Bigfoot & Gray on the Run is an American action comedy graphic novel duology created by Chris Savino. Its storyline centers on the titular Bigfoot, a bigfoot monster from a forest environment, and Gray, an extraterrestrial alien, who first meet when the latter crashes into the area of Bigfoot's home while piloting a spaceship. That moment is not long before they meet trouble ahead, as they're eventually pursued by government affiliates — namely, FBO Agents Daye and Knight, who had been specifically looking for the existence of bigfoots and aliens, come after Bigfoot and Gray upon first noticing them and make various attempts at capturing or killing them. As Bigfoot and Gray join forces to ensure their survival, they develop a genuine friendship with each other.
While Savino already had the idea of the premise and characters at some point beforehand, his first publication of it was through a live-action short which he intended to serve as the pilot for a potential TV series. The short was funded via an Indiegogo campaign that Savino launched in 2011, and was completed in 2013; it can be watched here
. No explanation was given from any source as to why the series never came to fruition, but Savino's eventual creation and involvement with The Loud House shortly after the short's release, alongside the sexual harassment allegations he'd receive at the same time, could be argued to have played a large part on that. Following a period of privacy Savino went through since said allegations, he reimplemented the premise for the current comic book.
The duology is currently either on work in progress or on hiatus. The first volume of the duology was published on December 26, 2019, and is currently available for physical and digital purchase on Amazon.com; physical copies are distributed by Papercutz, while the digital version was uploaded by Kindle. The second volume was meant to come out on Spring 2021, but no release nor update on its development was made since it was first announced on Savino's website.
Bigfoot & Gray On the Run provides examples of:
- Bigfoot, Sasquatch, and Yeti: Bigfoot stands out from the typical depictions of the trope in that his limbs and face are furless (promotional descriptions explain that he merely shaves them to make it look as if he wore a sweater). He also wears sneakers and socks regularly.
- Big Guy, Little Guy: Bigfoot & Gray and Daye & Knight both form pairs of this, the former in regards to general size (Bigfoot as the big guy, Gray as the little guy) and the latter in terms of height (Daye as the tall guy, Knight as the short guy).
- Bland-Name Product: The drink Gray is seen consuming cans of in his introduction, Gray Bull, is a blatant alien version of Red Bull.
- Bond Villain Stupidity: When Daye and Knight manage to catch Bigfoot for the first time, Knight seeks to exterminate him... with a Death Trap involving an elaborate set of circular saws. Not surprisingly, Gray comes for Bigfoot's rescue and subjects the agents to the trap's electricity.
- Can-Crushing Cranium: Gray does this to dispose of the Gray Bull cans he drinks (or leave them at a spot in his spaceship, to be specific).
- Comically Missing the Point: Daye misses the reason Knight gives him to go after Bigfoot and Gray twice upon the latter agent's initial discovery of the duo.Knight: A bigfoot and an alien! They really do exist! And we found them! Do you know what this means?Daye: That true love is also possible?Knight: No, you dolt! It means we'll finally be back in good graces down at HQ!Daye: You mean they'll forget all about the incident?[Knight gives Daye a Dope Slap]
- Death Trap: Knight sets up one in an attempt to kill Bigfoot when he and Daye manage to catch Bigfoot in their hands for the first time. It's destroyed when Gray comes to rescue Bigfoot.
- The Ditz: Daye is not much of a bright thinker, and is often oblivious to things that happen around him or are explained to him, much to the annoyance of his fellow FBO agent Knight. At least he's competent enough to give physical help to Knight, even if he isn't a Dumb Muscle.
- A Dog Named "Dog": In this case, a bigfoot named Bigfoot.
- Dope Slap: Knight frequently does this to Daye with a baton in order to keep the latter's mind right whenever he's oblivious about something or misses any of Knight's explanations to him.
- Electricity Knocks You Out: Well, they're not completely knocked out, but Knight and Daye lose a good chunk of their consciousness when Gray gets them electrocuted with a Death Trap's power, and are only capable of moving dazingly and making growls of pain when they briefly come back for Gray and Bigfoot, who look at them in confusion.
- Evil Duo: Of the agent duo, Knight is the serious and controlling boss, while Daye, although fixated on their mission too, is The Ditz who's often oblivious of things if Knight doesn't clarify to him.
- Friendship Trinket: Shortly after they begin to work together to avoid government capture, Bigfoot and Gray paint red "B" and "G" letters (respectively) on their torsos to symbolize their alliance and eventual friendship.
- Gag Nose: Bigfoot, Daye and Knight all sport comically bulbous noses.
- Government Agency of Fiction: As stated by the narrator during their introductory scene, Knight and Daye are members of an US government agency known simply by the acronym of FBO. The agency's goal is unknown, but given the agents' mission to capture Bigfoot and Gray, it seems to be along the lines of a Men in Black organization that searches for unusual living beings.
- Gratuitous Spanish: Spoken by Knight as he's preparing a Death Trap that will butcher Bigfoot."Hasta la bye bye!"
- Lazy Bum: Gray is introduced piloting a spaceship across space in a clueless direction, all while drinking Gray Bull cans and browsing Grayboy magazines. It seems that while not hanging around with Bigfoot or trying to escape government capture, all Gray does is laze around.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Happens from time to time. Two instances are Gray announcing he's going to scream as he's crashing into Earth, and Knight and Daye silencing the narrator when the latter begins talking about their affiliation to the FBO.
- The Men in Black: Parodied with Daye and Knight, who despite being spies from a secret government agency that looks for unidentified beings, barely stay secretive (except when the narrator tries to bring their agency up, apparently) and just go right into trying to capture or kill Bigfoot and Gray with whatever means they have available, with their Evil Duo dynamic making them very comical.
- Minimalist Cast: The entire plot only involves the actions done by Bigfoot, Gray, Daye and Knight, with no supporting or minor characters even appearing for at least one occasion.
- Noodle Incident: The "incident" that led to Knight and Daye's assignment to their current mission on searching and capturing bigfoots and aliens, which the agents mention several times.
- The Noseless: Gray, which is particularly contrasting to the other main characters' large, bulbous noses. Arguably justified in that he's an alien.
- Playboy Parody: In his introduction, Gray reads one titled "Grayboy Magazine", which features alien-oriented fanservice.
- Reassigned to Antarctica: According to what they're first seen talking about in their introduction, Daye and Knight are on their mission to capture Bigfoot and Gray because of an assignment they were given at the FBO's headquarters as punishment for doing an unexplained discrepancy referred to as "the incident" before. By the time they find the titular duo, Knight remarks to Daye that catching them will allow the agents to rebuild their reputation at the headquarters.Knight: You nitwit! This mission isn't a perk, it's more like a punishment!Daye: Do you think it had anything to do with the incident?Knight: (gives Daye a Dope Slap) How many times have I told you not to mention the incident? Of course it's because of the incident! Why do you think we're on this wild goose chase?
- Tempting Fate: At a point during nighttime, when Daye informs Knight that they're getting close to catching Bigfoot and Gray, he gives the off-handed remark that it's not raining at the moment, to which a rainstorm immediately begins. Knight simply tells Daye "I hate you." in response.
- This Is the Part Where...: Gray says a variant of this to himself when the emergency system on his spaceship informs him that he's about to crash into Earth."I think now would be a good time to scream. AAHHHHHHHH!"
- Unsound Effect: Used very prominently throughout the comic, including for considerably silent acts like Knight yanking Daye's necktie.
