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Fox Bunny Funny
The rules are you're either a fox or a bunny. Foxes oppress and devour, 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 are shattered. When you emerge, you'll find yourself gazing at our own fragmenting society with new eyes.
104 pages, Paperback
First published July 11, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews
February 29, 2016
Tracing the roots of discriminatory attitudes, this wordless fable can be read as a critique of speciesism, racism, classism, sexualism, etc. Important topics, to be sure, approached in an accessible and visually appealing if rather obvious (one would hope) manner.
As a (far too long) side note: It comes as no surprise that the automatic spell check marks the only recently coined terms "speciesism" (discrimination against a species) and "sexualism" (discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation) as spelling mistakes, but I have to say I am surprised to see the old "classism" concept getting a red spelling-error line as well. I guess we no longer need the term because classism is a thing of the past now that capitalism rules supreme? Ahhh, thank you, Microsoft, for helping sweep such unpleasant realities under the rug - the thrill of it all!
But back to the book, let me get this straight - the spell check system does not even acknowledge the very existence of the critical perspectives that Fox Bunny Funny applies. Hmmm, maybe this little book is more relevant and necessary than I thought.
As a (far too long) side note: It comes as no surprise that the automatic spell check marks the only recently coined terms "speciesism" (discrimination against a species) and "sexualism" (discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation) as spelling mistakes, but I have to say I am surprised to see the old "classism" concept getting a red spelling-error line as well. I guess we no longer need the term because classism is a thing of the past now that capitalism rules supreme? Ahhh, thank you, Microsoft, for helping sweep such unpleasant realities under the rug - the thrill of it all!
But back to the book, let me get this straight - the spell check system does not even acknowledge the very existence of the critical perspectives that Fox Bunny Funny applies. Hmmm, maybe this little book is more relevant and necessary than I thought.
April 22, 2011
Fox Bunny Funny is a wordless graphic novel set in a world where there are foxes and bunnies and the foxes eat the bunnies. The story centers around one young fox who wants to be a bunny and is caught by his parents dressed like a bunny so he is enlisted into a Boy Scout like organization teach him to be a real fox. They teach him how to hunt bunnies, and these foxes are pretty weak, they use this weird clamp/bear-trap like gun to hunt the bunnies, come on! you're foxes!! You don't need guns!!
Why a fox would want to be a bunny is beyond my understanding. But that's not what this short graphic novel is about. It's a very thinly veiled allegory about being gay, which I don't think I'm going out on a limb saying. From the spoiler stuff above I'm sure you can plug in the ideas at work here.
I thought that a graphic novel about foxes and bunnies would be fun to read, this wasn't so much fun to read, or I guess look at, do you read when there are no words? But I can't really complain because it wasn't like it took a lot of effort to look at the pictures and turn the pages. I have so little to say about this one.
Why a fox would want to be a bunny is beyond my understanding. But that's not what this short graphic novel is about. It's a very thinly veiled allegory about being gay, which I don't think I'm going out on a limb saying. From the spoiler stuff above I'm sure you can plug in the ideas at work here.
I thought that a graphic novel about foxes and bunnies would be fun to read, this wasn't so much fun to read, or I guess look at, do you read when there are no words? But I can't really complain because it wasn't like it took a lot of effort to look at the pictures and turn the pages. I have so little to say about this one.
March 10, 2008
I have been wanting to read this book since I saw it reviewed in the NYT Book Review a few months ago, and so when I saw it up for review at the last TSL meeting I snatched it right from under the nose of an unsuspecting librarian. I felt kind of bad, but . . not really.
This book is everything I had hoped for and more. The artwork is superb -- I love Hartzell's style, which is a mix of strong clean lines accented by pencil shading -- and the design is impeccable, right down to the endpapers, which are a repeating, MC Escher-like pattern of fox and rabbit heads. But enough geeking out over the art. . . the story is just as compelling.
There are two societies: the foxes and the bunnies. Foxes are the oppressors, hunting and consuming the bunnies with a sadism that is even more brutal because it so casual. Bunnies are the victims who suffer meekly and die horrible deaths at the hands of the foxes. Those are the rules, and they remain unquestioned. But one young fox is different. He has a terrible secret, a secret that makes it impossible for him to go along with the rules as they've been written. And his attempts to find another way to live will have consequences for himself and everyone around him, foxes and bunnies alike.
