MISC. MANGA, *Cutey Bunny

Well before a certain quartet of pizza-eating turtles made the scene, one of the first anthropomorphic superheroes among the underground comics scene was this bodacious bunnygirl. Taking inspiration from anime such as Cutey Honey, as well as other leading lady titles like Dirty Pair, Cutey Buney(or "QT Bunny")was created by Joshus Quagmire in the early 80s.

An African-American rabbit lady who received a powerful amulet from ancient Egypt that gives her the ability to change into 4-5 different outfits, each with their own separate powers or abilities. Kelly O'Hare(no relation to Bucky)now uses her superhero status as Cutey Bunny, working as a special agent answering directly to a cartoonish version of President Reagan. QT's super threads provide her with super-strength, jet boots, hyperspeed skates, ninja skills, and limited magic, depending on which outfit she switches to. Usually her enemies included her one-again/off-again adversary Vicky who usually tries to make out with her when she's tied up, as well as German mad scientist Gelving Shavinsky. Cutey Bunny is often assisted in her heroic endeavors by Fatty Tubins in his alter-ego of Astro Cat, the Space Gophers(who also have their own backup features in each issue), and Capt. Huey who is a farcical fusion of Captain America and Baby Huey. The original 5-issue mini-series usually poked fun at comedy staples like Road movies, superhero crossovers, space travel, and the Loch-Ness Monster. A one-shot special created a decade later sees Cutey Bunny teamed up with her British counterpart, "Cutie Bunny", who later appeared with her in two swimsuit specials.

The art-style Joshua Quagmire leant itself to manga style, seeing as each issue was done in black and white, but has a distinct back-and-forth using the more humanoid funny animals like Cutey Bunny, and the cartoony Space Gophers. The original 5-issue series from the 80s is difficult to come across, although the one-shot Uncle Joe's Commie Book starring QT and her friends is slightly more accessible, as well as two pin-up books. Cutey Bunny also had short stories done in anthology comics like Critters, Airlock, and Launch, but so far no collected edition exists of her past works. The initial series is worth gathering for a look at the dawn of what was labeled "furry comics", and its correlation with mid-80s American anime fandom.