Talk:The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers

Fat Freddy's Drop
The New Zealand band mentioned in the article got their name from a particularly strong batch of Fat Freddy's Cat themed LSD blotter. Rico nz (talk) 09:07, 24 November 2021 (UTC)

Fat Freddy Scat?
Various anons, possibly the same person, I'm not sure, keep adding that Fat Freddy's Cat is also known as "Fatfreddyscat" or "Fat Freddy Scat". To my knowledge this is not the case; I have some vague recollection that the phrase is used as a pun in one of the Fat Freddy's Cat strips but that it was never intended to be the cat's name. Anyone know for sure so that I can revert with confidence (or not, as the case may be)? If you are (one of) the user(s) that keeps adding this fatfreddyscat thing, could you point me in the direction of the source of your info (i.e. Freak Brothers comic number & page). Thanks --Lancevortex 16:20, 14 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I am the person who made that change (and re-added it after you removed it). If you look at the inside cover of Issue #2, about half way down, you'll see FFC say "I'm Fat Freddy Scat" in a little rhyme. F. Fredrick Skitty seems to be a variation on Fat Freddy Scat (or perhaps the other way around). --Papadisc 9:51, 16 Dec 2005 (UTC-5)

That is just word play, it's absurd to claim that is his real name. James Fryer 14:39, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

I agree. Rick Norwood 19:09, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

I haven't looked at this discussion in a while, but I'd say that unless you have confirmation from Mr. Shelton that it was "just word play", then the example I provided is, afaik, the only place where he says he has a name. I also don't believe that any of the strips ever state that he doesn't have a name, despite the fact that he's almost universally known as "Fat Freddy's Cat." I submit that if you own a cat, you probably don't have a clue what his (or her) name is. You might know what you call him/her but you don't know what the cat calls him/her-self. Papadisc (talk) 23:58, 18 June 2009 (UTC)
 * No. The burden is on the editor to demonstrate context by citing secondary or tertiary sources. &mdash; Cheers, Steelpillow (Talk) 11:23, 18 December 2016 (UTC)

Dealer McDope
The "Dealer McDope" listed as a regular character is actually an allusion to the character of that name created by Dave Sheridan (b. 1942, d. 1982) for the Rip Off Press title Mother's Oats Comix. IslandGyrl 14:12, 24 July 2005 (UTC)
 * That does explain the rarity of his appearances in FFB. &mdash;Tamfang 00:59, 17 July 2007 (UTC)

inspiration for the characters of Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers
it has been said that inspiration for the characters in Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers were people associated with Texas rock bands of the sixties. i do not know if this is true.

Freewheelin' Franklin: Gary Scanlan {Sir Doug's road manager} Phineas Phreak: Spencer Perskin of Shiva's Headband Fat Freddy: Fat Charlie Pritchard of the Conqueroo

http://garagepunk.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=89420&sid=9d7cfbd7aedd455a137167ab405127f0


 * I've reverted your addition of this to the article as a) as you say yourself, you don't know if it's true and the only evidence is an forum on the Internet, and b) you deleted another section of the article. --Lancevortex 08:56, 12 September 2005 (UTC)

Freaks, not Hippies
The Freak Brothers are not hippies. They do not resemble hippies. They are Freaks, dropouts, oddballs, outcasts, losers, heads, whatever but not one of them is a hippy. Where are their hippy credentials? Hippies are not the only ppl who smoke pot.

Thanx.


 * I can think of several places in the comics where the FFB are referred to as "hippies". This is actually a fuzzy area; the current article claims that "freaks" and "hippies" are synonymous, but this is not universally accepted. Frank Zappa, for example, made a distinction between the two: he counted the Mothers of Invention as freaks, but he definitely disliked hippies (listen to some of the songs on "We're Only In It For The Money".) --24.58.14.1 23:33, 4 January 2007 (UTC)


 * Freewheeling Franklin was once referred to as a hippie by a redneck who was spoiling for a fight with him. 83.104.46.71 (talk) 21:21, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

before the collections
Perhaps some mention should be made of the original appearance of these strips? They first came out in magazines such as High Times in the late 1960s, and only later were they compiled into the R.O.P. anthologies mentioned here. Some previously published strips have not appeared in these anthologies.

Phineas' last name
In one of the comics, a reporter asks Phineas about his political aspirations (the strip in which he communes with nature and sets fire to his clothes and the forest) and refers to him as "Mr. Freek". This is a continuity drop.

Phineas's last name is Phreak - Phineas T. Freakears was a false name he used whilst running for sherriff in "Grass Roots"


 * Do any two stories give consistent surnames? —Tamfang (talk) 19:20, 8 October 2010 (UTC)

Nerds now called Nurdes
I first saw this expression in The Freak Bros Comics in 1975 approx. Ernest —Preceding unsigned comment added by 41.245.221.79 (talk) 15:48, 16 July 2009 (UTC)

Move the title, please
The title should be moved to The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers since the article The is officially included in the original covers... Kintaro (talk) 08:37, 8 July 2011 (UTC)

Comparison with Herge?
"Shelton's striving for accuracy and attention to detail have earned him comparisons with Hergé."

