Q Toon: Speaking of a Brexit

Chick-Fil-A opened its first shoppe in the United Kingdom earlier this month, but after protests over the company's support of antigay organizations and causes, the Oracle Mall where the restaurant is located shan't be renewing Chick-Fil-A's lease when it expires in April.

Straining credulity, the chicken chain claims that it never intended to extend the lease of its Reading restaurant beyond six months anyway. Opening a six-month pop-up seems a bizarre business model; one wonders how it's supposed to work. Perhaps after Reading, they open for six months out of a lorry in Ipswich, then for six months in a changing tent in Brighton, followed by six months in a shed in Hucknall Torkard.

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How to set a cartoon in England? A very wise cartoonist once counseled me that the best approach is to go there. Unfortunately, my only time in Blighty was an hour spent entirely in Heathrow Airport, which didn't strike me as a workable setting for this cartoon.

My view of England

So I set to imagining a British street scene. Mailbox? Check. Callbox? Check. Zebra crossing? Check. Extraneous "u" between the "o" and the "r"? Check. Double-decker bus? Must be behind the building.

But who can I cast in this cartoon? Characters from Monty Python, Fawlty Towers, Benny Hill, Absolutely Fabulous, or Dr. Who might work; but not Mr. Bean (doesn't speak) or Downton Abbey (would never be walking in this neighbourhood).

Since this is a cartoon, however, I decided to feature British cartoon characters. It was either Andy Capp or resurrecting the cast of the cartoons of Carl Giles (1916-1995) of the Daily Express. Opting for the latter makes for an obscure reference on this side of the pond to be sure, and perhaps to the current generation on the other side of it as well.

These are two members of the "Giles family," frequently recurring characters in his post-war cartoons. Grandma Giles is thought to be patterned after Giles himself (there is some resemblance); she appears here with her granddaughter-in-law Vera.

Now, to be a proper homage to Giles, I should have tossed in some naughty detail just to see if I could get it past my editors.