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The Pocket Footrot Flats #1
They've Put Custard with My Bone!
Vintage paperback
Paperback
First published January 1, 1983
21 people want to read
About the author
Murray Ball
141 books17 followersBall grew up in New Zealand before spending some years in Australia and South Africa. As a young man he worked for the Dominion newspaper in Wellington and the Manawatu Times before becoming a freelance cartoonist and moving to England, where he found work with publishers DC Thomson, of Dundee.
He developed his character Stanley and had it published in the influential English humour-magazine Punch. Stanley the Palaeolithic Hero featured a caveman who wore glasses and struggled with the Neolithic environment. It became the longest-running strip in Punch's history, and other English and non-English speaking countries syndicated it. Ball continued to contribute to Punch after returning with his family to New Zealand.
Ball's early cartoons often had political overtones (his mid-70s UK strips included All the King's Comrades, and he described himself in the introduction to The Sisterhood (1993) as a socialist. Stanley often expresses left-wing attitudes).
After 1975 Ball wrote several comics in New Zealand (for instance Nature Calls), but it was in 1976 that he first published the strip Footrot Flats in Wellington's afternoon newspaper, The Evening Post. It rapidly led to the demise of his other strips (including 'Stanley' which he was still writing for Punch.
The strip follows the adventures of a working sheep-dog called (if anything) "Dog" or "The Dog" or "@*!, his owner Wal Footrot and the other characters, human and animal, that they encounter or associate with. Ball expresses Dog's thoughts in thought-bubbles, though he clearly remains "just a dog" (rather than the heavily anthropomorphised creatures sometimes found in other comics or animation).
Ball's Footrot Flats has appeared in syndication in international newspapers, and in over 40 published books.
Ball has said he has always wanted his cartooning to have an impact. "The heart of a cartoon is the idea, an artist can create a painting, hang it on the wall and be satisfied with what he has achieved even if no-one else sees it. In cartooning you must get a human reaction to the idea. The task of the cartoonist is to translate his idea into a drawing that will have impact".
Ball lived with his wife Pam on a rural property in Gisborne, New Zealand.
He developed his character Stanley and had it published in the influential English humour-magazine Punch. Stanley the Palaeolithic Hero featured a caveman who wore glasses and struggled with the Neolithic environment. It became the longest-running strip in Punch's history, and other English and non-English speaking countries syndicated it. Ball continued to contribute to Punch after returning with his family to New Zealand.
Ball's early cartoons often had political overtones (his mid-70s UK strips included All the King's Comrades, and he described himself in the introduction to The Sisterhood (1993) as a socialist. Stanley often expresses left-wing attitudes).
After 1975 Ball wrote several comics in New Zealand (for instance Nature Calls), but it was in 1976 that he first published the strip Footrot Flats in Wellington's afternoon newspaper, The Evening Post. It rapidly led to the demise of his other strips (including 'Stanley' which he was still writing for Punch.
The strip follows the adventures of a working sheep-dog called (if anything) "Dog" or "The Dog" or "@*!, his owner Wal Footrot and the other characters, human and animal, that they encounter or associate with. Ball expresses Dog's thoughts in thought-bubbles, though he clearly remains "just a dog" (rather than the heavily anthropomorphised creatures sometimes found in other comics or animation).
Ball's Footrot Flats has appeared in syndication in international newspapers, and in over 40 published books.
Ball has said he has always wanted his cartooning to have an impact. "The heart of a cartoon is the idea, an artist can create a painting, hang it on the wall and be satisfied with what he has achieved even if no-one else sees it. In cartooning you must get a human reaction to the idea. The task of the cartoonist is to translate his idea into a drawing that will have impact".
Ball lived with his wife Pam on a rural property in Gisborne, New Zealand.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 1, 2018
This isn't the best of Ball's Footroot Flats cartoons, but it's still a fun and likeable read. Dog is as simultaneously kind and cowardly as he ever is, and there's a heavy focus in this collection on the gleefully violent Horse, who I always enjoy - Horse the cat has been my favourite Flats character since forever. As always, though, the charm of the Dog and his friends lies in the subject and setting: rural New Zealand farm life, where the objects of importance are sheep, cows, tree-planting (the Dog is an inveterate conservationist), and trying to get one over on pampered little Prince Charles, Aunt Dolly's useless corgi.
(Re)read as part of Book Riot's 2018 Read Harder challenge: a comic that isn't published by Marvel, DC, or Image.
Eat the custard, Dog. You'll like it.
(Re)read as part of Book Riot's 2018 Read Harder challenge: a comic that isn't published by Marvel, DC, or Image.
Eat the custard, Dog. You'll like it.
July 12, 2014
Footrot Flats is a cartoon series about Dog, his owner Wal, Wals farm and family, his co-pets, and neighbours. It setting in New Zealand is a big part of the story. It is based on life on the authors real farm. There is also a movie.
It is funny to read one strip at a time, but it's the years of combined story that make this a great cartoon. Having read many other strips, this one pulled me in and made me love them all, even grumpy old Wal.
You will love seeing the world through the eyes of this dog - why he sometimes irrationally wants to be around Jess (the neighbours girl dog), his fear of Horse (the cat), and his complete focus on securing food to eat.
This is the first book in the series and introduces the characters.
I recently saw some of the series in a second hand book store for over $AUS50 each. That's how good, and how sought after they are.
It is funny to read one strip at a time, but it's the years of combined story that make this a great cartoon. Having read many other strips, this one pulled me in and made me love them all, even grumpy old Wal.
You will love seeing the world through the eyes of this dog - why he sometimes irrationally wants to be around Jess (the neighbours girl dog), his fear of Horse (the cat), and his complete focus on securing food to eat.
This is the first book in the series and introduces the characters.
I recently saw some of the series in a second hand book store for over $AUS50 each. That's how good, and how sought after they are.
Read
August 23, 2008isbn,original
October 3, 2015
A great way to get a feel for the Aussie Humour.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews