What do you think?
Rate this book
Footrot Flats #4
Footrot Flats 4
Comic cartoons of rural New Zealand.
Paperback
First published January 1, 1981
57 people want to read
About the author
Murray Ball
142 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 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 15, 2025
Well, it made me laugh. Too short to be 5*s, read in a sitting. Fine as a 50p book in charity shop but not sure worth full price.
November 17, 2017
Murray Ball is an amazing cartoonist. Footrot Flats 4 has a wonderful collection of some of the best of Murray Ball's work. While it is several years old, the subject matter is still up to date and interesting. This is a great collection.
January 20, 2009
Brillant!!
April 19, 2009
This book introduces two ongoing characters who add significantly to the Footrot Flats world - Prince Charles (the pampered corgi) and Pew (the orphaned magpie)
August 25, 2012
I loved these as a kid an still do, read them all :)
September 29, 2015
A great Aussie humour comic - this is where it all begins. Loveable characters and funny situations
January 8, 2017
Interesting comics from the other side of the world - lots of ones that wouldn't make it into an American newspaper dealing with animals in heat or giving birth.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews