"Barnaby and Loaker"

 

Issue#104: "Barnaby and Loaker"

In the final main issue of the series, Barnaby and Loaker have a heart to heart discussion.  

Notes and References:

This is the 104th issue of Barnaby and Loaker and it is also the final main issue. This issue is the two year anniversary of the webcomic, which means I've been drawing the gremlins every week for two years straight. Barnaby and Loaker will feature in six special issues coming out every week after this issue. These six issues will round up the webcomic completely for all the characters.

This issue deals with Barnaby's insecurities over his gremlin heritage and how isolated he feels in Moloch Falls. This is a theme that has been current in the vast majority of Barnaby storylines. Loaker gives his own unique insight and helps Barnaby to view their situation differently. Loaker has always been less concerned over his status as Gremlin, this was previously thought as being down to Loaker being a little crazy or unaware. This issue suggests otherwise.

This issue sums up most of the main themes of Barnaby and Loaker which are- feeling like an outsider, the trials and tribulations of growing up and Brotherhood.

In issue#1: "Special Like Loaker", Mrs. Banks reassures Barnaby that he is a "very special boy" while also dismissing Loaker as being a "different kind of special". Barnaby harks back to this by repeating his mother's throw away line as a compliment to Loaker in this issue.

Barnaby and Loaker are sitting on the same hillside seen in issue#43: "Gremlins in the Moonlight" and Issue#13: "Of Barnaby and Loaker".

Both Beauregarde and Molochstein appear in the background on this issue. Beauregarde (last seen in Issue#101: "Beauregarde: War Journal") can be seen behind the bushes. Molochstein (last seen in Issue#79: "Merry Monsters") can be seen in the distance on the mountain side.

Kathy Dudbert's Love heart carving can be seen on the side of the tree as well.

"My Friend, Feigenbaum..."

 

Issue#103: My Friend, Feigenbaum...

Loaker worries about about growing up. Feigenbaum explains that he'll always be there for Loaker.  

Notes and References:

This issue is all about Loaker realising that one day he'll grow up and everything will change, specifically his friendship with Feigenbaum who is imaginary. It is also about Loaker maturing slightly and acknowledging that everything is temporary to some degree- things change, people grow up and apart etc.

Feigenbaum reassures his friend by suggesting that Pookas are different from other imaginary friends and that he'll stay with Loaker forever or for as long as he can. There is a panel in the strip where Feigenbaum looks as worried as Loaker is but he puts his fears to one side and comforts his friend.  I think what Feigenbaum means by this is that even if Loaker can't physically see him, He'll still remember him somehow.

The title of this issue comes from an idea that I had for a children's book about a man revisiting his childhood home and remembering his old imaginary friend. I may still make this book but for now it seemed appropriate to lend it to the comic strip.

In the final panel of this issue, Feigenbaum suggests that they flood Loaker's house and chew up Mr. Banks' best suits, This is the exact same thing that Feigenbaum urges Loaker to do in Issue#5: "Loaker And His Pooka".

"The Gremlin Who Knew Too Much"

 

Issue#102: "The Gremlin Who Knew Too Much"

Barnaby shows off at school...  

Notes and References:

The title of this issue comes from the 1934 Alfred Hitchcock film "The Man Who Knew Too Much". The film tells the story of an American couple on vacation who accidentally get involved in an assassination plot which leads to the abduction of their child. The couple must find a way to rescue their kidnapped child. The film was remade by Alfred Hitchcock in 1956 and starred James Stewart and Doris Day.

This issue sees the return of school teacher Mr. Alighieri who last appeared as a zombie in #Issue#76: "Crisis On Mixed Up Earths...Again". All the child characters also appear in this issue including Barnaby and Loaker Banks, Kathy Dudbert, Emily Hair, Bancroft, Aldbug Lobings, Cecil Lobings and even Big Kenny who last appeared in Issue#7: "Hide, Seek and Barnaby!".

Barnaby mentions several key historical events and figures in Moloch Falls. This includes- the Fall of Moloch (seen in Issue#64: "Crisis On Mixed Up Earths"), a noble knight named Sir Barnabus the Red (a knight that Barnaby may be named after) and an earthquake that occured in 1986. Barnaby is also about to mention a famous inventor that lived in Moloch Falls but Mr. Alighieri interrupts him.

"Beauregarde: War Journal"

 
Issue#101: Beauregarde: War Journal

Beauregarde has a flashback to his time in the Hill Top Army....

Notes and References:

The title of this issue comes from the Marvel Comics series The Punisher War Journal, a comic book series which began in 1988. The comics featured the solo adventures of former Marine turned vigilante Frank Castle a.k.a The Punisher.

This issue brings up Beauregarde's time in the Hill Top Army, This had previously been alluded to in in his very first appearance in issue#37: "Barnaby and Beauregarde". The grumpy bunny was a commander in the army and moved to Moloch Falls after several wars.

In this issue we finally get a small flashback to Beauregarde's Hill Top wars.

We previously saw Beauregarde's underground home in issue#42: "Beauregarde VS The Mole-Men" and in issue#81: "Beauregarde's Booze Blues". However this is the first time that we are invited to see his medals and photographs.

Feigenbaum has to squeeze and bend himself down due to his size despite being imaginary.

Feigenbaum and Beauregarde first became friends in issue#52: "See No Feigenbaum, Hear No Beauregarde".

Beauregarde last appeared in issue#98: "Ground Control to Barnaby Banks". Feigenbaum last appeared in issue#99: "Loaker In The Sky".

"Let The Gremlins Eat Cake"

Issue#100: "Let The Gremlins Eat Cake"

It's Barnaby and Loaker's Birthday and there's a cake....but not for long.

Notes and References:

This is issue#100 of the weekly webcomic (which means I've been drawing and working on Barnaby and Loaker for a hundred weeks straight) and as such Barnaby and Loaker celebrate their birthday. This is the first birthday that has been seen to be celebrated by the characters in the comic.

The title of this issue was originally "Happy Birthday Barnaby and Loaker" and it had a slightly different story where Emily Hair, Kathy Dudbert and Bancroft all waited at the party for Barnaby and Loaker to appear and then it would cut to the two gremlins lying stuffed with birthday cake in kitchen. The title and the story were changed to show the brothers misbehaving more and to concentrate on their desire for cake. It was also changed to become a solo Barnaby and Loaker issue to mirror the early strips where only the two gremlins would appear.

The title of this issue comes from the french phrase "Qu'ils mangent de la brioche" (translated into english: Let them eat cake). The phrase was supposedly said by "a great princess" (mistakenly thought of as Queen Marie Antoinette) upon learning that the lower class citizens had no bread, the quote shows the disregard the princess and by extension the upper class had for the so called peasants.

The Banks family kitchen was last seen in Issue#98: "Ground Control To Barnaby Banks" where Barnaby makes his ill fated phone call to the Ammon Hills Space Camp.

"Loaker In The Sky"

 

Issue#99: "Loaker In The Sky"

Loaker and Feigenbaum take a hot air balloon trip...  

Notes and references:

The title of this strip "Loaker In The Sky" comes from "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", a song primarily written by  John Lennon for The Beatles' 1967 "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album.

Loaker and his imaginary friend Feigenbaum decide to take a Hot Air Balloon journey over Moloch Falls. While Feigenbaum reflects on things, Loaker decides to spit on the people below.

Hot air balloons are the oldest successful human-carrying flight technology. The first untethered hot air balloon flight was performed by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d'Arlandes in France 1783.

This is one of the few issues where the viewer can get a sense of what the town of Moloch Falls looks like.

 The idea of this issue came from looking at original Moomins strips and images of the main characters in a Hot Air Balloon. The Moomins were created by a writer and illustrator called Tove Jansson in Sweden and Finland. The strips focus on the adventures of The Moomin family, a group of fairy tale troll creatures.

Feigenbaum last appeared in issue#92: "Love and Other Imaginary Things" and Loaker last appeared in issue#95: "Gremlin Gulliver's Travels".

The Hot Air Balloon that they are on has a Pooka face on the actual balloon.

"Ground Control To Barnaby Banks"

 

Issue#98: "Ground Control To Barnaby Banks"

Barnaby has a disappointing phone call conversation with the Space Camp...

Notes and References:

The title of this issue comes from the 1969 David Bowie song "Space Oddity" which appeared on the album "David Bowie". The song's opening and repeated line is "Ground Control To Major Tom". The song tells the story of a fictional astronaut called Major Tom who is mentioned in other songs including "Ashes To Ashes" and "Hallo Spaceboy".

Barnaby's drama with the Ammon Hils Space Camp continues from last week's issue.

Barnaby mentions Ammon Hills again, a neighbouring rival town to Moloch Falls.

The space helmet that Barnaby was wearing in Issue#97: "Gremlins In Space" appears on the kitchen table in this issue and as part of the fully realised costume that appears in the header.

Beauregarde appears and is his usual grumpy self in the final panel of this issue. The misanthropic bunny last appeared in Issue#95: "Gremlin Gulliver's Travels".