RABBITS AGAINST MAGIC

The Ears Have It

2012-02-11T09:07:00.001-08:00

There's a lot going on here, although what intrigues me is the strange kazoo embedded into the larger rabbit's body. Is it some sort of curious lupine musical instrument or a fifties bong perhaps?

Fats Calico

2012-02-03T16:55:00.000-08:00

Not a rabbit but without a doubt, the greatest animated gif of all time.

The WIld Front Ear

2012-02-03T08:11:00.000-08:00

I long for a return to the astonishing colors of the fifties. Technicolor... come back! All is forgiven.

Rabbits Against Magic Sets

2012-02-03T08:09:00.000-08:00

Another great Liō strip.

Incredibly Strange Rabbit Picture Number 47

2012-01-26T19:18:00.000-08:00

It's hard to know where to start with this one. From the prosthetic leg to the Bugs Bunny headed wreath comprised of sad looking discarded toys this image has it all!

Who the heck is John Glynn?

2012-01-26T16:04:00.000-08:00

In case you're wondering, he's my editor at Universal. I slipped his name into today's strip to make sure he was paying attention (and he was!). John is a frequent guest in many comic strips. Here's a brief selection.

Rabbits Against Earbud Tangles

2012-01-26T15:48:00.000-08:00

Oh how I love this strip. Let me count the ways. More over at Dark Side of the Horse.

Incredibly Strange Rabbit Picture Number 46

2012-01-18T06:28:00.000-08:00

Looks like a Playboy Club derivative after the lawyers got a hold of it.

Roomsaid Against Magic

2012-01-14T21:30:00.000-08:00

Going To Pot

2012-01-12T22:10:00.000-08:00

This series is based on a real life artifact, the "Fountain" readymade by the Dadaist Marcel Duchamp in 1917. Marcel Duchamp began his career as a gag cartoonist submitting panels to Parisian literary journals. Comics historian M. Thomas Inge has suggested that the “R. Mutt” signature Duchamp scrawled at the bottom of this famous “readymade” was an explicit reference to Bud Fisher’s Mutt from Mutt and Jeff. Duchamp gave up art in 1923 and spent the rest of his life playing chess to the exclusion of almost all other activities. And people say Dalí was odd.

Playrabbit Magazine Cover

2012-01-08T18:36:00.000-08:00

Is there such a thing as too many rabbits?

Incredibly Strange Rabbit Picture Number 45

2011-12-31T07:13:00.001-08:00

Happy 2012.

Feelgood Rabbit Image of the Day

2011-12-26T08:49:00.000-08:00

Cute, cuddly, nice and rounded and look at that nose. And the girl isn't bad looking either.

Christmas Yahtzee!

2011-12-25T10:28:00.000-08:00

I broke down this year and did a holiday themed strip for the first time. Usually I only do themed strips for the offbeat holidays like April Fools, Talk Like a Pirate Day, and Day of The Dead but for some reason I was feeling festive. I guess Vic Lee over at Pardon My Planet was having similar feelings because we both coincidentally did the same "toy not included" joke. I'm afraid Vic's super awesome art blows mine right out of the water.

Rabbits Against Walking The Plank

2011-12-22T21:45:00.000-08:00

I don't know what this means but Happy Holidays!

The Saddest of All Lugworms

2011-12-19T09:04:00.000-08:00

The super wonderful and extra lovely Piers Baker announced yesterday that his daily comic strip, Ollie & Quentin is to end at the end of this month after four years of syndication. In a sign of a continuing poor market for newspaper cartoon sales this is the latest in an ever increasing list of great strips (My Cage, It's All About You, What The Duck, The Quigmans, Clear Blue Water, Bob the Squirrel, etc.) that have been forced into premature retirement. He writes in length about his decision on his blog. The good news is that he has a mouth-wateringly beautiful new book out (also in e-book form) and Ollie & Quentin will re re-run from the very beginning on the Daily Ink. My best wishes go to him and his future endeavors.

Ghosts In The Machine

2011-12-05T08:55:00.001-08:00

Due to a "site upgrade", there seems to be a few bugs over at GoComics this week and as a result all my hard work on yesterday and todays strip never showed up!

