Jackrabbit: Big in Japan
Year: 2017
Author: Ian Thomas Healy
Length: 228 pages
In superhero media, I’ve usually held the belief that the second installment of an adaptation has a better story because it gets past the “origin” that’s required for these heroes and can focus on a much deeper plot (the best examples of course being Spider-Man 2 (2004) and The Dark Knight (2008)). While novels are a rarity in the superhero genre, I had high hopes that Jackrabbit: Big in Japan would take the Bugs Bunny-like antics and Deadpool-ish fourth-wall breaking of Jackrabbit in a direction that would provide development for the character.
Unfortunately, with a few small ret-cons that gloss over changes that happen “off screen,” Big in Japan feels more like the standard serial format of comic books instead of a larger character arc for Jackrabbit. Gone is the “partner” of Bluebird, replaced with a frog-themed herald brought in as the representative of the amphibious god that’s friends with Jackrabbit’s deity benefactor. The villain-of-the-week is split between ninjas and primates, which (while interesting, concept-wise) doesn’t mesh well enough to have a seamless transition between the two. This leaves the only remaining question: how does our titular character change in Big in Japan?
Some changes to Jackrabbit in this sequel smooth him into the standard superhero mold. This isn’t a bad thing, but it does sand over some of the rough edges from the origin story that make little sense with the character as he stands now. Honestly, some of the idiosyncrasies of the superhero genre are poked at here with a good tongue-in-cheek ribbing that highlights the comedic nature of this series. I like this Jackrabbit more than the one in the origin story, but mostly because he does have the potential to carry future non-connected stories in his universe.
An adequate transition to a more serial-based series, I give Jackrabbit: Big in Japan 3.5 stars out of 5.
1/2
