Murray Ball
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Murray Hone Ball (26 January 1939 – 12 March 2017) was a New Zealand
cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...
who became known for his ''Stanley the Palaeolithic Hero'' (the longest running cartoon in ''
Punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pun ...
'' magazine), ''Bruce the Barbarian'', ''All the King's Comrades'' (also in ''Punch'') and the long-running ''
Footrot Flats ''Footrot Flats'', a comic strip by New Zealand cartoonist Murray Ball, ran from 1976 to 1994 in newspapers (unpublished strips continued to appear in book form until 2000). Altogether there are 27 numbered books (collecting the newspaper strips, ...
''
comic a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...
series. In the 2002 Queen's Birthday and Golden Jubilee Honours, Ball was appointed an
Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have rend ...
, for services as a cartoonist.


Life and work

Ball was born in Feilding in 1939; his father was
All Black The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...
rugby player Nelson Ball. He grew up in New Zealand before spending some years in Australia and South Africa, where he attended Parktown Boys' High School and finished his education. He played for the Junior All Blacks in 1959 as a "first five-eighth" (number 10). As a young man he worked for the ''Dominion'' newspaper in
Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
and the ''Manawatu Times'' before becoming a freelance cartoonist and moving to Scotland, where he found work with publishers DC Thomson, of
Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...
. He developed his character ''Stanley'' and had it published in the influential English humour-magazine ''
Punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pun ...
''. ''Stanley the Palaeolithic Hero'' featured a caveman who wore glasses and struggled with the
Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
environment. It became the longest-running strip in ''Punchs 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. In 2002 Ball was awarded the
New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant (document), royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Monarchy of New Zealand, Queen of New Zealand, "for those ...
. Tributes paid to him included these:


''Footrot Flats''

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 ''Footrot Flats'', a comic strip by New Zealand cartoonist Murray Ball, ran from 1976 to 1994 in newspapers (unpublished strips continued to appear in book form until 2000). Altogether there are 27 numbered books (collecting the newspaper strips, ...
'' 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 Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pun ...
. 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). Dog also has alter-egos including "The Grey Ghost" and "The Iron Paw". Ball's ''Footrot Flats'' has appeared in syndication in international newspapers, and in over 40 published books. ''Footrot Flats'' inspired a stage musical, a theme-park and New Zealand's first feature-length animated film, '' Footrot Flats: The Dog's Tale'' (1986). ''Footrot Flats'' characters include Wal, Dog, Cooch, Cheeky Hobson, Aunt Dolly, Horse, Pongo, Rangi, Charlie, Major, Jess and the Murphy family of Irish and Hunk and Spit. ''Footrot Flats'' features several remarkable traits: its expansive created-universe, complete with ancillary characters, things and places; the fact that the characters slowly but perceptibly age and mature throughout the twenty-year run of the comic; and the gradual encroachment of political themes over the years (particularly environmentalism and gentle parodies of
feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
). Ball said he wanted his cartoons 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".


Death

Ball lived with his wife Pam on a rural property in Gisborne, New Zealand. In an interview on Radio New Zealand National on 27 January 2016, Pam said that Murray's health had been poor for the last six years and that he was suffering from dementia. Longtime friend and collaborator Tom Scott said that on Sunday, 12 March 2017, he had been advised that Ball had died. He is survived by his wife and children.


Bibliography

In addition to his cartoon collections, Ball wrote and illustrated eight books: * ''Fifteen Men on a Dead Man's Chest'', a satirical look at New Zealand rugby * ''Migod! It's Bruce the Barbarian'' * ''The People Makers'' (1970) * ''The Sisterhood'' (1993) * ''The Flowering of Adam Budd'' * ''Quentin Hankey: Traitor'' * ''Tarzan, Gene Kelly And Me'' (2001) – approximately, an autobiography. * ''Fred the (Quite) Brave Mouse'' Ball also wrote a large-format
illustrated novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...
whose verse parodied the Australian bush-ballad as popularised by Banjo Paterson and Henry Lawson. Titled ''The Ballad of Footrot Flats'', it was published in 1996. Originally intended as a second film script, this work was the first new ''Footrot'' material which Ball had published since 1994. It was the last of the ''Footrot'' series.


Interests

Murray Ball and Charles M. Schulz each admired the other's work. One ''Footrot Flats'' strip shows Dog laughing at a
Snoopy Snoopy is an anthropomorphic beagle in the comic strip ''Peanuts'' by Charles M. Schulz. He can also be found in all of the ''Peanuts'' films and television specials. Since his debut on October 4, 1950, Snoopy has become one of the most recog ...
cartoon. Schulz wrote the introduction to the only ''Footrot Flats'' published in the United States (it appeared as ''Footrot Flats'' there, but as ''Footrot Flats 4'' in Australasia.)


See also

* New Zealand literature * ''
Footrot Flats ''Footrot Flats'', a comic strip by New Zealand cartoonist Murray Ball, ran from 1976 to 1994 in newspapers (unpublished strips continued to appear in book form until 2000). Altogether there are 27 numbered books (collecting the newspaper strips, ...
'', comic strip written by Murray Ball * '' Footrot Flats: The Dog's Tale'', 1986, animated film


References


External links

*
Murray Ball: The man behind Footrot Flats
' biography
Footrot Flats by Murray Ball
a Facebook fan-site with a huge photographic catalogue of many Footrot Flats or Murray Ball items/merchandise * *Tim Shoebridge
'Ball, Murray Hone'
Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 2022. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, {{DEFAULTSORT:Ball, Murray 1939 births 2017 deaths Comic strip cartoonists New Zealand cartoonists People from Gisborne, New Zealand Punch (magazine) cartoonists Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit People from Feilding Alumni of Parktown Boys' High School New Zealand socialists