Part of the beauty of this book is that its very simplicity allows it to be interpreted in so many different ways: as an allegory for slavery, homophobia, transphobia, religious oppression, sexism, colonialism, etc. It can work for any situation where there is a grave imbalance of power between two social groups. What's even more impressive is that although the story is told entirely without words, and by "funny animals," yet it never feels like a caricature.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who felt at some point or another like they didn't belong, and that they were the only ones who felt that way.
This book is everything I had hoped for and more. The artwork is superb -- I love Hartzell's style, which is a mix of strong clean lines accented by pencil shading -- and the design is impeccable, right down to the endpapers, which are a repeating, MC Escher-like pattern of fox and rabbit heads. But enough geeking out over the art. . . the story is just as compelling.
There are two societies: the foxes and the bunnies. Foxes are the oppressors, hunting and consuming the bunnies with a sadism that is even more brutal because it so casual. Bunnies are the victims who suffer meekly and die horrible deaths at the hands of the foxes. Those are the rules, and they remain unquestioned. But one young fox is different. He has a terrible secret, a secret that makes it impossible for him to go along with the rules as they've been written. And his attempts to find another way to live will have consequences for himself and everyone around him, foxes and bunnies alike.
Part of the beauty of this book is that its very simplicity allows it to be interpreted in so many different ways: as an allegory for slavery, homophobia, transphobia, religious oppression, sexism, colonialism, etc. It can work for any situation where there is a grave imbalance of power between two social groups. What's even more impressive is that although the story is told entirely without words, and by "funny animals," yet it never feels like a caricature.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who felt at some point or another like they didn't belong, and that they were the only ones who felt that way.
April 8, 2021
(This is a review of the original, limited edition version of this book)
I feel that I almost can’t call this a mini-comic, it is such an elaborate, lavish presentation; but Fox Bunny Funny was by far the most interesting and accomplished self-publishing effort I saw last year. I had previously been a fan of Monday, Andy’s still unfinished take on the Garden of Eden, but his new comic really blew me away. Really a self-contained series of three books, F.B.F. comes packaged in a handmade, silk-screened black slipcover. The art is bold and attractive, and in the third book (“Funny”) Andy’s illustrations take on an extremely graphical style.
Inside, Andy has created a silent, fable-like story of anthropomorphized Foxes and Rabbits. Unlike your typical funny-animal story, F.B.F. doesn’t shy away from the ethical quandaries of having carnivores and herbivores sharing the same world; the Foxes wantonly prey on the Rabbits, going far beyond hunting them for food: the Foxes live in a virtual death-cult society, vilifying the Rabbits and inculcating racial hatred in their young. The protagonist of all three books is a Fox who is secretly drawn to the oppressed Rabbits’ society. His fascination torments him throughout his life, and he eventually ends up going “down the rabbit hole” and entering a world where everything he has ever known is turned upside down.
Like the best fables and myths, F.B.F. doesn’t give any easy answers, the symbolism can be read in a variety of ways and parallels can be drawn to any number of real world problems, from state-sponsored violence to gender and identity issues. This comic is a real work of art.
I feel that I almost can’t call this a mini-comic, it is such an elaborate, lavish presentation; but Fox Bunny Funny was by far the most interesting and accomplished self-publishing effort I saw last year. I had previously been a fan of Monday, Andy’s still unfinished take on the Garden of Eden, but his new comic really blew me away. Really a self-contained series of three books, F.B.F. comes packaged in a handmade, silk-screened black slipcover. The art is bold and attractive, and in the third book (“Funny”) Andy’s illustrations take on an extremely graphical style.
Inside, Andy has created a silent, fable-like story of anthropomorphized Foxes and Rabbits. Unlike your typical funny-animal story, F.B.F. doesn’t shy away from the ethical quandaries of having carnivores and herbivores sharing the same world; the Foxes wantonly prey on the Rabbits, going far beyond hunting them for food: the Foxes live in a virtual death-cult society, vilifying the Rabbits and inculcating racial hatred in their young. The protagonist of all three books is a Fox who is secretly drawn to the oppressed Rabbits’ society. His fascination torments him throughout his life, and he eventually ends up going “down the rabbit hole” and entering a world where everything he has ever known is turned upside down.
