Gator Days is a Slice of Life webcomic by FieldExplores taking place in a world where most of the characters are Funny Animals, but a few humans also appear.
The comic tells the story of the day-to-day life of an alligator kid named Gustopher along with the lives of his friends and family and sometimes the other people living in their community.
The comic can be found on Tumblr
, Reddit, Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky.
Gator Days provides examples of:
- Abusive Parents:
- Gwen states that her parents never tell her "I love you", and her dad's response to her announcing she's home is a dismissive "So?". He also dismissively asks her "What? You want a medal?" when she tells him she finished laundry and would be starting with dinner.
- "I'm Sorry" shows that August's father Fergus would yell at him for small accidents such as dropping a carton of eggs by mistake. It's also mentioned that he burned some of his kids' things in a rage when his sleep schedule got bad in "Saying Sorry (Part 1/4)". However, he has since mellowed out and comes to regard the latter incident as a massive regret. By the end of that arc, he buys a replacement toy for August and apologizes to him tearfully, and August expresses pride on how hard he's worked to improve himself.
- Zigzagged with Douglas' dad. He dismissed a drawing his son made becuase "trees aren't blue," and Douglas is certain he'll object to him going trick-or-treating with Gustopher. However, when he is forced to ask, he says yes because while he considers trick-or-treating childish, Douglas himself is a child, and he needs to enjoy being one while he can.
- Art Evolution: The art style, while mostly consistent, did take a bit of time to be set in stone, which can be seen when comparing the first few strips to the most recent ones.
- In the first four comic strips, Gustopher wears no visible clothing with August and other characters wearing clothes on their upper body but not their lower body. Gustopher then starts wearing clothes over his torso but it takes until strip #35 for all characters to consistently be fully-clothed.
- There is a case of Pantsless Males, Fully-Dressed Females, with Miss Horsehill wearing a long skirt in her first appearance, standing right next to the bottomless Gustopher.
- In the first four comic strips, Gustopher wears no visible clothing with August and other characters wearing clothes on their upper body but not their lower body. Gustopher then starts wearing clothes over his torso but it takes until strip #35 for all characters to consistently be fully-clothed.
- Breaking the Cycle of Bad Parenting: In "I'm Sorry", Gustopher accidentally drops a carton of eggs. August recalls a childhood incident where he did the same thing and got harshly yelled at for it, so he assures his son that it's okay and says they'll clean it together.
- Disappeared Dad: Polly and Olivia's father died sometime before the start of the comic, leaving their mother to provide for them.
- Left Your Lifesaver Behind: In "Gustopher Goes Missing (Part 2)", August tries calling Gustopher's cellphone after they get separated at the store. The last panel cuts to the phone ringing on Gustopher's nightstand at home.
- Lions and Tigers and Humans... Oh, My!: Most of the characters in the comic are Funny Animals, but Gwen and her family are human.
- Missing Child: The "Gustopher Goes Missing" 3-parter is about August getting separated from his son at the store with no clue where he went. First he tries calling him, but it turns out Gustopher left his phone at home. He's about to try asking the store to make a missing child announcement when Gustopher reappears beside him, having only been separated for about a minute.
- Missing Mom: Gustopher's mom left when he was very young.
- Parental Neglect: In the series "Parental Permision" Douglas wants to go trick or treating with Gustopher, but is nervous about asking his dad, and when he asks his mom, she tells him to ask his dad, as she's busy with the baby. When Douglas asks his dad for permission, dad says he can go because he has no interest in partaking in such childish activities.
- Shapes of Disappearance: In "Gustopher Goes Missing (Part 1)", August and Gustopher are in a crowded store, so August tells his son to stay close. When he looks over, there is only an outline of Gustopher where he was just standing.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Not only do Gwen's parents barely make an effort to look after her and her brothers, in "Thank You- Part 1," when she tells her dad she'll get started on dinner after she finishes another chore, he notices she's still in the room, so he sarcastically asks if she wants a medal for it, and she thinks to herself if it's selfish for her to want to hear a "thank you" from time to time.
