The Best Chickenhare Web Comic… Ever!

Why can’t you find the first two volumes of Chickenhare online too?

The short answer is because Dark Horse Comics, my publisher has the reserved rights to do that themselves. Therefore, I can’t do that or I face a breach of contract, and that’s not good. Hopefully Dark Horse will decide to make those available to you at some point.

What I’ve done as a compromise is to have GIANT-SIZED previews available to you online in an attempt to satisfy this problem. Each preview is 75 pages long. Not bad considering the first book is 152 pages, and the second was 200. For now, those will have to do and maybe you’ll want to buy the books to see what happens. That said, there is a  brief synopsis of each book below to catch you up to speed without giving too much away in the process.I also try to add notes to the page descriptions if I feel there is some explanation needed. Not always, but when I think about it.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it.
Spread the good word. If you like what you’re reading and find you have a fond place in your heart, by all means TELL SOMEBODY! It’s the only way we can succeed and I do mean we because why else would I put a 150+ graphic novel online for free if not for you, the loyal fans. I refuse to make you wait any longer.

THE COMIC:

The first volume of Chickenhare was published through Dark Horse comics in September 2006 and was amazingly nominated for an Eisner award in 2007! How did that happen? It has also been published in Italian where it was called, Leprepollo. The second volume was also published through Dark Horse comics in March of 2008. Though critically it was praised, Volume 2, like it’s predecessor proved to be difficult to market due to it’s odd characters and off-beat story-lines. The plan now is to go ahead with volume three right here, for free, and hope to garner a large enough audience by it’s finale to peak the interest of a publisher crazy enough to print it! Are you a publisher? Are you interests in fact, peaking at this moment? How ’bout now?

ahead lay spoilers…. ye be warned.

Synopsis for
Chickenhare v1: The house of Klaus… (HOK)

HOK begins with Chickenhare and Abe being sold as pets to an insane taxidermist named Klaus (pronounced: clowse) who lives near the north pole and has enough emotional baggage to go on a very long trip. While imprisoned in the tower of the Klause’s castle, Chickenhare and Abe meet Banjo and Meg, two very mysterious characters and together they manage to escape into the mountains.
Along the way they meet the ghost of a long dead goat , Buttons.  Buttons tells the story of how she came to be there, and how Chickenhare and his friends must stop Klause’s tyranny before more innocent creatures are tormented and made in to decorative taxidermy. With the help of a small, furry, cave-dwelling characters called, Shromph they do, in the end stop Klaus and break Buttons curse allowing her spirit to finally be at peace. In the end, Chickenhare, Abe, Banjo, and Meg all board a small ship captained by a salty shromph by the name of Scabby who has agreed to take them all home.

Synopsis for
Chickenhare v2: Fire in the hole… (FITH)

FITH finds Chicknehare, Abe, Banjo, Meg on the open sea picking up almost right where (HOK) left off. Hopelessly caught in the middle of a storm that has already destroyed most of the ship, the group begins to suspect the storm may not be entirely natural. Banjo and Meg’s mysterious pasts finally catch up to them when Banjo’s brother shows up and demands they return home, to the underworld to stand trial. When Abe tries to intervene he is attacked and has his spirit separated from his body and is then taken down to join the other lost souls in the underworld along with Banjo and Meg.
injured and left for dead at sea, Chickenhare and Scabby are rescued by merfolk, who take them to a nearby island.
Angered that his new friends had hidden this danger from him, Chickenhare sets out to retrieve Abe’s soul, venturing alone into the depths of the underworld. Completely lost, Chickenhare reluctantly frees Banjo from his prison and demands he help him to save Abe but not before knocking out one of Banjo’s front teeth (* owning a piece of a devil gives you control over them ). In their attempt to retrieve the soul, Meg’s back-story as a tracker of devils is laid out and having been found guilty of helping Banjo to in fact escape, is sentenced to a fate worse than death. Banjo decides to try to rescue Meg while Chickenhare goes forward to find Abe.
Upon entering a room filled with hanging glass spheres, each containing a different trapped soul, Chickenhare pokes at a particularly black one, only to have it explode in his face and injuring his arm. Eventually Chickenhare does find Abe’s soul and fights the ruler of the underworld for it. Almost defeated, Banjo and Meg, show up just in time to save Chickenhare and Abe’s soul and to defeat the evil emperor, which inadvertently causes the underworld to fall into chaos. During their escape, Chickenhare runs into his parents, who have apparently died since the last time he spoke with them. They tell him about their deaths and reveal to Chickenhare who had done the dark deed. Chickenhare and the others proceed to escape only to be stopped again by Banjo’s brother where Banjo makes the ultimate sacrifice to save Abe and is tossed into a neverending pit where he will fall for all eternity. Chickenhare and Meg make their way out of the underworld back to the island and return Abe’s soul. Eventually Banjo is saved from his fate when Abe, holding Banjos missing tooth, commands him to return to his side at which point Banjo is magically returned.

The Author:

Chris Grine graduated from Ringling School of Art & Design in 2000 after completing 3 years at the Kansas City Art institute.. which came to roughly five years worth of loans to pay off. And now he’s just giving away volume 3 for free on this site?  What ‘s he thinking? Chris would have benefited from a good business course in his fancy little drawing school.