What do you think?
Rate this book
Footrot Flats #1
Footrot Flats One
Footrot Flats
72 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1978
10 people are currently reading
203 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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
May 7, 2018
Norman Tebbit's "cricket test" for New Zealanders has two requirements: 1) Acknowledge the All Blacks as the greatest sports team EVER and for all time and 2) love Footrot Flats.
A question in the NZ Trivial Pursuit is "Who runs the dog?", the answer - as any Kiwi knows - is Wal.
Footrot Flats is so much a part of our culture, that one of the cartoons even appeared in a national Year 11 (School Certificate) English exam paper in the 1970's.
Thinking about the books, I have Dave Dobbin's hit "Slice of Heaven" - the theme to the movie of Footrot Flats running round in my head, and a huge grin on my face.
A question in the NZ Trivial Pursuit is "Who runs the dog?", the answer - as any Kiwi knows - is Wal.
Footrot Flats is so much a part of our culture, that one of the cartoons even appeared in a national Year 11 (School Certificate) English exam paper in the 1970's.
Thinking about the books, I have Dave Dobbin's hit "Slice of Heaven" - the theme to the movie of Footrot Flats running round in my head, and a huge grin on my face.
October 19, 2020
Great comic strip! Footrot Flats' conceit is not broad in scope. Sure, there's Wal's friend Cooch, Wal's big pig dog Major, and there's the turkey, the goat, the goose. But the comic really boils down to Dog and Wal and their interactions on the farm.
Murray Ball does scenery and setting really well; Dog and Wal are rarely just sitting around, they're going somewhere and doing something--usually getting very roughed up or very muddy.
The humor comes from the characters. Wal is as multifaceted as a true Kiwi farmer: rough and gruff, occasionally with a heart of gold, other times a "mean beggar." Dog is a bit of everything too: clever, goofy, cocky, sometimes eager, sometimes cowardly, and both empathetic and selfish. He'd fit in with the cast of Hank the Cowdog. It follows that their relationship is equally dynamic: Dog is part man's best friend and part pest underfoot, and Wal is sometimes savior and sometimes oppressor.
This book made me laugh quite a lot. Not a lot of puns or wordplay. The humor is situational or slapstick. I didn't think that was my preference, but it's great here. It gave me this cozy, nostalgic feeling and flashbacks to being hunched over Garfield books (early Garfield) as a kid, laughing my head off to myself. (I'm not sure why it's Garfield this made me flash back to. There aren't any similarities really, except that early Garfield did rely on its sturdy little cast of well-defined, dependable characters for its laughs. And there's maybe something similar in their comic timing and slapstick.)
I'll definitely read more.
Murray Ball does scenery and setting really well; Dog and Wal are rarely just sitting around, they're going somewhere and doing something--usually getting very roughed up or very muddy.
The humor comes from the characters. Wal is as multifaceted as a true Kiwi farmer: rough and gruff, occasionally with a heart of gold, other times a "mean beggar." Dog is a bit of everything too: clever, goofy, cocky, sometimes eager, sometimes cowardly, and both empathetic and selfish. He'd fit in with the cast of Hank the Cowdog. It follows that their relationship is equally dynamic: Dog is part man's best friend and part pest underfoot, and Wal is sometimes savior and sometimes oppressor.
This book made me laugh quite a lot. Not a lot of puns or wordplay. The humor is situational or slapstick. I didn't think that was my preference, but it's great here. It gave me this cozy, nostalgic feeling and flashbacks to being hunched over Garfield books (early Garfield) as a kid, laughing my head off to myself. (I'm not sure why it's Garfield this made me flash back to. There aren't any similarities really, except that early Garfield did rely on its sturdy little cast of well-defined, dependable characters for its laughs. And there's maybe something similar in their comic timing and slapstick.)
I'll definitely read more.
April 19, 2009
I recall fondly reading Footrot Flats on holidays as a child - so when the opportunity arose I decided to repeat the experience.
Footrot Flats One shows the promise of the great comics to come. The world of Footrot Flats was smaller in these earlier comics - with many of the minor characters yet to be introduced.
