Uh-oh. Today's comic pictures a roadside roadkill memorial to a squirrel. At least that's what it is supposed to be. The idea is that wild squirrels made a memorial for one of their fallen brothers. One problem: it looks like a cat. I already got an email:
"I was disturbed by today's cartoon with the roadside memorial to a cat. I hope that you were not trying to be funny as it is a very sad thing to lose a beloved pet."
Now that I look at it again, it does look like a cat. The first time I drew it, it was skinnier and more rat-like. I didn't want it to look like a rat at the time (I should have just left it), so I cuted it up a little bit. "Now that's a squirrel!" I thought. Wrong. When you can't see the fluffy tail, it's just an ambiguous mammal. I completely forgot to add the buck teeth.
For some reason, a dead squirrel is more acceptable to our delicate nation than a cat. I'm not sure why.
Oh well, as the old saying goes: You win some, you piss off cat people.
21 comments:
First time checking out your blog, but there's no way I would have thought that was a cat, I mean maybe if it was a suburban setting or something... people are way too sensitive... anyways ASU alum here, congrats on all your success, I used to get the State Press everyday to read F-Minus
Regardless of the animal species, the simplicity of the road and the memorial is a very powerful image. Keep up the good work.
When I read your cartoon this morning I saw a squirrel, but now reading this I can see the cat. It's funnier now. Don't get me wrong, I love animals, but going that far for a cat... [cracks open a tin can and dumps it on the ground] This fancy feast is for my homecat Snowball.
It wouldn't be funny if it were a cat; that means that it was done by humans. Homage to a fallen squirrel by its' peeps is waaay funnier!
I definitely saw "cat" this morning, and was actually waiting to see if it would end up on "Comics I don't understand", because I thought I had to be missing something.
I saw this in the paper this morning and immediately had two thoughts.
1. Why couldn't have this been Garfield in the picture? and
2. Tony is going to some letters.
This makes sense as a squirrel. Or squirdell, if you listen to my 3 year old niece. I've been following the art form long enough to know that people are just going to see things the wrong way. Or at least in the way you didn't intend.
So this is something else Tony has in common with other artists like Gary Larson. They make me laugh and they sometimes inadvertently piss folks off.
Haha, I got it, but I knew you would get complaints for that one!
I thought it was a cat... Your cat. I thought your pet cat met a tragic end and you were memorializing it with this strip. It seemed sad and I came to your blog to get the full story.
I guess it's good that no personal tragedy was involved in the making of this strip -- aside from the hair pulling that went on as you realized people thought your squirrel was a cat.
Damn, I thought first it was a bear... and now that i'm thinking, how a bear could be kill by a car?
Sincerly, the one yesterday was funnier : Cannonball !
I have now also heard ground hog, bear, and teddy bear.
Yesterday was my daughter's 12th Birthday. She is a big F-Minus fan. Her name is Katie but her family members started calling her by the nickname "bear" as a baby and it has stuck. We are thankful we did not see a "bear" memorial by the road on her birthday. We love F minus!!!!!!
I saw a cat.
I never heard my mom laugh so hard at a comic strip before as I heard her laugh when she read this one. My mom hates cats.
I thought it was an alligator.
I saw it as a cat...and loved it b/c I find those roadside memorials ridiculous. (They deteriorate and make the place look like a rundown cemetery.)
Mom thought it was a cat and thought it was sick. Mike thought it was a cat and loved it.
groundhog. i saw a groundhog.
I thought it was a cat and I was struck by it. My wife and I teared up b/c we also thought it was a cat memorial. We're both glad your cat isn't dead. Also, I don't comprehend people who hate cats so strongly that they would laugh at this. But I guess that's just me.
Yea Tony, I'm glad I checked your blog on this one. I knew it wasn't supposed to be a cat...and I knew it was supposed to be funny. But, I didn't get it when I first saw it. Now that is wasn't a cat it is pretty funny and clever.
I have two cats and I showed this strip to them, they both confirmed it looks a little like their cousin Mittens, but over all, they felt the ears were all off, and looked more like a baby seal.
No one cares about dead baby seals.. you're safe.
totally thought it was a cat and totally thought it was halarious on account of its kitty-ness. i cut it out of the paper and it is now in my sketchbook of comics i find truely funny.
squirrel is funny too, but i got to go with my gut and say cat is funnier.
As an animal rights activist, I actually use humor a lot to deal with the wide range of stupid questions I get from people everyday. I even use your material sometimes, like your animal testing comic, in informational brochures to get people to realize a serious matter through relating to humor.
I must say that I love the way you portray animals in a humorous way, and how it can be taken in very political sense to highlight how we use them and value them (cat memorial > squirrel's?). Sometimes making people laugh sometimes is the easiest way to educate them. Thank you for all the amazing work you do, Tony!
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