The RodneyFun Comic Collection 1 (ロドニーファン・コミックコレクション①) is the first installment of a comic book collection series that has supposedly been discontinued after its release. The collection is a boxed set that holds 5 different books focusing on a specific character.
The collection was rereleased in 2015, simply titled RodneyFun Comic 1 (ロドニーファン・コミック1), where all the stories in the original version are compiled into one book. It includes new artwork as well as a revised Japanese translation and a tweaked layout.
One character exclusive to the comics, Square E. Bear, has not been covered due to them not seemingly being a character related to the Parappa canon.
- Book 1: PJ's Dreamland
- Book 2: Sunny Funny's Polite Garden Party
- Book 3: Katy's Shopping Explosion
- Book 4: Parappa Gets A Job
- Book 5: Square E. Bear - The Wheel
Description[]
(2000) A boxed collection of five short comic books featuring Parappa and his friends and a new character called Square E Bear. Written and illustrated by RG. Published by Little Moore Books and distributed only in Japan, with Japanese and English text. Sunny Funny makes a polite picnic, Parappa tries to get a job, Katy Kat goes shopping, and PJ Berry has a series of interesting dreams. Angst ridden Square E Bear must come to terms with his role in life as and artist. - whimsyload[1]
(2015) RodneyFun Comic Collection 1 (2015 Edition) The re-published 2015 version of the 1999[sic] original, signed by the author. The original version was a “boxed set” of five mini comic books that is now out-of-print and difficult to find. This 2015 paperback versions puts all the mini comics into one book. Some special title page art was added, but the comics themselves are exactly as they were in the original edition. This is the only place to buy this fun book outside of Japan.
The book contains all five original comic style stories that feature characters from Parappa The Rapper and one new character created for the comic:
PJ’s Dreamland
PJ eats too much of Sunny’s Garden Stew and has a bad dream.
Sunny Funny’s Garden Party
Sunny invites her friends to a wacky luncheon.
Katy’s Shopping Explosion
Katy wins a shopping spree at Massive Mart.
Parappa Gets a Job
Parappa goes though a series of job experiences.
Square E Bear The Wheel
Square E is a frustrated artist who yearns for understanding - whimsyload[2]
PJ's Dreamland[]
Characters
PJ Berri
Sunny Funny
Parappa
"PJ's Dreamland" centers around PJ and the combination of his daily life and his dreams.
As Club Fun DJ, PJ only works night shifts and has a packed day. In his dreams, he rules a kingdom as King PJ, where his generous, considerate, and peaceful reign is met with love from his citizens. One day, Sunny Funny has made an entire batch of "vegetarian garden stew" for him. PJ makes the mistake of overeating the stew, causing him to tumble into a bad dream. His kingdom is seized by sickness, hunger, natural disaster and eventually war against an army of knights who doom him into the endless pit. To his shock, the knights are his friend Parappa. He wakes up and throws away the last bit of stew he had left over. When greeted by Parappa and Sunny during his Club Fun shift, he gives his friends an angry glare, which confuses them.
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            RodneyFun Comic 2015 artwork |
Sunny Funny's Polite Garden Party[]
Characters
| Sunny Funny | "Squirrel" & "Bunny" |
| Prince Fleaswallow | Buttonose |
| Tub (Looks similar to Big Bully) | Katy Kat |
| Parappa | PJ Berri |
| Chop Chop Master Onion | "Mar-san" (Mentioned) |
"Sunny Funny's Polite Garden Party" centers around Sunny Funny and her politeness which granted her great popularity with all living beings. We follow her in her preperations for a tea party.
Sunny starts her day with gardening, but not before she has asked and gotten consent from the plants, the fruits and the fish to be taken. Squirrel & Bunny as well as Prince Fleaswallow follow her example of politeness but are met with failure as they are not popular and loved like Sunny is. Sunny visits Buttonose's store to buy ingredients in preparation for her party and is able carry the heavy load on her own. Deemed perfect, her main flaw finally comes clear as she starts cooking: she has trouble following cookbooks and wrongly thinks of certain types of food as substitutes for others. In that way, she is shown to make odd experimental dishes.
The invitations reach Katy, Parappa, PJ and CCMO, though only the first four visit as the latter has other plans. They are eventually introduced to a variety of weird meals including, among others, "raisin clam cheese with fried tree bark chips" and "vegetable rolls in jelly sauce." Each guest reacts the same: Katy is talkative and doesn't eat her food (she states that she is on a diet), PJ overeats, and Parappa shows disgust over what he's given, feeding it to Squirrel and Bunny. The party culminates in a serving of "flaming dynamite strawberry onion cake," which the guests are unable to eat because the cake explodes. Regardless, they remain polite and thank Sunny, which makes her judge her party to have been a perfect one.
