Story Arcs
- Comic
- 01. Imaginate!
- 02. The Game
- 03. Cat Tail
- 04. The Raccoons
- 05. The Adventures of Spot
- 06. Fido's Return
- 07. Mouse Mouse Revolution
- 08. Thematic Arc of Questionable Quality
- 09. The Zoo
- 10. The Grove
- 11. Housepets Christmas
- 12. The Yarn Ball
- 13. The Further Adventures of Spot
- 14. The Vet
- 15. A Mouse Named Spo
- 16. Zap!
- 17. Fall of the Pridelands
- 18. The Continuing Adventures of Spot
- 19. A Sinister Shadow
- 20. Roadtrip Woo
- 21. Down At The Farm
- 22. Money Sharks
- 23. n-ple Date
- 24. The Uncanny Adventures of Spot
- 25. The Visitor
- 26. Oops I Arced
- 27. It's A Wonderful Dog's Life
- 27.5 All the King's Men (prose)
- 28. Ocean's Two
- 29. Imaginate, Too!
- 30. The Present
- 31. Spot McCloud Presents Comics
- 32. Dog Days of Summer
- 33. Theme Park World
- 34. The Adventures of Stripe
- 35. Movie Night
- 36. Scaredy Cats
- 37. Noob Tube
- 38. Hope of the Pridelands
- 39. We're Snowed In!
- 40. The Preeminent Adventures of Spot
- 41. The Arc Specifically About Being Naked
- 42. Not All Dogs
- 43. The Great Water Balloon War
- 44. Let's Imaginate Macbeth!
- 45. The Interview
- 46. The Case of the Aztec Gold
- 47. A Respite In The Country
- 48. Spots and Stripes
- 49. A Holiday at the Zoo
- 50. Housepets Babies!
- 51. Show Business
- 52. What Money Buys
- 53. The Mall
- 54. The Critical Review of Spot
- 55. The Trial in Heaven
- 56. Let's Imaginate Guys and Dolls!
- 57. Testing Grounds
- 58. Taking Cover
- 59. PsyCon
- 60. Getting Physical
- 61. PsyCon2: PsyConner
- 62. The Retroactively Continuous Adventures of Spot
- 63. Temple Crashers
- 64. All Hallow's Ween
- 65. The Unbearable Lightness Of Being A Dog
- 66. One Cat's Treasure
- 67. Love And War
- 68. Jack Of One Trade
- 69. The King and I
- Guest Week!
- News
- Comic
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…whoa
before I snap you neck…
Also, epic censoring.
*CENSORED*
BAM
Bino really needs to get shot down sooner or later. The later it is, the more I’ll probably enjoy it.
I don’t get why people like this joke. Someone please explain it’s popularity to me.
Um, It’s fun to do…
anybody else hear a teakettle around panel 3?
No
i did x3
Kind of…
It also reminds me of Donald Duck for some reason.
haha now tht you mention it, i do see donald in that….
Fox dosen’t have a tail at panel 7.
Just behind him I suspect.
And so much for “Wonderful”
Well that is the last comic with Bino in it, since Fox is about to kill him. Also EPIC stare eyes on everyone during the RAGE rant.
Also the Censorship was likely FFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU…..
More likly it was a Son of… wait children reading this.
Good job noticing this!
Sorry, I hate the adult section of my mind.
If anybody says that
they saw that coming, then…
*Puts on sunglasses*
they will not see me coming…
*goes to get frying pan*
I saw rage in the future
Who wants eggs?
I guess that’s true… silly me.
Yes, but unfortunately, it looks like this is just going to turn into a battle ROYÁL.
Poor Fox. The reaction is quite understandable (even if it’s not dredging up bad memories), but Fox didn’t deserve to get caught in the backblast.
On the other hand, if even Fox is beginning to wonder about being friends with Bino, he may wind up on the outside while the rest of them try to make it up to Joel/King.
And hurrah for double strips… (Although now all my calculations are off, how not really tragic that is).
Bino is gonna DIE!!!
Your heart’s a dead tomato splotched with moldy purple spots, mister Griii…I mean, Biii-nooo!
You’re a triple decker sauwerkraut and toadstool sandwich, with arsenic saaaauuuce!
Panel 4 heartwrenched Fox == impossibly cute
He is cute, but I prefer Panel 1 broken King. But the extra bits are still sticking out. And on the wrong side!
I think Bino should get a shock collar put on him again.
No, a shock collar might be the cause of his brain damage along with the Frying pan, the tree, and the falling off the balcony. Let’s pay pete to do “teach” him next.
King’s a wuss
You, my good man, are wrong. King has had a traumatizing experience with pets and causes him to be more uptight then other people. I pity him…bunches.
Well, the last Joel/King trusted pets was the “kidnaping” episode, where they went feral and stopped being his friends on the street after he’d tried to defend them from his abusive parents.
Fox persuades him to trust them again, and look what happens.
