Mike Sterling's Progressive RuinAnswering your mystical call since 1969

The Final ’90s Countdown: Part Two

§ April 11th, 2025 § Filed under final '90s countdown § 7 Comments

Amy Unbounded (Pughouse Press, 1996-1999)

So leave it to my old customer Carol (who, alas, moved away, but I am heartened to know she still reads my site) to utterly confound me with this title by Rachel Hartman, one that despite everything does sound vaguely familiar but about which I can’t some up with any specific or, like, personal in-store experiences.

Looking at the pic there, it does ring a very small bell in what’s left of my mind, so I feel like we must have had it at some point. We were ordering from a variety of distributors that carried small press things like this (assuming it wasn’t available from Diamond at this time, which it might not have been). I honestly don’t know. It’d be a shame if we didn’t, because the initial Amy Unbounded series, a twelve issue run in a smaller black and white comics digest format, would totally have been a thing I’d be into. Particularly given my interest in small press, and my own dabblings in same.

The comic itself is set in a fantasy world, with dragons that can change into human form. The central character is Amy, a little girl whose adventures we follow, hence the name. Yes, alas, I can’t say more about the contents because I don’t know, I hadn’t read it, and I’m sorry I haven’t. However, looking at the Grand Comics Database, there was, after the first series, a Galaxion/Amy Unbounded Flip Book one-shot in ’99, and a trade paperback in 2002, reprinting the back half of the series.

And checking the unerring fount of all knowledge, Wikipedia, Hartman’s first prose novel Seraphina is set in the world of Amy Unbounded Plus, there was also a webcomic titled “Return of the Mad Bun,” whose initial host site is now defunct (or rather, in the hands of someone with a slightly more prurient focus), but is discussed here (just don’t click the links). However, some use of the Wayback Machine can give you a taste.

So there you go, a comic I wished I knew more about, but hopefully the info above will point you in the directions you need to find what appears to be a delightful comic. Hey, Carol liked it, it must be good!