It’s time for Major Spoilers to check in on the goings-on at Auntie Agatha’s Home for Wayward Rabbits #4 from Image Comics.

AUNTIE AGATHA’S HOME FOR WAYWARD RABBITS #4

Writer: Keith Giffen
Artist: Benjamin Roman
Publisher: Image Comics, Inc.
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: February 13, 2019

Previously in Auntie Agatha’s Home for Wayward Rabbits: Julie, Agatha, Sawyer and Asuka leave Naomi and Raquel to Annette and their discussion about ecru. Julie has been turning down the developer, J. Jackson Jackson, for two years. He wants to build a golf course, and Agatha’s land is the last piece he needs. Naomi and Raquel come in carrying Annette – she won’t stop talking about ecru. While Naomi continues to work on Julie, Asuka stares at Raquel until she freaks out and the two women leave. Annette knocks Sawyer out, and Julie sends Buster to get Pope. Then she drags Sawyer off to the sink to wake him up. Julie just doesn’t know what to do anymore.

WHAT TO DO, WHAT TO DO?

As though Auntie Agatha’s Home for Wayward Rabbits #4 isn’t generally surreal enough, it starts out with Sawyer and Pope talking to Loomis the mouse as he is rigging up the shed full of rabbit food to explode, if someone tries to take it. He is paranoid about the cats taking over. Loomis, siphoning gas from the car, wants to know what Sawyer wants from him. Pope, who talks exclusively by quotes and sayings, is surprisingly relevant and gets Sawyer to open up about hoping that Loomis could come up with something that would help save their home.

Naomi and Raquel are back at headquarters talking with J. Jackson Jackson himself, explaining that they were unsuccessful due to a rabbit with kung fu eyes. They also didn’t talk with Agatha because she’s hard of hearing. Jackson explains to them that he needs that land, and he doesn’t care how he gets it.

The next day, Julie feeds the rabbits and Sawyer is there again. She is scared, and she is certain that they will lose. Sawyer wants to help. She bops him on the head and reminds him that he’s a rabbit. Later, Sawyer is moping in his hutch when Loomis comes by to use the shower (where he monologues about his explosives). He asks Sawyer to remind Julie to keep away from the shed. Sawyer asks Loomis how big the blast radius is. The mouse has no idea. But Sawyer thinks about this, and thinks.

LIFE IN THE HUTCHES

As I’ve gotten more used to the art in Auntie Agatha’s Home for Wayward Rabbits #4, I can appreciate the characters more and read their faces better. This was a challenge at first. These are rabbits with various psychological issues, and some of them have a rather flat, and others a rather odd, range of emotions. Seeing them in more issues gives us a chance to get to know them better and start seeing many of them as more than two dimensional. This is particularly the case with Sawyer. We can also see it some with Annette. Unfortunately, Asuka, who is a very pretty rabbit, is being played without much range right now and I am still hoping that there is more to her character than that of a stereotyped Asian.

Loomis is delightfully cranky and odd. He is battered and scarred, and looks like he’s probably already been at war with the cats. I really like the scenes of his set up with the explosives – they are quite elaborate.

Up until this issue, everything has taken place at Auntie Agatha’s home, which is in a distinctly rural area. Now we see the Jackson building, which is plainly in the city. All the characters have a somewhat exaggerated look to them, and Jackson is no exception. He appears to be wearing a toupee that doesn’t match his hair, and has huge unruly eyebrows and almost no chin. I love when he yells at Naomi and Raquel – bits of their hair stand on end (as it can do, in the comics), but it stays up like that throughout their entire meeting, which is an amusing touch.

BOTTOM LINE: THE WEIRDNESS CONTINUES

Auntie Agatha’s Home for Wayward Rabbits #4 is turning more serious than it had looked at first, although there still are a sprinkling of gags throughout. I like the main characters, but am concerned about the two-dimensional presentation (so far) of some of the secondary characters. The villains are interesting but odd. Well, this book is somewhat odd throughout. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it also isn’t something everyone has already seen a million times either.