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            RodneyFun Comic 2015 artwork |
Katy's Shopping Explosion[]
Characters
| Katy Kat | Dot |
| Lammy | "Mar-san" |
| Sunny Funny | PJ Berri |
| Parappa |
"Katy's Shopping Explosion" centers around Katy Kat and her struggles with both poverty and luxury. The story is made up of a three part poem about the desire of riches, being overwhelmed by riches and satisfaction of the little things.
Katy wakes up in her apartment, rather miserable as all her appliances do not work properly and the odds are against her. She arrives late at her work as a waitress at Dot's Diner, but owner Dot does not mind and greets her. After her shift, Katy leaves for shopping before she goes to band practice with MilkCan, and finds she is too poor to afford new appliances.
The next day Dot informs Katy of a radio contest to win a Free Shopping Spree at Massive Mart. Katy is skeptical about the results but tries it anyway and luckily wins as the 99th caller.
All of Katy's friends and the news gather for her shopping spree and she successfully obtains all the stuff she desired. However nobody has time or is willing to help her get it all home, aside PJ Berri, who after a lot of carrying concludes Katy's apartment might be too small. Katy and PJ have trouble with figuring out the fancy coffee machine, the stereo system bothers the neighbors, and all other appliances such as a TV and laptop require services that Katy cannot afford.
Katy thanks PJ as he leaves for his job. Tired, she tries out her last desired application, a blow dryer, and to her delight it does work. With that, she learns she is content with the simpler things in life.
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            RodneyFun Comic 2015 artwork |
Parappa Gets A Job[]
Characters
| Parappa | Jet Baby (comic cover) |
| Papa Parappa | Mama Parappa |
| Katy Kat | Dot |
| Sunny Funny | Buttonose |
| PJ Berri | Techtom |
| Lammy (poster cameo) | Chop Chop Master Onion (poster cameo) |
"Parappa Gets A Job" centers around Parappa Rappa and his efforts into finding the right job for him to finance his gaming habit.
Parappa rejoices in his room for having finished his video game and now aims to play its sequel. After asking his dad for money, he overhears his parents talking about him and how his gaming habit troubles them. As his father suggests he might need a job, Parappa overthinks the benefits.
Parappa calls up Katy Kat, who informs him there is an opening for a dishwasher where she works: at Dot's Diner. His main flaw at the job becomes apparent; Parappa cannot follow advice. He opens the dishwasher too early despite being told not to, and he eats Dot's Rum Cake, told not to cause it makes one sleepy. Parappa concludes that this job is too tiring for him.
Parappa calls up Sunny Funny, who informs him Mr. Buttonose always requires help. As Parappa still cannot follow advice, he stacks the honey jars too high up and a misbehaving child knocks them all over. Parappa is ordered to make some deliveries but faces physical labor, aggression, manipulation and danger. Parappa concludes this job to be too tough on him.
Parappa calls up PJ Berri, who informs him he saw a 'help wanted' sign at Techtom's Video Game Shop. Arriving there, Techtom needs Parappa to put his game knowledge to work by helping costumers to make the right choices, which Parappa shows to be extraordinary at due to his gaming enthusiasm. Techtom is ecstatic by Parappa's salesman skills but as he sells his goods at a low price he won't be able to pay Parappa much. However, Parappa is allowed to take home all games and consoles (most likely as part of his job.) Parappa excitedly accepts, as he now can play games for free and has a job he is good at and likes to do.
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            RodneyFun Comic 2015 artwork |
Notes[]
- All characters besides Parappa are shown to be living independently.
- Katy Kat's story is the only book with a moral lesson.
- One of Katy's classmates looks like a female PJ, predating Sweety Bancha by about a year.
- The cushion seen in the second to last panel of "Katy's Shopping Explosion" has a picture of Thunder Bunny on it.
- "Parappa Gets A Job" has various references to other media and games.
- When Parappa falls asleep at Dot's Diner, he dreams of himself in the role of Mickey Mouse in "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" from Disney's Fantasia.
- One of the visitors of Buttonose's Store is a young bunny with an X mouth, named "Moofy". The character is based of the mascot "Nijntje", internationally known as "Miffy".
- Parappa's room has posters depicting Pikachu and Snoop Dogg.
- Final Combat = Mortal Kombat + Final Fight
Dragon Eye = Dragon Quest + Goldeneye
Go-Zu = Sonic
Donkey Pogo Sticks 3 = Donkey Kong Country 3
Blow-A-Groove = Bust a Groove
Doom Raider = DOOM + Tomb Raider
Happy Cutie Poops = ?
Wild Hog Race Rally = ? - When Techtom's video game store is shown, a sign on a window says 'Crash Bandicoot Clearance' This is obviously a reference to the Playstation series Crash Bandicoot.
- PaRappa is holding an controller that is similar to the PlayStation controller.
- Parappa's new game systems look like an Atari 2600, Nintendo 64, SEGA Dreamcast, and a SNES.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ Media: Childrens Books, Whimsyload.
- ↑ RodneyFun Comic 2015 Edition, Whimsyload.