After seeing the early “Get Fuzzy” comics that are being reprinted this week, did anybody else wonder if some version of the following conversation happened?
“Mr. Conley?”
“Yes?”
“Friendly neighborhood lawyer here. We were viewing your new comic strip creation and we have a little request.”
“What would that be?”
“Could you possibly make Rob, your main character, not look exactly like ‘Steve Dallas’ of Bloom County fame?”
“Oh, um, sure.”
-lv
When I first read the strip I noticed more a than a passing resemblance to the much-beloved Bloom County.
Get Fuzzy is the only comic I really pay attention to. Which one is Bloom County?
If Get Fuzzy is in reprints, what happened to Bucky’s tooth?
Rob is more like Steve Dallas after his Gephardtization.
If you have to ask what Bloom County was, just never mind. It’s a boomer thing.
Get Fuzzy is in reprints because of illness in the cartoonist’s family, according to the little note in the Dallas Morning News. I’m sure that Bucky will get his tooth back soon after the crisis is resolved.
And looking at some of the other comics in the newspaper, I can only say that Berke Breathed and Gary Larson are RIGHT, there’s nothing sadder than a cartoon that is just a pale shadow of what it used to be.
I was beginning to think I was the only one who liked Get Fuzzy. I stumbled on it not long after Citizen Dog went out of syndication and it’s really grown on me.
The hell it was! I was born in '75, and Bloom County has always been my favorite comic strip. It was (and still is) enourmously popular with most of my peers, too. I still have a plush Opus with a silk tie somewhere around here.
I’d nominate Doonesbury as the dubious “winner” in that category. The first five years or so of Doonesbury could be in a Cartoon Hall of Fame, but after Vietnam “ended” it has never achieved its former subtle but hilarious biting edge.
Get Fuzzy is now my favorite cartoon strip. I’m grateful my local newspaper carries it. I don’t believe anyone will ever achieve the magic of Calvin and Hobbes, and Bloom County was golden. But Bucky and Satchel from Get Fuzzy are as funny and memorable as any of the characters from the aforementioned strips.
Just think what it would be like in a fantasy world where all these strips appeared at their peak at the same time… in my mind that’d be the ultimate Golden Age.
Here’s a typical Get Fuzzy strip.
Cat: I hate you because every time I cross my legs my crotch sweats and I get a yeast infection.
Guy: Dude, that is way too much information.
Dog: I like to roll in my feces.
The only time I laughed at that strip was when the cat put beards on all the dog’s Where’s Waldo books because he wanted to invent a new game called Where’s Osama?
We learned last Saturday, I think it was, that Bucky’s tooth had been implanted, but we needed to wait to learn if the implant would take. And Bucky’s head is in a cone!!!
No.
For the benefit of those who don’t know the strip, allow me to assert that the above is not a typical exchange from Get Fuzzy. The strip takes a while to get used to, but has finally won me over, and judging from the other folks in this thread, I’m not alone.
Get Fuzzy has three main characters: Rob, the human, serves the function most humans do in talking-pet-oriented comic strips, which is to say he’s usually either the Greek chorus or the deus-ex-machina when things get out of hand.
Bucky, the cat, serves basically the Louie DePalma role. He’s self-absorbed almost to the point of egomania and has no respect for anyone or anything else. But like I said, he’s a cat. 
He’s usually the instigator of trouble.
Satchel, the dog, is almost always the butt of the joke. On those rare instances when he understands that he’s the butt of the joke, he’s sad. Usually he’s pretty oblivious and is just happy to have friends like Rob and Bucky. But like I said, he’s a dog.
Hope this helps.
It’s still no Mutts, though.
I have no idea why I italicized Satchel’s name. It’s not foreign or anything.
I LOVE Get Fuzzy. My favorite thing is how Satchel always looks confused and worried. And he’s sweet and lovable but a little dumb. Mr. Conley knows his critters.
For those of you who don’t get it locally, I read it online at the Houston Chronicle (weekdays) and at Bayarea.com (Sundays).
Quoth Miller:
Is that the best you can do? Heck, I was born in '77, and I went as Opus for Halloween one year, and designed an origami penguin with an oversized nose! Bloom County was far from a “boomer thing”.
But just ignore Outland, it didn’t really exist.
Or have it emailed to you.
Well, considering that early Bloom County had more than a passing resemblance to Doonesbury – indeed, included outright thievery from Doonesbury – I doubt Berke Breathed will be in a position to complain.
I like Get Fuzzy. It’s so endearingly odd. I like Bucky’s war with the ferret, and the way the ferret always wins. I’m amused by the fact that Bucky gets carried around in a baby pouch that Rob wears and rides in a baby seat in the car. It can be kind of hit-and-miss – sometimes it’s not funny at all – but when it’s funny, it’s pretty funny. IMO.
I first noticed Get Fuzzy b/c Satchel bears a striking resemblance to our shar-pei who died last year. After reading the strip for awhile, I realized their personalities were similar, as well - lovable, not overly bright, and loyal to the other pet members of the family, regardless of the abuse heaped on them.
The best stip (and I can’t find a link for it) is from Halloween, where Satchel dresses up like a vacuum cleaner because “its the scariest thing I could think of,” getting whole-hearted agreement from Bucky. Our dogs flip out when the vacuum comes out so we could definitely relate.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Survey1215 *
**The best stip (and I can’t find a link for it) is from Halloween, where Satchel dresses up like a vacuum cleaner because “its the scariest thing I could think of,” getting whole-hearted agreement from Bucky. Our dogs flip out when the vacuum comes out so we could definitely relate. **
I LOVE that one! It’s magneted to my refrigerator! My cats don’t just flip when the vacuum comes out - they disappear into another dimension.
You can also find Get Fuzzy at http://www.unitedmedia.com/comics/getfuzzy/
Another strip I’m hooked on at the moment is Sherman’s Lagoon: http://cgi.dnai.com/~fillmore/cgi-bin/sviewer.pl
Get Fuzzy is about this guy, his not-too-bright dog, and smart-assed cat. And unlike some other strips with a similar cast of characters, Get Fuzzy is actually funny.
One of my favorite panels: Bucky wants to watch the basball game on TV with Rob & Satchel, Rob wonders why, since Bucky fell asleep the last time he watched a televised basball game, Bucky replies “That’s right, you can’t buy naps like that.”
At first I couldn’t quite tell whether Bucky was a cat or a rabbit. I know Bucky has fangs and small ears, but the panel’s are so small.
BTW I had to laugh out loud at yesterday’s *FoxTrot *