Bun Toons is Still Here?!? YAY!

 

Sigh, I can’t believe we’re still dealing with this nonsense in 2017.

If the “diversity” books weren’t selling, Marvel would stop publishing them.  If the “replace the main superhero with another character inside the suit” gag wasn’t working, Marvel would stop doing it.

If these books not selling in YOUR comic store, consider the problem isn’t the characters.  Because they’re doing very well online, where the customer doesn’t have to go into your friendly shop.

Let’s talk about Red Hulk, or Rulk to his friends.

His identity was hidden for almost a year, and all we knew was that he wasn’t Bruce Banner.  Sales were through the roof.  If the “human” version of Red Hulk had turned out to be Hispanic or Asian, would the sales have gone down?  I hope not.  But even with a “white guy” under the red skin, the sales petered out after a while anyway.  After a last gasp membership in the Thunderbolts a couple of years ago, the Red Hulk no longer has his own title, and can only be found in the (struggling for sales) USAvengers.*

That’s how this gag works.  Marvel has been doing it for decades.

Before Cap was a “black guy”, he the ghostly return of a dead sidekick for a couple of years.  Besides, the “Black Cap” of today is on sale next to the “Nazi Cap” so everyone has a Cap to purchase in 2017.

Did this count as diversity?  Doc Ock was OLD when he replaced Peter Parker as Spider-Man.  ALSO:  I think his heritage is East European.  That used to be considered “ethnic”.

*edited to correct Red Hulk’s current status.

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Sorry I haven’t been around to Bun Toon for a number of weeks.  I’ve been committed to drawing a new Bun Toon every weekend I’ve been home, and have continued to do that since this all began…

But…

I’ve been at a comic convention four out of the last six weeks, and the last three weeks in a row.  That makes it seem like I’ve given up on my little bunny adventures, but I absolutely have not.  I’m still drawing one every weekend I’m at home…I’m just home a little less nowadays.

I’m here for at least another couple of weeks before I head out to Los Angeles in late October, and I promise you, each and every weekend I’m in Toronto, there shall be a bunny on your computer being a smartass.

Thanks for sticking around.

Here’s the link to the last Bun Toon…lo, three weeks ago now.

The Bun Toon Explains ALL! YAY!

Where would you be without my insights?

Recently, I’ve overheard a few people getting into a spirited philosophical discussion about the purpose of fiction and art in the world.

So, let me spell it out for ya.

And with that, I have rescued the internet from Supergirl, Spider-Gwen, Ghostbusters III, and the lady Thor.  I can’t control Doctor Who, that’s happening in England.

Ty the Guy OUT!

I have been an sf and pop culture fan for more than fifty years, and I’ve seen me all the Star Treks, the Star Wars-es, the Aliens and the Planets of the Apes.  But Doctor Who has ALWAYS been a comic book to me.  It started here:

By Dave Gibbons, David Lloyd, Steve Dillon and ALL the great British comic book artists of the 80s, I was hooked on this comic from the start.

But I swear to god, I never got into the show.  My wife and kids love it, all my friends love it, my colleagues and editors love it.  Someday, I’m going to get around to watching it.

But only if they finally cast a Lady Doctor Who, so I’m not holding my breath.

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For last week’s pop culture Bun Toon romp, click the title above.

A Very Brief Moment of Silence Bun Toons! YAY!

Out of respect for the dead, let’s give it a minute, maybe a minute and a half.

Just in case there’s someone out there not reading the current run of CIVIL WAR II: there might be some gigantic spoilers coming up in today’s Bun Toon.

So avert your eyes and turn away.  Everyone else, read about…

I give Marvel a year or less to bring Hulk back, they might even do it before Civil War is finished.  War Machine and Black Goliath might be settling in for a few rounds of bridge, though, especially since we now have an All-New Wasp, and an All-New Female Iron Man to worry about for a while as third generation versions of founding Avengers.

Ty the Guy OUT!

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It’s hardly the first time someone has killed off the Hulk.  Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno did it back in the Eighties.

I maintain that this film is best enjoyed in VHS format, with the tracking bar malfunctioning.

It’s as exciting as that image suggests it is.  In the gripping film, Hulk is killed by falling from a helicopter, about a hundred a thirty feet.  No need for Hawkeye.

Of course, they kill off versions of Iron Man all the time.

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For last week’s Bun Toon, click here.

For the Bun Toon archives of years past, click here.

What Does It Matter Bun Toons?

ATTENTION:  The rabbit is NOT a Pokemon.  He cannot be caught.

Today’s Bun Toon was the subject of a lengthy, lengthy discussion on my facebook page this week.

