But first, Shirl Dryandra

 

Here’s a portrait of Jarrad’s long-suffering mother.

And not on a good day.

Now scroll down to see the caption competition news.

 

Caption competition for July/August 2019

What’s with the doctor giving the seahorse a shot in the arm? Does a seahorse even have arms? Maybe in the weird place called the Jennerverse they do. But from this, with a clever caption, I’m hoping you’ll add the missing ingredient and turn this simple picture into a very funny single panel gag cartoon. That’s all the help I’ll give you – the rest of the joke is up to you!

 

We have a winner for March/April 2019

…and a winner for May/June 2019

I (Jenner) will at FurDU in Surfer’s Paradise, Queensland, Australia from May 31 to June 2. I’ll be there to meet Doc Rat fans and sell books, including the as-yet-unreleased volume 21.

Caption competition for May/June 2019

As you can see, Ben is interpreting an X-ray for the benefit of a bystander. That’s all the help I’ll give you – the rest of the joke is up to you!

Okay, that’s a bad pun, but start as we mean to go on. The even-toed ungulate in this picture is a blue wildebeest or brindled gnu. You can use that play on words as a jumping-off point, or take it in another direction entirely. But if there’s a funny caption that can round this off into a screamingly funny joke, then that’s where your job comes in!

Convention update.

I (Jenner) will at FurDU in Surfer’s Paradise, Queensland, Australia from May 31 to June 2. I’ll be there to meet Doc Rat fans and sell books, including the as-yet-unreleased volume 21.

And we have a winner for the Jan/Feb 2019 contest.

I have no idea why this koala is wearing a teapot on his/her head. But if there’s a funny caption that can round this off into a screamingly funny joke, then that’s where your job comes in!

Doc Rat’s surgery is trying out some new telephone headsets. Unfortunately, Gizelle seems to have upset a spider. Just how and why I’ll leave up to you!

From today, Doc Rat is back to its usual pattern. I hope you were entertained by the my alternative presentations daily, while I was engaged in other things.

I want to thank the people at Eurofurence 24 in Berlin for making such a wonderful event with their hospitality and imaginations. I was also pleased to meet others in the UK. 

And now, back to business…

Here, dear readers, is the update on the Doc Rat (Platinum Rat Productions) studio. All relocated, set up and working. 

Now, I’m on a month’s holiday in Britain and Germany, including EuroFurence 24, in Berlin.

And now, here a fascinating thing. Have you ever wondered just how far back in time Doc Rat goes? Well, I dipped into my vault of early work and made compilations of the single panel gags. They haven’t seen the light of day since their original magazine publications as early as 1995. But you may spot many of the jokes as ones that later reappeared in the Doc Rat strips we know today.

Please enjoy the upcoming procession of gags detailing Doc Rat’s humble origins. And after that, it will be definitely back into new works from the canon.

Caption competition 078

 

On the bright side, I have managed to create a new caption competition. Click here to have a go! 

 

Here, dear readers, is the update on the Doc Rat (Platinum Rat Productions) studio. Having moved office from one building across town to another building, followed by another move across corridor from one room to another, I’ve finally got the furniture shifted, boxes re-opened, wires and plugs connected, and am now making a major marathon effort to build up a four-week bank of Doc Rat for your enjoyment. I thank you for chilling out with the past four weeks of character sketches.

But here’s the fascinating part: Have you ever wondered just how far back in time Doc Rat goes? Well, I dipped into my vault of early work and made compilations of the single panel gags. They haven’t seen the light of day since their original magazine publications as early as 1995. But you may spot many of the jokes as ones that later reappeared in the Doc Rat strips we know today.

On August 20, I will be departing for a month’s holiday in Britain and Germany. That explains another reason for the pressure: I’m  hurriedly making my preparations for EuroFurence 24, in Berlin.

Please enjoy the upcoming procession of gags detailing Doc Rat’s humble origins. And after that, it will be definitely back into new works from the canon.

Caption competition 078

 

On the bright side, I have managed to create a new caption competition. Click here to have a go! 

 

Dear readers, at short notice, the Doc Rat (Platinum Rat Productions) studio has to relocate. This is going to turn my schedule upside down, in the month that will also see me making my preparations to attend EuroFurence 24.

So, with great apologies, for the next four weeks there will not be my usual Doc Rat strips. In their place, I will present you an endearing character sketch a day. Thank you for bearing with me.

Caption competition 078

 

On the bright side, I have managed to create a new caption competition. Click here to have a go! 

 

Dear readers, at short notice, the Doc Rat (Platinum Rat Productions) studio has to relocate. This is going to turn my schedule upside down, in the month that will also see me making my preparations to attend EuroFurence 24.

