Who is Grumble Gary?
A grumpy mechanic, a comic strip, and a small studio in Aotearoa.
Right, since you're being nosy —
I'm Gary. I've spent forty years under bonnets and I've got opinions about everything the modern world does to make a simple day harder. Somebody built me a website. Now my grumbles are comic panels. Read on if you must.
The short version
Grumble Gary is a satirical comic project. You bring a grumble — the $9 loaf of bread, the microwave that wants two-factor authentication, the app that logs you out for no reason — and Gary, our permanently unimpressed Kiwi mechanic, turns it into a single comic panel with a punchy caption. It's a small, silly antidote to a world that keeps finding new ways to be mildly infuriating.
Why we made it
Everyone has a running list of small frustrations they never say out loud. The cost of a weekly shop. Subscriptions for things that used to be free. Weather that can't make up its mind. We wanted a friendly, funny place to put those gripes — something that made you laugh instead of doom-scroll. Gary is the character who says the quiet grumble out loud, and the comic panel is the little reward for getting it off your chest.
How it works
- You type a grumble. Anything that grinds your gears — the pettier, the better.
- Gary sharpens it into a one-line caption in his own grumpy voice.
- A comic panel is drawn to match, in Gary's hand-inked, halftone style.
- You keep it or share it, and the best public ones land in the Archive for everyone to read.
Prefer longer reads? Head to the Blog for Gary's grumbles in full essay form — everything from shrinkflation to why your internet drops out the moment it rains.
Panels are generated with the help of AI image and text models, then framed in Gary's consistent comic-book look. The character, his voice, the artwork style, and the site itself are ours.
Who's behind it
Grumble Gary is an independent project built and run from Aotearoa, New Zealand by a tiny team of one designer-developer who got tired of paying $9 for bread. It isn't backed by a big publisher or a venture fund — it's a passion project that pays for its own running costs through small, optional credit packs and modest advertising. Gary himself is fictional. Any resemblance to your local mechanic is entirely deserved.
What we believe
- Complaining should be fun. A shared grumble beats a lonely one.
- Keep it clean-ish. Gary is grumpy, not cruel — no punching down, no real people, no hate.
- Respect your privacy. We collect as little as we can and never sell your data — see the Privacy Policy.
Say hello
Got a grumble worth a whole storyline, a bug to report, or a business enquiry? Gary won't smile, but he'll read it. Head to the Contact page or email hello@grumblegary.com.