Bucky O'Hare
Encyclopedia
Bucky O'Hare is a fictional character and the hero of an eponymous comic book
series as well as spin-off
media including an animated TV series
and various toys and video games. He was created by comic book
writer Larry Hama
between 1978 and 1979.
The storyline of Bucky O'Hare follows a parallel universe
(the aniverse), where a war is ongoing between the slightly inept United Animals Federation (run by mammals) and the sinister Toad Empire. The Toad Empire is led by a vast computer system known as KOMPLEX, which has brainwashed the toad population.
in comic book form in the mid-1980s, appearing in the anthology series Echo of Futurepast, with Hama writing and Michael Golden on pencils. The series was later collected into an oversized graphic novel
. Hama wrote a second Bucky O'Hare arc, which was never published.
The comic book spawned an animated TV show between September 1991 & January 1992, along with a series of action figures.
A Bucky O'Hare video game developed by Konami
for the Nintendo Entertainment System
came out in 1992, and a Bucky O'Hare arcade game
was also released.
Bucky and his crew are members of the S.P.A.C.E organization, which stands for Sentient Protoplasm Against Colonial Encroachment.
The members of the Toad
Empire introduced in the comic are as follows:
In the comic, Bucky and crew escape a toad attack but must rescue Jenny when she is captured by the toads. In the end, a strange, omnipotent mouse
banishes the toads attacking Bucky to "a safe place where the food is bad and taxes are high". Willy's parents, not knowing what the photon accelerator does, deactivate it, trapping him in the Aniverse.
The U.S.
comic only ran this one plotline; however, to coincide with the TV series in the early '90s, a U.K.
comic reprinted the issues, then produced a further fifteen issues written by Peter Stone, and illustrated by Andre Coates and Joel Adams.
In 2007, Vanguard reprinted the original Bucky O'Hare comic and two of the UK issues in a digest size
collection, similar to a manga
. The book is called Bucky O'Hare and the Toad Menace and is printed in black and white. The deluxe edition was also released. Some copies of the "deluxe" edition, however, were in fact the standard edition with a slipcover, not the signed, numbered color version that was advertised.
A Bucky O'Hare game was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System
in 1992, which required Bucky to rescue each of his crew members (except Bruiser, who is not featured in the game) on a series of planets. As each character was rescued, the player gained the ability to switch between them and Bucky on the fly to deal with different problems. Immediately after regaining his entire crew, they are once again captured and imprisoned on the Toad mother ship. Bucky and Blinky, sharing the same cell, break out and must rescue the remaining members. Afterwards, you continue through the monstrous ship. The gameplay and level design very closely resemble that of Capcom
's Mega Man
series. For this reason, the Bucky O'Hare video game is sometimes referred to as the Konami
Mega Man.
An arcade game
by Konami was also released which allowed players to control Bucky, Jenny, Deadeye or Blinky in a format similar to the arcade games based on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
or The Simpsons
. Perhaps to satisfy fans when a second season was not released, the plot of the arcade game allowed players to achieve final victory over the toads by releasing an energy called the Interplanetary Life Force contained within KOMPLEX. This last hurrah to the series also featured the original voice cast.
Konami also released a Bucky O'Hare handheld electronic game
.
released a line of action figure
s based closely on the Bucky O'Hare series. Most of the major characters were represented: Bucky O'Hare, Deadeye Duck, Willy DuWitt, Blinky, Bruiser, and Commander Dogstar were the heroes released, and Toadborg, Air Marshall, Storm Toad Trooper, and Al Negator were the villains that made it to the shelves. Two vehicles were released as well. The good guy vehicle was the Toad Croaker. The bad guy vehicle was the Toad Double Bubble.
For reasons that still remain unclear, the line was terminated before the next two series of action figures could be finished. There are several photographs available online of the unreleased figures, some completely painted with accessories, and others as unpainted prototype
s. At least one photo shows the fully packaged Jenny, likely because this figure was completed in time for the first release, but was delayed to be part of the second. Several others show Pitstop Pete and Sly Leezard both as unpainted and as completed figures. Bucky in a spacesuit, Rumble Bee, Kamikaze Kamo, and Total Terror Toad are the other finished figures. The mobile configuration of the chief villain Komplex (Komplex-2-Go in the arcade game), Digger, and Tri-Bot (a minor villain from the final episode) are the other unpainted prototypes known to exist from these photos.
