Tales of Grotesquely Grim Bunny

Summary
Arthur HATES the scarier comic books stocked by the local comic-book store since it changed ownership.

Plot
Arthur talks to the viewers about the times when he got his first comic book, when he bought his first comic book, and when D.W. bought her first comic books at Meteor Comix.

Tales of Grotequely Grim Bunny

Arthur, Fern, and Buster are the best customers at Meteor Comix, but they discover its owner, Freddy K. is retiring. The new owner, Gerald, doesn't seem interested in running the store.

With Gerald in charge, the store is now very messy, and it seems to only have very dark comics in it. Fern is interested in "Grotesquely Grim Bunny: Guardian of Doom". Buster becomes interested in it, but Arthur fakes interest. They all pay for it.

Fern reads it, and she gets other classmates interested, but it makes Arthur even more scared of it. He has a nightmare that night where he is inside the comic and so are his friends, but he is the only one scared.

After his nightmare, Pal destroys the comic book. When asked about the plot, Arthur admits that he didn't read it, and then Buster admits that he also quit on the first page. Only Fern actually read it, and Binky is scared of the idea, too.

Fern suggests that they protest the store. Gerald does not notice, but Freddy K. does. He takes back control of the store. He cleans it up and adds in a "creepy stuff" section (much to the teenagers' chagrin) that Fern goes to, while Arthur and Buster go back to their old favorite comic books, finishing the episode.

Major

 * Arthur Read
 * Fern Walters
 * Buster Baxter
 * Gerald

Minor

 * Brain
 * Binky Barnes
 * Freddy K.
 * Unnamed crocodile

Cameo

 * 3rd Grade Male Cat
 * Mary Moo Calf
 * Kenny
 * Alex
 * Maria Pappas
 * Jessica
 * 3rd Grade Female Aardvark
 * 3rd Grade Male Rabbit
 * Sue Ellen Armstrong
 * Muffy Crosswire
 * George Lundgren
 * Molly MacDonald
 * 3rd Grade Female Cat (Number 2)
 * Francine Frensky
 * Teenage boy (Dear Adil)
 * Teenager

Trivia

 * In this episode, Teenage Male Cat reappears for the first time since "Bleep."
 * The alien in Arthur's nightmare has the same first name as Muffy's mother.
 * In Arthur's nightmare, Grotesquely Grim Bunny has Gerald's voice.
 * This is the last episode featuring the Big Foot title card.
 * Moral: Its not okay to get afraid over a scary book, don't do it for your own benefits.

Episode connections

 * This is the second episode Buster has gone on a strike against a business. The first time was in "Sue Ellen Chickens Out" with Sue Ellen and Binky.
 * This is the third episode where Arthur's middle name, Timothy, is mentioned. The first was "Arthur's Big Hit," and the second was "Arthur Changes Gears."

Errors

 * Plot hole: In the beginning, Arthur has many memories of going to Meteor Comix, but in "The Secret Origin of Supernova," it was revealed he had never gone there.

Cultural references

 * The comic could be a reference to Jhonen Vasquez's comics Johnny the Homicidal Maniac and Squee; the frequent usage of "doom" could be a reference to his show Invader Zim.