Addison resident Bret Juliano is big on theming when exhibiting his work at shows, including staying in character by wearing one of his two dozen fedoras. (Photos provided)    

Ask Los Angeles-area residents what’s the worst thing about living in that region of the country and many are likely to mention traffic.

L.A. is consistently ranked among the worst cities in the nation for freeway congestion. There’s nothing funny about a traffic jam.  

However, the gridlock on a Los Angeles road in which Bret Juliano found himself stuck in 2010 was destined to lead not only to comedic relief as he played a game in his mind, but also the creation of a comic strip two years later that still provides his readers with plenty of enjoyment today. 

“I was sitting in traffic on a freeway on what turned out to be a two-hour commute from work in Los Angeles to my home,” Juliano said. “Playing the usual license plate game in that situation with no cars moving would have been pointless. 

“So, I decided to focus on the license plate of the car in front of me to see what creative ideas I could come up with based on the letters, which were ‘DBM.’ After many ideas went through my mind, I landed on ‘Dust Bunny Mafia.’” 

Fifteen years later and now living in Addison, Juliano, 37, is known in the comics community — and especially among his fans — as the creator of “Dust Bunny Mafia” comics, books and collectibles.  

The cartoonist and illustrator holds down a fulltime job as a software engineer, but spends much of his free time producing his comics, which can be both seen and purchased on his website. He also appears at area shows, and frequently networks with others in the hobby.  

Juliano has published three full-length “Dust Bunny Mafia” comic collections — “Meet the Family” (2016), “The Blind Tiger” (2020) and “It’s Business, Not Personal” (2023) — as well as six volumes of “Based on a True Story” (2019-25), a historical fiction anthology mini-comic collection.  

His “Dust Bunny Mafia” work has also been included in anthologies such as “A Little Help From Our Friends”, “Unlawful Good”, “Forgotten Histories”, and “Out of the Deep”.   

Christopher Brimmage, author of “MANDRILL P.I.” and “The Multiverse Askew Trilogy”, is one of Juliano’s colleagues and fans. 

“Dust Bunny Mafia” is an all-ages comic strip exploring the inner workings of and events relating to the lives of lovable but dangerous dust bunnies.  

“Bret Juliano manages to consistently achieve something that takes many people a lifetime to master: getting you to laugh while learning something new,” Brimmage said. “His work combines a passion for real-life mafia history with anthropomorphic comic gags, and it’s a combination I didn’t know I needed until I met Bret.”  

West Coast beginnings 

Juliano was born in Redmond, Washington, and grew up in Sacramento, California. He drew inspiration from comic classics such as “Calvin and Hobbes”, “Garfield”, and “Peanuts”, as well as cartoons including “Looney Tunes”, developing a passion for drawing and writing along the way. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in computer information systems from Azusa Pacific University in 2010. He and his school-teacher wife, Laura, moved to Oak Park in 2016 and settled in Addison six years later. 

“I grew up reading newspaper comics — probably among the last generation to do that — with black-and-white strips in the dailies and color on Sundays,” he said. “I always wanted to be in the cartoon animation industry, and shortly after college I realized I needed a hobby. 

“I also always had an interest in crime. I used to spend a lot of time in pre-internet days using an Encarta Encyclopedia software trivia game called “MindMaze”, which was basically “Trivial Pursuit”, researching true crime stories. And in high school I picked up a book on Jack the Ripper. 

“One of our assignments in a literature class in which we covered “The Great Gatsby” was to create a magazine with ads for the time pieces Jay Gatsby would have worn in the (1920s) when the mafia was big.  

“Fortunately, I was able to combine these two passions of mine.” 

Dust Bunny Mafia members  

So, what exactly is the “Dust Bunny Mafia”? It’s an all-ages comic strip exploring the inner workings of and events relating to the lives of lovable but dangerous dust bunnies.  

The characters are Leo the Boss (Godfather), Vinnie the Mouth (Underboss), Jimmy the Nose (Consigliere), Frankie the Force (Head Capo), Vic the Lead (Caporegime), and Kenny the Crypt (Caporegime). The Soldiers are Benny the Bookie, Leadfoot Lucy, and Salvatore “Bolts” III.  

Their enemies include the Rats, the Crows, the Insect Family, and a Lobster mafia boss. All five of the families have run-ins with the Cops, consisting of a pigeon called Detective Mickie Potatoes and a squirrel named Tommy S. Gunn.   

“It’s basically “Looney Tunes” meets “The Godfather” meets old newspaper comics,” Juliano said. “It’s a lot of slapstick humor and word play within bigger stories involving the five families. Younger readers can enjoy the fun aspects of the characters’ interactions, while older kids and adults can also catch the mob politics references.” 

Brimmage concurs. “‘Dust Bunny Mafia’ is an absolutely delightful mix of humor and true mob history,” he said. “Its gags hit with expert comedic timing, and I always learn new mafia lore while reading.” 

Show and tell 

Juliano said he attends an average of three shows per month, often displaying his wares at a table and sometimes merely meandering as a fan. They include library events, author fairs, brewery craft fairs, and traditional comic-cons. 

“When I’m showing my work at a table, I’m very big on theming, so I have hand-painted crates with a mahogany look, cigar boxes, old leather briefcases, an old violin case, and my business cards in mini envelopes marked ‘Confidential.’ And I stay in character by wearing one of my two dozen fedoras.” 

In addition to local shows, Juliano has traveled to Minnesota and Michigan for events, and hopes to attend shows in Colorado and Kentucky in the near future. He said the indie comic community is very welcoming — “We all know that a rising tide lifts all ships” — and that show attendees are all over the spectrum when it comes to age, race, and gender.   

Brimmage says Juliano is a valuable member of the comics society. “Bret is always willing to offer creative solutions and ideas to help his fellow indie creators,” he said. “His expertise on cartooning and crowdfunding are always insightful to those of us in the indie comics community, and we are infinitely better off with him around.”   

‘Mobimals’ and the future  

In addition to the “Dust Bunny Mafia”, Juliano is working on a two-volume set of books titled “Mobimals”, a humorous field guide to mobsters with animal nicknames. He intends to include 50 Mobimals in each volume, with page spreads featuring a drawing of the Mobimal on the left side and a bio on the right. 

He has already created “Mobimals” trading cards, including special chaser cards with foil on them; a deck of playing cards with a Mobimal illustration on the front along with the mobster’s name and city with which he’s affiliated; and a pin-up booklet. 

Juliano’s future plans include a 60-page concise history of the high points of Italian-American families as told through comic strips. “Mafia Unmasked: A Comic Guide to Organized Crime” will include events such as the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.  

Readers are encouraged to check out Juliano’s work and offerings at http://comics.dustbunnymafia.com/, as well as his Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DustBunnyMafia.