Bob the Angry Flower
Encyclopedia
Bob the Angry Flower is a black-and-white comic strip
that tells the exploits of an easily angered anthropomorphic
flower
named Bob and his interactions with the world, often in search of either global domination or love
. Though the strip features a range of recurring characters, most strips stand alone with little or no continuity.
to form plurals, and is also often found in outlandish but self-inflicted predicaments. The strips themselves range from absurdist humor to dadaist "anti-humor
".
Bob's two sidekicks are "Stumpy" (a talking tree stump) and "Freddie the Flying Fetus" (self-explanatory). While Stumpy's appearance and demeanour epitomise existential ennui, Freddie – as befits his tender years – is a vital and innocent spirit, insuppressibly enthusiastic and trusting; the pair provide two different counterpoints to the single-minded irascibility of the protagonist.
Other recurring minor characters include robot
s (and their natural enemies, bear
s), ninja
s, Dalek
s (from Doctor Who
) and various evil masterminds. Dick Cheney
, Kofi Annan
, and other world leaders have also appeared as characters on occasion.
Bob the Angry Flower is the creation of Canadian
cartoonist Stephen Notley, a native of Edmonton, who has been based in Seattle since early 2005. The cartoon has been carried, at different times, by several local newspapers and magazines including See magazine, Vue Weekly, the Edmonton Journal, and The Gateway
. Notley also generally posts new strips to his website every Friday.
Bob the Angry Flower has had one spin-off
series, Lovebot Conquers All, featuring Lovebot, a robot built by Bob and then abandoned, and who reappears occasionally in the strip to bring readers up to date on his fruitless quest for love. It appeared in black and white as a bonus feature in the collection Bob the Angry Flower: The Ultimate Book of Perfect Energy, and ran in color on the subscription site Graphic Smash.
There are currently seven books published, mostly consisting of compiled cartoons from the weekly series, with a few extra features. They are:
in a September 2002 short story about an encounter with Notley. Swanwick writes, "Bob the Angry Flower experiences all emotions at exaggerated levels. He builds giant killer robots, he deploys world-destroying lasers. He is sort of like your id with an unlimited budget."
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
that tells the exploits of an easily angered anthropomorphic
Anthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism is any attribution of human characteristics to animals, non-living things, phenomena, material states, objects or abstract concepts, such as organizations, governments, spirits or deities. The term was coined in the mid 1700s...
flower
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...
named Bob and his interactions with the world, often in search of either global domination or love
Love
Love is an emotion of strong affection and personal attachment. In philosophical context, love is a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion, and affection. Love is central to many religions, as in the Christian phrase, "God is love" or Agape in the Canonical gospels...
. Though the strip features a range of recurring characters, most strips stand alone with little or no continuity.
Characters and style
Bob has an intense hatred of the incorrect use of the apostropheApostrophe
The apostrophe is a punctuation mark, and sometimes a diacritic mark, in languages that use the Latin alphabet or certain other alphabets...
to form plurals, and is also often found in outlandish but self-inflicted predicaments. The strips themselves range from absurdist humor to dadaist "anti-humor
Anti-humor
Anti-humor is a type of indirect humor that involves the joke-teller delivering something which is deliberately not funny, or lacking in intrinsic meaning. The audience is expecting something humorous, and when this does not happen, the irony itself is of comedic value. Anti-humor is also the basis...
".
Bob's two sidekicks are "Stumpy" (a talking tree stump) and "Freddie the Flying Fetus" (self-explanatory). While Stumpy's appearance and demeanour epitomise existential ennui, Freddie – as befits his tender years – is a vital and innocent spirit, insuppressibly enthusiastic and trusting; the pair provide two different counterpoints to the single-minded irascibility of the protagonist.
Other recurring minor characters include robot
Robot
A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
s (and their natural enemies, bear
Bear
Bears are mammals of the family Ursidae. Bears are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans, with the pinnipeds being their closest living relatives. Although there are only eight living species of bear, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Northern...
s), ninja
Ninja
A or was a covert agent or mercenary of feudal Japan specializing in unorthodox arts of war. The functions of the ninja included espionage, sabotage, infiltration, and assassination, as well as open combat in certain situations...
s, Dalek
Dalek
The Daleks are a fictional extraterrestrial race of mutants from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Within the series, Daleks are cyborgs from the planet Skaro, created by the scientist Davros during the final years of a thousand-year war against the Thals...
s (from Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
) and various evil masterminds. Dick Cheney
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....
, Kofi Annan
Kofi Annan
Kofi Atta Annan is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the UN from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2006...
, and other world leaders have also appeared as characters on occasion.
Background
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
cartoonist Stephen Notley, a native of Edmonton, who has been based in Seattle since early 2005. The cartoon has been carried, at different times, by several local newspapers and magazines including See magazine, Vue Weekly, the Edmonton Journal, and The Gateway
The Gateway (newspaper)
The Gateway is the student newspaper at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.-History:The newspaper was founded in North Garneau at the home of Liddy Lloyd on October 26, 1910. A group of students had gathered to discuss the creation of a student newspaper. They came up with the...
. Notley also generally posts new strips to his website every Friday.
Bob the Angry Flower has had one spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
series, Lovebot Conquers All, featuring Lovebot, a robot built by Bob and then abandoned, and who reappears occasionally in the strip to bring readers up to date on his fruitless quest for love. It appeared in black and white as a bonus feature in the collection Bob the Angry Flower: The Ultimate Book of Perfect Energy, and ran in color on the subscription site Graphic Smash.
There are currently seven books published, mostly consisting of compiled cartoons from the weekly series, with a few extra features. They are:
- In Defence of Fascism (1997) (ISBN 978-0968217504)
- Coffee with SinistarSinistarSinistar is an arcade game released by Williams in 1982. It belongs to a class of video games from the 1980s called "twitch games". Other "twitch games" include Tempest, Defender, and Robotron: 2084. Sinistar was developed by Sam Dicker, Jack Haeger, Noah Falstein, RJ Mical and Richard Witt...
(1999) (ISBN 978-0968217511) - Everybody vs. Bob the Angry Flower (2001) (ISBN 978-0968217528)
- Bob the Angry Flower: The Ultimate Book of Perfect Energy!!! (2003) (ISBN 978-0968217535)
- Dog Killer (2005) (ISBN 978-1892391346)
- Pamplemousse (2008) (ISBN 978-0-9817241-0-2)
- Rothgar (2010) (ISBN 978-0-9817241-1-9)
Reception
Bob the Angry Flower was referenced by science fiction writer Michael SwanwickMichael Swanwick
Michael Swanwick is an American science fiction author. Based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he began publishing in the early 1980s.-Biography:...
in a September 2002 short story about an encounter with Notley. Swanwick writes, "Bob the Angry Flower experiences all emotions at exaggerated levels. He builds giant killer robots, he deploys world-destroying lasers. He is sort of like your id with an unlimited budget."