So, with great apologies, for the next four weeks there will not be my usual Doc Rat strips. In their place, I will present you an endearing character sketch a day. Thank you for bearing with me.

The regular strips of Doc Rat are going to take a pause for a bit – for three weeks, to be precise. Various commitments have taken precedence over my drawing board time, the most important of which is my part in the running of ConFurgence 2018, from 23rd to 25th February. The principal guest of honour will be the wonderful artist, photographer and animator, Joaquin Baldwin. I do thoroughly recommend you consider making the journey to Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, for our annual anthropomorphic convention, one of these years. You won’t be disappointed. 

In the meantime, even though the regular strips will be on pause, dear readers, fear not. You’ll still get a daily offering, a sort of scrapbook from the Doc Rat sketch vaults. Every day will be a new surprise. Then, on Monday March 12th, we’ll rejoin the wolves and the rabbits as they toward the climax of our current story.

More news about what’s coming up in 2018 will follow. 

 

Pat the Tiger is a massive fan of the Richmond Tigers AFL football club, in the game we call Australian Rules football. Pat and his partner Pat the Dog have just been watching their mighty Richmond Tigers at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) for the Grand Final. They’ve been shouting themselves hoarse. 

RICHMOND WINS THE 2017 PREMIERSHIP!  For the first time since 1980!

Pat and Pat are ecstatic. It’s going to be an exhausting night of celebration for both of them! 

 

Click on the picture to be taken to the competition page. Then send me the funniest caption you can think of, and if yours makes me laugh the most, you’ll win the actual picture itself. Get to it.

Some people have had trouble getting the caption entry machine to work. If that happens, please just e-mail to me on :

Here are the three strips from the Doc Rat story showcasing our smiling Tasmanian devil who sells these dubious burgers from the hospital’s fast-food servery. You personally may or may not think that such an outlet has a place in a hospital, but that sort of thing does happen. (Legal disclaimer: This is a general fast food parody and is not meant to comment on the attributes of any particular company or products.)

And we have a new winner, from May/Jun 2017

Alun Rundle, Newport, South Wales, UK

 

Here it is.

Okay, a little late, I admit, but better late than never. 

Jarrad is going for a run and demonstrating that he won’t be held back by a touch of exercise-induced asthma.

Click on the picture to be taken to the competition page. Then send me the funniest caption you can think of, and if yours makes me laugh the most, you’ll win the actual picture itself. Get to it.

Some people have had trouble getting the caption entry machine to work. If that happens, please just e-mail to me on :

And we have a new winner, from Mar/Apr 2017

Philip McCarty, Owens Cross Roads Alabama, USA

Thank you for a genuinely funny joke that made me laugh out loud at my computer. 

The prize will be on its way to you soon.

Click on the picture to see this joke and all the honourable mentions. 

 

The Doc Rat archives

If you want to read Doc Rat from the beginning, until recently you would have been disappointed to find it absolutely empty from 2006 to 2014. I am working now to restore that. Every week, I load another twenty strips into the archive page, and I’m pleased to report that at this moment it’s up to DR0340, which first came out on October 12th 2007. As it takes an hour out of my working day to do it, and as I work on Doc Rat one day a week, then twenty a week is all I can manage.  There’s some good reading to be had, at this stage.

Don’t forget that Doc Rat is also on Facebook and Twitter, both the latest ones and those golden oldies from ten years ago. 

 

Jenner will be at Anthrocon 2017

I will be attending Anthrocon, in Pittsburgh PA, June 29th to July 2nd,  2017. Keep an eye out for me where you see Bill Holbrook, of Kevin and Kell fame.

I really look forward to meeting everyone who can make it there. Certainly if you’re already planning to go, then look me up – we can share a sketch and a story or two.

 

I will be attending Anthrocon, in Pittsburgh PA, June 29th to July 2nd,  2017. Keep an eye out for me where you see Bill Holbrook, of Kevin and Kell fame.

I really look forward to meeting everyone who can make it there. Certainly if you’re already planning to go, then look me up – we can share a sketch and a story or two.

Jenner had a great time at ThronesCon 2017

While I’m at it, I must tell you about ThronesCon 2017, a Game of Thrones convention that was held here in Melbourne on the weekend of May 20th and 21st. I had a wonderful time talking, laughing, telling stories, and also selling sketches and my limited-edition prints. As you see in the illustration, the con scheduled four of the cast performers to come to Australia. Although one had to cancel due to sudden unavoidable reasons, we still had great congeniality and conviviality from Dominic Carter (Lord Janos Slynt), Miltos Yerolemou (Syrio Forel) and Ian Beattie (Ser Meryn Trant). 

When I can, I’ll give you all a better look at the caricature artwork.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Update June 7th 2017. Here’s a better look at my four caricatures from ThronesCon 2017, Melbourne, Australia.