Holy Bun Toons, Batman!

And I spake, verily, saying, “Hoo Hah!”

A while back, I did a series of battles between mythical characters that rarely get to duke it out.  Superman vs. Jesus — Professor X vs. Professor Darwin —  Hulk vs. The Buddha —  and The Spectre vs. Steven Hawking, just to name just a few.  Many were declared winner, and many went down in defeat.

It’s time for the play-offs.

My god, this is getting exciting.

What’s next in the quarter finals?!?  Batman vs. Bugs Bunny?  Obelix vs. Ma Kent?  The possibilities are endless, except that’s about all I have left from the list, so it’s not that endless after all.

SOME OF THE ORIGINAL EPIC STRUGGLES! Click on ‘em to read the Bun Toon Battles of Yore!

Ty the Guy OUT!

In the spirit of Zen, I shall give you all a bonus moment.  And then another moment that is not a bonus, but instead will be an extra moment.

Everyone who understood that, clap with one hand.

First, from England’s late, lamented WASTED Magazine, a page from Alan Grant’s chemically inspired “TALES OF THE BUDDHA”, starring Kid Buddha and his pal, Jesus.

Jesus, Buddha and maryjane –  It’s not just something you shout when you stub your toe at the United Nations.

And now, your extra moment.

The title of this manga roughly translates to “Jesus and Buddha on Vacation”.  And it takes place in Tokyo, apparently.  And Jesus has way better hair for scoring the ladies in Tokyo, that’s clear from the cover.

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And now an extra, extra, bonus moment.

I first encountered Jonathan Winters on the Johnny Carson Tonight Show.  He came on and just talked to the audience in the studio, riffing off whatever they said to him, and was the funniest damn thing I’d ever seen at the age of ten.  As I grew up, I found he got funnier and that there was more going on than the silly voices and the insane characters that would pop up and down like an MPD wack-a-mole game.  He was a true subversive, and had a cynical point of view, buried in the lunacy.

And he played it like jazz.  A comic who could swing like Dizzy, man.

The world lost a few dozen people when it lost Jonathan Winters.  A number of them are portrayed on this magnificent cover by the great Jack Davis.  I have this album, and I’m going to put it on.

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With all the links I’ve put up this week, I’ll bet you’re ignoring THIS link to last week’s Robin-centric Bun Toon. Go ahead, Click it, and see if I care.

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The link to the Bun Toon archive. Last link of the day, everyone into the pool!

The Robins Get Rounder Bun Toons! YAY!

It’s time for some new, Frank ideas…

Spoilers, spoilers, spoilers…if anyone doesn’t know about the new plans for the DC Batman books coming up, stop reading.  I can’t be clearer than that…

You’ve read this far.  It’s too late!

You know, they re-introduced VIBE into the DCU without making it terrible, so let’s cross our fingers for this newest addition to the child-care nightmare that is Wayne Manor.

Ty the Guy OUT!

BONUS CARRIE KELLY COMIC MOMENT:

Rick Burchett and your humble blogger introduced Carrie into the DCAU fairly early in the series, but only to be arrested in the very next panel.

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For last week’s Easter Themed Bun Toon, please click above

For the BUN TOON ARCHIVE, going back more than two years, click the proud rabbit.

Not Yet Easter Sunday Bun Toons! YAY!

Not a re-run, but a preview

Tomorrow is BUNNY DAY in Mega City 1, and so the tradition is to put the Easter Toon up on Easter Sunday.  But Saturday is Bun Toon Day, and so we offer up the Easter Toons from yesteryear, to keep your Bun Toon Jones at bay for 24 hours.  See ya with the new one tomorrow, bright and early.

Here’s the Ghost of Easters Past.

All us rabbits bow to the master.  We consider Bugs to be our Branjelina, just by himself.

And last year, I revealed my secret BFF…

See you tomorrow for a BRAND NEW Bunny Toon in celebration of our special day.

Ty the Guy OUT!

Here now your BONUS Animal Based Comic Book Moment:

The “Badger” in the credits here is not a character, but Mark Badger, who, along with author Joyce Brabner (Harvey Pekar’s widow), do a regular comic book about animal rights…which includes an anti-vivisection message for lovers of bunnies!

Speaking of anti-vivisection and loving bunnies…I will be spending my Easter Sunday protesting a well known Canadian cosmetics company with a corporate headquarters in Mississauga (where I live), specifically BECAUSE it’s recently come out that they still use rabbits in their labs.  SHAME on them, and I’ll be shouting that for most of my day tomorrow.   I’ll bring back photos and post ‘em on the blog next week!  We bunnies stick together!  PROTEST ROAD TRIP!

For last week’s RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES Bun Toon, click Candy Crowley’s giant head

for the COMPLETE archive of past Bun Toons, click the star of Bunny Day above

This Just In Bun Toons! YAY!

All the news that gives you fits.