I suspect that his working with the ASPCA and then turning to PETA as the only animal-rights movement that would take him was quite a testemonial to his underlying strength of character – but this episode would dredge up a lot of old pain.
I’ve put up a Character Dossier section over on the forums with what’s known about him, and a possible history.
I saw this coming to be honest, although I also see a beating in Bino’s future, delivered by Fox.
“FryingPan Slap”
pretty stars…
I’m betting on simple abandonment. You don’t beat up crazy people, but you don’t want to associate with them either.
…The Jig is Up!!!!
O_O Ouch poor guy
im crying a little 
Seriously poor King I just hope he doesn’t have any suicidal thoughts after what he’s been going through!! No King’s a strong person he will get through that tough test in his life and make it to the finish line!!!
Well, with any luck it will bring some old baggage out to be dealt with. He may have been bottling up that particular blast for a decade.
In all seriousness, I’ve done that before. Letting it all out in one blast, that is.
I tend to try to not return fire when someone is making fun of me or something, and I bottle up all of the anger. Then I get shaken like a Champagne bottle and *POP* out it all comes in what could be considered a bout of temporary insanity.
What’s really scary about doing that is realizing how GOOD it feels knowing you have just let everything you have out on one or more people. With me, it’s usually curse words and death threats 0.o
Not that I’m proud of it or anything….
he’s too egotistical to think about suicide. More likely, he’ll come up with some payback strategy to make the ‘animals’ suffer.
Hopefully not fox. Fox was nice to him.
Logic dictates that Fox be the first target since he managed to make King vulnerable. But then, we know how Rick can be so delightfully umpredicatble
If it were up to me, I’d pick the seasick crocodile.
In other words, title reference=Mr. Grinch.
Remember “Munchies and Crunchies…”?
Pete: What do you think you’re doing, King?
King: Going to get some revenge (Drags Bino into bathroom)
Pete: (-_-); … why did I bother?
All I can say now is: “Alas, Babylon”.
…as King has just gone “nuclear”.
BEAUTIFUL PAIN AND TORMENT!!!!!! opss i mean…..poor King.
Awww! Poor King is crying! ;~; he needs a hug and bingo needs a kick in the rear! D:
Some people need to be alone for a while. My brother’s one of those people.
Right now, King hates the Dogs especially. That’s why he also told Fox (possibly the only pet he trusts) not to follow him. If Fox follows him now then King would just wind up hating him more and more just by being there. However, if Fox stays behind to (*cough cough*) with Bingo’s (*Cough*) then King will have time to cool down and still have a somewhat decent relationship with Fox or some ally cat.
It’s counterproductive, but people who are in pain often last out at others. If Fox does try to talk to King before King fully cools down, I wouldn’t be surprised if something like
“Go away you idiot! Don’t you realize that I helped kidnap you?!”
popped out. King accepted Fox’s assurance that he’d be welcomed, and now feels betrayed. Lashing out would be pretty normal behavior.
Exactly what I’m saying.
Well, except for the “I helped kidnap you” part. Even subconsciously he’s not going to admit that.
This has to be one of the best arcs so far, at least to me. I love this little ride on King’s emotional rollarcoaster. Where it lets off is a pretty big mystery. And as for his outburst, that is exactly what would happen if that were me, but with a whole lot more censored signs. And it looks like Fox is going to throw Bino so far off his high pedistal(sp) that Bino will be out of commisson for quite sometime.
ah!
we have the same avatar!!!
Personally I would have went for a close up like so, but I will be sticking with the bathroom one I have been using. Besides in this post.
And those who thought the story was going to be cheerfully quick and predictable get an anvil to the face.
We’ve swung back around again. I can’t wait to see where the tension goes next.
Definitely. In hindsight, it looks like King’s quick upturn in the last couple strips were just a set-up for this. I’m curious to see what Pete will make of this….
Holy… GO KING.
And Bino, you tard. I love this arc. HARD.
Poor King… Little guy didn’t deserve that (Ok I know he “technically” did, but still)
Fox, looks like he’s about to cream Bino… Don’t blame him really.
Curls up, “thats mean…. then again… King… still he didnt completely deserve that. It was the fat guy who actually tried to kill fox.”
Oh well, regardless of opinions on Joel’s activities in the PETA arc, Joel/King hasn’t done anything to Bino.
So yes, even if you feel that Joel/King deserves to have something nasty happen to him, Bino is still being mean without any justification.
His justification is that King was trying to take Bino’s position as, im guessing, head dog. Though thats not the case, it still
justifies…….um explains Bino’s thought behind his action.Explains in part… After all, it’s not like the pets have any control over the names they’re given.
Tormenting Tiger over his name is also well explained, but it’s still not justified.
Poor King…it’s times like this that it’s a sheer wonder that Bino actually has friends.
Also, BOLD PREDICTION: Wednesday’s comic will have Pete reappear to further torment King!
Fortunately for Bino, dogs will put up with a lot and he’s Fido’s brother.
