Boo and the friendly ghost who won’t leave

Some stories arrive with a bang; Boo arrives with a polite wave. In Andy Fanton’s comic strip Boo!, the friendly spectre decides he is staying, and everyone else must make room. The premise sounds slight, which is exactly its strength: a recurring guest with no desire to leave gives Fanton an endless supply of awkward encounters.

That awkwardness is warm rather than frightening. Boo can interrupt a private conversation, occupy the only spare chair or treat an empty shelf as reserved seating. Instead of a ghost story built on dread, Boo! offers a comic study of stubborn company, good manners and the strange ease of treating the supernatural like an ordinary houseguest.

A haunting with a very friendly face

Boo is useful because he does not need to perform a haunting. A raised eyebrow, an empty chair claimed or a sudden refusal to leave is enough to start a situation. Fanton can keep the joke simple and let the timing do the work.

That makes Boo different from a conventional spectre. He is not a warning about the past; he is a persistent presence in the present. His cheerfulness removes the sting from his intrusion, while his refusal to move on gives every gag a clean deadline: the room must empty, but Boo will not.

Boo fits naturally into Australian banter

Drop Boo into a pub in Fitzroy, Melbourne, and the premise feels at home. Give him the chair beside the door as the Friday night crowd spills from the bar into the street, and his refusal to leave becomes a contest of social stamina. Spectres rarely have to settle a tab; Boo’s good humour is presumably his defence.

Australian comedy often trusts understatement, and Boo’s “no dramas” reply to a roomful of people saying goodnight fits that tradition. A flat white in one hand and a firm refusal to move in the other create a distinctly Melbourne scene. The humour comes from the mismatch between his courteous manner and his complete disregard for plans.

His persistence also travels neatly into digital life. Fanton’s Boo’s first internet adventure extends the joke into a world of search results, tabs and endless places to linger. A browser window can be haunted much as a sitting room is: the content changes, but the guest remains.

The Dandy and the pleasure of persistence

Boo! was published in The Dandy, where Fanton’s playful strips found a weekly audience. For a character built around staying, the recurring strip format is ideal: readers know he will be back, and each appearance can ask what new piece of territory he intends to occupy.

Comics make repetition useful. A gag can sharpen when readers recognise the setup, while a small change in expression, position or timing prevents it from becoming mechanical. Boo can remain exactly himself because the joke is not what he says, but what he refuses to give up.

Published originally in a British weekly, Fanton’s strips reach Australian readers through specialist comic shops, convention stalls and digital shelves. Magazines remain familiar from newsagents too, but specialist retailers and collector events serve the smaller appetite for unusual comics. The route is niche, which suits work built on surprises.

The wider portfolio includes George vs Dragon, Carrotty Kid and Bad Grandad. From medieval mischief to family absurdity, these strips share a preference for characters who can turn a simple disagreement into an extended comic situation.

From printed panels to a glowing screen

A drawing can deliver a joke before the characters exchange a word. That matters for Boo, whose presence can do most of the work with a raised brow and a stubborn pose. Repeated panels also let readers study the evidence of his unwanted presence.

The visual side of Fanton’s humour is ready for a small screen. A free neon alphabet wallpaper turns an iPhone lock screen into a glowing miniature stage, the sort of cheerful visual detour that sits comfortably beside Boo’s bright presence. The letters do not tell a joke, but they make an everyday object feel briefly unreal.

The difference is scale, not tone. A printed strip creates a finite route from panel to panel; a phone offers infinite destinations and very little encouragement to leave. Boo belongs comfortably in both, since his refusal to finish is the same joke at any size.

Television, stage and the wider Fanton universe

Fanton’s broader television projects show how a character can be reduced to a clear physical impulse and still hold an audience. Boo would suit that economy: wave, settle in, decline to move.

The intimacy of an Adelaide Fringe venue would suit him particularly well. In a small room, a friendly spectre who treats the exit as optional can test the audience’s patience without asking for a supernatural budget. Deadpan timing and the shared laugh of a cult show fit naturally into a joke about stubborn hospitality.

Give the uninvited guest a comic welcome

Boo’s strength is that his refusal stays simple enough to move between formats. The same character can be funny in a crowded room, on a glowing screen or on a tiny stage, provided each version remembers what makes him charming: he is never trying to frighten anyone.

Several variations of the premise offer distinct kinds of comedy:

Situation	Boo’s comic challenge	Main source of humour
A crowded Fitzroy pub	Staying after the crowd leaves	Social pressure and polite stubbornness
An internet session	Closing the page and departing	Digital permanence meets impatience
An Adelaide Fringe stage	Finding the exit after the bow	Theatrical convention and deadpan timing
A printed strip	Claiming space in every panel	Visual repetition and reader expectation

Read Boo! in The Dandy, explore Fanton’s drawings, written work and mini-strips on Andy Fanton’s site, and share the friendly haunting with the friend who always stays past closing time. Follow his social channels for more oddities, then pass the joke on before Boo claims your chair as well.