Gustave Veerbeek is one of my favourite cartoonists from the turn of the last century. Born in 1867 in Nagasaki, Japan to Dutch missionaries his art was greatly influenced by the Japanese master printmakers. He's most famous for his Sunday comic strip "The Upside-Downs"; six panels that you read as you would any regular newspaper strip, but then turn it upside down and it continues. He did 64 of these, an amazing feat!However, my favourite comic of his is "The Terror of the Tiny Tads". It's about four interchangeable little boys crossing paths with fantastical creatures who's names where usually a mix of an animal and an inanimate object. That was the inspiration for my homage to Mr. Verbeek, who, in my humble opinion, should be as remembered as McCay or Herriman.