Make With the Funny Comics: Get Fuzzy By Luke Foster This week we’re going to discuss one type of funny comic I haven't touched upon in this column yet: the newspaper comic strip. Sadly, newspaper comics aren’t nearly as funny as they’ve been in days gone by, but there are still a few gems, such as today’s feature: “Get Fuzzy.”
“Get Fuzzy” is a daily comic strip by writer/artist Darby Conley. It features Bucky Katt, a Siamese cat with a truly nasty disposition; Satchel, a Golden Lab/Shar-Pei mix with a disposition as sweet and innocent as Bucky’s is unpleasant; and Rob Wilco, their human owner.
In typical funny comic strip fashion, “Get Fuzzy” mixes gag-a-day jokes with ongoing storylines. They often revolve around Bucky breaking something, or trying to get rich quick, or slapping around Satchel. Not that the other two don’t get their time in the sun. Satchel loves having fun with other dogs, Rob, and Bucky, and is almost always laughing, despite (or sometimes because) not knowing what he’s laughing at.
Bucky lives in a world of his own, and his obsessions border on the surreal at times. He’s determined to eat a monkey, he made an enemy out of the ferret living down the hall from them, and he’ll do anything to get on TV, from trying to make his own version of “Cribs” to starting his own home-improvement show. Which means breaking everything he tries to “improve.” Really, Bucky just likes to destroy things. He doesn't need a reason to, but he'll try to find one if he thinks it'll get him out of trouble. Which it never does. Bucky's always trying to come up with quick ways to make a buck, too, whether through duplicity or outright theft. Theft is usually the one that works.
Not that Bucky doesn't act just like a cat as well. He has no problem sleeping all day, rummaging through garbage, and eating (or complaining about what he has to eat).
Satchel, as I said above, is a sweet and fairly innocent dog. He's happiest when he's playing with other dogs – or even by himself – and can take joy out of the simplest things, like running around or eating. Like a real dog. But he's also the more sensitive of the animals, feeling sadness at the injustices of the world – especially those against other animals – and can feel insecure if he feels like he doesn't measure up to other people's expectations. He's also a bit gullible, easily fooled by poorly-made costumes and completely unable to recognize sarcasm when he hears it. You know, I think I went to school with a guy like that.
Not that Satchel is a total pushover. He's stood up to Bucky on more than a few occasions, so even though Bucky takes a lot of his aggressions out on Satchel, they both know it's only because Bucky is Satchel's friend.
Bucky and Satchel have a strange relationship. Even though Bucky likes to beat on Satchel a lot, it's more of a sense of “nobody beats up my little brother but me.” Bucky will stick up for Satchel on rare occasions, and Satchel is able to hold his own when he wants to.
The third member of our trio, Rob, is more or less the straight man of the group. He often fills the role of the guy watching all the insanity around him and reacts to it as best he can without losing his mind. Hey, I think I went to school with a guy like that, too. But unlike Rob, that guy was never called “Pinky” by a cat.
The strip as a whole tends to shy away from overly-controversial topics and focus more on the lives and misadventures of its three leads, but every once in a while Conley will have a story, or just a strip, about something happening in the real world. Like everyone else, he did a few strips in honor of the people who died on 9/11, and a few years later he did strips about the Iraq War. In particular, he did one story where Rob's cousin lost a leg in Iraq, which was coincidentally printed at the same time as the now famous story where B.D. lost his leg in Iraq in “Doonesbury.” He also did one mocking John Ashcroft when he made that ludicrous command that the Statue of Justice be covered up because it was partially naked and therefore obscene. How? He had a one-panel strip where Bucky and Satchel were also forced to wear dresses. Which is actually saner than anything John Ashcroft ever did, but I digress.
Of course, nothing could ever be more controversial than what Bucky did when Rob wouldn't give him his Red Sox hat. What did our favorite cat do, exactly? He got himself a Yankees hat. Okay, so that's probably only controversial if you live in the northeast, but take it from someone who lives almost exactly halfway between New York and Boston. Things like that can get ugly.
While many “Get Fuzzy” strips have a punch line in the last panel like other comics, Conley’s sense of humor doesn’t limit him to one joke a strip. Often there are several jokes per strip, sometimes one for each panel. Which makes sense, really. I mean, look at real life. In funny situations you don't have conversations that go setup-joke setup-joke setup-joke, so why do it in the comics? Plus, when you do that in the comics it's like you're getting more value for your dollar, a good investment in these tight economic times.
I'm sure some people would see a comic strip with a cat, dog, and man as its protagonists and instantly think “Garfield,” and wonder how much of a rip-off this strip is of that. Honestly? Not at all. They are two such completely different creatures that any similarities are superficial. But Conley, being smart, actually addressed that in the strip a few years ago when Bucky got a “Garfield” book for Christmas. He figured he might have to sue the “Garfield” people for plagiarizing his life, then realized they didn't because, unlike Rob, Jon actually goes on dates sometimes. BURN!
And let's talk about the art in this strip for a minute. Conley's line work is good. I mean really good. His eye for detail is great, his animals look like the animals they're supposed to be, and none of the backgrounds ever look like he scrimped on them. His is probably some of the best artwork in the paper.
“Get Fuzzy” is printed in hundreds of newspapers around the country, but if yours isn't one of them you can read the strip daily at http://www.comics.com . And if you're not an Internet person (and if that's true, how the heck are you reading this?), you can pick up collected volumes of the strip. Read on to find out how.
“Get Fuzzy” has been collected into a number of books for your enjoyment. They include “The Dog is Not a Toy (House Rule #4),” “Fuzzy Logic,” “The Get Fuzzy Experience,” “Blueprint for Disaster,” “Say Cheesy,” “Scrum Bums,” and “I'm Ready for My Movie Contract.” There are also three treasury editions, each of which collects two of the smaller books: “Groovitude,” “Bucky Katt's Big Book of Fun,” and Looserpalooza.” So if you're one of those people who thinks newspaper strips have lost their way, check out “Get Fuzzy” and be reminded that the comics can still make you laugh.
Luke Foster is a stand-up comedian and writer who looks forward to the day when laundry-washing robots are both popular and affordable.Posts: 21381 | From: PA | Registered: Aug 2002
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I love this strip and I kinda sorta hope that newspaper strip fellows will grace a comicon or two with their presence. Conley's at the top of that list.
My favorite strip showed how evil Bucky Katt is. He dented something Rob owned and called it a Bucky dent. Booooooo! Hissssss!
Another favorite was in the post 9/11 strips when Satchel went off to donate blood, Bucky showed his support by being good. He didn't move an inch while Rob and Satchel were gone.
Posts: 395 | From: Simsbury CT USA | Registered: Aug 1999
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I'm a big fan. I'd love to see you focus on some more newspaper strips like this. While most of them are pretty bad these days, there's some really good and creative stuff happening as well. Mutts is another great strip for the art alone and Lynn Johnston has been doing some pretty amazing things with For Better or Worse for the past 20+ years.
I like this guy's art as well but it took me a little while to get used to it. It's definitely a style not seen in the other strips and it stands out as a result.
Posts: 154 | Registered: Mar 2003
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