Invisidog character glossary

The Abitmad family....

Colin a.k.a Invisidog
Colin is named after legendary leader “Colin of Wessex” who had much more success when he changed his name to Malcolm. He became King of Scots. This however could be a complete lie. Not the bit about Malcolm being King of Scots which is true, Malcolm came for the lineage of the Kings of Wessex. But the other bit about him formerly being called Colin.

Osbert Abitmad
The Professor is like an Osbert Lancaster cartoon character. Nestled in the 1950s the long suffering moustached raincoat trilby wearing chap is someone to whom life happens as a series of serendipitous and calamitous events. Brilliantly brilliant or brilliantly stupid you never know..it just depends which way the wind is blowing (or so it seems).

Drucilla Abitmad
Although the name Drucilla seems to be synonymous with wicked witches Dr Abitmad is more of a “Dru”. She’s highly intelligent but slightly eccentric. Funnily enough the Doctor only became a bit mad when she married the Professor. Being an animal psychologist means she is most often seen in baggy jumper, jeans and wellies with “pulled through a hedge backwards” hair. She spends a lot of time in the field, more accurately spends time in a field (hence the wellies)! Even her own family doesn't recognise her when she has to go to a meeting and puts on a suit!

Stella Abitmad
The Abitmad's daughter. Before she was born the Professor wanted to call the baby Hadron if it was a boy and Quark if it was a girl. After receiving a large slap from his wife they agreed on calling the baby Hal if it was a boy and Stellar if it was a girl. Stellar then became shortened to Stella. It has nothing to do with the R U Abitmad’s penchant for a certain brand of lager.

The Cats.....

Sox Paisley
Is absolutely not named after the gangster Spats Columbo in the 1959 film “Some Like It Hot”. He was only named Sox so his Dad can use the joke about having Paisley Sox.

Dutch
His parents are big fans of Black and White films. Even as a kitten Dutch looked like a character called Moose Malloy who appears in the film “Farewell My Lovely”. His name comes from another character "Swede Anderson" from the film “The Killers”. They were going to call him Swede Malloy but ended up calling him Dutch. Just proving that whilst cats are great at local they’re pretty useless at international geography!

Zuse
The computer expert cat is named after Konrad Zuse (credited with the invention of the modern programmable computer (the Z1 between 1935/40) and the first fully functional programmable computer (Z3 1941)). Zuse has the unique accolade of being the only cat ever to be made a member of "BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT". It is unlikely that those nice people and the BCS realise that Zuse is actually a cat! Although his application form did state that "Zuse is a real pussy cat" this was probably taken as a sign of his placid nature not as a reference to his species.

Manic
Manic the cat was (before his accident that made him manic) called Manx. Manx is a breed of cat without a tail. Whether Manx was actually a manx cat – or just that he had lost his tail I don’t know and it is of little consequence.

Molly
Her real name is Sarah but a gangster’s girlfriend is known as his moll so she got the nickname Molly, which stuck. Molly is Sox’s girlfriend – or he’d like to think so. The use of the term Moll in this case is only that of gangster’s girl not any of the other definitions.

The “Fur Rule” cat gang
Rent-a-muscle that are friends of Dutch. Named after semi-wild feral cats – because they are.

Mr Parker
Mystic Zen cat. Manic’s mentor. Teaches body mind balance. Named himself after Parkour “l'art du déplacement” (the art of movement). Also known as the “free running” cat.

Other people you'll meet in the story....

Gerald
Gerald aka secret agent 'Jerry Mouse' got his codename because of his likeness to the rodent hero of Hanna Barbera’s cartoon Tom & Jerry. Gerald’s character is very much like the mouse from the early cartoons prior to Warner Bros and Chuck Jones getting hold of him.

Fred Pollock
Frida (Fred) Pollock (Stella's best friend) is named after the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo who achieved fame from the late 1920s for her vibrant realism and symbolism. Of course the family name Pollock is the same as the American abstract artist Jackson Pollock. The phrase “what a load of Pollocks” came about after a joint exhibition of Mr and Mrs Pollock’s work.

Dante Pollock
Fred Pollock’s older brother is named after Dante Gabrielle Rossetti one of the main artists behind the Pre-Raphaelite Movement. He is at University and plays guitar and shouts in a band called “Alien Noise Radio”.

Ed Larkin
Friend of Dante Pollock from University. Bass player in the band “Alien Noise Radio”. Named after the poet Ted Hughes and his family shares the surname of the celebrated poet Philip Larkin (no relation). Funnily enough Ted Hughes daughter is called Freida. A romantic interest in an Invisidog book? I should think not!

And finally....

Antropolis
The ant colony in Professor Abitmad’s laboratory. The equivalent of a living computer. Antropolis has developed problem solving capabilities due to the fact they’ve got nothing else to do and are bored. And 'no' they won't do your homework for you....