Newshounds

Newshounds and its continuing series Newshounds II are a long-running Furry Web Comic by Thomas K. Dye. 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.

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 correspondant.
• 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.

Tropes used in Newshounds include:

• Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking here
• Asshole Victim: Randy, you know, Della's cousin who used Sam for his money, cheated on him, got Della kicked out by her owners, and sold out Rochelle? She was sold to a lab and experimented on, not even her new eyepatch earned her any sympathy
• 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.
• Brainwashed: Wolfram has been brainwashed into thinking he has always been a fighting dog and doesn't recognize Rochelle, his wife.
• But You Screw One Goat!/Rape as Drama: Slab Hannibal, a human who has sex with dogs. The But You Screw One Goat! 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.
• Cerebus Syndrome: Can anyone still remember when this was a light but somewhat political Gag A Day comic?
• Closet Key: Nigel. Alistair was already uncloseted when he and Nigel met, but Alistair's relationship with Nigel brings out his Invisible to Gaydar side.
• Cloudcuckoolander: Ferris.
• 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: There would often be a panel showing some people watching KPET at home while doing something.
• Furry Comic
• Lions and Tigers and Humans, Oh My!
• Love Hurts: Kevin brooding over Stormy, and then again over Della when she's stranded far away.
• Mega Corp: Swallowemup/Kerslake Enterprises. Also AOL once attempted a military takeover of Starbucks.
• Nice Guy: Nigel.
• Official Couple:
  • Wolfram and Rochelle.
  • Alistair and Nigel (currently separated).
  • Sam and Randy (broke up).
  • Kevin and Della.
• Psychic Powers: Renata somehow develops these in Newshounds II. Up to and including near-omniscience.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Quite figuratively red and blue, with conservative Sam and liberal Alistair.
• 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...

• Spit Take: Subverted.
• Invisible to Gaydar: Alistair.
• Straight Man: Kevin
• Throw The Rat A Bone: Ferris has finally sold one of his many, *many* ideas and it's being optioned as a TV Series
• Twisting the Words
• T-Word Euphemism: Whereas the original Newhounds 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.
• The Vamp: Randy owns this trope so bad.
• Virtual Ghost: Manny the mink, after being made into a stole.
• Webcomics Long Runners
• White Gloves
• 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.