What I talk about, I toon about.

While there are folks who MEAN well when they say “All Lives Matter”, they are doing the work of people who want to belittle the black community and silence their cry of alarm.  Whatever you thought you meant by “All Lives Matter”, it’s not coming across as anything but rude jackassery in the face of neighbours who need your help.

If you wouldn’t say it to an ambulance, and you wouldn’t say it to a breast cancer survivor, think about why it’s okay to say it to BLM supports…

Ty The Guy OUT!

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The history of black characters in comics included some strongly offensive characters in the golden age:

Back in the 40s, The Spirit’s assistant/sidekick “Ebony White” was a character of contrasts:  Besides being a ghastly stereotype visually and verbally, he was a resourceful and brave character.

Marvel’s “Whitewash Jones” (one of the Young Allies Hostages being saved by Bucky and Toro, lower right) was the same sort of offensive visual.  Like Ebony, the character was brave, uneducated and loyal.

In the late 40s, a black journalist named Orrin Cromwell Evans founded “All-Negro Comics” publishing, a venture that lasted only one issue, unfortunately, as he could not get wholesalers to sell him the newsprint he needed to print his books on.

In the late 50s, Dell introduced LOBO, arguably the first mainstream African American comic book hero that wasn’t visually offensive.  Unfortunately, the series didn’t last very long, likely too liberal an idea for the times.

Jackie Johnson, a gunner for Sgt. Rock’s Easy Company, became mainstream comic’s first  continuing character with African heritage in 1960.

Jackie continued to appear as a support character in Sgt. Rock straight through to the 90s, fighting alongside Ice Cream Soldier, Little Sure Shot and Wildman in an integrated platoon that never would have seen action in the real World War II.

Jackie was quickly followed in the early Sixties by Gabe Jones, one of Sgt. Fury’s platoon in the Marvel version of the World War II Sergeant genre.

Ironically, Gabriel Jones and The Young Allies’ Whitewash Jones, were BOTH created by Jack Kirby…who went on to co-create the Black Panther, one of comics coolest heroes ever.

Face Front, true believers!

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(-Thanks to B.C. Holmes and Robert Klarer for the head’s up correction on All-Negro Comics. I’m late, but I correct.)

 

For the last Bun Toon, click here.

For the Bun Toon Archives of years past, click here.

 

 

The Customer Is Always Right Bun Toons! YAY!

Even when the customer is aggressively wrong.

The thing I like best about the internet is the accuracy of information dissemination, and the speed at which bandwagons careen down a hill.

Sigh.

For those brave souls that went out and bought a copy of the all new Captain America #1, you probably discovered the issue was well written, beautifully drawn and a fun ride all around.  For the rest of you, congratulations on believing the internet. You must be very proud.

Ty the Guy OUT!

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Because I mentioned it, I have to bonus everybody with a few moments from Cap’s greatest storyline…

Amazingly enough…in the days before the internet, we didn’t set fire to copies of Man-Wolf and youtube it.

We simply endured.

Of course, back in the 70s, Marvel ACTUALLY did do a Captain America story where he became a Nazi…but it was a sort-of “evil twin” Cap (a guy who’d had surgery to look like Steve Rogers, who was more than slightly driven crazy by a cut-rate version of the Super-Soldier formula).   Naturally, this story didn’t spit at Joe Simon and Jack Kirby because they were both working for DC Comics at the time.

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for the Bun Toon archive of years gone by, click here.

If you live in the Toronto area, and are interested in learning to write or draw comics, click here for upcoming classes.  Writing is filling up fast (two spots left), but there’s still a few seats left for the June “Making Comics” course!!

 

Four More Panels! YAY!

Because five panels is exhausting.

There’s fightin’ a brewin’ in the world of comics, and you can’t tell the good guys from the bad guys without a scorecard.  As always, the six foot rabbit in the room is the only one willing to help out.  So here’s…

I’m likely to actually go and see this Civil War movie tomorrow, and I’ll let everyone know how it went when I get back, but until then, I’m fairly sure my judgement is a safe bet.

Ty the Guy OUT!

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If you’re one of the millions of fans who never read the original series the movie is based on:  It was a fight between factions of the Marvel Universe, some of whom saw the covers as half full, where others saw the covers half empty.

It took until the Black Giant Man was killed before everyone agreed that the covers were simply half finished, and we all went back to work drawing the bottom of things again.  Of course, drawing bottoms is what launched Frank Cho’s career.

 

If you’re interested in the comic story that STARTED all the fighting between factions of the mythical world, look no further than here:

For some reason, my Hulk v The Buddha comic strip was all over facebook last week, and I thought I’d repost it here so folks could at least know where Civil War started.  (The Buddha was an original Avenger before Ant-Man, back in the fifties, with 3-D Man and Venus, look it up).

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For the previous Bun Toon, mourning the passing of Prince, Chyna and a few others, click Death if you dare.

For the Bun Toon archive, reaching back to the late Middle Ages, click the angry rabbit above.

 

 

Deadpool for Beginners Bun Toon! YAY!

Lesson one:  Put on a bullet proof vest.

The big event is coming –

-and I do NOT mean the Superbowl, which I understand is some time this weekend.

I’m talking about Deadpool (the “regenerating degenerate”, the “merc with a mouth” and Marvel’s most popular non-clawed mutant) and his movie premiere.

To those of us in the funnybook biz, Wade Wilson is well known…but outside of the eight people who stayed awake for his last big screen appearance, Deadpool is an unknown, a mystery, a cipher wrapped in an enigma.

That’s why the Bun Toon is here:

I’ll see you guys on opening day.  Except for you kiddies…this one’s not for YOU.

Ty the Guy OUT!

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I’ve done my little part to keep Deadpool from being TOO successful.  Here’s a page I drew from DEADPOOL #250 (death of Deadpool special) last year.

this is the cover, if you can’t live without the issue.  It’s actually a really fun special!

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If you’re in the Toronto area on Sunday, come to our COMIC BOOK BOOTCAMP OPEN HOUSE from 1 t0 6 pm!  If you’re a former bootcamper working on a project, BRING YOUR LATEST WORK, or if you’re a curious stranger, come on in and learn to ignore the football game!  And don’t forget to click on the logo to check out the next set of upcoming classes!

for last week’s bun toon, click here.

Lesson one:  Put on a bullet proof vest.

Evil Bun Toons! Bwah hah hah!

There’s nothing quite so evil as a cartoon rabbit.

There goes my next three assignments from Marvel.  I live like a rebel.

Ty the Guy OUT!

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Of course, the only place Donald Trump BELONGS is in the funny papers.

Like in this issue of Mad Magazine’s 20 Dumbest of 2015, featuring work your humble rabbit cartoonist!  Probably still on sale at lazier news stands that don’t turn over their stock very quickly!

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If you’re in the Toronto area, and are interested in learning to write and draw comics, come on down to the bootcamp and learn!  Writing and anatomy classes coming up in just a few weeks!  Click above for details.

for last week’s vicious attack on the “other” company, click here.

for the Bun Toon Archive of past years, click here. (yes, it needs updating, but I live a life of fast cars and quality women).

Four Characters, Four Panels Bun Toons! YAY!

Fourth time is not the charm.

Jon Stewart retired this week, and Don Trump won the Republican debate.  But neither event can hold a candle to this week’s real disaster…

There is so much wrong with this movie that it defies critique.   At its heart, it’s a movie about brilliant creative people, written and directed by slow-witted dullards who understood nothing of the source material.

I tend to root for comic book movies, and it’s very rare for one to disappoint as much as this one did.  Green Lantern and Jonah Hex are the only other two that got down to this level of pure, unfiltered awfulness like the new FF movie did.  If you’ve seen either of those previous bombs, you know where we are.

Sigh.

A terrible adaptation encrappens us all.

Ty the Guy OUT!

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Without question, this is STILL the best Fantastic Four movie:

It even made a pretty good comic book, drawn by my buddy Marcio Takara!

Now, if Pixar ever made a live action Incredibles movie, we might have something resembling a proper FF picture.

Sigh.

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For last week’s Bun Toon about the internet’s favourite lion, click here.

For the Bun Toon archives, going back YEARS, click here!

Teeny Tiny Bun Toons! YAY!

It’s not the size of the Bun Toon that matters…

Again, Marvel opens up a movie with a character the general public knows next to nothing about.

Again, the humble Bunny is here to help the novice sort it all out…

I’m actually DYING to see this one.  I have a fondness for ANT-MAN that’s almost unnatural…

Ty the Guy OUT!

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During the period of time I was writing an Avengers animated comic called “Avengers United They Stand”, Hank Pym/Ant-Man was the only original Avenger on the team every month…  So I featured him as a heroic, smart, funny, charming and all-around cool guy, leading the squad…

I drew the covers too, this is one of mine.

Of course, the series was cancelled after eight issues.

Sigh.

No one loves the comic book Hank Pym.

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For last week’s equally pathos-filled Bun Toon…click here.

For the Bun Toon archive, click here.