Tales From Birdbun Theatre

    (Empire, 2002)
™ and © Empire Syndicate Inc.

Tales from Birdbun Theatre #1 is a collection of comic-strip reprints (and some new material) about a likable pair of gay funny animals. Bird the bird and Bun the bunny lampoon the conservative right, as they share a number of adventures, including a trip to the city zoo to see Dr. Laura and Rush Limbaugh and a dinner where Bird orders from the waiter “a modern society where two adults who love each other can get married if they want to.”

Conservatives are bashed aplenty, but, to cartoonist Dennis Tucker’s credit, much of the humor pokes fun at the stereotypical gay lifestyle. For example, Bun tells a character with a Ricky Martin poster that he has “the libido of a 14-year-old girl,” and Bird and Bun are proper and refined when they needn’t be (such as on a camping trip). Also to Tucker’s credit is that a number of the strips don’t involve homosexuality or politics in any way and are just as funny as the ones that do.

Tucker is a better humorist than he is an artist; his line work isn’t as bold or as sure as some of the masters of the genre, such as Charles Schulz, Bill Watterson, or Jeff Smith (unfair comparisons, to be sure), but he’s certainly no amateur. In fact, he’s pretty darned good.

Tales from Birdbun Theatre is recommended for mature readers, but most of the strips are surprisingly clean.

— Brett Weiss
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