Mutts, the syndicated comic

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Yes, i'm bringing back an old point of contention amongst the ILXors here.

I don't hate Mutts.

But I really don't getMutts, or like it particularly.

What baffles me is the amount of critical acclaim the strip has gotten. Like it's the resurrection of Krazy Kat or Pogo or something like that.

"It's the only hope for the syndicated comic strip world to acknowledge some of what made comics in the past great" is often (granted, grossly paraphrasing) the excuse a lot of underground comics writers use to defend Mutts.

But I fail to see what is great about it.

Why wasn't Peanuts defended similarly so strongly pre-Schultz's death?

How come Blondie's refusal to get past the 50's isn't so defended either (haha, I'm allowing at least ONE point of mine here to be refuted easily.. another sandwich? MMMMM)

Meanwhile, these days, I just skim over to read Boondocks and read the fuck outta dodge.

So, Mutts then. Or fans thereof. Explain thyselves.

And without saying "It's adowwwwwwwable! How could you HATE Mutts, you uncouth shitbag?". Sadly, it may be the only "cute" comic strip being syndicated, granted.

(and, please, none of this "Well, if you don't get it, you're fucked to begin with" shit)

― donut bitch (donut), Saturday, 22 November 2003 20:15 (twenty-two years ago)

I like the lisping cat. Shoot me.

― A Girl Named Sam (thatgirl), Saturday, 22 November 2003 20:17 (twenty-two years ago)

That's a fine enough reason, Sam!

I was just trying to aim more for this whole underground/past glories of comics aesthetic issue that defenders bring up, that's all. (although, you might be hinting at a good argument as a first step)

― donut bitch (donut), Saturday, 22 November 2003 20:21 (twenty-two years ago)

Is it because it's one of the few comics that are inventing characters from scratch these days without being fully absorbed into current cultural pop references, and some find that a bit refreshing?

― donut bitch (donut), Saturday, 22 November 2003 20:22 (twenty-two years ago)

I think it's more "charming" than flat-out "funny", but I'm pretty sure part of the appeal lies in that odd little manner it's drawn -- simultaneously retro-minimalist and expressively dynamic. That, and the fact that with the exception of polar-opposite "Get Fuzzy", nearly every other "pet comic" in the papers is totally worthless.

― nate detritus (natedetritus), Saturday, 22 November 2003 20:24 (twenty-two years ago)

What Nate said. I don't think it's genius, and if it wasn't around anymore, I think I'd stop noticing pretty quickly. But I think it's better than most of its genre, and better than most of what's in the average newspaper comics section.

(Do people really defend Mutts that vehemently? It's like getting passionate about 7-Up.)

― Tep (ktepi), Saturday, 22 November 2003 20:46 (twenty-two years ago)

(As opposed to Moxie, which fucking rules, you ignorant goatfucker.)

― Tep (ktepi), Saturday, 22 November 2003 20:46 (twenty-two years ago)

Mutts is, you know, it's a comic for comics fans. It clearly references Krazy Kat and to a lesser extent several other comics (Peanuts, even Garfield, etc.). The drawing is terrific (if very derivative (but that's sort of the point)) and the humor is... well, it suffices, I guess. "Yesh" is certainly fun to say. Anyway it's kind of a pomo ball of nothing but you know, it's better than LuAnn.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Saturday, 22 November 2003 21:38 (twenty-two years ago)

Nothing is better than LuAnn. (Except Boondocks.)

― Leee Majors (Leee), Saturday, 22 November 2003 21:49 (twenty-two years ago)

Boondocks is going downhill. He needs to use the other characters more; all it's been lately is Huey and Caesar and not-very-funny one-liners about BET/Condi/etc. The Condi thing is provocative, but not particularly funny.

Mutts is well-drawn. I wish it were less cutesy, I guess, but the drawing is enough to warrant reading it.

― mookieproof (mookieproof), Saturday, 22 November 2003 22:30 (twenty-two years ago)

I like Mutts, mostly for the art and, yeah, the charm. It's more whimsical than ha-ha funny, and it goes in for big dollops of sap, but it has a distinctive look and vibe. It's one of about 5 strips that I actually look for when I pick up the comics (others: Zits, Get Fuzzy...uh, I'm sure there are others...)

― spittle (spittle), Sunday, 23 November 2003 05:44 (twenty-two years ago)

Oh yeah, Boondocks.

And has there been a thread yet about how fucking horrible Mallard Fillmore is? Not for its politics, just its awful art and godawful "jokes."

― spittle (spittle), Sunday, 23 November 2003 05:45 (twenty-two years ago)

It was like my secret to like it, but now that it's almost cool, Mutts sucks.

Aw fuck that, it's cute as hell!

― Hunter (Hunter), Sunday, 23 November 2003 08:28 (twenty-two years ago)

Boondocks and Get Fuzzy are the only cartoons I try to keep up with.

― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Sunday, 23 November 2003 08:38 (twenty-two years ago)

Anywhere I can check this out online? I've never seen it, but anything with a link to Krazy Kat is something I'd like a look at.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 23 November 2003 16:11 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.kingfeatures.com/features/comics/mutts/about.htm

(Looks like there's about a month's worth of archive?)

― Tep (ktepi), Sunday, 23 November 2003 16:18 (twenty-two years ago)

Looked at one, and the art is very nice indeed, but with my dialup and VERY bad eye troubles today, I think I'll revisit this another time.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 23 November 2003 18:07 (twenty-two years ago)

Any Sherman's Lagoon fans? Most of the comics I read I find revolve around animals (Mutts, Get Fuzzy, Sherman's).

― Vinnie (vprabhu), Sunday, 23 November 2003 18:17 (twenty-two years ago)

Wasn't that cancelled? (Unless I'm thinking of something else; the one with the sharks?)

― Tep (ktepi), Sunday, 23 November 2003 18:23 (twenty-two years ago)

Yes that's the one - was it really cancelled? I haven't read the coimcs in a week or two, but it was there last I read.

― Vinnie (vprabhu), Sunday, 23 November 2003 18:30 (twenty-two years ago)

Hrm, it doesn't look like it was ... weird. I stopped reading it maybe two, three years ago, and I'd swear it was because it was cancelled (I was reading it online, so it wasn't just that a paper had stopped carrying it). Well, cool!

― Tep (ktepi), Sunday, 23 November 2003 18:40 (twenty-two years ago)

http://muttscomics.com/art/images/influences/mut50qsc_troutmask.jpg

― Hunter (Hunter), Sunday, 23 November 2003 19:05 (twenty-two years ago)

THAT IS THE GREATEST THING EVER

― nate detritus (natedetritus), Sunday, 23 November 2003 19:09 (twenty-two years ago)

Seriously, even a cursory nod to Captain Beefheart in the Sunday comix (snuck in via a whimsical pet comic, as opposed to a Zippy harangue) just blows my mind completely.

― nate detritus (natedetritus), Sunday, 23 November 2003 19:10 (twenty-two years ago)

I was poking around the Mutts site and apparently the artist does tribute Sunday title panels to images and stuff he likes.

― Hunter (Hunter), Sunday, 23 November 2003 19:32 (twenty-two years ago)

marmaduke kicks its ass

― cinniblount (James Blount), Sunday, 23 November 2003 19:35 (twenty-two years ago)

Just read all those on that site. The drawing is terrific, though you still get lots of near-identical panels. The characters are cute and sweet, but the gags are very lame nearly all the time.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Monday, 24 November 2003 13:42 (twenty-two years ago)

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