By Andy Hartzell. Published by Uncivilized Books. Softcover, 104 pages, B&W, 2007 (2025 printing) "A wordless, deliciously mannered fable about desire, socialization and utopianism."—New York Times "The way Hartzell has managed to blend various facets questioning normality in one seamless narrative is impressive, and the large canvas upon which he has painted his parable is intellectually and emotionally very satisfying."—The Slings & Arrows "A lot of quick action and intense emotional shocks."—A.V. Club The rules are simple: you're either a fox or a bunny. Foxes oppress and devour, and bunnies suffer and die. Everyone knows their place. Everyone's satisfied. So what happens when a secret desire puts you at odds with your society? Starting from a simple premise — and without using a single word — Fox Bunny Funny leads the reader on a zigzag chase in and out of rabbit holes and through increasingly strange landscapes where funny animals have serious identity problems. The tale swerves from slapstick to horror and back again before landing at the inevitable climax, in which all the old rules shatter. When you emerge, you'll find yourself gazing at our fragmenting society with new eyes. This almost 20th anniversary edition comes with an alternative ending, the story of Yip the dog—a second wordless tale—and Andy's narrative notes. "This wordless story has three distinct parts. First, a perhaps middle-school-aged, suburban fox-boy carefully pedals about town on his bike with a sack whose contents he keeps secret from neighbors' and parents' prying eyes. The punch-panel of this episode, in which the fox-boy dons a rabbit suit, surely refers to a young man's experimentation with cross-dressing. In the second episode, the fox-boy goes to the equivalent of Boy Scout camp, where he suffers from having to keep his identification with rabbits hidden from peers and counselors. When discovered, however, he turns on a rabbit and makes a species-correct meal choice. In the final part, the fox is now a young man trying hard to present his fox identity. When he discovers a city where foxes and rabbits amicably coexist, he faints, is whisked to a hospital, and undergoes an operation to conform his presenting biology to his inner rabbit. Deftly presented in crisp black-and-white, block-print-like panels, this is a must for libraries supporting LGBT+ collections." —Francisca Goldsmith, Booklist Andy Hartzell's first graphic novel, Fox Bunny Funny, was a New York Times holiday pick. He has contributed to many anthologies, including No Straight Lines (Eisner nomination) and Qu33r (Ignatz Award), and he received an Xeric award for his first comic, Bread & Circuses. He lives in Oakland, CA, where his partner Ron tends the garden, and his boxador Louis tears it up again. He works as an interaction designer and creative strategist when he's not making comics.
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