I’d say he just exhausted Fox’s patience though, and might wind up on the outside of the pack himself. We haven’t heard from Fido yet, and I doubt he’d approve either.
In fact, Bino has NO friends. They hang with him cuz he’s Fido’s brother and he isn’t a weird catlover like Joey. It would be such a sweet moment when they say to him what they think of him in his face once and for all…
As for King, pity him but he was on the bad karma list after all.
Well, he HAD Fox – at least until now.
Don’t worry. He’ll always have Rex. Kinda’.
Sad that he has only made 12 appearances in 200+ strips. What is it now 235?
Woah, never thought I would see a censor for language in this comic!
Seems like King is going back into that destructive circle again, poor Fox is sure to try to find a nice gift for him or something.
Oh, and the disturbed Peanut face… can you imagine if this is the first time he has heard such language?
I can see it now…storms out of the animal world, still is hated by other people, so he’s gonna go kill himself or at least think the world would’ve been a better place without him.
At least, that’s what would happen if the subtitle of this arc were any indication…
In this case I think the equivalent would be to go feral and go and be a hermit.
Suicidal impulses usually come after the pain overwhelms the anger – and that may not be for awhile yet.
As for his life… There has yet to be any indication that he’s ever accomplished anything. He may need to look ahead for any signs of his presence making the world a better place.
Fox has to like king a lot. Hmm. and be very upset with Bino after all of this what.
Or was that the classic British Understatement?
I’d be very upset if I invited someone somewhere and a “friend” pulled something like that.
If I invited you somewhere, then I’m responsible for what happens to you during the outing. Acts of god may pass, but friends should back you up, not stab you in the back.
Much agreed. And I would be quite honored to go to a party with you. *Blush*
(Bows) And the honor would be quite mutual.
PS: King Corgi is adorable. To the point of Disney art. Excellent art my friend. Keep up the good work.
I’m still hoping he stays King, although this does make it seem less likely. He’s much more interesting this way.
Sooner or later, Bino’s gonna need some SERIOUS surgery after all the pans thrown at him…
To think, with all the previous blows to the head he’s taken, he should be in a better state of mind, now.
I can’t help but agree.
Honestly though I’m surprised he’s not bound to a wheel chair yet; or at least some kind of med, especially after the last injury.
Ah, the joys of living in a comic strip. I really wouldn’t expect realistic injuries here, any more than I’d expect the human characters to wake up one morning and find that Tiger had indeed run around killing many of the other characters in their sleep.
OMG OMG OMG censored was soooooooooooooooooooo funnny!!!!!
abd some people owe me 3 steaks, King and Bino are mortal enemies!! Battle of the egos, much!
and yay!! peanut was there again!!
Bino has MANY mortal enemies. Or at least people with a strong lack of love for him…great disliking possibly. Maybe a huge dung load of hate.
Wow. The cuss has hit the fan.
BTW, its probably just me, but Fox’s got some crazy eyes in the 8th panel!
I like how his character is becoming more into the story arch. Before, we barely even knew him all that well… kinda… I think… …
Everybody’s quiet friend – and now caught in the middle.
Given Bino’s shortage of redeeming qualities, it was rather unwise of him to force one of his (few) friends to choose between him and someone else.
Whoah. I do honestly think managing a development like this officially puts you into a “great author” territory. Bravo!
…Although I hope “pettiness” wasn’t an intended pun.
Though Rick has used many groan-worthy puns before, I think you’re reading too much into the words. ‘Petty’ describes why Bino acts as he does pretty well, and would be applied to a character like this even when if he were human.
Fox his face in the last panel reads “blood and death”… LOL
and wow…..
…..
King is short
…..
are Bino’s eyes neon green???
>_>
weird
i wonder what Pete will do…….
For some reason I think King is going to meet Jelly in the next comic… (With the catnip and all…)
And I don’t think Pete’s gonna do much, probably give a speech about how King shouldn’t have had a fit etc…
Can’t wait untill Wednesday -_-”
O.K. why the hell did I say Jelly… I meant Grape >__>
Well, her name is Grape Jelly Sandwich.
……
I feel silly now.
Hm. 80 comments over the last two hours. If we take that as a measure of impact on the reader, this strip has jumped past “explosive” and into “nuclear”, right along with King’s temper.
That it most definately has, I wonder if it being in top 50 for TWC has helped bring readership up?
That’s enough with the CSI meme Theo and the rest of you. It’s worn out it’s welcome.
Me-ow much
“I have had it up to here with you animals”…He said Animals, Not dogs or guys.
Bit of a slip there for Joel/King, be interesting to see where that leads.
Yeah I was got off guard when he said that! But things will heat up for sure if the other pets said to King that he’s talks a lot like a human would or something in that nature if Joel/King spilled more of the beans.
They’d probably just take it for a phrase his owner uses. After all, a lot of a pets education comes from his or her owners.
“Human Washed” or “Humanized” if what some people would call it for the pets!
Makes me feel bad for sasha.