I’m fairly sure this is verbatim.  I was taking notes quickly as it aired…

I have to admit, I didn’t see the  news clip when it originally aired, because, like most reasonably intelligent and educated adults, I don’t watch cable TV news in exactly that way that I don’t consult squirrel entrails.

But after a couple of days of CNN being offended at the idea that people were offended by their reporting, I fired up the youtube and watched the clip like god intended and was astounded at how much of the dialogue of this comic strip I DIDN’T make up.  What was going through their minds?

When the bar drunk throws up on your shoes again, the solution is to stop going near him.   Why would ANYONE watch cable TV news?

Ty the Guy OUT!

Here now, your Cable News Pundit Comic Book Bonus:

It seems like everyone in cable gets a comic book, but the honour has so far eluded CNN.

I wonder if that stings?

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For last week’s Bun Toon (actually illustrated, instead of using lazy screen caps) click BEEPY the Oily Pelican!

For the Bun Toon Archives, click the fresh, clean bunny above

Spokescreature Bun Toons! YAY!

The Rabbit is amongst his peers!

This is the LATEST I’ve ever put up a Bun Toon, but I have very good excuse!  I spent the morning with my daughter recording backing vocals for GLENN REID’S newest CD, and couldn’t get to the drawing desk on time.

But I Bun Toon in hurricanes, darkness and floods, so it arrives after all, if a few hours late.

Now that DC Comics has replaced their nearly-always-dead-Robin the Boy Wonder with Casper the Friendly Ghost, I thought it might be a nice opportunity to look back at a few other corporate, and institutional, mascots that have been replaced over the years.  It’s a fascinating history.

How many of you still remember these…

The stuff about Spuds MacKenzie is completely true, I looked it up.   She was really named HONEY TREE EVIL EYE.

Please serve your dog alcohol RESPONSIBLY.

Ty the Guy OUT!

Here now,  your BONUS Corporate Mascot Comic Book Moment:

Because LSD memories are so unreliable, I kept a copy of this from my childhood. It’s real.

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For last week’s re-run Bun Toons (because there was a convention), click here.

for the BUN TOON archive, click the trademarked mascot bunny above

Tons of Fun Re-Runs! YAY!

For the first time all year, the internet is not broadcasting live.

Hey and hi, fellow internet travellers.  I’m off at the Toronto ComiCon this fine Saturday Morning, and as is tradition, it’s the one or two times a year that I run a re-run Toon of Bun.  I cannot possibly draw you something this Saturday while I’m sitting in a convention centre without scanner or laptop, much as I would love to, and the rules are clear, BUN TOONING cannot be done ahead of time to have inventory.

So, this time around, I asked my beloved wife which of the many past Toons De Bun she thought I should go with, and her answer will surprise no one who knows her.

But wait!  There’s more!

And the answer to the what-did-my-wife-say riddle is:

“Anything with Elizabeth Bennet in it.”

These were the only two strips I had.  I’ll have to work Miss Bennet into more Bun Toons in the future.  I’d have picked re-runs with monkeys.

Ty the Guy Out!

Since I didn’t give you a new Bun Toon, I’m giving you TWO bonus moments.  That’s the sort of generous, kick-Ayn-Rand-in-the-teeth sort of fellow I am.

First, because I’m off at a convention doing draw-erings for the fans, I thought I’d share a couple of recent comics sketch covers I’ve done to show you what I’m probably doing at the moment you read this.

That FF cover above was harder to do that I thought it was going to be, because the area for the artwork was completely a different shape.  No fun swiping if I have to make decisions!

(To get your own sketches or sketchcover, find me at Toronto ComiCon at P18. At noon today, I’ll be doing a workshop, HOW TO WRITE A GRAPHIC NOVEL IN ONE HOUR. The rest of the time I’ll be signing books, doing sketches, selling pages and telling stories.)

HERE NOW, your SECOND BONUS MOMENT:

I just got finished reading this new graphic novel ON THE ROPES, and I’m going to spend a few words raving about it.

It’s not a re-run, like the Bun Toons this week, but a sequel to a lovely series from the 90s called KINGS IN DISGUISE.  But this is the rarest of sequels that is so, so much better than the original, that it’s in a different league.

This is, by far, the best graphic novel I’ve read in a while, perhaps years.  I cannot recommend it enough, especially if you love stories about one-legged circus children who join the communist party during the depression.  That’s my second favorite genre, and Vance and Burr do an insanely good job of telling this literate, thoughtful, tense, playful and brilliant story.

See you on the convention floor, folks!

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To read last week’s Bun Toon (an original, not a stinking, lazy re-run), click the tragic Batman above.

For the Bun Toon Archive, including the Bun Toons above (go find em!), click the rabbit.

Funny Brutal Death Bun Toons! YAY!

Because death and tragedy are ALWAYS funny.

WARNING: SPOILERS if you are NOT following the Batman titles at DC, I’m about to give away a HUUUGE plot element.

Seriously, you’ve been warned.

Have fun.

