Even though Hunter Hank was inspired by the malavolent human beings in Bambi and Watership Down, as things would turn out, he's not really all that malacious an adversary when you really stop to think about it. He's just some guy who occasionally likes to hunt creatures that are lower on the food chain than he is and isn't especially good at it; in that that respect, he and Liska actually have a lot in common!
Despite his character profile describing Hank as "having it in for our heroes for no reason", the first time they meet he nearly gets his foot blown off because of them, they've raided his trash and made a mess several times, they've broken into his house and stolen his generator and microwave, stolen toilet paper from his outhouse, and gotten him arrested as a terrorist by the Canadian Army among many other things. So in all fairness, the guy isn't a totally off-base psychopath here, people. In addition, there is at least one definite instance where Hank has made an effort that saved Skippy and Liska's lives when he wasn't really obliged to do so; kudos to any of you readers who can tell me what it was!
The point of all of this is that I realized something interesting about myself very early on while working with the strip: I don't particularly enjoy creating truly despicable, unsympathetic characters. Although the various cast members of the comic strip are often at odds with one another, I like to think that all of them are at least a little good and likable in their own way - even Hunter Hank! As a useful general rule, I try not to overshadow Liska as the most evil character in the comic... and the most lovable. :)
Oh, this particular strip also introduces Mynarki Forest's first catch phrase/running gag, "Shut up and RUN you idiot!!!"
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