Sometimes a psychopath is that way because the people around him do, in fact, deserve to be brutalized. In that case, the psychopath is not the villain.
He’s justice embodied.
And still a villain. Villainy lies in your motivations, not your actions. If you want to be heroic, or the “embodiment of justice”, you need to have both good motivations AND good actions. If you only have good motivations, you’re an incompetent and likely to cause a disaster. If only your actions are good, you can still be a villain or simply be self-centered – but you cannot be a hero.
not necessarily. A ‘hero’ in the context you are using is more like a superhero, whereas the actual ‘hero’ is more of a main character. The hero is the protagonist, even if the protagonist is the ‘bad guy’ and the antagonist is the ‘good guy’. It all depends on the point of view. Sort of like Star Wars. To the Empire, the Rebel Alliance is the ‘bad guy’, but to the rebels it’s the other way around.
In this case our psychopath is the hero in terms of character importance, Fox is the supporting character, and Bino is the antagonist, while Grape is just the paranoid character hiding in the background.
hero = point of view
I’d have to say that, while Protagonist and Antagonist do not carry any particular moral implications, Hero and Villain are not synonymous with those terms.
If someone founds a charitable famine-relief and schooling-for-children organization simply in order to skim the donations, inflicts untraceable deaths on the people who discover his or her secret – and makes those deaths as horrible as possible for his or her own amusement – he or she might be widely respected, seen as a hero, and doing a lot of good in the world through that organization.
That would not make him or her any less the Protagonist of his or her own story, and he or she would still be a psychotic villain.
That’s… .so sad
I don’t know how else to say it. Words don’t seem to fit.
And I’m not sure if anything physical would be suitable for retribution on Bino, he gets beat up pretty often. Still though…
awwww poor king TT_TT, stupid bino, take him to the vet!
However fox does look like hes about to open a can of whoopa$$ on him
So, who here wants to see a “Vote of Excamunication” smacked upside Bino’s head? Sure, it isn’t a swift knee to the groin, but getting kicked out of the “Good Old Dog’s Club” would hurt Bino a lot worse than physical pain.
Well the strip would still need an official jerk. Perhaps Pete would be replacing Bino in accordance with Tarot’s opinion.
Bino getting tossed from the Good Ol’ Dog’s Club would not necessarily remove him from the strip or make him less of a jerk. In fact it might make him even more of a jerk as he tried to either redeem himself (in all the wrong ways) or decided that since everyone turned against them there’s now no reason to do whatever he wants to regain some form of respect – even if it’s through fear.
Quite true, but it would leave him with a lot fewer chances to show off his behavior as part of a group.
~Twitch, twitch~ I got just misty eyed on this one. Poor King. Yip! It’s never cool to be picked on. Yap.
I officially take Bino from the random jerk pile to #1 Most Hated Character in a Webcomic. Grrr…
On Another Note… Umm….
~Falls to his knees~ OH great, cool and wise RICK GRIFFIN. Forgive this silly fox for doubting this one single story arch after providing this wonderful comic non-stop! I humbly see that you were setting us up for high drama. As penance, I will faithfully click the ‘Vote TWC’. ~Bow, bow, gravel~
~Snuffle~ I would definitely give King a hug, if I could. We’ve all been there. Yip.
I’m loving this emotional roller coaster, seriously best arc ever. hope it never ends.
<=( Quite unlike the rest of the dogs, Fox looks genuinely upset in panel 5. He must really want King as a friend if it rattled him that bad.
Fox is a rather nice person, and seems to care about the people around him – and unlike most of the other dogs, he’s aware that Joel/King is pretty emotionally fragile.
Joel/King is also his guest, which means that doing something to Joel/King – especially over a name that Joel/King had no control over – is pretty much a direct slap at Fox.
This is one of the moments in this comic were someone used the word animal.
Surprisingly, the word is rarely used.
Well, most of the time people are referring to distinct groups – Pets or Ferals. There haven’t been too many references to the non-talking species though, and I doubt that things like Jellyfish or Sponges talk no matter how loosely this world handles brain sizes.
Presumably there’s a group name for them too, but it’s not like creatures in that category are going to have a big role to play, so it’s not surprising that it hasn’t come up yet.
We’ll see. Rick’s chickened out before when the emotional setup’s gotten heavy.
If he doesn’t though, it’ll be good to find out what happens.
I don’t think he’s chickened out. I think this is still part of it. I know how it feels to just start trusting someone and then have it blow up in my face. Well, not as literally as it does here, but…
Anyway, my only hope here is that Fox ignores King and follows him anyway. Why? Because, well, Bino is an asshat. And he’s the only one in that party who means King any harm.
Even if this is a punishment for what he did to Fox, it’s still pretty mean. Best possible outcome: Fox finds out that King used to be human or gets the whole story… and still wants to be friends. People (and pets) change. Best possible outcome.
How appropriate that there is a Grinch in the comments.
The Rule of Funny (peace be upon it) clearly, unequivocally states:
Any violation of continuity, personality, or even physics is permissible if the result gets enough of a laugh.