Like the best fables and myths, F.B.F. doesn’t give any easy answers, the symbolism can be read in a variety of ways and parallels can be drawn to any number of real world problems, from state-sponsored violence to gender and identity issues. This comic is a real work of art.
April 10, 2016
The art in this book is exquisite. Wow. Beautiful, print-like, lots of black ink and classic cartoony expressions. Powerful and also in places heart-breakingly adorable.
The concept, though, like the art, is pretty black and white, and while that works for the art, it doesn't work as well for the story. There is little for the reader to ponder at the end because the message is handed to them not unlike the bunny-for-dinner, given by the butcher to the fox in the first chapter of the book. Handed across the counter, nicely wrapped.
In this wordless "funny", a short graphic novel or an extra long Sunday strip, there is a lot to admire. A great title and a beautiful cover with a hopping fox in a bunny outfit. An endearing protagonist, a lovely foxbunny who not only feels bad for the bunnies the foxes torment, but who identifies deeply with these bunnies and experiences themself as a bunny. Early in the book the creature we identify as fox puts on a bunny suit and looks in the mirror. It is a classic scene in many movies about queer and especially transgender folks, that as children they dress as the "opposite" sex and look in the mirror and pose or strut around. This is what our foxbunny friend does.
So, there is definitely some queer trope-ing happening here. Meanwhile, at least one goodreads reviewer called attention to the parallels with Maus. Allegory is happening. The brutal predators and the tragically preyed upon. This is a book about oppression and queerness or difference, and the ways folks try to beat it out of us in one way or another. Those who would have us disseminate their cultural systems can be violent and insistent forces, brutal, and they have many tactics for imprinting upon us their powerful formations.
I struggle a bit with the bunny versus fox symbolism. Natural predators aren't bad or evil and in this particular scenario, the use of the predator and the preyed upon doesn't allow for the subtleties of relationships and character and power dynamics to emerge. In Maus the dynamics between cats and mice works in a very different way. The story is more in-depth and complex, the autobiography not so hidden in allegory (or, both obscured and revealed by allegory), the relationship between cartoon world and real world, history and allegory, is explored and crafted with a very different intimacy, pathos and humor.
I love the protagonist in this book and the question of how to survive and function in a culture in which violence toward those perceived as other and performance of a particular kind of selfhood are so brutally policed. But the cartooniness that makes the book so compelling and gorgeous becomes an over-simplification that doesn't do the exploration justice.
I'm giving this book a four. I am not a big fan of stars, but let's just say a 5 for art and a 3 for story divided by two = 4. I look forward to encountering more of Andy Hartzell's work.
The concept, though, like the art, is pretty black and white, and while that works for the art, it doesn't work as well for the story. There is little for the reader to ponder at the end because the message is handed to them not unlike the bunny-for-dinner, given by the butcher to the fox in the first chapter of the book. Handed across the counter, nicely wrapped.
In this wordless "funny", a short graphic novel or an extra long Sunday strip, there is a lot to admire. A great title and a beautiful cover with a hopping fox in a bunny outfit. An endearing protagonist, a lovely foxbunny who not only feels bad for the bunnies the foxes torment, but who identifies deeply with these bunnies and experiences themself as a bunny. Early in the book the creature we identify as fox puts on a bunny suit and looks in the mirror. It is a classic scene in many movies about queer and especially transgender folks, that as children they dress as the "opposite" sex and look in the mirror and pose or strut around. This is what our foxbunny friend does.
So, there is definitely some queer trope-ing happening here. Meanwhile, at least one goodreads reviewer called attention to the parallels with Maus. Allegory is happening. The brutal predators and the tragically preyed upon. This is a book about oppression and queerness or difference, and the ways folks try to beat it out of us in one way or another. Those who would have us disseminate their cultural systems can be violent and insistent forces, brutal, and they have many tactics for imprinting upon us their powerful formations.
I struggle a bit with the bunny versus fox symbolism. Natural predators aren't bad or evil and in this particular scenario, the use of the predator and the preyed upon doesn't allow for the subtleties of relationships and character and power dynamics to emerge. In Maus the dynamics between cats and mice works in a very different way. The story is more in-depth and complex, the autobiography not so hidden in allegory (or, both obscured and revealed by allegory), the relationship between cartoon world and real world, history and allegory, is explored and crafted with a very different intimacy, pathos and humor.
