Invasion of the Puppy Snatchers

The 6-days-a-week flashback continues at Pooch Cafe, telling the tale of Poncho's puppyhood. The current arc not only shows his first encounter with Carmen, who we all (except Poncho-puppy) know is destined to be Chazz's wife and, thus, Poncho's rival for his affections, but it's also his first close-up experience of cats, of which she owns a small herd.

Now Poncho has met them, and, though Chazz has talked him out of the closet, he still knows that they're coming for all of us. This may be the funniest fourth panel of the year so far, and I don't just mean in this cartoon.

I've said this before, but I think this flashback, which began in June, is a brilliant move, because not only does it offer readers a chance to have some playful fun with an established character, but I suspect it offers cartoonist Paul Gilligan a chance to fill in some additional dimensions to his own creations. When (and if) he jumps back to the present day, he'll have more to work with, and I think his Sundays, which are set in the present, already reflect that more complete insight.

Meanwhile, I'm getting particular laffs out of Poncho's first meetings with Carmen, since I have seen how dogs can interact with girlfriends.

I particularly remember one morning when I was on the computer and my SO was in the next room trying to eat breakfast while the dog, a gentle but persistent 120-pound ridgeback, sat two feet away staring at her, silently begging for food. "Go away," she said, but he didn't. "Stop begging!" she said, but he continued to sit there, staring. "Dammit, leave me alone!" she said, but he was still there.

After several minutes of listening to this, I leaned back in my chair. "O'Malley, knock it off," I said, in a perfectly conversational tone, and he immediately went to a corner of the kitchen and lay down. And all that was left for me to do was to go scrape my SO off the ceiling.

So, yeah, I totally get the Poncho/Carmen thing.

 

Comments

[f]

My SO has a pet horse that she insists is a dog. I grew up with German Shepherds, so I'm not all that intimidated by big dogs, and hers isn't all that scary--just huge. Still, having him stare at me while I was eating breakfast was a bit unnerving. She said he wasn't looking for food, just petting. That I was happy to provide, but I wasn't about to share my breakfast.

[buzz]

The flashback has been going on an awfully long time if one counts the very beginning of the Year One arc.

I hope it's a planned strategy & not something forced on him by the syndicate (i.e., re-runs or nothing).

[ronnie]

I *adore* Pooch Cafe. One of the best strips out there for my money, bar none.

[Mark Jackson]

One of my favorites too - and I'm a cat person (also).

[Mike Peterson]

Buzz, it's not reruns. These are all new strips. No,it was Paul's choice and I think hss really revitalized the strip, which didn't even need revitalization. (I'll admit the prenatal arc was kind of strange.)