Quilp was a small comic paper founded by the cartoonist Jeffery Bruer when the long-running Lantern ceased, for which Bruer had previously worked. The reading matter was described as "racy and pungent without being unnecessarily harsh or unfair" (Port Augusta Dispatch, 27 June 1890, p. 2). As well as cartoons, there was some coverage of sport and the theatre, and the usual satirical/political comment found in most 19th century comic papers. Initially Bruer drew the front page portraits and the main cartoon himself, but copies of issues from the second year of Quilp include portraits of politicians, theatrical figures and others signed 'C.S.'. While the inside double page montage of the week's events is unsigned, it is similar to the style of Ambrose Dyson's later work for the Critic. Quilp seems to have ceased in 1891. In 1897 Bruer was contributing cartoons for the first issues of the Critic newspaper.

'Quilp,' Southern argus, 26 June 1890, p. 3