This “chickening out” that you speak of must always defer to Rule of Funny. It may not be a law of nature, but it’s most certainly a law of comics.
“He said a bad word!”
oohhhh, naughty King.
wow he’s snapped and hurt aww *feels for King* Seriously Bino needs a knuckles sandwich *growls* that was a mean and underhanded trick…I have to side with Fox and King on this one
I wonder if King is going to meet two other versions of himself and thus enact ‘we three Kings’. I also wonder if this is part of ‘the beginning of the end’ Tarot mentioned, since it’s very likely the beginning of Bino’s end, given the look Fox has…
I’m still willing to bet Bino’s gonna end up in the hospital again quite soon.
btw…..
I HATE PUNS!!!
(not really, but they bug me…a lot….so don’t make them…or…I’ll…uh…I’m gonna shut up now…….)
Well Bino is gonna get a good gift from Fox right about now, a bleeding nose XD
Man that was sad he finally thought he had friends that were animals and of course Bino has to mess it up.
That may be “friends of any kind at all”. Joel didn’t have enough contact with humans OR animals to realize that Fatty was completely off his rocker.
Being so starved for human contact that you’re willing to accept someone who speaks to themselves in monologues that have little or no observable connection to reality as a LEADER is pretty sad.
Oh jeez, Fox has that crazyface in the last panel…
For some reason I imagined King to be yelling “Enough!” under the .
His blush is so cute! ^^
Oh, right, big emotional moment. That too. XP
Blush? More like face red with anger.
RAYGE FACE!
And poor King. Not his fault Pete named him that.
… I had just gotten Mr. Grinch out of my head this morning, and then I read the alt text.
Darn you Rick…
I’ve been hearing that song on the radio for the past 2 MONTHS.
I’m in a choir, and have been practicing singing that song for the past two months.
You’re a mean one, Mr. Grinch.You really are a heel.You’re as cuddly as a cactus,You’re as charming as an eel.Mr. Grinch.You’re a bad banana with a greasy black peel.You’re a monster, Mr. Grinch.Your heart’s an empty hole.Your brain is full of spiders,You’ve got garlic in your soul.Mr. Grinch…….la la la lol!!!
I have that song on my ipod
I wouldn’t touch you with a
Thirty nine and one half foot polllllle!
I would have thought peanut would look more traumatized from hearing such a word.
would bea lot funnier if the word Censored was mosaic blurred.
oww, fox’s face… that’s a real cliffhanger… hopefully with a update in 2 days.
His face speaks murder. The kind of expression you see before the events happening, who someone will regret in the aftermath.
The cynic in me says: “Go, fetch the popcorn, guys!”
The camera is recording. You’ll all get a copy.
Are you going to incorporate that too?
Luv the hat BTW.
I’m going to pretend I know what you mean by that and say probably not.
As for the hat, never underestimate the power of MS Paint. I was even able to do a little shading.
Wow. The emotion in this actually hit me pretty hard. I’ve dealt with a situation almost exactly like this.. I have very deep sympathies for King now..
You were turned into a welsh corgi by a magical griffin, made friends with a local dog, and then given an exploding present filled with catnip by the friend of your new dog friend?
i think he meant being turned by those he supposed to trust
We’ve all been there, haven’t we?
Is it me, or does Kings face in panel three look slightly….demonic? Eh, oh thansk Rick I’m humming “Your A Mean One Mr. Grinch” now….not that’s bad or anything…dang it I’m babbling.
~AirTitan
as demonic as panel 1 is cute.
Go follow him fox!!!
King is going to try to kill himself! ,(like jimmy stewart going to jump off the bridge in miracle on 42 street.) before he finds a reason to live..
Well… I must say that I feel for King. Yes, he was wrong… but at the same time… if life constantly puts you in situations where you have bad things happen to you by a certain type of people… would you really want to give anyone like that a chance? And then to have another thing happen to you once you have started to open on… well it’s not the most encouraging of situations.
I just hope Fox doesn’t let him go off on his own.
Well, he was ASPCA, then apparently spent some time in jail, and then only joined PETA – admittedly, without actually investigating them – because they were “the only animal-rights group that would let him join without a background check”.
Now, what would outrage you enough that you would keep working on behalf of a group that you kept having bad experiences with? In the face of widespread acceptance that they didn’t need any help?
Ergo the history speculations over in the forum.
King… angry… must… get… REVENGE!!!
With the help of Fox, of course!
Jeez….How did Bino end up as the president of the club anyway? Other than being bossy, I haven’t seen any good leadership qualities out of him at all.
He knows people. And he can take a hit better than any dog on the street.
My avvy didn’t work right.
Whoops, sorry, Just noticed that one was taken. But I didn’t see this one
wow… he really does look demonic when you just have his face…
It also looks like some of the artwork done my Rumiko Takahashi… who is my second favorite Manga Artist.
