Rocko’s Modern Life

(Marvel, 1994)
™ and ©1994 Nickelodeon, a division of Viacom International, Inc.

The mid-1990s saw a daring breed of “new cartoon” emerging. Encouraged by the success of The Simpsons, cartoons like the Ren & Stimpy Show and Beavis & Butt-Head began pushing the edge, with over-the-top cartoon mayhem combined with equal measures of lowbrow bodily function jokes and sly, adult humor.

Nickelodeon’s Rocko’s Modern Life was a good example of this new breed. The lead character is a well-meaning Wallaby, who is joined by his bovine pal Heffer and idiotic dog Spunky on a series of madcap adventures. Throughout it all, Rocko comes off as a lovable sad-sack with an amusing Australian accent (which, unfortunately, does not translate well to printed comics). It enjoyed a modest success on television, although this comic series was short-lived.

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