Sunday's strip featured a cupcake joke. You don't see many of those these days now that the craze has died down. I expect they'll be a flurry of gourmet donut jokes in the not too distant future. Notice the "guest" appearance of Horace and Chicken in panel five!

Today we see a confused Eightball lamenting his dead cuttlefish. There's a pet store on my way to the subway called "La Casa de Canarias" (House of Canaries) that has a huge pile of cuttlefish in the window. They must be the canary equivalent of a juicy bone or a sticky bun.

Buni Against Magic

2011-11-28T21:52:00.001-08:00

... and for good reason! Ryan Pagelow's always excellent Buni strip appears every Monday, Wednesday and Friday over at GoComics.

Main Frames Against Laptops

2011-11-28T08:27:00.001-08:00

There's a cafe in San Francisco that proudly offers no WiFi because of the proliferation of laptop enthusiasts who swarm every coffee shop in the area, usually for hours, carefully nursing a cup of coffee. Many cafe owners have covered up their power outlets so that depleted batteries becomes a factor in freeing up the tables. I often feel inadequate entering these establishments with just a newspaper.

Rabbits Against Recipes

2011-11-12T11:18:00.001-08:00

Yum!

¡Feliz Día de los Muertos!

2011-11-02T09:21:00.000-07:00

A sampling of my annual Day of the Dead strips.

Creepy Rabbit Costume

2011-10-31T00:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween!

Hairy Gorilla Hand Against Magic

2011-10-27T16:17:00.000-07:00

Another classic Tall Tale from the maestro Al Jaffee.

Arctic Hares Against Magic

2011-10-10T09:18:00.000-07:00

The great Alex Hallatt has turned her hand towards the dark arts this week (and the end of last week as well) in her awesome strip Arctic Circle. Go see for yourself over at Daily Ink and/or Comics Kingdom.

Russians Against Rabbits

2011-09-30T15:05:00.000-07:00

Not a magic rabbit per say, but a delightful retro cosmonaut image

nonetheless.

Getting Sketchy With Picasso

2011-09-30T08:47:00.000-07:00

I'm going to be sketching the patrons of the DeYoung Museum this Friday... in the style of Picasso! The event is free* so if you're in the Bay Area, stop by and say hello and get an original Cubist sketch of yourself.

* Does not include admission to the special exhibits.

Victorian Gentlemen Dressed as Animals

2011-08-21T20:32:00.000-07:00

I think I found my Halloween outfit for this year.

The Perils of Top Hats

2011-08-20T20:38:00.000-07:00

A couple of great rabbits/magic panels this week from Dan Pirarro (Bizarro) and Dave Whamond (Reality Check). Nice going guys.

Many Rabbits Against Magic

2011-07-30T11:26:00.000-07:00

Not Disney's Oswald the *Lucky* Rabbit but instead an obscure Dell comic from 1948. According to the excellent Big Blog of Kids' Comics:

Dan Gormley was a principal artist for Four Color during the 1940s and 50s; and certainly one of the unsung names that made that historic comic so superb. He has become better known in recent years for providing a great deal of the artwork on John Stanley's take on Bushmiller's Nancy; but his best stuff came when working in his own highly individual style - usually on various Walter Lantz creations (like here with Oswald Rabbit). This is from Four Color No. 183, March 1948; and Gormley did all the pages as well as this super cover.

You can see the full comic here. Thanks Mykal.

Rabbits Against It's Magic Charlie Brown

2011-07-24T15:28:00.000-07:00

One of the "extra features" on the "It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" is a heretofore unknown to me TV special called "It's Magic Charlie Brown" from 1981. Amazingly this is the 21st television special out of a current total of 45 made featuring the Peanuts characters. I had no idea they'd been so many. I really enjoyed Woodstock with rabbit ears being pulled out of the hat.

Foxy Rabbit Cruelty

2011-07-15T21:44:00.000-07:00

"A Magic Story" photographed by Ellen Von Unworth for Vogue Italia, September 1997.

