Webcomic / Kukuburi

Nadia, on entering the Inbetween.

"Riiiight. I tripped. Hit my head. And fell into a Disney movie."

— Nadia

Kukuburi is a Webcomic by Ramón Pérez. It follows Nadia, a spiky-haired, goggles-wearing, scooter-riding delivery girl whose life is disrupted one day when she steps through the white picket gate and ends up somewhere else, "inbetween", in a bizarre, surreal world of a child's imagination — playful at first, it soon becomes a nightmare. Danger and wonder lurk around every corner.

The comic has been on a long hiatus with occasional updates. Unfortunately, because of a hacker attack, the site is currently down until further notice.

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This work displays examples of:

• All Just a Dream: So Nadia thinks... until this page.
• Always Save the Girl: Or, an animated plushie you inadvertently brought along. That works, too. Lenny tries to stop Nadia from doing this, but to no avail.
  Lenny: No one ever listens to me.
• Amazing Technicolor Wildlife: Orange, blue, purple...
• Badass Adorable: Mip. He's a tiny ball of fluff on bird legs who wears a funny hat, but can carry Mister Bojangles (a being several times larger than Mip is). Same goes for his slightly larger, but equally fluffy brothers. Also, Reggie, an even tinier firefly/ladybug critter who does not give up when his help is needed. Never.
• Balance Between Good and Evil: There is some sort of a game going on between "Him" and "Her" The Dreaming Mother, according to the cast page. It has rules (which He's free to break, but the good guys aren't - that's how they're good), but we don't know them yet. He claims he wins every round, though.
• Big Creepy-Crawlies: This is why you don't want to go to the bottom. Because the crawlies will eat you.
• Big Damn Heroes: It's twice now that Nugget just appeared out of nowhere to save Nadia. Also happens here.
• Bluebird of Happiness: They're Her envoys (He gets creepy red-and-black mantis-like flyers).
• Bubble Pipe: Mr. B. and Rendo "smoke" these while making plans, in an Affectionate Parody of British gentlemen discussing important stuff.
• Boyish Short Hair: Nadia is a Tomboy with a short, spiky anime-style haircut.
• Chess with Death: Battleship, actually, and Him isn't death. But the board is a representation of Inbetween and Underside, and everything the players do, happens in whatever passes for reality there. Including ships being sunk...
• Courier: Nadia's day job is delivering packages on a scooter. Inbetween, Reggie's the unstoppable sort.
• Dem Bones: The entity known as "Him" until Nadia names him Mr. Bones is a skeleton in a black suit with red shirt and accessories, and red square glasses. He denies being the Grim Reaper when she calls him that.
• Down the Rabbit Hole: An ordinary girl ends up in Wonderland? Check. Except she might not be all that ordinary, after all...
• The Dreaded: The sight of mantas (His agents) makes Mip panic. Mister Boojangles reacts thusly:
  Mr. B.: Oh, dear. Not now. Not Him.
• Dreams vs. Nightmares: Most probably.
• Evil Is Cool: In-Universe, Him certainly seems to think so, with his Sinister Shades, his "Miami Vice reject" suit and his long, long speeches that do not make much of an impression on Nadia.
  Nadia: I think you like the sound of your own voice...
• Evil Laugh: Him, when Nadia does something impulsive and stupid, here.
• Formally-Named Pet: Mister Boojangles, although Inbetween he's more of a Mentor Mascot.
• Giant Flyer: From the very moment Nadia steps into the gate and sees orange Air Whales and blue Air Otters.
  • La Brigade du Chapeaux rides a flying battle Air Whale.
• Goggles Do Nothing: Averted; Nadia uses hers when riding her scooter, and since she ends up Inbetween while on a delivery run, it makes sense that she's wearing them. Reggie wears his all the time, but he's a flier, so he needs them.
• Gratuitous Foreign Language:
  • Gratuitous French: La Brigade des Chapeaux. It's head, Rendo, uses French phrases generously. Even though he acts sort of British.
  • Gratuitous Spanish: Dado, the Brigade's pilot, speaks Spanish. See his Bilingual Dialogue with Rendo.
  • Gratuitous Russian: Nadia speaks in Russian at one point when she's seriously spooked. Justified, since apparently her grandmother is Russian.

• Hat of Power:
  • A necessity Inbetween, at least if you want to do any badassery. L'Academie des Chapeaux is build of these, just larger. Members of la Brigade du Chapeaux wear theirs with honour and pick them with great care:
  • Rendo, The Leader with Quintessential British Gentleman vibes wears a Dashingly Dapper Derby
  • Reggie, a tiny, speedy The Determinator wears a pilot's hat complete with goggles and aviator scarf
  • Mister Boojangles, the slightly Eccentric Mentor, arrives bareheaded at L'Academie, where he dons a fez
  • Morvo, a friendly Nice Guy, wears a woolen hat with a pompom
  • Cecil and Corky, a Multiple Head Case share a small fedora - that is, Cecil wears it and won't let Corky try it on.
  • Zomgz, The Engineer, wears a simple workman's flat cap
  • Dado, the Spanish-speaking pilot-navigator, wears a beret
  • Meep wears a tophat, el Mep - a sombrero, and Lil' Mip has a cute lil' hat with a propeller, underlining his status of the group's junior member.

The Power part of their hats is acting as small Portal Doors (Mr. B. can fit through, but nobody larger can) to somewhere - they can be used as telephone, as well.

• Hollywood Board Games: Inbetween's brand of Battleship is played with flying whales instead of ships — nothing that surprising considering the place's overall wackiness. Not-Death's brand of the game adds danger for flavor, as the board is a representation of the Inbetween and the Underside. If that isn't enough to establish Not-Death as a Card-Carrying Villain, then you should know he also cheats.
• I Know Your True Name: Names have great power. Which is why Him taunts Nadia into giving him one. This is a Bad Thing, judging from Rendo and Mr. B.'s Oh, Crap! reaction.
• Knockout Gas: Ghrungs, those nasty green reptilian denizens of Underside breathe knockout gas out to immobilise their prey.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: So who, exactly is mr. Boojangles adressing on the first page? Himself - or us? Being a chameleon, his Aside Glance might not even mean anything...
• Living Mood Ring: Lenny has a mood-ring shell (since he's a snail).
• Morning Routine: The story starts with Mister Boojangles narrating whimsically, while Nadia's still asleep in the background. She only wakes up on the third page.
• Mr. Exposition: The upside to His tendency for Evil Gloating, although how much can we trust him is another piece of cake, entirely.
• Non-Action Guy: Mister Boojangles, although he's not so happy about it.
• Not-So-Harmless Villain: Okay, so Nadia may be justified in not taking Him at all seriously at first, a monologue-addicted, Sharp-Dressed Man wannabe that he is, because she's very new at this sort of thing. But she quickly learns she shouldn't have taunted him.
• Opposed Mentors: Both Him and the Brigade du Chapeaux want to direct Nadia. There are strong hints of a deeper good-evil conflict they are sides of.
• Our Dragons Are Different: Cecil and Corky, a fire-breathing Multiple Head Case, roughly human-sized.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Reggie. We'll let the comic speak, honestly.
• Pokémon Speak: The Meep brothers.
• Portal Door: Portal Gate in an ordinary white picket fence is how Nadia ends up Inbetween. See the page image.
• Reality Warper: Almost for sure, Nadia. It's strongly suggested that it's her imagination (and her nightmares) shaping the Inbetween and Underside, at least partially. She has little control, though, and things keep going south for her

• Red and Black and Evil All Over: Him (along with his creatures) happily adopts this colour scheme.

• Sinister Shades: Him wears them to go with his snazzy evil suit. Quite why, it's hard to tell, since he doesn't have any eyeballs. Or ears.
• Sour Supporter: Lenny selflessly supports Nadia, mostly by telling her again and again to stop and bloomin' think before she leaps.
• Speech Bubbles: Colour-coded (Mr. B.'s are light green, Rendo's are blue, Nadia's are white). Him gets black bubbles with white text in a fancy type, contrasting the good guys' Comic Sans.
• Super-Speed: Observe Reggie's amazing speed. He's no Fragile Speedster, either.
• Symbol Swearing: Quite a lot, actually. Mostly skulls, for some reason. Nadia's boss only speaks in symbol cuss "words".
• Surreal Horror: Half the time, surreal wonder the other half.
• Talking Animal: Inbetween, most animals talk, including those brought from our world; Nadia's pet chameleon, Mister Bojangles, talks to her immediately. In a stuffy British accent, no less. He's quickly confirmed to have been there before, though. Lenny, who in our world has been an ordinary snail, has crossed many years ago and spent the time travelling Inbetween.
• Three-Point Landing: Him, here, cause Evil Is Cool and all that...
• Trapped in Another World: Nadia. This world may be Magical Underpinnings of Reality, and she is supposed to be there - she just gets separated from her mentor before he can properly explain anything. Lampshaded in the page quote.
• World in the Sky: Inbetween. The Sky Is an Ocean, complete with whales and otters (and relatively normal birds). There is something at the bottom, but you don't want to go there. You really don't.
• The Unintelligible: Zomgz speaks in electronic symbols, but is easily understood by the rest of the Brigade. Reggie only makes engine noises, and Meep only says "meep".

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