Review: Chickenhare: The House of Klaus by Chris Grine

by Chriss Cornish published: August 25, 2008 No Comments

This Book Is About

What do you get when you cross a chicken with a hare? The funniest, most exciting all-ages graphic novel of all time! Night is falling on the frozen landscape as Chickenhare and his turtle friend Abe find themselves on their way to be sold to Klaus-an insane taxidermist with a penchant for unique animals and enough emotional baggage to go on a very long vacation! With the help of two mysterious new companions (not to mention a very friendly, very dead goat!), Chickenhare and Abe might be able to escape… Right into the lair of the deadly cave-dwelling critters known as the Shromph!…er, Shromps? Shromphses?

My Thoughts On This Book

Scanned page from Chickenhare: The House of Klaus
A little silly and a lot fun, Chickenhare is a surrealistic buddy adventure for all ages. Our basic plot: two friends, Abe (a turtle with a beard) and Chickenhare (a, ahem, rabbit with chicken feathers and legs) have been captured by some guy who’s totting them through a snowy landscape to sell to Klaus (a crazy rich guy with serious issues, lots of taxidermied pets dressed in doll clothes, and a giant oil painting of a goat in a top hat and monocle (did I mention Klaus has issues?)).

In Klaus’ dungeon they meet Meg (a little girl with antelope-ish horns and REALLY long hair) and Banjo (a jerk of a monkey who turns out to really be something called a Krampus (and you simply HAVE to read vol. 2 to find out what that’s all about). Since none of them want to be added to Klaus’ demented collection of literally stuffed animals, they hatch an escape plan and flee for their lives. They’re helped in their flight by the ghost of the goat in the top hat.

Scanned page from Chickenhare: The House of Klaus And, let’s face it, how many stories do you read where the deus ex machina is the spirit of a dead and decaying goat wearing a top hat and monocle? If you’ve ever not frowned at silly, then you need to read Chickenhare: The House of Klaus just for that. And, ahem, because it’s, you know, a fun read and a good graphic novel. I really enjoyed Chickenhare and volume 2, Descent in to Hell did a great job of continuing plot threads we get a peek at in House of Klaus.

And don’t let the dead goat and crazy dude fool you, this fun graphic novel is kid and family friendly. A delight to anyone of any age.

Shade-tastic or Blank-city: How Well Was This Black-and-White Comic Shaded

Chickenhare is very simple black and white and cartoonish in its style. It’s drawn and shaded so that’s very easy to follow the story and distinguish between objects.