Rabbits Against Magic Shopping Bags

2011-07-09T08:40:00.000-07:00

An ingenious if slightly cruel shopping bag for Houdini's Magic Shop in Detroit. Via.

Rabbits Against Cobbling Stands

2011-07-08T16:53:00.000-07:00

We have several of those cobbling stands in our basement left over from when it was a cobbling shop, along with lots of wooden shoe-shaped devices for stretching shoes. They're too nice to throw away but completely impractical to keep, except when you're looking for a idea for a comic strip.

Music Round

2011-07-07T16:24:00.000-07:00

In my other incarnation as a second-rate musician, I contributed to this otherwise rather fine collection of David Bowie cover version all done in the twangy surf guitar instrumental style. There's 22 tracks in all if you include the excellent "mystery track". My humble entry with my band Monkey Versus Robot, is a possibly ill-advised attempt at The Jean Genie. You can see the full track list and buy it at a very reasonable price here.

Rabbits Against The Great Dino

2011-07-04T10:30:00.000-07:00

The great Sam Henderson has been scanning and posting pages from his collection of browning Cracked magazines. over on his highly worthwhile Magic Whistle blog. This "silent" strip is from issue #95, September 1971, by Larry Barth.

Rabbits Against Dry Celebrities

2011-06-30T16:39:00.000-07:00

Here's a couple of strips I did for the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation which is a non-profit provider of affordable housing for the low income residents of San Francisco. Thy throw an annual ritzy event––all for a good cause––where celebrities are thrown into the pool at the extravagant Phoenix Hotel. From what I understand, they're going to use my cartoons on large advertising billboards that appear on public toilets all over the city. I believe that my career can officially only go downhill from there.

Freaks!

2011-06-30T16:28:00.000-07:00

This is the entire Freak Show series ran this week. This is partly a homage to the Tod Browning movie (one of all-time my favorites) but also to the seminal Freak Show CD by The Residents. If you're familiar with that album, you'll spot several tiny references I slipped into the last two strips including a tiny double headed Resident eyeball creature (final strip, second panel, bottom left).

Too Gruesome For Prime Time?

2011-06-30T16:23:00.000-07:00

Here's an unpublished strip that I pulled from rotation on the grounds that it was just too darn gruesome. Also, that stump could be misinterpreted as something less innocent than a severed appendage of gristle and bone. I drew it while waiting for a repair man to show up to fix our clothes dryer and he was four hours late so my bile must have been raised somewhat. The plan was to expound on this misfortune in future strips where Eightball is fitted with an artificial limb that was constantly going wrong with hilarious consequences but I have reservations that this is plain stupid, in somewhat poor taste and not entirely in sync with his character. Do any one of my five lovely blog readers have an opinion?

A Mad Man Made of Animals

2011-06-20T09:29:00.000-07:00

Mad magic from the mind of Don Martin. The always interesting Comiccrazys Blog is running a whole bunch of Don Martin strips at the moment. As a child I was obsessed with Mad magazine, especially the first 23 issues. The switch from the comic book format to the black and white magazine was the beginning of a long slow but not disrespectful decline in quality and innovation. Don Martin made his first appearance in issue 29 and along with the great Sergio Aragonés maintained the senbalnce of respectable insanity. Martin left Mad in 1987 with bad blood flowing between him and editor Bill Gaines and reappeared in Cracked Magazine, the irony being that Mad, a parody publication was now being parodied by other publications.

Incredibly Strange Rabbit Picture Number 44

2011-06-16T09:44:00.000-07:00

You won't find these at the Disney Store.

Just Add Lettuce

2011-06-06T16:23:00.000-07:00

I brought back the previously un-named time-traveling rabbit from last year due to popular demand. Thanks very much to the two people who e-mailed me suggesting it. I think she will fit in nicely as a foil for Weenus and a mischievous companion for Eightball.

Dog-Faced Boy

2011-06-06T14:46:00.000-07:00

My friend and esteemed Argentinean colleague Fede Pazos blogged today about a strip he did when he started out on his cartooning career. It was published in the Argentine edition of the infamous weekly French magazine Inrockuptibles and featured a small boy called Chicocaraperro who had the face of a dog. If you don't speak Spanish I hope you can at least appreciate the awesomeness of his clean art style.

