Fluffy HC

Simone Lia

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Fluffy is a new graphic novel from Dark Horse, collecting all four volumes of a book that creator Simone Lia previously published herself. The story follows a little bunny named Fluffy, who is being raised by a human daddy, the neurotic Michael Pulcino. Fluffy refuses to acknowledge that he's a bunny and acts like a little kid, going on about tractors and ice cream. Michael has his own problems in this book, escaping to Sicily to get away from his stalker girlfriend (who also happens to be Fluffy's preschool teacher), dealing with his dramatic family, and generally fumbling to find some sort of meaning in his life.

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While Fluffy is absolutely adorable, it's also surprisingly incredibly insightful. This book touches on a lot of issues that I've never seen really explored in the medium before, and it does them really well, sometimes through humor, sometimes through diagrams. And each of the characters involved in the story, even secondary ones, are treated like real people with real depth. I don't want to make it sound like it's more than it is, but I was surprised to find this such a layered work beyond the immediate "cuteness" factor, which was also well done and constantly brought a smile to my face. The book is really beautifully packaged as well, which combined with the wonderful story contained within made it well worth the $19.95 pricetag. In fact, I'd say that it was easily one of my best purchases of the year.