ChickenHare by Chris Grine (review)

Rotman’s Teen Boat! (BCCB 6/12) gave us a hero who was both adolescent boy and fancy yacht; now Grine’s aptly titled graphic novel features a portmanteau protagonist with the ears of a bunny and the legs of a fowl. The story opens on an icy northern landscape with ChickenHare and pal Abe (a bearded turtle) about to be sold to Mr. Klaus, an evil taxidermist who traffics in bizarre and exotic animals. Outwitting Klaus and a few of his dimwitted henchman is easy with the help of fellow prisoners, witch-girl Meg and her pet monkey (or demon) Banjo, but ChickenHare knows he has to stop Klaus’ brutality once and for all. The quirky main character and his similarly strange friends will likely appeal to youngsters looking for a laugh; while some of the darker humor edges more toward horrific than amusing (the villain is served up as dinner at the book’s close), the overall tone is mischievously jokey. The plot itself is predictable and the characters one-note, but the simple absurdity of the premise may be enough to please its audience. Additionally, ChickenHare gets a few excellent zingers in at the expense of Klaus (who looks remarkably like an evil twin version of Santa) that guarantee chuckles. The cartoonish artwork recalls Jeff Smith’s work in Bone, and the sequential layout of panels along with the focused close-ups and dialogue-rich text make this an easy pick for readers just discovering the graphic-novel format.