I love the protagonist in this book and the question of how to survive and function in a culture in which violence toward those perceived as other and performance of a particular kind of selfhood are so brutally policed. But the cartooniness that makes the book so compelling and gorgeous becomes an over-simplification that doesn't do the exploration justice.
I'm giving this book a four. I am not a big fan of stars, but let's just say a 5 for art and a 3 for story divided by two = 4. I look forward to encountering more of Andy Hartzell's work.
February 26, 2019
Esto está bien por todos lados y la verdad que es super actual, recomendado para todas
January 31, 2015
This was a pretty nifty, albeit, fucked up book. This story, featuring bunnies and foxes, could be viewed as a commentary on racism, classism, repression (sexual or otherwise), and a whole host of other shit. All done without any words. Pretty badass.
April 10, 2021
Great, pretty early look at identity issues. A classic I'm glad to have an early edition of.
May 22, 2020
Fox Bunny Funny is one of the best wordless comics I’ve ever read. Sometimes, I look at my comic/graphic novel collection and consider what I need to donate or sell, and sometimes I look at this book, open its pages, and realize, there is no way I’m getting rid of it. The book is one of those ones that surprises you on every read. Sure, without words, it’s a quick read, but boy is it powerful.
The book follows a young fox in a world of foxes and bunnies glorifying the others' deaths. Foxes are the oppressors and bunnies are the oppressed. The main character’s childhood is spent as a reminder that he should hate bunnies, and, after he’s caught wearing a bunny costume, he is sent to a fox camp to straighten him up. The book is, to me, a heavy allegory for a repressed gay and/or trans kid sent to a conversion therapy camp to make him straight and/or cis and live a lie into adulthood.
Just through images and paneling does this comic achieve the allegory. And when the comic breaks open to show a brand new world to the main character, so does all of the images and the conventional paneling. This is black and white artwork at its finest, too. It looks very crisp while conveying a boatload of emotions.
So yes, please pick this up. It is powerful, meaningful, and beautiful. This deserves a place on every shelf. It is also perfect for a YA audience that need to see that being LGBTQIA+ with a found family is okay and perfect to who they want to be.
The book follows a young fox in a world of foxes and bunnies glorifying the others' deaths. Foxes are the oppressors and bunnies are the oppressed. The main character’s childhood is spent as a reminder that he should hate bunnies, and, after he’s caught wearing a bunny costume, he is sent to a fox camp to straighten him up. The book is, to me, a heavy allegory for a repressed gay and/or trans kid sent to a conversion therapy camp to make him straight and/or cis and live a lie into adulthood.
Just through images and paneling does this comic achieve the allegory. And when the comic breaks open to show a brand new world to the main character, so does all of the images and the conventional paneling. This is black and white artwork at its finest, too. It looks very crisp while conveying a boatload of emotions.
So yes, please pick this up. It is powerful, meaningful, and beautiful. This deserves a place on every shelf. It is also perfect for a YA audience that need to see that being LGBTQIA+ with a found family is okay and perfect to who they want to be.
May 9, 2020
Excellent, beautiful, but flawed. Hartzell's illustration is strong. I enjoyed the dihedral tiles on the endpaper, and the clever, uniform use of black (fox fur) and white (bunny fur). There are many ways to read the violent discrimination depicted in the book. At first it seemed to be about race, later it seemed like it might be more about gender identity and transformation.
Two weaknesses, and the second is a spoiler. First, there was a chase scene that felt overlong.
==SPOILER SPOILER==
==SPOILER SPOILER==
==SPOILER SPOILER==
Second is in the book's epilogue. The story climaxes with a transformational surgery. Even setting aside the circle of friends I am blessed with, it strikes me as incredibly meaningful. But then there's the gatefold image, what superhero comics call a 2-page splash. While it seems fine to depict foxes willingly eating bunny food (carrots), and it's edgier but still fair free expression to depict bunnies eating fox food (other bunnies; i.e. cannibalism), it's troubling to see this clear transgression be so intimately linked to a _trans_formational experience. Or am I just getting old? I see too much of a world—including in the "enlightened" West—that still thinks there's something unnatural and criminal (to the point of capital crime) in any non-cishet expression.
Other than those quibbles (which are a matter of taste), this book is a great read.
Two weaknesses, and the second is a spoiler. First, there was a chase scene that felt overlong.
==SPOILER SPOILER==
==SPOILER SPOILER==
==SPOILER SPOILER==
Second is in the book's epilogue. The story climaxes with a transformational surgery. Even setting aside the circle of friends I am blessed with, it strikes me as incredibly meaningful. But then there's the gatefold image, what superhero comics call a 2-page splash. While it seems fine to depict foxes willingly eating bunny food (carrots), and it's edgier but still fair free expression to depict bunnies eating fox food (other bunnies; i.e. cannibalism), it's troubling to see this clear transgression be so intimately linked to a _trans_formational experience. Or am I just getting old? I see too much of a world—including in the "enlightened" West—that still thinks there's something unnatural and criminal (to the point of capital crime) in any non-cishet expression.
Other than those quibbles (which are a matter of taste), this book is a great read.
February 7, 2021
The wordlessness works swell- the story is well paced and very funny with interesting and original characters so you should highly enjoy this IF you don't need to know what's ACTUALLY going on.
It's the metaphor that chafed me. Couldn't he use one that made more sense? By the middle I'd began to question my assumption about it being a gender affair and wondering if he was doing the vegan thing! That's not good for narrative. Is it? Was I SUPPOSED to be confused because that's part of the TGCV??
Wanting to be what Mom's cooking for family dinner makes sense to too few people. Then straight guys kill hunting both male and females then eating... what EXACTLY?
Too many questions made me care about only one thing at the end and luckily the answer was found on the interior back cover author description! My assumption was correct- at least I jived to him outside the story.
It's the metaphor that chafed me. Couldn't he use one that made more sense? By the middle I'd began to question my assumption about it being a gender affair and wondering if he was doing the vegan thing! That's not good for narrative. Is it? Was I SUPPOSED to be confused because that's part of the TGCV??
Wanting to be what Mom's cooking for family dinner makes sense to too few people. Then straight guys kill hunting both male and females then eating... what EXACTLY?
Too many questions made me care about only one thing at the end and luckily the answer was found on the interior back cover author description! My assumption was correct- at least I jived to him outside the story.
April 27, 2020
4.5 Stars rounded up.
I almost gave up and not finished this book. I almost gave up on eating meat too. I found the content in this book to be very confronting. I was very disturbed. How can such a small book with no words be so powerful?
I did not get the ending. Hopefully I will find a satisfactory answer in one of the other reviews.
I almost gave up and not finished this book. I almost gave up on eating meat too. I found the content in this book to be very confronting. I was very disturbed. How can such a small book with no words be so powerful?
I did not get the ending. Hopefully I will find a satisfactory answer in one of the other reviews.
June 6, 2023
A little funny, a little sad, a little scary, a little hopeful.
What do you do when you identify with those your society and culture deem the enemy? What can you do?
A story told without words or dialogue that will resonate with anyone forced to hide their true selves.
Or anyone who likes art of foxes and bunnies.
What do you do when you identify with those your society and culture deem the enemy? What can you do?
A story told without words or dialogue that will resonate with anyone forced to hide their true selves.
Or anyone who likes art of foxes and bunnies.
September 13, 2021
Without a single word, this book conveys so much struggle and emotion. The best thing about this book is that you may take it any way you wish to - it doesn’t have to be about any subject in particular.
In certain ways, we’re all bunnies in foxes, bumbling through our time here.
In certain ways, we’re all bunnies in foxes, bumbling through our time here.
April 3, 2020
Will break your heart without using any words.
June 1, 2023
I picked this up solely based on the illustration style and not realizing it was a queer coming of age story. What a pleasant surprise. ❤️❤️❤️
August 8, 2023
Nice art, but the plot is a little too obvious. The final chapter rescues the book from banality.
May 19, 2025
Beautiful and really well done - a wordless comic with a contemplative atmosphere and many interpretations.
April 10, 2016
A wordless allegorical tale, a fable that lays out a kind of typical oppressor-oppressed opposition in which you can read whatever situation you want. The foxes in this one are oppressors, bunnies oppressed. Maybe you read it as slavery, maybe the bunny is gay, etc. Doesn't matter, really, because this is an allegory about how the world works for Hartzell. And it's sometimes violent, and not really a kid story. And it looks a little like a kid picture book, and there's that kid-like title, but it's not, and it's not really funny. It's brutal in the way people are to each other, or people to animals.
So of course the bunnies study to be foxes, it's hegemony, it's socialization, it's the way discourse and power works, you just have to BE a fox to get ahead or be accepted. Who would want to be a bunny if they are just trounced all the time?
The drawing features strong and clear lines. Just look at that cover, it's beautifully done. The drawing is sharp but I'm not that emotionally or intellectually involved.
I don't really like simple binary stories. I grew up with Biblical good-bad parables and find it a simplistic read on the world, and I feel like this basic power schtick I know pretty well, but it's o limited use to me. But I do think it could be useful to a lot of people, and Hartzell is clearly talented.
Oh, and that title is a reference to when comics were called "funnies," so it's meant to be cleverly rhymey and nostalgic-appearing and kid-attractive-story-titled in its way and ironic, all at the same time. It's that kind of "funny." But I found it to be not so engaging or interesting, unfortunately.
So of course the bunnies study to be foxes, it's hegemony, it's socialization, it's the way discourse and power works, you just have to BE a fox to get ahead or be accepted. Who would want to be a bunny if they are just trounced all the time?
The drawing features strong and clear lines. Just look at that cover, it's beautifully done. The drawing is sharp but I'm not that emotionally or intellectually involved.
I don't really like simple binary stories. I grew up with Biblical good-bad parables and find it a simplistic read on the world, and I feel like this basic power schtick I know pretty well, but it's o limited use to me. But I do think it could be useful to a lot of people, and Hartzell is clearly talented.
Oh, and that title is a reference to when comics were called "funnies," so it's meant to be cleverly rhymey and nostalgic-appearing and kid-attractive-story-titled in its way and ironic, all at the same time. It's that kind of "funny." But I found it to be not so engaging or interesting, unfortunately.
December 16, 2015
This book was recommended during a diverse books readers advisory training that I attended at work last year. My library owns it, so I checked it out. What an interesting read!
First, it should be noted that Fox Bunny Funny is a wordless graphic novel. My library shelves it in the adult graphic novel section, but it has definite teen appeal. It takes place in a world inhabited by foxes and bunnies, where the natural order is that foxes eat bunnies.
(But wait, you say: isn't that obvious? Of course foxes eat bunnies!)
What takes this scenario up a level: in this world, foxes and bunnies wear clothes and go shopping and go to school and drive cars. So it feels a bit more malicious than the known prey-predator relationship we're used to.
The story primarily follows one fox of undetermined gender, who appears to be about teenaged. The reader experiences the fox/bunny world through their eyes, and are allowed to form their own opinions about what is happening.
Fox Bunny Funny isn't terribly discreet about it's message: it's very obviously anti-racism/anti-sexism. Anti- some-kind-of-ism. It's hard to tell what the exact "-ism" is since it's played out between foxes and bunnies. Even with a kind of heavy-handed message, it's still a good story, with good pacing.
And now I can say that I've read my first wordless book!
Oh, and the artwork! Clean black-and-white. I liked it. And it very much fit the story line.
First, it should be noted that Fox Bunny Funny is a wordless graphic novel. My library shelves it in the adult graphic novel section, but it has definite teen appeal. It takes place in a world inhabited by foxes and bunnies, where the natural order is that foxes eat bunnies.
(But wait, you say: isn't that obvious? Of course foxes eat bunnies!)
What takes this scenario up a level: in this world, foxes and bunnies wear clothes and go shopping and go to school and drive cars. So it feels a bit more malicious than the known prey-predator relationship we're used to.
The story primarily follows one fox of undetermined gender, who appears to be about teenaged. The reader experiences the fox/bunny world through their eyes, and are allowed to form their own opinions about what is happening.
Fox Bunny Funny isn't terribly discreet about it's message: it's very obviously anti-racism/anti-sexism. Anti- some-kind-of-ism. It's hard to tell what the exact "-ism" is since it's played out between foxes and bunnies. Even with a kind of heavy-handed message, it's still a good story, with good pacing.
And now I can say that I've read my first wordless book!
Oh, and the artwork! Clean black-and-white. I liked it. And it very much fit the story line.
July 5, 2010
I found this book to be a challenge, but a good one, because it's a graphic novel with no words. For me, it's harder to follow the story line that way, though this book makes it easier than some, with most of the frames being standard sizes. In the world of this story, foxes hunt bunnies, and the violence and dominance with which they do so is unquestioned. It's just a natural part of being a fox. But at least one young fox has a secret and longs to be different in a society where conformity is expected. In one chapter, as far as I can tell, the story leaps into the future of the young fox's life, where, as a grown-up fox, things seem to have become fairly "normal". But all in the society is not as it seems, as the fox discovers and as the story becomes more surreal. I'm still not sure if the end is happy or sad for the fox. But it's an interesting read and is thought-provoking.
