Cutey Bunny is a

cartoon animal Talking animals are a common element in mythology and folk tales, children's literature, and modern comic books and animated cartoons. Fictional talking animals often are anthropomorphic, possessing human-like qualities (such as bipedal walkin ...

superheroine created by

Joshua Quagmire Joshua Quagmire (sometimes shortened to JQ) (1952-2023) was an American cartoonist of underground and mainstream comic books, best known for his creation Cutey Bunny. His comicbook work also overlapped with and contributed to the early furry fan ...

for a humorous line of American

underground Underground most commonly refers to: * Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth Underground may also refer to: Places * The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston * The Underground ...

comic books A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

that first appeared through ''Army Surplus Komikz'', which ran sporadically for five issues from 1982 to 1985. She has since appeared through various other comic titles such as '' Critters'' from

Fantagraphics Books Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and the erotic Eros Comix imprint. History Founding Fantagraphics was found ...

and one-shots such as ''Cutey Bunny's Pearl Harbor Beach Party'' from

Rip Off Press Rip Off Press Corporation, Inc. is a comic book mail order retailer and Distribution (business), distributor, better known as the former publisher of adult-themed series like ''The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers'' and ''Rip Off Comix'', as well as ...

. As her name suggests, Cutey Bunny's powers and concept are a

pastiche A pastiche is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, music, or architecture that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. Unlike parody, pastiche pays homage to the work it imitates, rather than mocking it ...

Go Nagai , better known by the pen name , is a Japanese manga artist and a prolific author of science fiction, fantasy, horror and erotica. He made his professional debut in 1967 with ''Meakashi Polikichi'', but is best known for creating popular 1970s ...

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

creation,

Cutey Honey is a Japanese shōnen manga series written and illustrated by Go Nagai. First appearing in ''Weekly Shōnen Champions 41st issue of 1973, the series ran until April 1974. It follows an android girl named Honey Kisaragi, who transf ...

Plot

Cutey Bunny (sometimes labeled "QT Bunny" for short) is secretly Cpl. Kelly O'Hare, a special agent for the United States, based in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

and employed by an unspecified branch of the

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...

. She is dispatched on special missions, usually directly by the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

, and encounters action and adventure; frequent adversaries include Vicky Feldhyser, a kinky

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

fox who's described as a "four-ple" agent (one level beyond "triple") for various

intelligence services An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement, national security National security, or national defence, is the security and defence of ...

, and "Uncle Joe", a transparent caricature of

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...

Powers

Cutey's powers derive from her amulet, a gift from Ra, the ancient Egyptian god of the sun (Ra is an occasional guest-star in the comic; much is made about his befuddlement with modern-day technology, such as

toaster A toaster is a small electric appliance that uses radiant heat to brown sliced bread into toast. Types Pop-up toaster In pop-up or automatic toasters, a single vertical piece of bread is dropped into a slot on the top of the toaster. ...

s and electric coffeepots). The amulet allows Kelly to change instantly into any one of six different costumes, and gain the powers associated with each; for example, as "Rocket Bunny", she can fly with the aid of rocket-powered boots, and as "Samurai Bunny", she wears

chainmail Chain mail (properly called mail or maille but usually called chain mail or chainmail) is a type of armour consisting of small metal rings linked together in a pattern to form a mesh. It was in common military use between the 3rd century BC and ...

armor and can wield a

katana A is a Japanese sword characterized by a curved, single-edged blade with a circular or squared guard and long grip to accommodate two hands. Developed later than the ''tachi'', it was used by samurai in feudal Japan and worn with the edge fa ...

to deadly effect. In the 5th and last issue of ''Army Surpluz'', the amulet interacted with other forces (such as Wunner Bunny's magic lasso) to transform Cutey into Dark Cutey (one of many parodies of Marvel's

Dark Phoenix "The Dark Phoenix Saga" is an extended X-Men comic-book storyline published by Marvel Comics, focusing on Jean Grey and the Phoenix Force. It was written by Chris Claremont with art by John Byrne. The Dark Phoenix Saga commonly refers to the s ...

) who promptly tempts her teammates with the merchandising potential of being "dark" like her.

Development

Kelly is drawn as a shapely

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...

bunny Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit spec ...

, often dressed in something fairly revealing, as befits Quagmire's sense of

burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

. Superhero Multiverse describes her as "the world's first

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

rabbit superheroine". She sometimes wears her hair in

cornrows Cornrows are a traditional style of braids in which the hair is braided very close to the scalp, using an underhand, upward motion to make a continuous, raised row. Cornrows are often done in simple, straight lines, as the term implies, but they ...

. She is very bright, athletic, friendly, and clean-cut, usually uttering no oaths stronger than "Gosh-a-rootie!" Cutey Bunny should not be confused with her

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

counterpart and occasional co-star, Cutie Bunny, whose secret identity is Heather ap-Glendower (or ''-Glendowner''), and who has no special powers beyond great athleticism. Cutie was introduced by Quagmire as a

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subj ...

of the "

Earth-Two Earth-Two (also Earth Two or Earth 2) is a setting for stories (a "fictional universe") appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. First appearing in ''The Flash'' #123 (1961), Earth-Two was created to explain differences between ...

" story concept once employed by

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

to explain the history of their

Golden Age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during ...

superheroes. Cutey Bunny made an appearance in the independently produced "Army Surplus Komikz, Featuring Cutey Bunny" series in the early 1980s. It ran for five issues between 1982 and 1985. Issue #5 was distributed by

Eclipse Comics Eclipse Comics was an American comic book publisher, one of several independent publishers during the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1978, it published the first graphic novel intended for the newly created comic book specialty store market. It was ...

in 1985, its logo featured on the cover. Despite blurbs for upcoming issues in ''

Amazing Heroes ''Amazing Heroes'' was a magazine about the comic book medium published by American company Fantagraphics Books from 1981 to 1992. Unlike its companion title, ''The Comics Journal'', ''Amazing Heroes'' was a hobbyist magazine rather than an analyt ...

'', no further issues were published.

References

Sources

* Robbins, Trina. ''The Great Women Super Heroes'' (Kitchen Sink Press, 1996) , ch. 11 (incl. illo) * Rovin, Jeff. "Cutey Bunny", entry in ''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Cartoon Animals'' (Prentice Hall, 1991) {{ISBN, 0-13-275561-0

External links

Cutey Bunny's Official Website (The QUAGMIRE)Cutey Bunny's Facebook page.
1982 comics debuts 1985 comics endings Comics about animals Comics about rabbits and hares Fictional rabbits and hares Underground comix Animal superheroes Fictional African-American people