{"id":36622,"date":"2026-09-30T17:43:23","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T17:43:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=36622"},"modified":"2026-09-30T17:43:23","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T17:43:23","slug":"jamie-smarts-bunny-vs-monkey-book-12-day-of-the-heroes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2026\/09\/30\/jamie-smarts-bunny-vs-monkey-book-12-day-of-the-heroes\/","title":{"rendered":"Jamie Smart\u2019s Bunny vs Monkey Book 12: Day of the Heroes!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nBy Jamie Smart<\/strong>, with Sammy Borras<\/strong>, Paul Duffield<\/strong> & Armin Roshdi<\/strong> (DFB\/Phoenix)
\nISBN: 978-1-78845-391-2 (HB), 978-1-78845-434-6 (Waterstones Exclusive Edition)<\/p>\n

Bunny vs Monkey<\/strong> has been the inspirationally bonkers breakout star of The<\/strong> Phoenix<\/strong> since the premiere issue back in 2012, cataloguing a madcap vendetta gripping animal archenemies set amidst an idyllic arcadia, masquerading as more-or-less mundane but critically endangered English woodlands. Concocted with gleefully gusto – but increasingly with a cerebral cosmic crescendo in mind – by cartoonist\/comics artist\/novelist Jamie Smart (Fish Head Steve!<\/strong>; Looshkin<\/strong>; Max and Chaffy<\/strong>, Flember<\/strong>, Find Chaffy<\/strong>; Megalomaniacs<\/strong>), these trendsetting, mindbending yarns have been wisely retooled as multi award-winning, bestselling graphic albums available in digest softcover such as this one hardback and sponsored special editions and even as AUDIOBOOKs. Just let that one last one sink in\u2026<\/p>\n

All the tail-biting tension and animal argy-bargy began yonks ago after an obnoxious little beast plopped down in after a disastrous British space shot. OR DID IT?<\/p>\n

Crashlanding in Crinkle Woods<\/em> – scant miles from his launch site – lab animal Monkey <\/em>believed himself the rightful owner of a strange new world, despite every effort of genteel, contemplative, reasonably sensible resident Bunny<\/em> to dissuade him. For all his patience, propriety and refined breeding, the laid-back lepine could not contain or control the incorrigible idiot ape, who to this moment remains a rude, troublemaking, chaos-causing, noise-loving lout intent on building his perfect \u201cMonkeyopia\u201d and\/or being a robot, with or without the aid of evil supergenius Skunky <\/em>or useless \u201chenches\u201d Metal Steve<\/em> & Action Beaver<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n

All those daily wonders and catastrophes were exacerbated by a mixed melange of mildly unconventional Crinkle creatures, none more so than aforementioned monochrome mad scientist Skunky, whose intellect and cavalier attitude to life and consequences presents as a propensity for building dangerous robots, bio-beasts and sundry other super-weapons. He is, at his core, a dangerously inquisitive thinker and tinkerer\u2026<\/p>\n

With artistic fiddling about from design deputy Sammy Borras, the unending war of nerves and mega-ordnances assumes a posture of asymmetric – if not arrhythmic and asthmatic – warfare as a series of sequences starring assorted minor artisans sees much of the cast taking a bit of a breather… at least on paper. It all opens with a few fluffy tales of \u2018Bunny in… \u201cHome is Where the Heart is\u201d.\u2019<\/em> It all begins one not so very \u2018Good Morning\u2019<\/em> as Monkey\u2019s thoughtlessness and Skunky\u2019s careless use of volcanoes and microwave ovens finally provokes the wracked rabbit to pack up and leave. Still hungry for \u2018The Good Life\u2019<\/em> our gentle hero seeks an isolated wilderness to be \u2018A New Home\u2019<\/em> but discovers all the best spots of perfect peacefulness have been previously \u201cbagsied\u201d by enigmatic furry Thoreau Le Fox<\/em>…<\/p>\n

However things turn really odd when Bunny uncovers sacred standing stones and manifests a sentient palatial edifice that floats on air and offers to cater to every whim…
\n\"\"
\nMeanwhile back wherever Crinkle Woods is, Monkey & Skunky are missing their old niceness nemesis and unleash colossal mutant hybrid shark \u2018Hammer Honk\u2019 <\/em>to keep the ADHD-ape amused, even as, far away on \u201cA Day in the Life of Bunny … and his enchanted House!\u201d arachnophobe Bunny adopts an 8-legged housemate in \u2018\u201cBrenda\u201d\u2019<\/em>. Thanks to her passion for digging, before long she has uncovered \u2018A New Guest\u2019 <\/em>who turns out to be the miraculous Grand Spirit of the Woodland… and a bit of a nuisance…<\/p>\n

Nothing lasts forever, and the peaceful days end in \u2018Underpants!\u2019 <\/em>when Monkey & Action-Beaver invade the magical kingdom with newly-minted monster Terror-Dactyl<\/em> in search of entertainment and encounter a very unwelcoming Woodland Spirit…<\/p>\n