I know I’m not supposed to get all fanboy for a sitcom, but it’s been so long since Larry Sanders went off the air, and I get to get sucky-baby at the terrible mistreatment my favorite TV show has been suffering.

Whine over, we now return you to your regular internet.

Ty the Guy OUT!

Here now, your BONUS Comic Book COMMUNITY moment:

For those of us who got the COMMUNITY SEASON ONE DVD disc set, it comes with a free copy of KICKPUNCHER: THE COMIC BOOK, drawn by Jim Mahfood.  Can the worlds of Comics and Community get any sweeter?

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For last week’s silly Bun Toon, click the trademark infringement above

for the BUN TOON archive, click the trademarked bunny above

Vast and Flat Bun Toons! YAY!

Dedicated to Wil Wheaton, for reasons that will become obvious…

I have it on solid authority, that this was the ORIGINAL plan for the character…

I promised this one a few months back, and it took me that long to draw it.  Blades of wheat are time consuming.

I’m not drawing Aquaman of the Sahara, though.  We all know the lucky bastard will find a bathtub or something.  That’s how it always goes with him.

Ty the Guy OUT!

Here now, your BONUS Spider-Man of the Prairies moment:

Yeee-hah!  I WISH that was a real Spider-Man action figure, but it’s a custom, made by BILL’S CUSTOMS (a man clearly dedicated to customizing the super-hero world, as you can see HERE or by clicking the image above.)  As a former Prairie resident-in-law, thanks for that little bit of bronco ridin’ web-slingin’ fun, Bill!

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For last week’s Controversial Bun Toon about Controversial Orson Scott Card writing Superman Controversially, click above.

for the Bun Toon archive, click the controversial bunny.

In case you care, today’s Bun Toon is a sequel to a Bun Toon from last year…

I Can Read It By Myself Bun Toons! YAY!

A cat in a hat is nothing. Try getting a shirt on a rabbit, you’ll lose a finger.

Who doesn’t love controversy?  It gives everyone a chance to rally behind a good cause or a bad cause, or the next one that sparkles and catches one’s eye.

This week, our industry turned it’s sparkly attention towards the New DC Online Digital Adventures of Superman because some stories are going to be written by a mildly well known science fiction writer who is also a mildly well known activist for keeping “traditional values” away from gay people.   Which, of course means, we’ll be finding out next year he’s gay himself.

In the meantime, some thoughts…

That word balloon from panel two is essentially a real quote from Orson Scott Card, only he didn’t rhyme when he said it.  History is bending away from those sorts of comments in the 21st Century though, and one hopes Mr. Card learns to bend away from them as well.

Right wing people well bend faster if we don’t alienate, demonize and and try to silence them so much.  If we actually have the better path to a better society with equality for all, then we should educate the other side to this idea, enlighten the confused, and lift up people instead of shouting at them.   You actually win some over that way.

And boycotting a company I used to work at, and punishing struggling retailers in my neighbourhood, to make some point, is just a preposterously dumb idea that wins over no one.

Even the CIA knows it’s better to turn an opponent than kill him.  If you can’t trust the CIA, who can you trust?

Ty the Guy OUT!

Here now, your BONUS Dr. Seuss Comic Book Moment:

This delightful parody project is brought to you from Down Under by an illustrator known as Dr. Faustus.  Here’s his Deviant Art page, where you can read the entire Call of Cthulu Easy Reader.   Too much fun!

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Click here for the Bun Toons Archive!

Hoping for the Best Bun Toons! YAY!

I try to keep up with the new releases from Marvel, DC, IDW, Dark Horse.  But every now and then, I get surprised by an advertisement for the next big project…

Now, it’s always a good thing to aim for diversity in your characters, and to reach out to communities not well served by the biz in general.  And with the Mandarin starring in the next BIG BLOCKBUSTER from Marvel, these sort of characters are always POSSIBLE for a re-vamp.

Please, turn out well.  I like DC Comics and want good things for them.

And I’m waiting for the YELLOW CLAW to come back. 

TY the GUY OUT!

Here now, your BONUS Vibe Moments:

For those too young to remember, VIBE was the oft-maligned Latino super-hero from Justice League Detroit, who spray painted things, break danced, threatened people who talked to his sister, and spoke in such broken English you had to say his dialog out loud.  He was killed off fairly quickly after his arrival.

Included in this image: Other characters that never became popular

The new DC Comic “Justice League of America’s VIBE” is due out in a matter of weeks.  The art looks good…

It might be terrific!

Vibe has shown up in a few animated episodes without causing trouble, but in the comics…?  Not so much.

A couple of years back, onceuponageek.com created a phoney VIBE comic as an April Fool’s Joke.   But that was way back in 2009 –  a different world, when that sort of idea was funny.

Of course, with OTHER super-heroes, VIBE has been a very popular magazine for years…

R Kelly   counts as a super-hero because he believes he can fly.

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To read last week’s Bun Toon featuring my idiot cat, click above.

To visit the Bun Toons archive, click the vibrating rabbit above.