I tried out every frame as an avatar, All of them good, but I liked 7 and 3 the best. Still, I think I am going to stick with the bathroom one. It’s cuter.
He’s Fido’s brother, which gets him second-hand respect, and he founded the group with Fido. Presumably his owner was one of the first residents of Babylon Gardens, and thus he has seniority.
*whistles* Whoa, good points, he’s definitly got some creds for it.
You know I actually forgot those two were related, ^^; I gotta re-read some of the older pages. Ok, thanks for the info/reminder Thoth.
Hm. I think I’ll do Fido or Bino on the Dossier forum topic next.
he’s Fido’s bro.
All he needs is some time to cool off, may be a while since reopening old wounds hurts to someone like king.
This is the new wallpaper on my phone!!!
Long live the king, King!!!!!
whoops, sorry. I tried this name before and my com put it back up. I’m still The game, you can tell by the avatar (which should’ve changed…..)
AAAAND IIN THIS CORNER (corner corner)
WEIGHING IN AT AN AMOUNT, FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOX
and at the other we have the total and utter loser Bino, who is a stupid, dumb fathead.
Bino has a stone where his heart should be……
I’ll ref this match if you want
Bino’s that guy that just refuses to learn anything, isn’t he? I’m going to start calling him Peter Griffin.
No. Sometimes Peter learns a lesson… he just learns the wrong one for the situation.
And this makes Bino less like Peter…how now? XD
Bino doesn’t seem to learn anything at all.
OMIGOSH!!!!
)
I JUST GOT WHY HE MADE PETE A GRIFFIN!!
I’m so stupid……
*facepaw*
grrrrrrrr
*rubs pained face*
and it’s broom to your face.
so….
BROOM TO YOUR FACE!
I think “Eric Cartman” would be more apropriate.
yes, yes he would be more like eric. and i hate eric >.>
Bino is nowhere near as vicious or racist as cartman.
Poor King… looks like Bino’s about to get a beat-down from Fox. He could do with one, I think.
Please say we get the gift of Bino in traction again this year?
Looks Like Bino’s about to get what he’s been begging for- for a long LONG time. Mistreated, just like Tiger…. u.u The real saddest part of this comic was the first panel. We can hardly stand the wait, please Wednesday don’t be late.! Anyone wonder what he’d do if he found out about Sasha and Joey’s cat suit?
Love the chipmunk reference
I sense beat down coming Bino’s way.
wow…im really curious if fox is about to hurt him, he kinda deserves it.
FOX KICK HIS BUTT KICK HIS BUTT
Waitaminute… King just got catnip-bombed. And he’s going outside. I guess he gets to meet the cats of the neighborhood now…
poor king at this rate he’s never gonna learn his lesson
Now, hopefully Fox will shortly check to see if Joel/King did indeed make it home – and organize a search party if he didn’t.
After all, the original version of “The Little Match Girl” is also a seasonal story, although I’d really hope that things don’t go that way.
awwww… i really feel for poor King.. just as he was thinking he had friends. thats a pain that hurts DEEP there.. i know.. ive been there.
I get the feeling that, based upon the look of sheer rage on Fox’s face, that something is goign to happen to Bino this year that is far worse than a frying pan to the head.
I really like King, I am really don’t want him to be a one shot character… He could be great friends with Tiger!
Well…
Joel’s been betrayed before by his own pets. So.. this is no surprise he’d get overly upset by betraying his trust thanks to Bino.
Eh. Bino needs to learn a thing or two about abusing people who’s sensitive to this kind of stuff.
So bino acted an ass ALL because his name is King. And just ASSUMED that King acted as if he owned everything. STRICTLY because his name is King?
Yeah i think i’m gonna need a rage outlet >_<
Well, Bino is a paranoid nut case.
Look what he did to Tiger’s psyche as well. Bino is not a good guy.
Oooh,
total burn.
But King has the RIGHT to be that angry.
Also, thanx for the censoring Rick (NOT being sarcastic here)
it’s good to know Housepets will be staying PG.
Good lord, Bino made him cry!!! For that he must pay!!! Pets want some blood!!! Well, maybe not.
Anyway, usually I would say they should leave him alone in order for him to put his thoughts in the right order, but all that snapping King just did clearly demonstrates that he has still a lot of unsolved issues that would be better to deal with in the company of good friends. That, darlings, was my Freudian moment of the night.
Despite my babbling I stil hope King stays as King and doesn’t goes back to joel all mind and heart changed and gets himself a puppy for Christmas or anything like that. That would be dissappointing, then again that’s just me whining about something that has not happened.
Something has randomly came to my mind, where has Pete been all this time??? A interesting theory is that he was buying Christmas presents for King!!! Yay!!! Of course that is quite unlikely to happen.
Well, we could assume that it’s just the result of having fragments of wrapping paper, cardboard, and catnip blown into his eyes – along with the propulsive agent and the shockwave – but given the rate at which the other “blast effects” faded out while the tear-tracks built up, that seems unlikely.
