Bunny vs. Monkey

Smart keeps the laughs coming in this compilation of comics that were previously published in the British comic The Phoenix. Reflecting the weekly nature of that publication, these 26 two-page episodes move through the seasons as they follow the combative exchanges between the villainous Monkey and forest-dwellers Bunny, Pig, and Weenie the squirrel. Monkey—who thinks he’s on another planet, when his spaceship actually launched from a nearby scientific facility—wastes no time in attempting to conquer the forest, aided by the destructive/defective inventions of a skunk with an underground lab. Smart’s animals are cuter than cute, which makes the mayhem of inventions like a rotten-egg-dropping chicken zeppelin all the funnier, and the ever-cheerful and none-too-bright Pig and Weenie often steal the spotlight. (After dressing up as a ghost for Halloween—in May—Weenie only scares himself: “Augh! I’m a ghost? I’m scared of ghosts,” he wails. “Did I diiiiiiie?”) Some of the tired insults that get slung around (dumb, sissies, “like a girl”) are overdue for retirement, but there’s still a lot to enjoy in this collection. Ages 7–10. (Jan.)