Trabbans

The Trabban homeworld is one of varied climates and regions, but one dominant species has taken over. The Trabbans have no concept of nations or tribes, and a single Trabban language is spoken worldwide. This single culture hasn’t had a lot of reason to change over the years, so for hundreds of generations, their technological level has been stuck at a level comparable to our middle ages. Also, they kinda look like rabbits.

Doofsy is a farmer of the fungus-like food that makes up a large portion of the Trabban diet. Farms like Doofsy’s are large tunnel systems that need to be kept damp, but the farmers have to be on constant watch for lobburs, which are large worm-like creatures that love to dig into the tunnels and feast. Doofsy, unfortunately, has a strong fear of lobburs, which can make the work pretty hard.

Wuvva is a producer of the one type of clothing that Trabbans wear. It is a known fact that in ages long past Trabbans used to wear different kinds of clothing, but once the current style was designed, nobody saw any reason to wear anything else. Trabban clothing is probably the most advanced technology on the planet, creating a sort of internal climate that keeps the wearer at an ideal temperature, resists all sorts of physical damage, is ultra-hygienic, and even feels comfortable. They’re so great that Trabbans don’t even care about variety anymore. Trabbans like Wuvva have to study for years to make them, but are very respected by their peers for their work.

Flerfy is a sky sailor working on the zeppelin-like ships that are the main source of long-distance travel on this world. This form of transportation is one of the reasons a single worldwide culture is so possible. But Flerfy doesn’t care about that. Flerfy is convinced that there is still new and exciting things in the world, even if nobody else is looking for them. Seeking novel experiences, Flerfy now sails the skies into the least populated regions seeking any kind of danger or thrills or adventure. It seems entirely likely that if anything interesting ever happens to the Trabban homeworld, it’ll be because of Flerfy.

A Fact About Trabbans: The Trabban astronomers have detected the fact that the universe is expanding and everything is getting further apart, but their current theories ascribe it to the idea that everything in the universe is decreasing in size.

Universe: Brown

At this point it is a tradition for me to do something rabbit-related in every Super Sunday theme, so this is the one for this.

Bella Harrison

Bella Harrison is an enlightened old black woman who offers wise spiritual advice to white people who are having problems. It happens all the time. Some white person is losing confidence before the big game, or a married white couple is drifting apart, or some white detective just can’t seem to pull together the necessary clues to solve the case. One conversation with Bella and her down-to-earth wisdom helps to turn everything around.

But this skill has not gone unnoticed. People in power have caught on that Bella always seems to know what to do. A secret government task force was formed. At first they just monitored as she advised white people, but then they tried to go undercover and solicit advice for a made-up problem. Bella saw right through the ruse and fled. Now Bella is on the lam, always one step ahead of the task force that wants to know her secrets, even if it means bringing her in and dissecting her brain.

The Magical Negro is, of course, a patronizing attempt at white people who make movies to create black characters who are so great that the people who make the movies can’t possibly be racist. Instead of creating black characters who were realistically human, they did this. Naturally I needed to get onto that bandwagon and make it weird.

Bunnra the Mighty

Bunnra was, for a time, just an ordinary rabbit used in ordinary magic acts. She would “vanish” into a hat or “appear” from a sleeve. It was a good enough gig for a rabbit, she supposed, but it didn’t last. One day, the magician who owned her bought a used hat that he thought would add a touch of flair to his act. What he didn’t realize was that this hat was actually once the property of a genuine wizard. If he’d placed it on his head he would have been instructed in all manner of mystical arts, but before he did so, he wanted to make sure Bunnra would fit, and so it was that she was the one who was privy to the secrets of the cosmos. Soon being in a magic act is not enough for her and she returns to the woods to be back with her own kind, as a magical rabbit queen!

I started a tradition when I got rabbit-themed Superheroes and a rabbit-themed Supervillain into previous Super Sunday years. Had to keep it going. I think she and her realm of rabbits would have to meet the Horribloid.

The Monster Serpent

Snakes have a bad reputation. It’s a shame, really, ’cause plenty of them are pretty nice.

The Monster Serpent, however, is not nice. This monstrous snake is as cruel and cunning as any stories snake has ever been. The countryside around her lair is unusually empty, for even the animals have come to fear the dire snake that feasts on any who come within its range. When hungry, the serpent will leave her grounds to hunt for any animals, including wolves, bears, and even humans. The only being brave enough to defend the nearby animal population from this beast is another beast, the Horribloid.

The Horribloid is one of the ideas I had during the superhero year that I came to like more than I ever expected. I built up this whole superhero/Lord of the Rings/Watership Down sort of setting and it took off in my mind. I wanted to come up with a villain for that setting that is not a human and this was the result.

The Phantom Rabbit

When Chuck Grosnington was bombarded by radioactive space energy, he mutated into a hulking pink rabbit man strong enough to shatter steel and leap miles at a time. Calling himself the “Phantom Rabbit” he has decided he can do whatever he wants now, so he rampages around and acts like a total jerk.

I can still remember the day when I was in my late teens, working at my summer job and, quite bored, I drew the Phantom Rabbit. I just liked the idea that, in spite of their being nothing remotely “phantomy” about the character, he insisted on being called “The Phantom Rabbit”. Anyway, when I realized that I managed to do two rabbit-related heroes last year, I knew I had to get at least one rabbit villain, so the memory of this character came back.

“Monster Serpent” and “Phantom Rabbit” seemed like a good pair to put up in one post.

Two superheroes this week! I created this duo as a duo, so they’re a duo. One is superhumanly strong and tough, the other quick and agile. One can punch through a bus, the other can jump over a bus. They fight crime. They are:

Rhinoceros Woman and Rabbit.

We’re not even a month into this thing and I’m already presenting my second rabbit-themed character. What does that say about me?

I have mentioned in the past that I made a comic about a guy called Zappo back in elementary school. What I haven’t brought up yet is that on the inside cover of that comic I, emulating what I saw in real comics, created an advertisement for another comic. That advertisement was for the adventures of Rhinoceros Woman and Rabbit. That makes these two among the very earliest superheroes I ever created. Still, this is probably the first time that I’ve drawn them since. I don’t have that Zappo comic any more, which is a shame, but I still have a pretty good memory of how these characters looked. Rhinoceros Woman, with her shoulder pads and horns, and Rabbit’s weird sunglasses/angular ear-like-things are exactly the mental image that’s been in my head for about two decades. Rabbit is pretty ridiculous, I admit, but I’m pretty proud of the fact that Rhinoceros Woman, probably the first female superhero I ever dreamed up, is not the standard “Hot Woman” that 99.99% of female superheroes are.

I’ve always been a fan of male-female friendships in fiction that ARE NOT given any kind of sexual tension. This is probably the rarest kind of relationship depicted in our society. I’ve bet we’ve seen more “innocent child/alien or robot” pairings than truly platonic male/female friendships in movies or on television. But these two are friends, partners in crimefighting, and nothing romantic. That said, at some point, probably well after elementary, I decided that Rabbit was probably gay. That helps to reinforce their just being friends, obviously, but it also defeats the significance of the platonic-ness of their relationship. What I want is more relationships between heterosexual man and woman who are nonetheless not in a Will They Won’t They plot. Still, there’ll be time for that in the future. For now, I’m also going to let Rabbit stand as the first gay superhero I created too.

I have never bothered to think up origins for these guys. If I ever need to, I will, but for now I’ve got a lot of room I could work with these characters. You’ll never know where to expect them to show up.