Cement Mixer Putty Putty

2011-05-30T16:55:00.000-07:00

I just found this great photo of my all time musical hero Slim Gaillard with a monkey. Slim wasn't just the most talented musician ever invented (he could play several instruments to a virtuoso degree––including the piano which he sometimes played with his hands upside down––often during the same song) but he could speak eight languages in addition to inventing a language of his own called "Vout". If you doubt these superlative accolades, you only need to watch his performance in one of my favorite movies 'Hellzapopin'. There's an extraordinary clip here. One interesting fact is that both he and I appeared in the same film together back in the eighties, the abominable "Absolute Beginners" starring David Bowie and Patsy Kensit. I was a mere uncredited extra. Slim sang the song "Selling Out" with The Stargazers.

Drinky Krow

2011-05-29T19:30:00.000-07:00

Today's Knight Life by my estranged friend and colleague Keith Knight pays homage to my other estranged colleague Tony Millionaire of Maakies whose Drinky Crow figurine sits proudly atop my desk.

Hobos Against Magic

2011-05-16T20:19:00.000-07:00

A lovely cartoon from the latest New Yorker magazine by David Sipress.

Can't GoComics

2011-05-16T13:39:00.000-07:00

Alas, GoComics seems to be broken again. Here's today's cartoon for anyone who may be missing it.

Zip, a Brick

2011-05-14T23:03:00.000-07:00

I had too much fun drawing this tribute to my favorite ever comic strip. My spousal unit got me this oversized goodie for my recent birthday and I couldn't resist in doing an all out homage. This isn't the first time I've gone this route. There was a subtle Krazy Kat reference in this strip from October 2008.

Rabbits Rabbits Rabbits

2011-05-12T11:53:00.000-07:00

Apparently GoComics isn't working properly so I'm posting my strips here until it's fixed. Word is that they're doing some serious maintenance over there, presumably in preparation for the big merger with United Features when all the Comics.com strips will combine with it forming a very large throbbing amorphous mass of comic strips to pick at next month.

Rabbits Against Cabbage

2011-05-09T12:39:00.000-07:00

From this rather curious site comes this delightful "Rabbit in Cabbage" automation. According to the description it's by Roullet & Decamps of Paris, dating from about 1890 and has the full repertoire of movement including "a cheeky lean over the side".

Figure Drawing

2011-05-08T21:19:00.000-07:00

The complete ventriloquist series from this week, echoes an earlier foray into the medium, below from November 2008.

Incredibly Strange Rabbit Picture Number 43

2011-05-05T20:30:00.000-07:00

A creepy vintage Pikachu?

Mr. Danders Against Rabbits

2011-05-03T20:01:00.000-07:00

Cul-de-Sac is by far the best strip currently running. When it's creator, the über-talented and all-round nice guy Richard Thompson was diagnosed with Parkinson's last year his colleagues jumped in to set up Team Cul-de-Sac, to create a tribute book of original art in Richard's honor and to raise awareness of Parkinsons. Part of the profits from the sale of the book will benefit the Michael J. Fox Foundation. As I've blogged already, there's already been some amazing submissions (see their lovely blog here). That's my humble submission, above featuring the Blisshaven pre-school's hamster, Mr. Danders. I snuck in Polyfill and a few of my own characters as well.

3

2011-05-03T09:06:00.000-07:00

My strip has now been running continuously for 1094 days. May 3rd, 2008 was the day the very first Rabbits Against Magic strip (above) ran on Comic Sherpa which makes three whole years worth of continuous stripping in full color and no reruns!

Comparing it with the most recent strip you can see how it has evolved over the years. The first strip was colored with water color and inked with a much finer brush. I had no regular characters in mind and it took a few months for Eightball and Weenus to emerge from the pack. If I remember correctly it took about four hours to complete. Today's strip took less than an hour from concept to posting.

Some Upcoming Strips Underway

2011-05-02T11:57:00.000-07:00

Click for Hi-Def!

Rabbits Against Fanboy Comic Strip Boards

2011-05-02T11:53:00.000-07:00

I dropped into an art supply store in Santa Cruz last week and discovered these "comic strip boards" retailing at $8.50 (plus tax). They don't work out economically only having 14 sheets (I get 40 strips out of a regular vellum Bristol pad for $7.75) and they have non-photo blue gridlines which are apparently "industry standard" but a cursory examination proves that only to be true 15 years ago. I was shocked by the quite blatant Calvin and Hobbes rip-off on the cover. It's clearly rotoscoped from an actual strip but they've switched Hobbes for a pink rabbit and given Calvin a red-striped shirt to avoid copyright infringement. Barely.

Detective Eightball

2011-04-30T00:47:00.000-07:00

Giant Pink Space Rabbit Attack

2011-04-26T18:39:00.000-07:00

Todays' WTF? Rabbit Image.

The Epicurean Tag

2011-04-25T22:23:00.000-07:00

This is a word cloud created by adding all the 2859 tags from my strips for the last (nearly) three years. I don't remember drawing anything for some of these words (fist, corn, test?) but some of these combinations would make fine band names however. Wild Elvis, Plastic Gas, Social Joke Machine, Used Foot Pet and Mr. Date Gun for starters.

Dogs Playing Poker Against Magic

2011-04-23T22:19:00.000-07:00

Today's strip is my third "Dogs Playing Poker" themed Sunday.

This is a variation of a previous window/picture frame joke.

I don't enjoy copying that picture but I did enjoy making up all this modern art.

Rabbits Against Vespas

2011-04-23T21:56:00.001-07:00

Watterson Does Petey

2011-04-22T13:12:00.000-07:00

Much has already been made of this exciting and rather gorgeous oil portrait of Petey from Cul-de-Sac done by the reclusive Bill Watterson.... his first public output of art for 16 years!! Posted over at the Comic Riffs blog (and also at the Go Comics Blog) It's all for a good cause, the team Cul-de-Sac project in aid of Parkinson's disease for which I have contributed a piece. All the info is over at Team Cul-de-Sac website.

Atomic Rabbits Against Magic

2011-04-21T11:49:00.000-07:00

Boo! Hisst! A curious title from 1959 published by Charlton Comics. Cover art seems to be by D'Agostino.

The Moose and the Squirrel

2011-04-21T11:33:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite sights in Los Angeles is the Rocky and Bullwinkle statue at 8200 West Sunset Boulevard right by the National Lampoon offices and marking the former home of Jay Ward Studios (see my post about Crusader Rabbit here).

Apparently the 15 foot high statue erected in 1961 to parody a statue directly across the street of a bikini-clad spinning cowgirl on a billboard advertising the Sahara Hotel in las Vegas. The original Bullwinkle spun as well and whenever the bikini changed, Bullwinkle's shirt was painted to match. Sadly the statue is now enlosed in a Hollywood Hounds Doggy Daycare facing a Gucci ad. You can revel in the splendor that was once Sunset Strip in this short silent video. Bullwinkle appears at around the 0:44 second mark.

More thrilling Sunset Strip footage over here.

Sticky Rabbits

2011-04-19T08:55:00.000-07:00

I drew this strip in memory of Harry W. Coover, the inventor of Super Glue who died last month.

The great Tom Gammill who draws The Doozies clearly works closer to deadline than I do since he ran this a few weeks ago.

And the fabulous Dave Coverly beat everyone to the post with this Speed Bump classic from January.

Military Rabbits Against Easter

2011-04-18T10:05:00.000-07:00

When rabbits ride chickens in military formation, woe be unto personkind. From Mark's Scrapbook of Oddities and Treasures.

Dramatic Escape From The Mole Men Episodes

2011-04-16T17:11:00.000-07:00

This is the entire epic week of strips that ran this week. I'm still not sure if this proves the existence of Mole Men in the rabbit's back yard or just some very soft soil base. In retrospect I see the door in the first panel of the last strip is way too small. It seems to have temporarily shrunk to the point where Eightball would have trouble getting his ears through without getting splinters. It's rookie mistakes like this that really hold me back from the big time.

The Big Rabbit and Fertility Celebration Is Coming Soon.