One explanation as to why the line was cancelled is that the Toad Air Marshall figure not only sold poorly but was also shipped in higher quantities than other figures like Bucky. Stores would order a box of toys and the more popular (less in quantity) figures would sell first, leaving the shelves filled with Toad Air Marshall. This would consequently leave no room for stores to order more figures from the collection. This may have ultimately translated to poor action figure sales and no second wave of figures.
tapes were released by Family Home Entertainment
. Due to Sunbow Productions
' lack of a US home distributor currently (it was formerly Rhino, then Sony Wonder, which has shut down), the cartoon had been stalled in releasing a Region 1 DVD, a company called Exposure Entertainment was supposed to have released the 13 episodes on DVD in North America, in Region 1 NTSC format for the first time, but the overall release was either very rare and limited, or no set had appeared at all. The same company had a similar issue with their first season release of Biker Mice From Mars
. However, it did have a Region 2 PAL DVD
release in the UK by Metrodome Distribution. Hasbro has recently acquired the rights to most of their cartoon library, since the toys were produced by Hasbro, it may be possible for the series to see a DVD release in Region 1 eventually, if Hasbro did acquire the rights to the cartoon and if they can find a distributor for the show.
Recently, comic book artist Neal Adams
and Continuity created a short online 3-D cartoon of Bucky O'Hare.
Neal Adams is currently working on Bucky O'Hare movie project. A graphic novel of "Neal Adams presents Bucky O'Hare and the Toad Menace" was re-released in manga
format by Vanguard Press
.
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
series as well as spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
media including an animated TV series
Bucky O'Hare and the Toad Wars
Bucky O'Hare and the Toad Wars , debuted in 1991 in the UK on the BBC, as well as in the United States, and was created by Sunbow Productions, Abrams / Gentile Entertainment, Continuity Comics and IDDH it was based on the cult comic Bucky O'Hare...
and various toys and video games. He was created by comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
writer Larry Hama
Larry Hama
Larry Hama is an American comic book writer, artist, actor and musician who has worked in the fields of entertainment and publishing since the 1960s....
between 1978 and 1979.
The storyline of Bucky O'Hare follows a parallel universe
Parallel universe (fiction)
A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...
(the aniverse), where a war is ongoing between the slightly inept United Animals Federation (run by mammals) and the sinister Toad Empire. The Toad Empire is led by a vast computer system known as KOMPLEX, which has brainwashed the toad population.
Overview
The Bucky O'Hare comic book was first published by Continuity ComicsContinuity Comics
Continuity Publishing, also known as Continuity Comics, was an American independent comic book company formed by Neal Adams in 1984, publishing comics until 1994....
in comic book form in the mid-1980s, appearing in the anthology series Echo of Futurepast, with Hama writing and Michael Golden on pencils. The series was later collected into an oversized graphic novel
Trade paperback (comics)
In comics, a trade paperback is a collection of stories originally published in comic books, reprinted in book format, usually capturing one story arc from a single title or a series of stories with a connected story arc or common theme from one or more titles...
. Hama wrote a second Bucky O'Hare arc, which was never published.
The comic book spawned an animated TV show between September 1991 & January 1992, along with a series of action figures.
A Bucky O'Hare video game developed by Konami
Konami
is a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...
for the Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
came out in 1992, and a Bucky O'Hare arcade game
Bucky O'Hare (arcade game)
Bucky O'Hare is an arcade game produced by Konami in 1992.-Summary:This video game is based on the cartoon television series of the same name under license from Hasbro, Inc. While it is generally classified as a scrolling fighting game, utilizing a Final Fight-esque landscape, the player's...
was also released.
Comic book
- Bucky O'Hare, a green hareHareHares and jackrabbits are leporids belonging to the genus Lepus. Hares less than one year old are called leverets. Four species commonly known as types of hare are classified outside of Lepus: the hispid hare , and three species known as red rock hares .Hares are very fast-moving...
, captains a mammalMammalMammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...
spaceship named The Righteous Indignation. His crew was introduced in the comic and consisted of: - Jenny – first mate and pilot, a catCatThe cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...
from the planet Aldebaran (not to be confused with the star in the real life universe of the same nameAldebaranAldebaran is a red giant star located about 65 light years away in the zodiac constellation of Taurus. With an average apparent magnitude of 0.87 it is the brightest star in the constellation and is one of the brightest stars in the nighttime sky...
) with mysterious magical and psionic powers common to the females of her species. They include telepathyTelepathyTelepathy , is the induction of mental states from one mind to another. The term was coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Fredric W. H. Myers, a founder of the Society for Psychical Research, and has remained more popular than the more-correct expression thought-transference...
, astral projectionAstral projectionAstral projection is an interpretation of out-of-body experience that assumes the existence of an "astral body" separate from the physical body and capable of traveling outside it...
, energy blasts, and healing. Because of the sacred precepts of Alderbaran, she keeps these powers secret from the other members of the crew, with the exception of Willy, to whom she serves as a kind of surrogate mother. - Blinky – an advanced AFC ("Android" First Class). Has only one eye. Uses the phrase "Calamity and Woe!" to identify problem situations for Bucky and his crew-mates.
- Deadeye Duck – gunner, a four-armed former space pirate duck from Kanopis III. He is missing an eye, and is impatient and violent, preferring to let his four laser pistols do the talking for him. Speaks with a Scottish accent in the comics.
- Willy DuWitt – engineer, a pre-teen human from San Francisco who enters the Aniverse via a portal between the ship's photon accelerator and his own accelerator at home. He replaced Bruce, the former engineer, who was killed (or in the franchise's terms, had "attained oneness with the Aniverse"). Later, Willy became stranded in the Aniverse when his parents turned off the photon accelerator back in his room.
Bucky and his crew are members of the S.P.A.C.E organization, which stands for Sentient Protoplasm Against Colonial Encroachment.
The members of the Toad
Toad
A toad is any of a number of species of amphibians in the order Anura characterized by dry, leathery skin , short legs, and snoat-like parotoid glands...
Empire introduced in the comic are as follows:
- KOMPLEX – the undisputed ruler of the Toad Empire. This computer program was designed to run the consumerist toad culture but instead took it over and militarized it. Its name, in toad language, is an anagram for 'Feed me'.
- Toad Air Marshall – one of KOMPLEX's foremost commanders, with a uniform adorned with medals and a face covered in warts.
- Toad Borg – one of KOMPLEX's elite troops, part toad, part robot.
- Storm Toads – the mindless toad soldiers who serve as the primary attack force for the Empire.
In the comic, Bucky and crew escape a toad attack but must rescue Jenny when she is captured by the toads. In the end, a strange, omnipotent mouse
Mouse
A mouse is a small mammal belonging to the order of rodents. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse . It is also a popular pet. In some places, certain kinds of field mice are also common. This rodent is eaten by large birds such as hawks and eagles...
banishes the toads attacking Bucky to "a safe place where the food is bad and taxes are high". Willy's parents, not knowing what the photon accelerator does, deactivate it, trapping him in the Aniverse.
The U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
comic only ran this one plotline; however, to coincide with the TV series in the early '90s, a U.K.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
comic reprinted the issues, then produced a further fifteen issues written by Peter Stone, and illustrated by Andre Coates and Joel Adams.
In 2007, Vanguard reprinted the original Bucky O'Hare comic and two of the UK issues in a digest size
Digest size
Digest size is a magazine size, smaller than a conventional or "journal size" magazine but larger than a standard paperback book, approximately 5½ x 8¼ inches, but can also be 5⅜ x 8⅜ inches and 5½ x 7½ inches. These sizes have evolved from the printing press operation end...
collection, similar to a manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
. The book is called Bucky O'Hare and the Toad Menace and is printed in black and white. The deluxe edition was also released. Some copies of the "deluxe" edition, however, were in fact the standard edition with a slipcover, not the signed, numbered color version that was advertised.
Cartoon series
Bucky O'Hare and the Toad Wars was a syndicated animated television network show which aired in 1991.Video games
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
in 1992, which required Bucky to rescue each of his crew members (except Bruiser, who is not featured in the game) on a series of planets. As each character was rescued, the player gained the ability to switch between them and Bucky on the fly to deal with different problems. Immediately after regaining his entire crew, they are once again captured and imprisoned on the Toad mother ship. Bucky and Blinky, sharing the same cell, break out and must rescue the remaining members. Afterwards, you continue through the monstrous ship. The gameplay and level design very closely resemble that of Capcom
Capcom
is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
's Mega Man
Mega Man Classic
The original Mega Man series is the first series of Mega Man platform games from Capcom, which debuted in Japan on December 17, 1987 on the NES with the release of Mega Man.- Overview :...
series. For this reason, the Bucky O'Hare video game is sometimes referred to as the Konami
Konami
is a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...
Mega Man.
An arcade game
Bucky O'Hare (arcade game)
Bucky O'Hare is an arcade game produced by Konami in 1992.-Summary:This video game is based on the cartoon television series of the same name under license from Hasbro, Inc. While it is generally classified as a scrolling fighting game, utilizing a Final Fight-esque landscape, the player's...
by Konami was also released which allowed players to control Bucky, Jenny, Deadeye or Blinky in a format similar to the arcade games based on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (arcade game)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, released as Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles in Europe, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Super Kame Ninja in Japan, is a side-scrolling beat-'em-up released by Konami as a coin-operated video game in...
or The Simpsons
The Simpsons (arcade game)
The Simpsons Arcade Game is an arcade beat 'em up developed by Konami released in 1991, and the first video game based on The Simpsons franchise. The voice actors of the immediate family provide voices for their respective characters...
. Perhaps to satisfy fans when a second season was not released, the plot of the arcade game allowed players to achieve final victory over the toads by releasing an energy called the Interplanetary Life Force contained within KOMPLEX. This last hurrah to the series also featured the original voice cast.
Konami also released a Bucky O'Hare handheld electronic game
Handheld electronic game
----Handheld electronic games are very small, portable devices for playing interactive electronic games, often miniaturized versions of video games. The controls, display and speakers are all part of a single unit. Rather than a general-purpose screen made up of a grid of small pixels, they...
.
Toy line
In 1991 the toy company HasbroHasbro
Hasbro is a multinational toy and boardgame company from the United States of America. It is one of the largest toy makers in the world. The corporate headquarters is located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States...
released a line of action figure
Action figure
An action figure is a posable character figurine, made of plastic or other materials, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, video game, or television program. These action figures are usually marketed towards boys and male collectors...
s based closely on the Bucky O'Hare series. Most of the major characters were represented: Bucky O'Hare, Deadeye Duck, Willy DuWitt, Blinky, Bruiser, and Commander Dogstar were the heroes released, and Toadborg, Air Marshall, Storm Toad Trooper, and Al Negator were the villains that made it to the shelves. Two vehicles were released as well. The good guy vehicle was the Toad Croaker. The bad guy vehicle was the Toad Double Bubble.
For reasons that still remain unclear, the line was terminated before the next two series of action figures could be finished. There are several photographs available online of the unreleased figures, some completely painted with accessories, and others as unpainted prototype
Prototype
A prototype is an early sample or model built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from.The word prototype derives from the Greek πρωτότυπον , "primitive form", neutral of πρωτότυπος , "original, primitive", from πρῶτος , "first" and τύπος ,...
s. At least one photo shows the fully packaged Jenny, likely because this figure was completed in time for the first release, but was delayed to be part of the second. Several others show Pitstop Pete and Sly Leezard both as unpainted and as completed figures. Bucky in a spacesuit, Rumble Bee, Kamikaze Kamo, and Total Terror Toad are the other finished figures. The mobile configuration of the chief villain Komplex (Komplex-2-Go in the arcade game), Digger, and Tri-Bot (a minor villain from the final episode) are the other unpainted prototypes known to exist from these photos.
One explanation as to why the line was cancelled is that the Toad Air Marshall figure not only sold poorly but was also shipped in higher quantities than other figures like Bucky. Stores would order a box of toys and the more popular (less in quantity) figures would sell first, leaving the shelves filled with Toad Air Marshall. This would consequently leave no room for stores to order more figures from the collection. This may have ultimately translated to poor action figure sales and no second wave of figures.
Bucky O'Hare today
Little has been heard from the Bucky O'Hare property since the cartoon went off the air. During the 90's, VHSVHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
tapes were released by Family Home Entertainment
Family Home Entertainment
Family Home Entertainment was an American home video company founded in 1980 by Noel C. Bloom. It was a division of International Video Entertainment, which had its headquarters in Newbury Park, California.-General information:...
. Due to Sunbow Productions
Sunbow Productions
Sunbow Entertainment was an animation studio, founded in 1980 and owned up until 1998 by Griffin-Bacal Advertising in New York. The first animation efforts by Griffin-Bacal were producing the animated commercials for Hasbro's G.I...
' lack of a US home distributor currently (it was formerly Rhino, then Sony Wonder, which has shut down), the cartoon had been stalled in releasing a Region 1 DVD, a company called Exposure Entertainment was supposed to have released the 13 episodes on DVD in North America, in Region 1 NTSC format for the first time, but the overall release was either very rare and limited, or no set had appeared at all. The same company had a similar issue with their first season release of Biker Mice From Mars
Biker Mice from Mars
Biker Mice from Mars is a science fiction animated series created by Rick Ungar that began airing in 1993 in the United States and lasted for three seasons before it was cancelled...
. However, it did have a Region 2 PAL DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
release in the UK by Metrodome Distribution. Hasbro has recently acquired the rights to most of their cartoon library, since the toys were produced by Hasbro, it may be possible for the series to see a DVD release in Region 1 eventually, if Hasbro did acquire the rights to the cartoon and if they can find a distributor for the show.
Recently, comic book artist Neal Adams
Neal Adams
Neal Adams is an American comic book and commercial artist known for helping to create some of the definitive modern imagery of the DC Comics characters Superman, Batman, and Green Arrow; as the co-founder of the graphic design studio Continuity Associates; and as a creators-rights advocate who...
and Continuity created a short online 3-D cartoon of Bucky O'Hare.
Neal Adams is currently working on Bucky O'Hare movie project. A graphic novel of "Neal Adams presents Bucky O'Hare and the Toad Menace" was re-released in manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
format by Vanguard Press
Vanguard Press
The Vanguard Press was a United States publishing house established with a $100,000 grant from the left wing American Fund for Public Service, better known as the Garland Fund. Throughout the 1920s, Vanguard Press issued an array of books on radical topics, including studies of the Soviet Union,...
.