Flook (cartoon)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Flook was a cartoon strip by "Trog" in the Daily Mail newspaper, which ran from 1949 to 1984. The main characters were a young boy called Rufus and his animal friend, Flook. They inhabited a satirical fantasy-world populated by larger-than-life characters, most of whom bore a striking resemblance to leading politicians and celebrities. Many of their adventures also starred jailbird Bodger, his witch-like sister Lucretia (cf. Lucretia Borgia) and a mad retired colonel.
"Trog" was the pen name of Wally Fawkes of the jazz group Wally Fawkes and the Troglodytes, who drew the strip. Storylines were written by many different people, including the singer and writer George Melly, the comedian Barry Took, the musician Humphrey Lyttelton, and the film critic Barry Norman.
It should be noted that Flook had a spell in the opposite end of the British press' political spectrum - the Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror also ran the strip on their cartoon pages for a few years. The papers were, and still are, diametrically opposed to the Mail's right wing stance.
[edit] Books
- The Amazing Adventures of Rufus and Flook 1949
- Rufus and Flook v. Moses Maggot 1950
- Rufus and Flook at School 1951
- Flook 1958 (collection of 3 stories)
- Flook - Flook's Eye View of the Sixties, with an introduction by Laurie Lee, 1970 (collection of 4 stories)
- Flook and the Peasants' Revolt 1975
- Trog: Forty graphic Years 1987 (features one complete “Flook” story)
- I, Flook – An Autobiography by George Melly, 1962 (not a strip collection)
- Trog at 30 : a celebration, Centre for the Study of Cartoons and Caricature, University of Kent at Canterbury, 1979 (catalogue accompanying an exhibit, with essays by most of the writers of “Flook” up to date)
- The Pataphysical Flook 2007 (an essay about George Melly’s use of references to the works of Alfred Jarry in Flook)