2011-04-14T09:46:00.000-07:00

One Day One Deal Against Magic

2011-04-12T11:07:00.000-07:00

Woot! is a clever little site that sells a different heavily discounted (with free shipping!) T-Shirt every day which lasts only as long as supplies last which is generally 24 hours. This ephemeral approach has made it very popular and artists, cartoonists and designers flock to have their images emblazoned onto Wootish cloth. It was recently taken over by Amazon and is now expanding to sell other stuff but the T-Shirts remain as innovative and as wonderful as ever. But why am I mentioning all this and giving them a free plug? Well they frequently have voter "derby" competitions and recently ran a "magic" theme which produced these excellent entries of which, sadly, none made the cut, so I am hereby memorializing these wonderful designs here.

Rabbits Against Early Morning Calls

2011-04-09T10:00:00.000-07:00

This strip reminded me of a similar animal comparison joke:

Q "What's the difference between a bison and a buffalo?"
A "You can't wash your hands in a buffalo"

Rabbits Against Internet Connectivity

2011-04-09T09:58:00.000-07:00

Here's this weeks failed struggle by Weenus to rid Eightball of his online connectivity. Now switch off your computer and go take a walk in nature :-)

Reality Television

2011-04-07T16:41:00.000-07:00

I really like Dave Whamond's excellent panal strip Reality Check which runs over at comics.com (until the end of the month anyway). It has just the right amount of bizarre humor and funny drawing to make it an essential read every day. His strip today makes a great companion piece to my Rabbits strip from last February, although in both cases the programming is worth every penny.

Pencil Droppings

2011-04-07T16:18:00.000-07:00

Well you know when you're scraping the blog barrel when you start writing about dropping one of your art supplies, especially if it isn't a bottle of ink all over your finished masterpiece while on deadline, but I was reminded of how amazing the process we call "scanning" is follow an incident earlier today.

I generally scan my originals in at 600 DPI, a size that would have crashed all but the most powerful computers 10 years ago but nowadays is probably standard. The detail when viewing full size is greater than you could see with the naked eye causing my clean inks to look crude and all the minor flaws to be glaringly prevalent. The bullet hole above in Eightball's foot is the accidental result of a mechanical pencil tip bouncing on Bristol board. It was easily removed with Photoshop.

Gross Rabbits

2011-04-06T19:30:00.000-07:00

Sam Gross, a favorite of this blog, delivers another wonderful magic rabbit gag, his second of the year of this ilk to grace the pages of the New Yorker magazine. Maybe the economy really is rebounding.

Top Hat and Feathers

2011-03-26T15:18:00.000-07:00

Monty is one of my favorite strips. I'm especially partial to Fleshy, the furless psychotic cat seen here performing some rabbitless magic. The strip, which started off as Robotman, has been running for over 25 years now and was originally started by United Features Syndicate to tie in with a toy merchandising campaign. Jim Meddick was asked to draw the strip after a young Bill Watterson turned the opportunity down. He went on to create his own strip Calvin and Hobbes.

Hotel Melancholia

2011-03-25T13:31:00.000-07:00

Here are this week's strips about Trixie's battle with depression and a failed world although of course her salvation is a sense of humor and a passion for the arts which is pretty much my view.

Ta-Daaaaaaaaaaaaa Against magic

2011-03-25T13:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday's Pearls Before Swine features a nice magic rabbit panel. I'm fascinated by Stephan Pastis's development as an artist. The longer he draws his strip the more adept he becomes at rendering his characters in what is now a totally individual way.

Magic Books

2011-03-24T14:56:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Superpunch I just discovered the art of local artist Marilyn da Silva. The piece above is called "The Trouble With Magic".

Frogs in Suits Against Magic

2011-03-23T10:09:00.000-07:00

The great animator and too-talented-to-be-human Joe Murray has started his own YouChoob channel featuring his new too-edgy-for-TV character Frog in a Suit, best viewed if you're not sipping a beverage or if your computer has been rigged with a protective waterproof screen. He's already posted two episodes (curiously starting with number 34) of hilarious shorts. Joe is most famous for Rocko's Modern Life and Camp Lazlo. Trivia fact: the animation was done at Michael Jantze's studios, he of The Norm!

