Happy Dahl Day!

Hello, chums!

Today (September 13th) is Roald Dahl Day, a day set aside to celebrate all things Dahl, the splendifirous author of such classic books as The BFG, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, The Twits and loads, loads more.

Roald Dahl was one of my absolute favourite authors growing up. The BFG was one of the first books I ever bought with my own pocket money, and the tale of the Big Friendly Giant completely absorbed me as a kid, starting a lifelong passion for Dahl’s work which saw me collect a complete library of the man’s works over the years – a collection I still have, including that same, (now very tatty) copy of The BFG.

I loved the weird, twisted worlds of Dahl’s creation, a world populated with crazy confectioners, fantastic foxes, wizened witches, and grotesque grandmothers. The world of Dahl’s creation was sometimes rather dark, nasty and grotesque, but shot through with great humour, wonderful flights of fancy and some downright lunacy. Above all, no matter how vile the villains, how fiendish the foes, good always won out, and bad usually met with a disgustingly grizzly end. I loved it all.

I do reread Dahl from time to time, and am still in awe at how much of a genius the man was. The stories he wrote years ago still fizzle and crackle with an energy and spirit that has rarely been matched, which I think explains why his work remains so popular today, with his books selling millions and with his work continually being transferred from page to stage and screen.

As today is Roald Dahl Day, I’ve done a little doodle in tribute, wherein The BFG meets one of Dahl’s other great creations, Willy Wonka. It’s not up to the standard set by Dahl’s long-time collaborator, illustrator Quentin Blake, but I hope you like it nonetheless!

So, here’s to you, Roald Dahl – thank you for inspiring my young imagination, and long may your writings persevere!

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to gorge myself on Snozzcumbers and Frobscottle. Tara!

- Andy.

The Pigeons Are Revolting!

Hello, chums!

Pigeons, eh? They look harmless enough, strolling about city centres, eating crumbs or being chased by over-excited schoolchildren. They’re just silly little birds, aren’t they?

BUT! Have you ever thought what might happen if all of the pigeons in the world turned against mankind? What sort of horror would unfold?

No? Well I have. Indeed, so worried am I about a pigeon uprising that I’ve decided to start work on a new comic strip for gaup, called The Pigeons Are Revolting, which is about that very subject, and which will hopefully act as a cautionary tale about man’s relationship with the ‘flying rats’.

Anyway, here’s a little teaser poster for the strip, which I threw together to give you a feel for the piece – hope you like it, comrades!

Don’t forget to keep watching the skies, now.

- Andy.

The Carrotty Kid Returns

Hello, chums!

One of the stars of our upcoming website will be the much-awaited (well, by us, at any rate) return of The Carrotty Kid, the vigilante vegetable himself.

For those not in the know, The Carrotty Kid began life as a gag-based webcomic back in 2002, before its creator (Mr. Andy Fanton – i.e, me) pitched it to the good folk at Cosgrove Hall (they who created the seminal Danger Mouse).

The idea seemed to strike a chord with the Cosgrove crew, and they optioned the idea for two years, culminating in the production of this very excellent pilot episode:

Sadly, despite attracting interest from a few TV networks, the series never got picked up or moved on, leaving the crime-fighting carrot to move full circle, and return to his webcomic roots (ha! Roots!)

The new-look Carrotty Kid will return to gaup when we launch in a few weeks’ time…so make sure you’re here to welcome him back!

Tara!

- Andy.

Spider-Mouse, Spider-Mouse, Does Whatever A Spider-Mouse Does

Hello, chums!

News reaches gaup HQ that Disney are set to buy up Marvel for $4 billion.

That’ll buy you a lot of comics, eh?

In honour of this historic merger, we’ve knocked up a little sketch – behold the Amaaaaaazing Spider-Mouse!

By the way, if anyone is interested, gaup will happily enter into negotiations for a similar merger. Bidding starts at four pence, and a packet of Smarties.

- Andy.

Welcome to gaupblog

Hey, chums!

Welcome to gaupblog, the brand-new blog keeping you up-to-date with news and developments from behind-the-scenes of the new comics website gaup.

gaup will be the new home to former internet superstar The Carrotty Kid, as well as all-new strips from other creations whom we hope you’ll enjoy and come to love like a new family – albeit a family made of ink and crayon.

This blog will keep you posted about our progress as we gear up to launch the site, as well as throwing in some random musings on stuff and nonsense as we see fit. Hopefully, it won’t be boring.

To get things rolling, here’s a sketch of Captain Rex Rover from our forthcoming strip ‘Jet Pets’, which will be among the line-up of comics we’ll have ready at launch.

Look at him! Look at him with your eyes!

Yeah, pretty cool, huh?

Stay tuned for more of this kind of thing in the coming weeks!

Tara!

- Andy.