Comic Review: Auntie Agatha’s Home for Wayward Rabbits #2

Auntie Agatha’s Home For Wayward Rabbits #2

Image Comics

Writer: Keith Giffen

Artist: Benjamin Roman

So the thing is: I love these rabbits. You tell me there’s a world where these rabbits can be in my yard, up in my business? Take me there. Right now.

Seriously. Keith Giffen and Benjamin Roman are gifting us a fantastic and fun book. And this issue has it all. Great dialogue, advancing plot, coloring pages, pin-up art, character design sketches. Keith Giffen and Benjamin Roman are putting in work for your comic dollars! Issue #2 moves everything along but at a pace that allows everything to unfold naturally and it does a lot in very subtle ways, mostly through conversation. This isn’t a “talking heads” issue though, or at least it does the trope right.  The dialogue is quick, conversational and flowing – it unpacks the characters and the world they inhabit. This is critical because this is a world we’ve just been dropped into.  We need to know more and we shouldn’t have it explained to us in any tedious way.

Roman is such a stand-out with his art.  The panels flow nicely and the comedic timing is spot on.  Matt Wagner has always been a go-to artist for me when it comes to telling a visual story and Roman has all the same hallmarks. Nothing is rushed here, the pacing is smooth and consistent and he can tell a story with any number of details. That’s awesome. You’ll remember that I love Giffen’s work but I have been enjoying this more than I could have hoped. He’s built a great book and as oddball as it might appear I think it shows Keith in his best light. I’ve really been enjoying the honest, breezy voice he’s found with Wayward Rabbits.  The book is funny, smart and honest and it just works.

Issue #2 brings some new characters into the mix and some more insight into the world of the rabbits.  Nothing much happens in a sense but this is a very satisfying follow-up to a banging debut issue.  I know this is a limited series and I think that’s great. I like endings. But I’m not looking forward to this finishing up.

Two issues in and I’m grinning from ear to ear!