character list (aside from, of course, the ones above), spoilers.


 * Pierce . Recently realized his bisexuality.
 * Rhonda.
 * Eliza, Rick's apprentice.
 * Alice and Lain, classmates of Pierce and Rhonda,
 * Alex, a football jock, Pierce's boyfriend.
 * Dr. "Sissy" Sisyphus, a Mad Scientist, target of Rick (well post-Heel Face Turn) and Eliza...the latter in more ways than one.

This comic provides examples of:
 * A God Am I: Let's just say that by UH2, Saundra and Sissy are playing on another level.
 * Alternate Universe: Where everyone's sexuality is reversed, except Volair's.
 * Anything That Moves: Volair Lee, who cheerfully claims he's only bisexual to score 5% more nookie."
 * Art Evolution (compare the first strip of UH to the corresponding first strip of UH2, a little under five years later.)
 * Artificial Gravity: Invented by a transsexual horse named Peggy, uses gyroscopes with ridiculously precise control circuitry.
 * Artificial Limbs: Rick.
 * Brain-Computer Interface: Casual cybernetic implants are commonplace in UH2, especially the "Eye-Fi".
 * Cerebus Syndrome: UH2 is substantially plottier than UH1, though most of the time he still remembers a punchline.
 * Cut Lex Luthor a Check: Even before reforming, Rick had made a fortune off of his patents.
 * Dating Catwoman: Eliza and Sissy (just look at their Halloween costumes),.
 * Designer Babies: Rhonda, according to the Word of God.
 * From Beyond the Fourth Wall: The author will occasionally interact with the characters. In continuity during the first series but largely just in filler strips with the second.
 * Gender Bender: Volair, briefly and accidentally; the same technology has been put to good use, particularly with minor character Dr. Pegasus.
 * Heel Face Turn: Rick, future Sissy.
 * Homosexual Reproduction: Rhonda, apparently there are genetic engineering companies that can make kids for gay couples.
 * Huge Schoolgirl: Lain.
 * Kid From the Future
 * Mad Scientist: A mad scientist convention.
 * Meaningful Name:
 * Some have suggested that Dr. Pegasus' real last name (Seus, one letter removed from Zeus) is a hint to the outcome of Sissy's attempt to seize the Staff of Time from her.
 * Nanomachines: A specialty of Dr. Lyse in the second series, he even
 * NGO Superpower: The agency that Volair, and in the sequel Rick and Eliza, work for. Also Moire Dziva.
 * Official Couples: confirmed by Spin Offspring.
 * Remote Body: Moire Dziva.
 * Science-Related Memetic Disorder: While Rick is reformed from his criminal career, he remains a mad scientist. He's hardly the only one in the main cast, at that.
 * Saundra started on her path to Mad Science after seeing one of Rick's giant robots, lending credence to the "memetic" aspect.
 * Screw Yourself: Attempted by Saundra's lesbian Alternate Universe counterpart.
 * Swiss Army Appendage: Rick kept several bodies on hand for various purposes before finally getting a new, permanent organic one.
 * The Mad Hatter: Volair, Amanda.
 * The Power of Love: The Power of Love + Applied Phlebotinum =.
 * : Though not clear what it will mean so far.
 * Time Travel: Accidentally invented by Saundra, also Sissy's speciality.
 * Stable Time Loop/You Already Changed the Past: How paradoxes are treated, as explained by future Saundra here.
 * Twenty Minutes Into the Future: Sort of; not our future, which lacks the furry animals, but about two decades ahead nonetheless. The sequel is, of course, about two decades further ahead.
 * Transsexualism: Peggy Seuss, aka Dr. Pegasus; Rick's Gender Bender Transformation Ray was created on her behalf.
 * Wacky College: Quickly abandoned.
 * Will They or Won't They?: Volair and Saundra.
 * Will They or Won't They?: Volair and Saundra.