Tuesday, December 31, 2019
My new obsession: Heathcliff
Long ago, before the appearance of Garfield the cat, there was another cat in the comics: Heathcliff. Like Garfield, he is orange and round. Unlike Garfield, he exists in some kind of strange alternative universe rather than with a boring single guy, he wants to eat birds like a normal cat rather than lasagne, and he interacts with guest stars like Smokey the Bear.
My renewed fascination with Heathcliff came from stumbling onto Brian Sweeney's observations at the Literate Ape.
Among the cartoons Sweeney points to, I find this one the most compelling:
My renewed fascination with Heathcliff came from stumbling onto Brian Sweeney's observations at the Literate Ape.
Among the cartoons Sweeney points to, I find this one the most compelling:
Sweeney points to two oddities here: That Santa and Heathcliff have some kind of long-standing beef, and Santa is (for some reason) working in the Complaints department in a store. Frankly, the fact that Santa is working in the Complaints department is way funnier than the caption provided. Is it off-season Santa? And has anyone ever actually seen a "complaints" department in a store? How bad is that store, that it needs a full-time employee just to handle complaints? Is any store that bad?(Actually, I know the answer to that: the KMart on 9 Mile in St. Clair Shores, Michigan; The Dollar Store on Franklin Ave. in Waco; and the Macy's in Chicago).
Also, what is Heathcliff the Cat's complaint? Did he buy something? And if so, how did he carry it home?
There is so much more to explore.
In 1984, briefly, Heathcliff had a TV show that also featured some of his friends. Is it just me, or did this show profoundly affect the costume design for the movie version of "Cats?" Judge for yourself:
