Review: Rabbit And Paul

Reviewed by David Ferguson

Created by Seán Hogan

I usually don’t go for the all ages type of books which I have recently learned is a pretty stupid policy. First with Alan Nolan’s And The Blood Flowed Green (a topic for another post) and more recently with Rabbit And Paul. Coincidentally, I get a somewhat Alan Nolan vibe from Seán Hogan’s comic debut both in terms of art and tone. Rabbit And Paul, however, has a bit of a surreal edge to it. It is the story of a young boy called Paul who buys a 6 foot anthropomorphic rabbit and their adventures in the town of Bally’O’Jaysus as they try to get him home to his mams. There are many things that I enjoyed about this book: the Irish feel to the humour, the surreal edge of some of the jokes and the impressive art and design work of Seán Hogan. There is one page where Paul tries some sour candy from East Asia that reminded me of the comedy stylings of Ren & Stimpy. This is an extremely impressive and polished debut and I look forward to seeing more.

Here’s a sample of that impressive design: