Alright! I will soon be discussing the Raving Rabbids’ TV show. However, first, let me dwell a bit on the Raving Rabbids comic books, published in France.The books were written by Thitaume and, up to Book 9, drawn by Pujol (because French and Belgian comic book writers/artists absolutely HAVE to have a one-word pen name, for some reason), and published by Les Deux Royaumes.There are English editions of the books available, though some gags have been changed.
I could see that front page as a jump scare in a FNAF-style "Keep the bunnies away from you" Rabbids horror game. |
That one time, the fourth wall resisted. |
One book contains the best description for a Raving
Rabbid that anyone could ever hope to write (I translated it for your benefit).
Also note that it’s phrased as a game show question because that particular
page had Rabbids watching the show and then copying it. “I am a part of the
family of long-eared lagomorphs and only speak using terms such as ‘Bada’ or
‘Bwaaah’. Utterly dumb, I tend to imitate what I see in an absurd and
unpredictable fashion. When an idea pops in my head, the consequences can be
terrible. Who am I?”
Then the two Rabbids mimic the concept of a game show…
Perfect, isn’t it?
Another brilliant element of the comic book: Did you
know Rabbids were genderless? I mean, they seem to default as an all-male
species, mostly because they behave so often like rude, dumb boys. And yet, the
books frequently feature Rabbids who choose their own gender, usually by
mimicking the tertiary characteristics of the gender they desire to be: A wig
of hair, eyelashes and fruits or sport balls placed strategically at the front
of the shirt. The writers get quite a bit of mileage from these jokes,
too. See this gag strip of a plastic surgeon Rabbid having to close his
business because a fruit shop opened next door and the female Rabbids buy
watermelons to replace their original fruits.
Oh, and the Rabbids comic book have probably the
riskiest joke I have ever seen in any media with kids as their target
demographic. Although it’s cleverly hidden as a Rabbid-centric parody. One who
knows the reference would instantly go “OH MY GOD, THEY ACTUALLY WENT THERE”. I
refer to one of the paintings on this page. Explaining this joke would ruin it.
Oh, and I guess the main joke is funny too. |
There were 10 books published in the series. The last one came out in stores not even a month ago, drawn by Thomas Priou instead of Pujol. Some of the later books have themes or ongoing storylines: Book 7 is about fashion, Book 8 has a Rabbid stealing panels off pages (that’s pretty Meta), and Book 9 follows a hypnotist who trades minds with a Rabbid and tries to turn them both back to normal. The comic also features recurring Rabbids with their own gags, whether it’s the Sherlock Holmes one, the cleaning bunny, the Waldo bunny who never finds a good place to hide…
That’s about all I need to say about the comics:
Smarter than you’d think, a lot of interesting twists, a lot of media awareness
as well. I encourage you to look up some of the pages, as there’s a surprising
lot of adult jokes, and if that’s your sort of thing, you could enjoy reading
through those.
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