[1] Verbeek was born in Nagasaki, Japan, in 1867, the son of Reformed Church in America missionary Guido Verbeck, of Dutch ancestry, and his wife Maria (née Manion).

Although the July 10, 1904, strip implies that the stories are set in America, Verbeek filled his milieu with African animals and peoples, fabulous monsters, fairy castles, etc.

This strip features a group of four unnamed and interchangeable boys, who encounter a variety of strange creatures based on inventive word combinations.

For example, they find a "hippopautomobile" (a hippopotamus with a steering wheel and seating in its back as in an automobile), a "pelicanoe" (a pelican in which a rider could sit and paddle like a canoe), and a "samovarmint" (a samovar for serving tea with the head and claws of a wild animal).

Dan Nadel describes the strip as "quiet, subdued, and somnambulant" in character, partly because Verbeek eschewed "speed lines, stars of pain", and other such cartoon conventions.

The book 'In Uppåner med Lilla Lisen & Gamle Muppen' (ISBN 978-91-7089-524-1) by Marcus Ivarsson shows 24 of Verbeek's comics redrawn in the style of the author.