Original subtitles

It is estimated that there are some 10 quintillion insects alive

at any one time.

But forget about them. This is about me, Lloyd.

I'm a fly!

Morning, Llerd. Huh?

Dotty, if you're going to laugh at my brother,

at least get his name right.

It'll annoy him more.

That was weird. Have I got something on my wing or something?

I think she was excited, rather than mocking.

Hey, real-life Llerd. Uh, hey?

OK, something seriously going on here.

Why are people calling me Llerd?

Llerd, you're in luck. I think I've got a copy left.

Ha! This looks just like you, Lloyd.

What? No, it doesn't.

This fly has a weird smile,

and my wings are way bigger than those,

and, look, his thorax is purple,

but mine's a beautiful sea teal shade of green.

I think that's a limitation of the ink

rather than the artist's ability.

It is definitely about you.

Look, look, there's Llerd getting trapped in the bath drain,

and here is Llerd getting scared inside the sofa.

I was not scared.

This is a misrepresentation.

Hm. Hm.

Maybe it's a compliment.

See there, Llerd manages to get all of the maggots to sleep.

That's nice.

What? Yes, but only after he loses them all.

Whoever's done this has made me a laughing stock.

Uh, this Llerd comic, who wrote it, please?

Yeah, that's the cool thing, they're anonymous.

So, where do you get them? They get left here for me to sell.

I've sold nine already. This is my last one.

Oh, mine, mine, please. Swap it for this apple.

Think of it this way, Lloyd. You're kinda famous.

What? For what?

Clumsy exaggerated tales of my perfectly normal life?

It's practically libellous. Don't worry, Lloyd, I'll sort it.

I'll trade you this piece of blackberry for the last copy.

Ooh, blackberry, nice. Any raise on the blackberry?

Um...

No. Sorry, PB. Thank you.

Thanks, Abacus, you're a good friend.

A sell-out success.

I hope the mysterious author drops more soon.

Yeah, well, uh, I hope not.

Oh. Hang on. Why don't we team up to find them?

You to commission more,

me to find out why they're writing them,

and to stop them making more.

Such a Llerd move.

You're on.

Yes! Oh, I'm going to get them to draw me in the next one.

Llerd's cooler little sister.

I'll help too, so we can get whoever wrote it

to explain their actions from their perspective,

and we can all grow as arthropods.

Right.

So, how do we find this mystery author?

Hm.

How about we throw them a comic book launch party?

Who doesn't turn up to their own party?

An opportunity to meet their nine adoring fans?

They'd have to come.

Um, we could,

or we could... stay right here, all day,

and do some literary analysis.

See if there are clues hidden in the text.

And what does that involve?

Reading and comparing a broad range of comics?

Ooh! Yeah, I like that.

Me too, and it's so rare

I get to use my post-structural linguistic skills.

You read it, you buy it, mind. Store policy.

Uh, OK, let's not do that.

Eh, besides, going by the crude line work,

wonky one-point perspectives,

and over-reliance on thought bubbles,

I'm thinking this must be their debut comic.

So, our suspect is a brave artist,

putting themselves out there

before they've truly mastered their skill.

We need a list. All the people that want to make me look bad.

You'll need more paper than that. Hm.

First suspect, Berry.

He's the only name on the list.

Well, yeah, everyone else around here loves me.

Eh? What about Dextrose, or Annie209,

or Dolly Chopski or Dotty?

Even I'm not that fussed about you. Ooh, add me to your list too.

Hush, hush. Berry's the prime suspect, OK?

Waaa! Waaa!

Huh?

Llerd falls out the fridge, all scared. Whoosh!

Nice comic, Berry. Well, if it isn't Llerd himself.

Where did you get it? Well, I bought it off him.

It's hilarious.

Like a best of all the dumb things you've ever done.

Nothing I do is dumb. It's just unpredictable.

It's the best comic I've ever read, except for this Borey character.

He's very smug and annoying. Don't like him at all.

I think he's quite a three-dimensional villain actually.

Er... Borey is you, Berry.

No, he isn't.

Hang on.

Who wrote this?

When I find them, I m... So, if it's not him, who is it?

It says here there's a new issue tomorrow.

Hang on, tomorrow, well, that's... Tomorrow?

What do you say we catch him doing the drop tonight?

