''Bob the Angry Flower'' is a

webcomic Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on a website or mobile app. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or comic books. Webcomics can be co ...

that tells the exploits of an easily angered

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

named Bob and his interactions with the world, often in search of either global domination or

love Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest Interpersonal relationship, interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of ...

. Though the

comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...

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

apostrophe The apostrophe ( or ) is a punctuation mark, and sometimes a diacritical mark, in languages that use the Latin alphabet and some other alphabets. In English, the apostrophe is used for two basic purposes: * The marking of the omission of one o ...

to form plurals, and is also often found in outlandish but self-inflicted predicaments. The strips themselves range from absurdist humor to

dadaist Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 1920 Dada flourished in Paris ...

anti-humor Anti-humor is a type of indirect and alternative humor that involves the joke-teller's delivering something that is intentionally not funny, or lacking in intrinsic meaning. The practice relies on the expectation on the part of the audience of so ...

". 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 In conventional usage, boredom, ennui, or tedium is an emotional and occasionally psychological state experienced when an individual is left without anything in particular to do, is listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of occup ...

'', 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 A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the control may be embedded within. Robots may be c ...

s (and their natural enemies,

bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Nor ...

s),

ninja A or was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enem ...

Dalek The Daleks ( ) are a fictional extraterrestrial race of mutants principally portrayed in the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. They were conceived by writer Terry Nation and first appeared in the 1963 ''Doctor Who'' ...

s (from ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

'') and various evil masterminds.

Dick Cheney Richard Bruce Cheney ( ; born January 30, 1941) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. He is currently the oldest living former U ...

Kofi Annan Kofi Atta Annan (; 8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder ...

, and other world leaders have also appeared as characters on occasion.

Background

''Bob the Angry Flower'' is the creation of

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

cartoonist Stephen Notley, a native of

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

, who has been based in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

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 The Lovebot character was created by Toronto artist and designer Matthew Del Degan, consisting of a geometric, faceless robot with a red heart logo (called the "hero heart") on its torso. The character is used as a symbol for the "Love Invasio ...

'', 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 eleven books published, mostly consisting of compiled cartoons from the weekly series, with a few extra features. They are: * ''In Defence of Fascism'' (1997) () * ''Coffee with

Sinistar ''Sinistar'' is a 1983 multidirectional shooter arcade game developed and manufactured by Williams Electronics. It was created by Sam Dicker, Jack Haeger, Noah Falstein, RJ Mical, Python Anghelo, and Richard Witt. Players control a spacecraft pi ...

'' (1999) () * ''Everybody vs. Bob the Angry Flower'' (2001) () * ''Bob the Angry Flower: The Ultimate Book of Perfect Energy!!!'' (2003) () * ''Dog Killer'' (2005) () * ''Pamplemousse'' (2008) () * ''Rothgar'' (2010) () * ''How to Operate a Chair'' (2012) () * ''The Unthinkable'' (2015) () * ''X'' (2017) () * ''exciting space adventure'' (2019) () Notley is the son of politician

Grant Notley Walter Grant Notley (January 19, 1939 – October 19, 1984) was a Canadian politician. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1971 to 1984 and also served as leader of the Alberta New Democratic Party, Alberta NDP from ...

, a former leader of the

Alberta New Democratic Party The Alberta New Democratic Party (french: Nouveau Parti démocratique de l'Alberta), commonly shortened to Alberta's NDP, is a social-democratic political party in Alberta, Canada. It is the provincial Alberta affiliate of the federal New Democr ...

, and the brother of

Rachel Notley Rachel Anne Notley (born April 17, 1964) is a Canadian politician who served as the 17th premier of Alberta from 2015 to 2019, and has been the leader of the Opposition since 2019. She sits as the member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for E ...

, the current leader of the

and former

Premier of Alberta The premier of Alberta is the first minister for the Canadian province of Alberta, and the province's head of government. The current premier is Danielle Smith, leader of the United Conservative Party, who was sworn in on October 11, 2022. The ...

."EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Bob the Angry Flower reflects on 20 years"
''GigCity'', September 1, 2012.

Reception

''Bob the Angry Flower'' was referenced by science fiction writer

Michael Swanwick Michael Swanwick (born 18 November 1950) is an American fantasy and science fiction author who began publishing in the early 1980s. Writing career Swanwick's fiction writing began with short stories, starting in 1980 when he published "Ginungagap ...

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."Michael Swanwick Online: What Would Bob the Angry Flower Do?
/ref>

Licensing

Notley has released his ''Bob the Angry Flower'' work under an original license. The license only enables sale of T-shirts with ''Bob the Angry Flower'' material from CafePress stores, and also requires that the image is sent to Notley, and by implication the link of the relevant CafePress store. In 2006, Bob the Angry Flower was released as a collection by

Tachyon Publications Tachyon Publications is an independent press specializing in science fiction and fantasy books. Founded in San Francisco in 1995 by Jacob Weisman, Tachyon books have tended toward high-end literary works, short story collections, and anthologies ...

Notes

References

*
Review
of ''Coffee with Sinistar'', in

Flak Magazine ''Flak Magazine'' was an early American online magazine, founded in 1998 by James Norton, Benjamin Fowler, Justin Knoll, Nicholas Coleman and others, mostly alumni and students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The chief editor was James Nor ...

Stephen Notley
at

Lambiek Galerie Lambiek is a Dutch comic book store and art gallery in Amsterdam, founded on November 8, 1968 by Kees Kousemaker (, – Bussum, ), though since 2007, his son Boris Kousemaker is the current owner. From 1968 to 2015, it was located ...

Interview with Stephen Notley
in ComixTalk, 10 November 2003.
Interview with Stephen Notley
in Sequential Tart, July 1, 2006. *"Bob the Angry Flower wilts with love: Stephen Notley's new comic collection as hopeful as it is hostile",

Edmonton Journal The ''Edmonton Journal'' is a daily newspaper in Edmonton, Alberta. It is part of the Postmedia Network. History The ''Journal'' was founded in 1903 by three local businessmen — John Macpherson, Arthur Moore and J.W. Cunningham — as ...

. November 18, 2003. page C1. *"Bob's 'explosive hope'; the angry flower wants to save the world",

Edmonton Sun The ''Edmonton Sun'' is a daily newspaper and news website published in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It is owned by Postmedia following its 2015 acquisition of Sun Media from Quebecor. It began publishing Sunday April 2, 1978 and shares many cha ...

. November 16, 2003. page SL5. *"Bob the Angry Flower: Dog Killer".

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

. May 22, 2006. page 38.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bob The Angry Flower Canadian comedy webcomics Webcomics in print 1990s webcomics 2000s webcomics 2010s webcomics 2020s webcomics