April 11, 2008
I have to say at the start, that I am not generally a fan of graphic novels, particularly those without words. However, I think Andy Hartzell has taken on a difficult topic and portrayed it interestingly and successfully. There are three parts to the story, featuring the life of a young fox, who while able to pass as a successful fox, wishes s/he were really a bunny. After being caught cross-dressing s/he is packed off to fox camp where the activities include target practice shooting bunnies, harassing and hunting bunnies, and eating them. Finally our miserable fox friend escapes to a land where foxes and bunnies are friends, and where s/he has surgery to be transformed into the bunny of hir dreams.
June 26, 2010
I don't really read graphic novels, but I picked up Andy Hartzell's "Fox Bunny Funny" up on a whim after flipping quickly through the pages and finding myself attracted to his drawing style. FBF has no text whatsoever, yet it is alternatively hilarious, clever, sad and surprising. In an alternate universe where the world is made up of fox-land and bunny-land, Hartzell explores insider/outsider themes and identity confusion. I re-read FBF a couple of times, and each time see some detail I hadn't noticed before which enriches the story. I highly recommend this book to graphic novel fans and non-graphic novel fans alike.
December 9, 2015
This was... alright. I was initially drawn to it by the near-perfect title (how excellent is it!!) and the cover art, which is beautiful. All of the art is beautiful, actually, which is good because there's no words. It's all black and white line drawing of foxes and bunnies. It really reminded me of Maus, where the cats were the Nazis and the mice were the Jews. In Fox Bunny Funny, the foxes were the ones that ate the bunnies, the bunnies being, ostensibly, either lgbtqa people or another oppressed group.
It was a nice story, but it was a little fast, and a little too obvious to be called brilliant or anything. Just nice, a quick read, beautiful art.
It was a nice story, but it was a little fast, and a little too obvious to be called brilliant or anything. Just nice, a quick read, beautiful art.
June 22, 2011
This seems to be a Graphic Novel where people can easily read into it their own parallels and interpretations. So I won't go into detail about what I think it is about. Suffice to say, it is both thought-provoking, cute, funny, and just a touch controversial. The textless style is not my preferred route, but perhaps in this case it might be appropriate. I'm not entirely sure, but the story is strong enough to shine through without any text so it does work.
December 9, 2011
Remarkable, challenging, this really pushes the frontiers of comics- Maus did not exhaust the possibility of hanging serious themes on animal comics: this one someone manages to go even further and evoke racism, genocide, sexual orientation and the pressures of conformity in an utterly frightening and involving way. And without words too. A remarkable creative achievement. I wrote all this in a letter to Andy Hartzell and got a really nice letter back- so nice man too.
February 9, 2017
09/27/12: 4 stars
Reread April 3 2015: This book is just... weird. I want to like it, I think it's a nice story about a bully and bigot coming to terms with himself and finding a utopia where everyone lives in peace. He's not just a bully and bigot, though... He's a murderer. The book is gruesome, so many dismemberments and characters being eaten and it's just too twisted for me to go "Oh good, happy ending!" Maybe that's the point. I don't know.
Reread April 3 2015: This book is just... weird. I want to like it, I think it's a nice story about a bully and bigot coming to terms with himself and finding a utopia where everyone lives in peace. He's not just a bully and bigot, though... He's a murderer. The book is gruesome, so many dismemberments and characters being eaten and it's just too twisted for me to go "Oh good, happy ending!" Maybe that's the point. I don't know.
November 10, 2022
Німий мальопис про світ, де лиси нищать зайців, а головний герой - лис, який відчуває до зайців складний спектр емоцій. Він чи то співчуває зайцям, чи то хоче бути зайцем, чи то внутрішньо і є зайцем - так і не розбіреш. Сюжет явно алегоричний, але про що ця алегорія, чи про гомосексуальність, чи про гендерну ідентичність, чи про расову, чи взагалі про гноблення і дискримінацію як такі - теж не розбіреш. Коротше, мені було дуже дивно і дуже цікаво.
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