Created by Bodine Amerikah
Art by Jase Paulos
From the pages of Australian edition of MAD Magazine and the decidedly-twisted good folks at Rat Race Comix comes the thundering saga of a Down Under private dick who does not go gently into that good night.
You know him, you love him! Yes, it’s private eye HAIRBUTT THE HIPPO, he of the nasty temperament and even nastier personal grooming habits. Like one of the covers boasts, “Uncut! Uncensored! Unashamed! Unhygenic!”
Not to make too fine a point of it, but this guy’s a pig. He lives in dives like the Grievous Bodily Arms Apartments or The Hotel Astra, and his business card offers “Discreet negotiations at very affordable rates. Surveillance, information gathering, fast cars, big guns, the works…”
Oh, baby, baby, it’s a wild world out there, full of hippies, magicians, robot pigs, mobsters and his brother Rocky, a glory-seeking martial arts expert/spirit guide and perpetual scam artist. And later adventures became even more surreal, as Hairbutt took on snot monsters, Satan and TV talk show hosts. Fortunately, the one constant in his life (besides his belching and farting, and the occasional vodka jackhammer or three) is his “number one gal,” the always-voluptuous, lingerie-loving hippo Toots O’Toolworthy (pun no doubt intended), who stands by her hippo.
Hairbutt’s delightfully rude and crude, and his preferred method of solving a case usually involves plenty of ammo, alcohol and sex. He’s proven to be very popular with Australian comics fans, nabbing Favourite Australian Comic at the Ozfest comic cons in both 1993 and 1994.
And for you fans of Douglas Adams’ “interconnectedness of all things,” yes, Hairbutt does sound a lot like Hip Flask, that “other” hard-boiled hippopotamus eye, but by an accord ratified by the United Nations, Good Housekeeping and the Society to Prevent the Earth From Tilting on Its Axis, Hip and Hairbutt have agreed to stay in their own hemispheres.
And for those of you out there who just can’t get enough of P.I.’s and hippos, you might want to check out the online manga adventures of Mosaku Anchu, Private Investigator, as he confronts the nefarious (and politically incorrect) Oriental Hippo.
COMIC BOOK
- AUSTRALIAN MAD
Written by Bodine Amerikah
Art by Jase Paulos- “Mean Streets” (#345)
- HAIRBUTT THE HIPPO
(1992-93, Rat Race Comix)
3 issues
Written by Bodine Amerikah
Art by Jase Paulos- “Street Pizza” (March 1993, #1)
- “Fear and Loafing” (March 1993, #1)
- “Jung Isn’t Deep, He’s My Brother, Part 1” (March 1993, #1)
- “The Return of Hypno the Fraudulent” (June 1993, #2)
- “Jung Isn’t Deep, He’s My Brother, Part 2” (June 1993, #2)
- “Bell, Book and Candle” (December 1993, #3)
- “Postcards From the Edge” (December 1993, #3)
- “Slobs in Space” (December 1993, #3)
- “Funeral for a Friend” (December 1993, #3; aka “Jung Isn’t Deep, He’s My Brother, Part 3”)
- “The Resurrection Shuffle” (December 1993, #3; aka “Jung Isn’t Deep, He’s My Brother, Part 4”)
- NOTE: There are discrepancies between the exterior and interior publication dates, so I’ve used the copyright dates on the inside.
- HAIRBUTT THE HIPPO CRIME FILES
(1995-96, Rat Race Comix)
6 issues
Written by Bodine Amerikah
Art by Jase Paulos- “Sadly Ever Thus,” “Sins of My Father” (#1, Summer 1995)
- (#2, Autumn 1995)
- (#3, Winter 1995)
- (#4, Spring 1995)
- “Death Stalks the Big Top” (#5, Summer 1996)
- “Happy Holidays in Hell” (#6, Autumn 1996)
- HAIRBUTT THE HIPPO PRIVATE EYE
(1997-98, Rat Race Comix)
6 issues
Written by Bodine Amerikah
Art by Jase Paulos - “The Curse of Phlegmulon, The Muclear Man” (#1, Spring 1997)
- “As Crime Goes By” (#2, Summer 1997)
- (#3, Autumn 1997)
FURTHER INVESTIGATION
- “Oh mama I got dem cosmic anthropomorphic P.I. blues again…”
Going to the dogs, the cats and worse
Respectfully compiled by Kevin Burton Smith.