Okay..I’m stuck in a conundrum: I don’t approve of violence against housepets, but I wholeheartedly approve of violence against unrepentant jerks. I hope we get to see some real kind of comeuppance for Bino.
So is there a reason why this strip doesn’t have the “double strip” tag attached?
Bino reminds me a lot of Spot’s (superdog’s) boss villian wearing the pink dress. Fox, however, shouldn’t be the one dishing out the retribution, as he ought to be the smart one and go “rescue” King.
And as much as I want to like King, he just failed the lesson here. Granted it probably wasn’t exactly how the magical griffin had it scripted, but the artistic one obviously had this in mind.
Any particular lesson come to mind?
The warped-mirror lesson on “being willing to follow insane leaders to be part of a group” (Joel following Fatty, various Dogs following Bino) would seem to be mutual.
Don’t blame a group for the actions of individuals, even if they have been silly enough to keep those individuals in leadership positions?
Life isn’t so bad and people are trustworthy?
Pets can be trusted to behave themselves and not act on instincts?
There are a lot of lessons to be drawn from someone handing you a bomb at a party and having it be brushed off by many of the other attendees – but most of them really aren’t particularly positive.
The only lesson that came to mind was the one specifically mentioned near the beginning of this arc, hence the references to the appropriate Griffins. Whether that’s supposed to be the one being taught or not, methinks King was still not ready to either deal with it properly or completely accept his punishment like a man… er, dog
Besides, being catnip bombed at your first major social event among other canines is meant to reinforce your place in the pecking order. Sure it hurts (a lot) but if you roll with it the right way you can earn not only some sympathetic ears but also some feline followers.
Ah, the “Broken Conscience” bit. Trouble with that was that it wasn’t particularly broken to begin with.
Yes. Alot of us assume that the main villain of “Spot: The Super Dog” was purposely made that way by Peanut so that he could express how he felt about Bino without saying/screaming it out loud.
So would that make Fox secretly the Cyborg? If so… rawr. <3
Now that had never occured to me. I like it.
Bino is really in need of a reality check. Anyone who sides with Bino needs to sand behind him and let Fox have a go at them as well. I feel really bad for king.
Oh my gosh!! i had to look up napoleon complex and nearly fell out of my chair after a learned what it was!!
Napoleon complex is a colloquial term describing an alleged type of inferiority complex which is said to affect some people, especially men, who are short in stature.
rotflol XDXDXDXDXDXD
and his he blushing or is he so mad that his face won’t stay a normal shade??
and awwwwwwwwwwwwww he is crying!!!
I’m go in to kill Bino in his sleep
two more things
1. I wonder what rex was gonna say….
2. Bino recovered from king’s outburst fast enough to make a clever remark before the end of the comic
Summary: Daaaaaaaaaang, he bounces back FAST!!!!
3. ok panel three…..cue the smoke
Well, he’s had lots of practice.
but was it blushing or anger that made his face so red??
any kind soul gonna reply to me ‘damsel in confusion’ question???
This time around? Anger.
Mod Edit-Do not shrill your website here in comments. Your URL link in your profile is enough.
Bino shouldn’t worry about Fox, King is the one who’s got Pete looking out for him
Of course Bino doesn’t know anything about Pete.
And to be honest, for all we really know about Pete, this could just be his favorite way of preparing Joel/King for consumption. I REALLY doubt that – but I couldn’t say it’s impossible.
Well does this title apply to Bino or King cause they both seem pretty Grinchy to me?
Well as soon as I saw what happened on Friday I was 90% sure this was going to happen but didn’t know it would end up like this. Oh well I’m sure it’s just begun to hit the fan so let’s sit and wait and see what else happens now shall we?
i see a lot of pain in Bino’s future
So, basically, Pete’s managed to teach Joel that… He was absolutely right.
So far anyway.
Huh, I just thought of something i haven’t seen in comments.. Does anyone see King possibly becomming the LEADER of the Dog group and they booting bino off his “control” rocker?.. Not too soon after that outburst of course.. but.. Still.. King is obviously smarter then bino, and there is a possibillity of King proving to be an exceptional leader if he got some of his problems worked out. I wouldn’t know.. Among other things, i do feel sorry for King, but in other terms he definately over-reacted. Still. Amongst his wounds of deep-seated history pain… Its understandable. Though none of the pets here have any idea about it.. I really look forward to King running into every single cat in the neighborhood.. it might change his outlook on the current situation.. Or scare the hell out of him. hehehe.
Yep. The possibility of King becoming an advisor to, or leader of, the pet community was proposed a few strips back as a possible reason for Pete taking such an interest in a single human.
I would rather see Fox take over leadership and King just hang out as a friend. Or possibly a brother???
(I still haven’t given up hope that king will live with fox later)
Technically Fido is now, and always has been, the leader of the dogs. Bino simply capitalizes on this relationship in order to keep the dogs loyal to him. I don’t think it’s very likely King will become leader of the dogs, though I do wonder if Fox will stop hanging out with Bino now.
