Nepal, July 18 -- At around page 81 of Aditi Mali's The Complete Shampoo and Daddy, the rabbit Shampoo discovers that they are a pyromaniac. Five chunky panels later, Shampoo has burnt the corner of the page off. The top right of page 83 is jagged and soot-blackened - slightly better off than the edges of page 85, which are completely 'burnt' off because Shampoo has by now passed on their pyromania to their friend, the pig called Daddy.

A few pages later, there is a neat hole through the page because the two blameless animals have once again taken a match to the book that hosts them. Mali's collection of graphic short stories essaying the deep and troublesome friendship between a rabbit and a pig is entertaining, dark, depraved and an ex...