It’s not a drone. It’s not a puppet. It’s not even a toy.
It’s SuperGoof!, a new comic series that’s set to launch this coming June and which may prove to be the most powerful weapon in The Park’s anti-enforced domestication arsenal.
Conceived and produced by Anastazja Koci, an alumna of the Hani Gajah School of Art, the project was supported in part by the Founding Families Financial Corporation, in association with the Department of Well-Being and Safety (DWBS).
“We are always on the lookout for new ways to warn Animals about the dangers of enforced domestication,” says DWBS Director of Public Relations, Cornelius Kakapo.
“When Anastazja brought this to us, we hopped on board right away.”
The series chronicles the lives of two Domestic Animals: one Feline and one Canine, also known as the “SuperGoofs.”
The first book shows them in their formative years, learning “the tricks of the trade,” as the Canine puts it.
“In the first book, the Animals have no names,” Koci explains. “When they are addressed, it’s with terms of endearment…’Sweetie,’ ‘Precious,” that sort of thing. They have no identity outside of their rôles as pets.”
One of the most important lessons that comes from the first book is that Domestic Animals are not free to be themselves.
“It was a difficult choice to make, but I thought it was important to illustrate that the life of a Domestic Animal is not the true life of an Animal. I want to show Park Animals what it’s like not to be allowed to find your own food, to express your own personality, to make your own friends,” Koci says.
While she says the food issue was the most important to her, the title of the series says far more about the project as a whole.
“I’ve often been asked, ‘Why SuperGoofs?’ It’s hard to explain if you’ve never been in a Human household,” says Koci, who spent two years as a pet before moving to The Park.
“Humans like to be entertained by Animals. They like to be made to laugh. If an Animal wants to be fed, have a warm bed and be protected from the elements, she’d better make herself entertaining and snuggly. And research has shown that being ‘goofy’ and pretending to be not so bright can go a long way with Humans.”
The DWBS’s Kakapo says he thinks the project’s launch this year is a particularly timely one.
“After such a hard Winter, Animals might be thinking that it’s easier to succumb to domestication and a life with Humans. I think SuperGoofs! will go a long way toward convincing them otherwise,” he says.
The Park’s Enforced Domestication Awareness Month runs from 1-30 June.
