Gregory

(Piranha, 1989-1993)
©1989 Marc Hempel

Marc Hempel’s Gregory is a delightful little neurotic who is never so happy as when locked up in a small room wearing a straitjacket. Gregory burbles away cheerfully most of the time, speaking primarily in vowels. The only thing that really troubles him is when do-gooders decide to take him away from his familiar, dank cell and put him someplace soft, padded, and thoroughly disturbing. Of course, Gregory’s cheerful nature always gets him ahead in the end, and madness triumphs over altruism.

Gregory’s blissful existence as a baby-like lunatic is enlivened by visits from his rat friend Herman Vermin. The rascally Herman is constantly getting squashed by some catastrophe or other, only to reappear as an equally obnoxious reincarnation of himself.

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