Classic stake-out,

just like Arachnofly, volume five, issue 22.

Limited edition, that.

And, when the delivery arrives, I'll simply release this rope,

and they're trapped.

Just like Arachnofly, volume three, issue 14.

Yeah.

What? Stake-outs need snacks. And, traditionally, silence.

Shh! Someone's coming.

Huh. It can't be Cornea, no.

Yoo-hoo! Roger! Any chance for a copy of Butterfly Mind?

Ah, she's just there to shop. Let's just wait till she leaves.

The drop won't happen while she's there.

Butterfly Mind, wasn't it? Huh? Roger!

The magazine for and about butterflies?

You know, I'm not sure if I have it.

Oh.

Well, in that case, do you have any more copies of Llerd the Fly?

I've heard wonderful things about it.

Et tu, Cornea? Et tu, Lloyd.

Ooh, Butterfly Mind! Found it. Thanks, Roger, bye.

Lloyd, the rope.

Oh, no, the trap!

Classic Llerd. You really need a bigger box.

I'm sorry you didn't find them, Lloyd.

At least I bought the last copy so no-one else will get to read it.

Of course. The comic.

Something about the comic itself will help us.

Maybe the pages are made of a unique chemical formula,

or some other clue that's actually helpful.

I know that smell.

Yeah, blackberry.

A rare ink, that. Yum.

Let's sniff this out.

In fact, the smell's already getting stronger.

Hm.

Ah-ha! You!

Caught blackberry handed.

He going back to me.

Eh...

Oh.

Have a lot of blackberry at home, do you, Abacus?

Um, well, you see...

Heh, I should have known.

Hm.

Aperture! I thought your mum liked me.

I can't believe she'd stoop this low.

Erm...

How could you create such a comic, Aperture?

Were the crumbs worth your betrayal?

And if so, would you consider making more?

It's my total favourite comic ever. Sorry, but what comic is this?

It sounds impressive. I'd love to read it.

It wasn't my mum, Lloyd. Oh, hi, love.

Oh, really. Then how do you explain this?

It was me.

Huh? What?

Aw, you wrote a comic?

Abacus? It... it was you?

Best friend betrayal twist, brilliant.

I only just learnt Lloyd's name

and even I'd not write a comic about how rubbish he is.

But can I offer you a sponge cake for the sequel?

I wrote it because Lloyd's my best friend,

and I thought more people deserved to know how great he is.

So, why did you make him so dumb? And hilarious?

I didn't think I did.

So, you didn't do this to make fun of me?

I stopped writing the new one as soon as I saw you didn't like it.

Hm.

You know, this is actually pretty good.

Llerd is kinda cool, really, when you think about it.

And it's hilarious when he gets trapped in that spider web

and then lures his best mate in too.

Yeah, he outsmarts a spider,

and then sacrifices himself for his friend.

That's good drama. There's nothing funny there.

Clearly nobody has understood Abacus's bold creative vision.

They really happened. I'll tell you what.

You just need an experienced co-author.

How about you write that sequel with me?

Ooh.

Give Llerd bigger wings.

Make his face more ruggedly handsome.

Everywhere he goes, make the other flies go,

"Wow, Llerd is so cool."

Make him rescue a bunch of maggots from a bird bath.

You never did that, though. Yeah, but I probably will, sometime.

It's perfect.

Guaranteed best seller.

We're here to pick up the royalties for the latest Llerd, the Fly.

No doubt it's sold out.

Your royalties? Here they are.

Ah! What?

You didn't sell one copy?

Oh, I sold them, but then they all got returned.

No, I mean, sorry, ha, there must be some mistake.

Llerd does all that cool, heroic stuff.

Yeah, and nobody likes that Llerd.

People like the other one. He was funny.

This one's full of himself.

I'm sorry, Lloyd. Sequels are so hard to get right.

Don't be sad, Abacus.

Some bugs just don't appreciate great art.

The most important thing is I'm happy,

because no one's laughing at Llerd anymore.

Yeah, I think you're right.

Have you seen?

Someone's done a massive graffiti of you, Llerd.

I mean, Lloyd. It's hilarious.

Hm.

It wasn't me. It wasn't.

It was me.

Captions by Red Bee Media

Copyright Australian Broadcasting Corporation