As if anticipating Bunny\u2019s imminent return, sensible but na\u00efve robot Metal E.V.E.<\/em> is trying to build him a perfect new home, but the good deed is hijacked by time-warping Skunky who casually turns all involved into \u2018Old Folks\u2019<\/em> just as disorder is fully restored and the Grand Spirit evicts all the crazy critters and despatches them \u2018Home\u2019<\/em>…<\/p>\n

As they all resettle in, focus shifts to superfast sweetheart aye-aye Ai<\/em> in \u201cAi\u2019ll Be Back!\u201d<\/em> – a relay race of rapid-fire adventures that opens with \u2018Thants!\u2019 <\/em>as a REALLY GIANT giant anteater is turned loose during National Ant Day and only Ai can stop the tongue-lashing it begins, after which chaos is unleashed when our misplaced Madagascan finds Skunky\u2019s Graveyard of Failed Scientific Experiments and is bitten by a disembodied undead head, sustaining a nasty \u2018Zombiebooboo\u2019<\/em>…<\/p>\n

Whilst Monkey indulges in a spot of robotic \u2018Dino-War!\u2019<\/em> – and briefly acquires the stern maternal influence he always needed – Squirrel Weenie<\/em>, Pig<\/em> Piggerton<\/em> and Metal E.V.E. become the first of many woodfolk turned \u2018Tiny and Whiney\u2019 <\/em>and stuffed in Skunky\u2019s Jar of Idiots<\/em>. Sadly one of them is bitey, zombie-contagious Ai and before long the plague of the gambolling dead is everywhere, as seen in apocalyptic vision \u2018Guhhhh!\u2019<\/em>, prompting the evil genius to sideline his attempts to build\/grow a superbrain \u2018From Scratch\u2019 <\/em>to sort things out. Of course, said brain \u2018Smartypants\u2019<\/em> has ideas of its own, and once Monkey meddles some more, the war of Zombies vs Supercomputer!<\/em> rages out of control until the mighty mind in a jar devises a cure for undead bitey-ness which it then cruelly locks away in \u2018The Box\u2019<\/em>…<\/p>\n

However, despite being afflicted with zombie hunger, the aye-aye has enough grit and resolve to step up and sort it, to become \u2018Ai, Saviour of the World\u2019<\/em>…<\/p>\n

With what passes for normality restored to the Woods we next pay some attention to \u2018Pig + Weenie in \u201cPig & Weenie Fun Police\u201d\u2019<\/em> as after five days of noxious obnoxiousness and Monkey playing with his \u2018Fart Face\u2019 <\/em>chemical weapon, the sweet simpletons found an official vigilante team to stop the horror. However once the job is done it\u2019s hard to stop and soon they are annoying\/cheering up Underwater Adventurer Le Fox as he tries to be a \u2018Water Grump!\u2019<\/em> and unwelcomely refereeing the 563rd<\/sup> Annual \u2018Bonk Bonk\u2019<\/em> Race, befriending and defending Skunky\u2019s runaway terror \u2018Robotron\u2019<\/em> before confronting Pig\u2019s potent desire to be a poodle in \u2018Arf!\u2019<\/em>
\n\"\"
\n\u2018A Day in the Life of \u201cPig & Weenie Fun Police!\u201d\u2019<\/em> sees the variety of purely existential perils involved in cheering folk up, after which a family visit to Jonty<\/em>, Monty<\/em>, Ponty<\/em> and Big Bertha<\/em> Piggerton broadens Weenie\u2019s horizons and highlights who is \u2018The Wrong Pig\u2019 <\/em>whilst preceding a genuine rescue mission as the Fun Police save beleaguered Bunny from a House of Nightmares in \u2018The Winchester\u2019<\/em> and overindulge in one final mission to stop Skunky\u2019s recently-mined \u2018Shiny Pebbles\u2019<\/em> fuelling an arsenal to techno terrors…<\/p>\n

Generally regarded as \u201cThe Unluckiest Red Panda in the World!!\u201d, next to shine here is \u2018Lucky in \u201cStay Lucky!\u201d\u2019<\/em> with a simple fun session with the gang going awry in \u2018Card Luck\u2019<\/em>, and doubled down on in \u2018Statuesque\u2019<\/em> as Monkey\u2019s latest Bunny-bothering collaterally lands Lucky in the muck, prior to everything changing after encountering mystic monument \u2018The Tablet\u2019<\/em> in the really deep, dark woods…<\/p>\n

\u2018Brown Duck\u2019<\/em> then details a noisome scatological sidestep, but if we all hold our noses it\u2019s soon over and the fallout of a cosmic change sparked by latrine lunacy and toilet terrorism can be registered as a \u2018Lucky Chance\u2019<\/em> and heralding a flipping of fortune for the pitiable panda…
\n\"\"
\nAs she becomes \u201cthe Luckiest Red Panda in the World!\u201d, her \u2018Attitude Adjustment\u2019<\/em> scuppers a potentially lethal attempt to blow Action Beaver into space. Karmically, her new status doesn\u2019t extend to those around her, so when \u2018The Decoy\u2019<\/em> finds a duplicate of Monkey making mayhem for all and his acts as Cardboard Samurai Monkey<\/em> creating a cascade of all-conquering \u2018Cardboard Creations\u2019<\/em> she steps in to shield them. However, confusion and carnage culminate in a cross-chronological panda pair-up as time-travel allows \u2018The Next Lucky\u2019<\/em> to come back from the future to warn that her fortunes are about to change again…<\/p>\n

The animal assemblage concludes for now with a look at enigmatic sage \u2018\u201cLe Fox in \u201cBig ol\u2019 Grump!\u201d\u2019 <\/em>It opens long ago as an impressionable fox cub meets a crusty hibernating bruin who shapes his mental and philosophical growth in \u2018Bearing It\u2019<\/em>… but not as much as the pesky bees buzzing him…<\/p>\n

In the present, perpetually irritable Le Fox is caught in Monkey\u2019s latest attempts to annoy Bunny in \u2018Natural Mystery\u2019<\/em> and retaliates with devasting aplomb, before \u2018Ah, Poop!\u2019<\/em> sees Skunky unwisely boast to his partner in perfidy that his poo collection is now perfectly complete even as deep underground, Le Fox shares his views on despondency with sad Metal E.V.E. and demonstrates vengeance as a means of \u2018Coping\u2019 <\/em>when Monkey interrupts their musings…<\/p>\n

Eternally anarchic Monkey\u2019s meddling with Skunky\u2019s reality-warping Wishinator leads to Le Fox achieving Godzilla-like size and temperament in \u2018Wish Big\u2019<\/em> but all his rampaging and \u2018Stomping About\u2019 <\/em>is rightly directed at one small hairy nutcase, before a calamitous event heralds big changes for everybody as eerie, appalling Signalmen<\/em> invade the wood and all those left free must find \u2018A Place to Hide\u2019<\/em>…<\/p>\n

As those few survivors seek ways to make Le Fox \u2018Smaller\u2019<\/em> desperation forms an alliance of former foes, but no one made them joint pilot the ridiculous mega-mecha Bunny vs Monkey-a-tron <\/em>in a last-ditch duel of colossi, even if it does somehow save the day and create \u2018An Understanding\u2019<\/em> and peaceful resolutions not even one last unleashed tentacle monster can disrupt…<\/p>\n

Wrapping up these sidereal shenanigans, farty fooffawraws and monster bum gags are a few related activities offered under the aegis of the Phoenix Comics Club<\/strong>. Bring paper, pencils and yourself to a compact online course in all aspects of comic strip creation supervised by Jamie Smart and Armin Roshdi. This time the subjects are \u2018How to draw the Floating Island\u2019<\/em>, including tips on The Cosy Cabin<\/em>, Pond<\/em> and Sewer<\/em> Waterfalls <\/em>before closing with an extensive plug for the Phoenix Comics Club <\/strong>website, complete with instant access via QR codes, plus previews of other treats & wonders to be seen in The Phoenix<\/strong> to wind down from all that philosophical fun and Kaiju kerfuffle…<\/p>\n

Another book for your kids to explain to you, Bunny vs Monkey – Day of the Heroes!<\/strong> is weird wit, wild invention, potent sentiment and superb cartooning incautiously crammed into one eccentrically excellent package. These tails never fail to deliver jubilant joy for grown-ups of every vintage, even those who claim they only get it for their kids. Is that you?
\nText and illustrations \u00a9 Fumboo Ltd. 2026. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n

Win\u2019s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Just Trust Me\u2026 It\u2019s Beyond Your Control But Worth It \u2026 10\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bunny vs Monkey – Day of the Heroes!<\/strong> will be released on October 8th<\/sup> 2026 and is favailable for pre-order now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jamie Smart, with Sammy Borras, Paul Duffield & Armin Roshdi (DFB\/Phoenix) ISBN: 978-1-78845-391-2 (HB), 978-1-78845-434-6 (Waterstones Exclusive Edition) Bunny vs Monkey has been the inspirationally bonkers breakout star of The Phoenix since the premiere issue back in 2012, cataloguing a madcap vendetta gripping animal archenemies set amidst an idyllic arcadia, masquerading as more-or-less mundane … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Jamie Smart\u2019s Bunny vs Monkey Book 12: Day of the Heroes!”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[109,291,191,280,42,113,290,102,125,362,396,225,242,107],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-how-to-books","category-activity-book","category-adventure","category-animal-antics","category-best-of-british","category-comedy","category-dinosaurs","category-fantasy","category-humour","category-jamie-smart","category-monsters","category-mystery","category-pirates","category-science-fiction"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-9wG","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36622"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36622\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36627,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36622\/revisions\/36627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}