Is there a source for this comparison? I can't see in any way how this artist's style is any similar to Herge's ligne claire, but it seems to be a bit comparable with Andre Franquin. Maybe someone mixed that up? -- 188.193.35.96 (talk) 21:45, 19 December 2011 (UTC)
 * I think whoever wrote it meant he was striving for accuracy in the writing, rather than the artwork. Herge was known for going to great pains to get the details of his locales right (at least, starting with The Blue Lotus).  I don't know enough about the Freak Brothers to know if that's a valid statement or not, but whether it is or not, it needs:
 * to be cited, and
 * to have the statement given context. Was it refering to the art? The story?  Something else?
 *  C üRly T üRkey  Talk Contribs 03:31, 20 December 2011 (UTC)
 * It was me who added the statement, back in about 2004 before I was aware of the need for sourcing. I think I read the comment on a web page somewhere. My opinion now is that it should be deleted as not having a reliable source. Lancevortex (talk) 17:03, 20 December 2011 (UTC)

"For a counterculture production, the standard of artwork is exceptionally high"
This is an unsupportable opinion. Underground comics tend to have a *higher* standard of artwork than mainstream comics. Just match up Shelton, Crumb, Mavrides, Jaxon, Crumb, Rick Griffin, Justin Green, Art Spiegelman, artists on Fantagraphics and Drawn and Quarterly, and so on, to newspaper comics and superhero comics. Newspaper comics in particular have steadily declined in quality of artwork. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.25.177.117 (talk) 23:56, 24 October 2012 (UTC)


 * Well, to be fair, underground comics began when Walt Kelly and Hal Foster were still going strong! —Tamfang (talk) 05:22, 11 February 2013 (UTC)

"The Freak Brothers live a slapstick existence reminiscent of the best silent comedies."
This is pure opinion. Every part of it is debateable at best. Slapstick humor is used but not central to the comics. How good the slapstick is merely the opinion of the writer of that phrase. The claim that the slapstick humor in the FFFB is reminiscent of silent comedies is also just unsupportable opinion.66.25.177.117 (talk) 00:01, 25 October 2012 (UTC)


 * Agreed. —Tamfang (talk) 05:19, 11 February 2013 (UTC)

Fat Freddy's comics and stories
I have a comic book that is not listed in the page: Fat Freddy's Comics & Stories No.1 (Collector's Item), Pub. Knockabout, UK, 1983, ISBN 086166 011 0. Not for sale in USA or Canada, so I don't know if editions got published there.

The page Fat Freddy redirects to this article, so I guess the book belongs here. But it does not belong in the mainstream list of titles, so how should it be added? &mdash; Cheers, Steelpillow (Talk) 19:54, 13 December 2012 (UTC)


 * I remember possessing such a thing, bought in either Illinois or California; presumably put out by Rip Off Press. —Tamfang (talk) 05:17, 11 February 2013 (UTC)

Origins in a short film
It could be notable that Shelton has said that (no matter if that's a joke right there or not) the origins of the Freak Brothers was when one night, he saw a double feature with the Marx Brothers and The Three Stooges and he walked out and thought he could do something like that. He did a 5-minute short film called Texas Hippies March on the Capitol and did a comic to promote the short film. But it turned out that people liked the comic much more, so he kept the characters in the comic and stuck to that, and that was the birth of the Freak Brothers. --80.187.109.151 (talk) 14:07, 13 August 2015 (UTC)

Phineas's nose
At one point I added to the physical description of Phineas that his nose bears more than a passing resemblance to a [marijuana] joint, but this was subsequently edited out. Surely this is as apparent as, say, the nose on your face? (OK, horrible pun). Does anyone mind if I put it back in?Partnerfrance (talk) 20:28, 13 May 2018 (UTC)
 * That's personal POV and not allowed. If you find some notable cultural critic saying that and can cite him or her with a quote, we can footnote it that way. --Tenebrae (talk) 17:55, 15 May 2018 (UTC)


 * That is a fair point and I will not make the change, although I have to admit that it seems to me to be no less clear than saying that Freewheelin' Franklin wears cowboy boots or that Phineas is the typical personification of a left-wing radical, both of which statements are contained in the article. Sometimes "the thing speaks for itself".  But I will abide by the POV rule!  Thanks.Partnerfrance (talk) 16:58, 11 January 2019 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for speedy deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for speedy deletion: You can see the reason for deletion at the file description page linked above. —Community Tech bot (talk) 22:22, 29 June 2020 (UTC)
 * "The Freak Brothers" TV Show.png

Splitting proposal
I propose that the section about the cartoon be split into a separate page called The Freak Brothers. The content of the section is large and well-sourced enough to make its own page. RockabillyRaccoon (talk) 21:15, 22 February 2023 (UTC)


 * Doesn't seem necessary to me but I don't suppose it would do much harm. - DavidWBrooks (talk) 13:27, 23 February 2023 (UTC)


 * Done. ReaderofthePack (formerly Tokyogirl79)  (｡◕‿◕｡)  14:17, 27 March 2023 (UTC)

"Dope will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no dope." listed at Redirects for discussion
The redirect [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dope_will_get_you_through_times_of_no_money_better_than_money_will_get_you_through_times_of_no_dope.&redirect=no Dope will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no dope.] has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at  until a consensus is reached. Utopes (talk / cont) 07:29, 12 January 2024 (UTC)