Footrot Flats One shows the promise of the great comics to come. The world of Footrot Flats was smaller in these earlier comics - with many of the minor characters yet to be introduced.
April 23, 2009
Who knew sheep shaggers could be so funny eh bro?
August 25, 2012
I use to love these as a kid, still do. Change my favourite character every week just because their all so good.
April 13, 2019
reread
September 7, 2017
Like Asterix, this was a title I can say that I grew up on. I've read the entire collection over and over. It was a comic strip that didn't have the fame of a Garfield or Peanuts, but unlike those two titles, this title had an ongoing story as a comic strip. Sure FF had short gags here and there, but the characters of Garfield and Peanuts never grew up. The characters of FF grew up. Their adventures and the world around them changed as they changed. Simply put, time actually existed in FF and so, it was an ongoing 'story'. There actually exists a start and an end to the story (as seen in book 27).
Though I am no farmer by any stretch of the imagination, I did feel like i was part of FF living on the farm. The adventures weren't about traveling to new countries and saving mankind etc. It was basically a farmer, his family and animals around the farm and what they basically go through everyday. But man, the way in which it was told. There were fun moments, growing pains, tragedy, adventure to areas outside the farm, interaction with other animals, romance, rivalry, fights!
The artwork can be initially hard to get used to in the first few books. Very sketchy, loose and no standard anatomy. That changes as you move on and the art becomes quite stable and enjoyable. Don't hold that against Murray, because if you look back at the old books of Garfield, Peanuts, Asterix, Tin Tin, the art also did not start off the way it is popularly known as now.
Unlike many comics, this comic was based on the real life of Murray (a farmer). How many comics these days can you name that is based on someone's life? A documentary, a biopic of sorts. To this day, if I ever get my own dog, I will simply name him... 'Dog'.
Though I am no farmer by any stretch of the imagination, I did feel like i was part of FF living on the farm. The adventures weren't about traveling to new countries and saving mankind etc. It was basically a farmer, his family and animals around the farm and what they basically go through everyday. But man, the way in which it was told. There were fun moments, growing pains, tragedy, adventure to areas outside the farm, interaction with other animals, romance, rivalry, fights!
The artwork can be initially hard to get used to in the first few books. Very sketchy, loose and no standard anatomy. That changes as you move on and the art becomes quite stable and enjoyable. Don't hold that against Murray, because if you look back at the old books of Garfield, Peanuts, Asterix, Tin Tin, the art also did not start off the way it is popularly known as now.
Unlike many comics, this comic was based on the real life of Murray (a farmer). How many comics these days can you name that is based on someone's life? A documentary, a biopic of sorts. To this day, if I ever get my own dog, I will simply name him... 'Dog'.
December 29, 2025
This may be my most frequently read book. Every year when I was little, waiting for the New Year, I would read Footrot Flats to keep awake. Everyone loves Dog, the charming narrator of farm life. A kiwi icon, still amusing after 40 years, and probably one inspiration for Catherine Chidgey’s Axman’s Carnival. Murray Ball develops the humour and the characters in the later books.
September 1, 2019
Funny and reminds my Dad of growing up on the farm.
March 25, 2021
Doing a re-read of all my old Footrot Flats comics. Love 'em!!
September 18, 2021
Everyone should read about farm-life in cartoon form. Can’t go wrong.
May 14, 2024
greatest pākehā contribution to nz culture
November 17, 2017
Footrot Flats one is the first collection of cartoons by Murray Ball. He is an excellent writer and artist. The jokes are witty and sincere. I just love the quaint NZ life that is represented. Even though Murray Ball has long since retired, I think about the subject matter often. This work is an excellent read.
October 30, 2012
Maybe dating a sheep farmer in college had something to do with it, but I loved the very down to earth humour of a New Zealand sheep farm with all its grit.
November 21, 2013
One of the funniest reads.
July 19, 2015
Footrot flats made my childhood.
September 22, 2015
A great Aussie humour comic - this is where it all begins. Loveable characters and funny situations.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews