Customer Reviews

Bumper Book of Bunny Suicides

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Bunnies are cute, fuzzy, cuddly, and not very bright. And in Andy Riley's works, they're also very suicidal.

In fact, you can guess just from the title of Riley's "The Bumper Book of Bunny Suicides" what it's about -- lots and lots of cute cartoon bunnies offing themselves. Both books in this set are full of one thing -- near-wordless cartoons of bunnies disposing of their cute fuzzy selves in unique, creative, and sometimes overly complex ways.

It's a running gag, but you'll never guess how many of these bunnies choose to off themselves -- just a few of their complex methods involve corkscrews, DVD players, stalactites, cigarettes, seppuku, garden gnomes, lemmings, palm trees, Harry Potter books, pointy-nose jets, Christmas trees, colanders, and many other seemingly harmless (or at least not VERY harmful) ordinary items.

Some of the methods become more and more complex as time goes on, like an elaborate contraption involving a grandfather clock, a ladder, a candle, and a can of gasoline. One even has a bunny taking the direct way out, even with a bunch of dynamite on a precarious ledge over him.

There are even some pop culture references, which are handled with utter hilarity. The bunny prepares to beam down from "Star Trek," gets toasted by the Terminator, hangs atop the Tardis, and infiltrates the legendary duel between Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Not to mention irritating the Eye of Sauron, and using Gollum for some bunny-stretching.

Yeah, it's basically a one-gag kind of humour,, but Riley manages to keep the chuckles rolling along through the entire book. Part of the humor is in the ridiculous stubbornness these bunnies have to off themselves (for no apparent reason -- it's not like they need a motive), and Riley's creativity in coming up with surreal methods for suicide.

There are a few duds, admittedly -- the deli counter one took me several reads to understand, since you have to pay very careful attention to even spot the bunny in this one. The overpass gag simply doesn't make much sense (okay, what happened there?), and some (like the cheese grater) are just squicky. They're funnier when they're clever.

Riley's artwork is simple and clean, and his bunnies are amusingly stoic as they chase down death. And he shows a variety of bunny deaths -- some are gory, some are physically impossible, and some simply involve bunny parts flying bloodlessly. Some, in fact, only hint obliquely at the bunnies' demises -- and these tend to be the most hilarious of all.

"The Bumper Book of Bunny Suicides" compiles the two deliciously dark comic books, and they're just right for people with a sick sense of humour or a hatred of bunnies. Or both.

My son bought the individual books as a Christmas present for one of his bandmates who likes anything to do with bunnies but also has a good sense of humor. We leafed through them before wrapping them up. I liked it so much I bought this compendium version for us.

I own all the bunny suicide books, they are hilarious. A running gag that you can't help but laugh at, for the sheer Rube Goldberg-esque manners in which the try and die. Great fun, and not meant in anyway seriously. Highly recommended.

For those of you who find books such as the Bunny Suicides funny, please take a few moments to also read the obituaries of children who chose to end their lives due to hopelessness, despair, and confusion - might you also find them funny? Andy... be a difference maker... now that you have everyones attention... consider this next book title... "The Book of Bunny Therapy!"

If you wouldn't condone stuff like this written about children then you shouldn't condone it about bunnies or any other animals!! Bunnies are just as helpless as children are.