Mutts
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Mutts is a daily comic strip started by Patrick McDonnell in 1994, based around the foibles of pets and their owners.
Supposedly, McDonnell's initial idea was for a strip featuring the humans who became the "Mutts'" owners, but the animals took over.
Characters
One of the major characters is a cat called Mooch, who has an odd lisp that puts "sh" (where "s" should be used) in most words. His best friend, Earl the dog, is the other major character. Perhaps the most endearing character is Guard Dog, a great threatening presence with a heart of gold (who, to Mooch's good fortune, does not realize Mooch is a cat). Among other recurring situations we find: Mooch's famous "Shmousie dance", Mooch "shnubing" his food, Earl's obsession with Ozzie, and Mooch and Noodle's fight for Shnelly.
Other Characters
Animals
- Shtinky Puddin (aka "Jules") - A little lost kitty, who wants to save the world
- Woofie - A dog that "wuvs" everything and everyone
- Noodles - An alley cat friend of Shtinky
- Sourpuss - An unhappy kitty who hates Mondays
- Crabby - An unhappy crab who always talks in expletives
- Mussels - A mussel that's always talking about its "mussels" (muscles)
- Sid - An unhappy fish who wishes to be free
- Shnelly - The house cat for whose love Mooch and Noodles fight
- Philippe - A bird always wooing his love, Phoebe
- Bip and Bop - Two squirrels who like "bonking" ground-dwellers with nuts
- Tom-Tom - A former "shelter stories" cat
- Chickpea and Chickpea's brother - Two former "shelter stories" kitties
- Shphinx - Mooch's alter ego, obsessed with prophesizing
- King Crab - The "crabbiest" of them all
- Speed-o (aka "Little Earl") - Mooch's pet snail obsessed with walking mooch, "his pet"
- McGarry - A bird who lives at the shore and tries to get Crabby not to swear
Humans
- Ozzie - Earl's owner
- Millie - Mooch's owner
- Frank - Millie's husband
- Butchie - The local deli owner who tries to stop Mooch and Earl from eating his food
- Doozy - A little girl who loves animals
- Bushy - Doozy's best friend and a hero to Tom-Tom
- Dr. Woo - a veterinarian
Animal Welfare
On occasion, McDonnell devotes the strip for a week or so to animal welfare issues, especially the adoption of pets from animal shelters. Themes include "Farm Animal Awareness Week" and "Shelter Stories", where pet adoption as well as pet shelter life is focussed on.
Mutts Books
- Mutts I: Mutts (1996)
- Mutts II: Cats & Dogs (1997)
- Mutts III: More Shtuff (1998)
- Mutts Little Big Book (1998)
- Mutts IV: Yesh! (1999)
- Mutts Sundays (1999)
- Mutts V: Our Mutts (2000)
- Mutts VI: A Little Look-See (2001)
- Sunday Mornings (2001)
- Mutts VII: What Now (2002)
- The Comic Art of Patrick McDonnell (2003)(retrospective)
- Mutts VIII: I Want To Be The Kitty! (2003)
- Mutts IX: "Dog-Eared" (2004)
- Sunday Afternoons (2004)
- Mutts X: Who Let The Cat Out? (2005)
Sunday Title Panels
Sunday strips are coloured and their title panels are usually a tribute to a famous comic strip, a work of art or another subject, among which one can find tributes to Flash #1, Dalí's The Persistence of Memory, Elvis Presley and Magritte's Golconda, to name but a few. Title Panel Tributes (http://muttscomics.com/art/tributes.asp).
External link
- Mutts at King Features (http://www.kingfeatures.com/features/comics/mutts/about.htm)
- Official Mutts website (http://www.muttscomics.com/)