Look alive everyone,
… and gaze in bewildered awe at how quickly I wrote this. The last review went online only ten minutes ago and already another one has been finished. When Solomon E runs this blog that’s the high-speed responsiveness you can expect!
This post will analyze “Neobunnicon” by Phillip M. Jackson, a.k.a. PMJ, a.k.a. Jolly Jack. Jackson is a British artist who has created a number of comics incorporating fantastic themes like anthropomorphic (furry) characters, breast expansion (B.E.), height increase to skyscraper size, and penis enlargement! He runs a web comic called “Sequential Art” and has been posting sketches online since at least 2006.
Of interest, Jackson is one of the few size fetish artists unafraid to make political and social content sharing his opinion on current events:
This particular Phillip M. Jackson story is a loving homage to the “Evil Dead” series created by Bruce Campbell, Rob Tapert, and Sam Raimi. The trio made several movies in this franchise beginning with the ultra low budget “Within the Woods” in 1978 then progressing to “The Evil Dead” in 1981, “Evil Dead II” in 1987, and “Army of Darkness” in 1992. Bruce played the main role of Ashley “Ash” Williams fighting undead creatures called “Deadites” which were brought into existence via the translation of an ancient Sumerian grimoire, the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis. (SIDE NOTE: H.P. Lovecraft first created the Necronomicon, or Book of the Dead, for his story “The Hound.”)
These horror films were popular and garnered a cult following. Various companies then licensed the property to make comic and video game adaptations. Additional movies in the franchise, “Evil Dead” in 2013 and “Evil Dead Rise” in 2023, were made without Bruce Campbell as the lead. Although, Bruce returned in 2015 to star in a TV series, “Ash vs Evil Dead,” which ran for three seasons. Initially, the Evil Dead was straight horror, but Bruce Campbell demonstrated a knack for slapstick so humor ramped up along the way.
In contrast, Neobunnicon is not the least bit scary. Although, to order to be completely accurate, I must note that a desiccated corpse was shown in one panel. However, the man’s cruel fate was not dwelt upon and there was no other blood or guts. Scary movies often include a large number of characters to serve as fodder for a monster or slasher, but in Neobunnicon there were only three speaking characters. None of them were hurt.
Basically, Dash and Lynda (modeled after Ash and Linda in the original) travel to a cabin in the woods owned by Dash’s Uncle Bob. Once there Dash discovered a tape recorder which when played initiated a series of magical transformations as Lynda transformed into a horny bunny girl. Unnamed researcher’s similarly unidentified wife popped up from under the floor and the trio engage in a sex-filled “struggle.”
Along the way numerous callbacks were made to the Evil Dead source material including a motorized dildo akin to Evil Dead II’s chainsaw. Good stuff! Furthermore, the artwork was detailed and gorgeous. Dash had a very expressive face which perfectly conveyed his feelings.
The quality of this illustrated story wasn’t all sunshine and lollipops though. There were a few quibbles to be had. Surprisingly, two minor problems originated on a single page! To begin with, Dash said “I knew Uncle Bob was a swinger!” after learning that an unnamed university researcher and his wife were allowed to stay at Uncle Bob’s, a.k.a. Robert’s, cabin in the woods. Did the fact that a married couple stayed at their friend’s cabin make that friend a swinger? Just because a person allows a couple to stay at their cabin it does not logically follow that the person is having sex with the couple. The cabin owner may not even be physically present while the couple is there. How does this make sense?
Additionally, that same researcher mentioned that his understanding of “… old Brythonic is limited …” compared to his university peers. However, the text recited from the grimoire, a sacred chant, was in Latin, not Brythonic. On the left of the following screenshot the reference to old Brythonic was underlined in red while on the right side in red boxes is the actual chant in Latin.
This was not a deal breaker and a decent argument could be made that the grimoire was written in both Brythonic and Latin. (SIDE NOTE: Modern Brythonic, or Brittonic, languages include Cornish and Welsh.) Perhaps Brythonic was used for most of the text while Latin was reserved for certain liturgical or religious sections, like the chant? That would be in keeping with the use of vernacular languages alongside Latin in Roman Catholic church services. My belief is that Jackson referenced Old Brythonic, and King Arthur, to support a fun reference to “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” which I won’t spoil.
Another small issue was the actual resolution to the story. This may be a spoiler, but not so crucial as to ruin the experience. Basically, Dash fucked to solve the problem. My question is why didn’t that work for the last guy, the university researcher who wound up dried out and dead? It’s not as if Dash cast another spell or found a particular magical artifact that gave him an edge. Instead, his dick suddenly grew (for reasons?) which enabled him to satisfy the horny bunnies.
Overall, the positives far outweighed the negatives. I give Neobunnicon five amorous rabbit-shaped trees out of five!
There is the problem of how to buy this comic. For a time fans could have bought this at Jackson’s Gumroad store. However, due to recent policy changes, Jackson has since removed all of his stores from Gumroad. Unfortunately, and to the best of my evil knowledge, there is no place to legally purchase this particular comic. Jackson has a Patreon and a storefront at Itch.io, but Neobunnicon cannot be purchased. Unfortunately, searching for this comic returns a number of sites hosting illicit copies. Fans should check the following link to see if Neobunnicon is officially available: https://www.collectedcurios.com/apsara_2019.html
That’s it for today. Stay tuned to There She Grows for a little something different coming up soon. A short macabre story of size horror. Expect it to manifest on that most cherished of nights, All Hallows’ Eve. Until then, keep screaming!
This review was written by Solomon E and is protected under Fair Use copyright law.
All Rights Reserved.
There She Grows 