Frog in a Suit - Episode 34 "All Bussed Up"

Frog in a Suit - Episode 35 "Tricky Business"

Wow!

2011-03-22T04:05:00.001-07:00

They don't make magic acts like they used to.

Poetry Against Magic

2011-03-21T10:00:00.000-07:00

My dear friend and fellow cartoonist Kap reminded me that today is World Poetry Day. It's a UNESCO sponsored event to promote the reading, writing, publishing and teaching of poetry throughout the world. Here's to words making life on this planet amore tolerable [clink].

Red Scare Against Magic

2011-03-17T09:49:00.000-07:00

In the wake of the McCarthy-like House Homeland Security Committee Meetings on the supposed radicalization of American Muslims and homegrown terrorism last week I present this gem of a novel by Vargo Statten from the red scare era of the 50s when we faced a much more terrifying and imminent threat... giant socialist insects.

Lazy Cartoonists Against Magic

2011-03-17T09:13:00.000-07:00

Today's Pearls Before Swine implicates that today's Rabbits Against Magic strip was a result of laziness. It's the first time in nearly three years I've used a "dark room" gag and it had to coincide with this high profile "outing" of a cartoonist's favorite short cut. Curse you Stephan Pastis.

Incidentally the excellent Pearl Blows Up, the fourth Pearls Before Swine treasury now available at Amazon for 36% off!

Not Your Father's Magic Rabbit

2011-03-16T11:01:00.000-07:00

This is from the cover of a book by Clayton Rawson called "The Magical Mysteries of Don Diavolo". The eponymous hero of the novel is a stage magician who uses his magic skills to solve crimes. Surely an important and much overlooked work in the ever expanding magician detective genre.

Rabbits Against Radioactive Fallout

2011-03-16T08:14:00.000-07:00

I draw my strips about a month ahead of publication time so this ill-timed radiation-themed strip that ran on Monday was completely unintentional, as I'm sure was today's Shoe.

Since San Francisco is directly in the path of the low level radiation wafting from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant this week, I'm more than a little concerned despite the padding of the Pacific Ocean in between. Still, we have little to worry about compared with those dealing with the enormous catastrophe in Japan. My best wishes and thoughts go out to everyone affected by the tragedy.

Little Monsters Against Magic

2011-03-15T21:53:00.000-07:00

Does that wooden fence look familiar? I'm honored to have been "ripped off" by the great Lawrence Roufail in his excellent Little Monsters webcomic. He writes a charming web post about it here.

Black Rabbits Against Magic

2011-03-11T14:08:00.000-08:00

Here's a submission from Jason Limon (no relation) for a new exhibition at Gallery 1988 in Los Angeles. Over 100 artists are included and each one is an interpretation of the black rabbit Inlé , the anti-hero from the 1972 book Watership Down by Richard Adams.

According to Wikipedia:
"Inlé is a sinister phantom servant of the god Frith who appears in rabbit folklore. He is the rabbit equivalent of a grim reaper in human folklore, and similarly ensures all rabbits die at their predestined time. "Inlé" is the Lapine term for the moon or darkness".

Here's the poster:

I read and enjoyed the the book as a child despite its over religious symbolism and actually visited the hill in Hampshire, England where the story supposedly takes place although I remember hating the subsequent Disney movie version. Here's another contribution from the wonderfully named Bob Dob.

Fester Head

2011-03-08T10:59:00.000-08:00

Sam Gross is one of my favorite New Yorker cartoonists. There's a fabulous career-spanning interview him over at the Comics Journal Blog this week including some background behind his famous frog cartoon heralded as one of the most famous gag cartoons of all time.

Peter Cottontail Against Magic

2011-03-01T11:11:00.000-08:00

A lovely little video from UPA and Castle Films, worth watching just for the psychedelic gunshot animation towards the end.

The Last Breakfast

2011-02-28T12:29:00.000-08:00

The wonderfully named and very talented Brian Stuckey did this rather awesome homage to Da Vinci's masterpiece using breakfast cereal mascots. There's some great "behind the making of' photos here. Via Super Punch.

Spaghetti Rabbit

2011-02-27T14:23:00.000-08:00

A crazy bizarre piece from the always amusing artist Paul McCarthy called "Spaghetti Man" from way back in 1993 made out of urethane, rubber cloth and fake fur. There's a great interview with him over at BOMB Magazine.

Rabbits Against C-Sections

2011-02-11T11:28:00.000-08:00

I love love LOVE today's Speed Bump. Well done Mr. Coverly.

Crusader Rabbits Against Magic

2011-02-10T10:33:00.000-08:00

Crusader Rabbit was an animated TV series from the 1950s. It was the first of a string of hits from the Jay Ward studios who also brought you Rocky & Bullwinkle, Dudley Do-Right, Peabody and Sherman, Hoppity Hooper, George of the Jungle, Tom Slick, and Super Chicken. Apparently, along with this pin and a card, members also got a plastic rabbit hat with ears. If I ever start a Rabbits Against Magic Club watch out for an Eightball cap and mask.

One Grand

2011-01-27T07:44:00.000-08:00

This is actually Rabbits Against magic strip number 1000! That's nearly three years of continuous daily posting come rain or shine with no repeats or vacations, a fact that I'm curiously proud of. Ironically it didn't load correctly on GoComics today although I can't yet confirm it was accidentally deleted.

Red Rabbit Against Magic

2011-01-20T09:59:00.000-08:00

The always fabulous Big Blog of Kid's Comics posted this rather fascinating yet disturbing scan of a Red Rabbit story from a 1945 Ha Ha Comic (#17). Red Rabbit is a gambling, smoking and rather dumb animal, just the sort of roll model that post WWII AMerica was looking for. He ends up dressing as a small child while his wife pretending to be his mother gives him a good spanking! It was drawn by Irving Dressler who went on to animate many of the classic 1960s Popeye cartoons. There was another, slightly more sanitized Red Rabbit that appeared a few years later in his own comic.

Vintage Soda Against Magic

2011-01-19T09:31:00.000-08:00

Never heard of this delicious looking beverage before but it's definitely not affiliated with the Eightball stout produced by the Lost Coast Brewery here in California. Some brief Google research reveals that it was made for a brief time by the Red Rock Soda Company in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Via best blog ever Mark's Scrapbook of Oddities and Treasures.

Anthropomorphic Ivy

2011-01-15T09:39:00.000-08:00

I love this cover for "Comic Capers" issue one from 1944. The inside features Super rabbit, Silly Seal, Ziggy Pig, Widjit (sic) Witch, Sharpy Fox, Percy Penguin and something called "The Creeper" (no doubt some cute anthropomorphic ivy character. If you have a copy laying around it's worth $339 according to The Comic Shop.

How To Get Ahead Of Hare.

2011-01-10T10:03:00.000-08:00

From the vast Flickr pool of images comes this awesome photo entitled "Rabbit on the Brain" by Laura Burlton. I pretty much have rabbits on my brain every day. Via Tiny Bunny Woman.

Trickle Down Development

2011-01-10T10:00:00.000-08:00

Over two years ago I got contacted by a wonderfully friendly Mexican who wanted to use one of my political cartoons. I granted him permission and then forgot about it. Today I was sent an impressive looking academic paper titled "Preserving Idealism in Global Health" which features my humble little illustration. After years of cranking out frivolous little strips it's nice to see my name associated with something meaningful again.

Miffy in the Ivy

2011-01-01T18:46:00.000-08:00

I think this is Miffy from the Dick Bruna children's books. It's super popular in Japan where this image came from. The colors on that pencil case are actually three colors I use a lot in my Rabbit strips. Thanks to 何か掘り出し物があれば良かったんですが for the link.

Happy New Year! Bonne Année! Feliz Año Nuevo! Blij Nieuw Jaar! Ano Novo Contente! Nuovo Anno Felice! And a радостный Новый год to everyone.

2011-01-01T10:51:00.000-08:00

Here's a selection of interesting Rabbit New Years cards posted over at our good friends at Pick Tentacle.