King doesnt seem like an adult, he’s too cute. More like 13 or 14.
That’s an old geezer in dog years. lol
Yet, can you really blame King for acting the way that he does?
Personally, I don’t think an adult would act any differently than a child would.
He does seem kind of childlike; easily led, no trust in his own judgement, idealistic in his own fashion, prone to wild mood swings, inclined to act without thinking. Emotional immaturity; one reason why I suspect some really major childhood traumas.
Detonating that way may argue for that as well.
Aww, poor King…
Now who was it last comic that was going on about how the story was too predictable with no depth to the characters? xD
Go to the “Home” tab and check under the Sockpuppeting ban…
What exactly does Sockpuppeting mean? Sorry, I’m new.
Using multiple names to “support” your own arguments, to set up straw-man opposition, or to otherwise attempt to manipulate the other posters on a board rather than relying on the actual merit of your posts.
Good to know, thanx.
Err… wait, were you implying me? I’ve only read those comments, not made any of the sort. I assure you if you search around DA and FA you’ll see “Wolf Pup TK” is no sockpuppet. xD
You can be pretty sure it’s not you even without looking under the sockpuppet listing on the home page for the names that were used.
After all, the puppeteer got banned, and you’re still posting or I couldn’t be answering you.
Although that is weird: I just noticed that this independent topic has somehow gotten grouped with your comment. We may be overloading the boards somehow.
you know i feel sorry for king ,he was trying to change his ways , made a friend and then,boom catnip. in my personal idea i think fox is about to pound on bino
Bino… YOU deserve more than a lump of coal in your stocking, or a flaming bag of doggie doo in front of your bedroom door.
Maybe that Griffin should turn YOU into a Human to teach you a lesson.
Poor King (aka.. Joel).
I think Pete turning Bino into a cat would be a more suitable punishment given that humans tend to have legal rights over other pets and it’s exactly that sort of power Bino most wants (if not in legal terms then, at least, in terms of control).
Oooo… Bino as a CAT! He could be snubbed by the other cats (and perhaps pursued by Grape? Naw… that’s a stretch even for Grape).
He could be changed into another animal… like a Raccoon. Raccoon’s seem to be looked down upon in the neighborhood.
Bino as a raccoon could be very cool. I suggested a cat mainly due to the previous arc dealing with ‘cat lovers’ and Bino’s prejudice against such.
Okay so a Cat or a Raccoon. Which would be better?
The Cat for Irony?
The Racoon for laughs?
both would teach him a lesson.
I vote cat.
The Raccoon. That way he’s definitely a feral, and not just a stray…
Better than being turned into a cat or a raccoon…
…turn Bino into a *mouse*!
Oh how I hope Grape finds him in that instance!
I wouldn’t mind seeing something like that but Bino as a human? Why give him a reason to think he deserves more power? As a mouse, now there’s a position that would teach him for good. (To Indagare:) Though a cat could work too.
Yeah… that’s a good point: Turning Bino into a Human would be too much power.
A mouse would be good; Bino could be a companion for Spo.
Mouse, or J.J.’s raccoon. The raccoon might be a bit better – there’s lack of respect and the neighborhood cats would not be inclined to eat him on sight.
That’s the point. Lack of control for someone who really has a superiority complex. (Although now that I think about it. turning him into a mouse like Spo or Squeak might turn his SC into a Napoleon Complex.)
Besides I’m sure that Rick’s not going to let something like the food chain kill of one of his regulars.
I wonder to myself–did he originally write an expletive, or did he just put “CENSORED” there to begin with.
I’d suspect “Censored” to begin with. It fits the PG rating better, it’s easier, and it allows every reader to insert his own notion as to what Joel/King would be saying.
I still have no idea what he meant to say. Any single words don’t really fit. Maybe it’s just a naughty phrase.
It’s certainly a phrase.
slacks315: your avatar freaked me OUT
It doesn’t matter what he really said. One or more vulgar words or phrases is sufficient. Use your imagination, and it’s right enough.
Come to the dark side King! We have cookies! Aside: and only we have the antidote to the cookies…
Bino needs a comeuppance. Even though it will likely happen offscreen it needs to happen. ;3
Trouble is, he’s already had several; they just don’t stick.
On the other hand, he might be in real trouble this time. After all, Fido’s there, and booby-trapping someone with an explosive device, or simply building one, (even if it is pretty low-powered) can get a human in rather a lot of trouble.
Aaaaah! Panel 5 is one large pun!!!
“up to here”-King is short
“pettiness”- need i explain?
“shortsightedness”- dogs kinda have bad eyesight
“past your noses”-c’mon really??
I have to say tho, I credit Rick for cleverly sneaking these in.
But the puns make me wanna punch something….namely Bino
I’m not sure any of these puns are actually intentional. Each of these phrases is pretty common, and ‘pettiness’ describes Bino’s behavior very accurately. They *could* be seen as puns, but I’m not sure they’re meant to be intentional.
“Fed up” is also pretty common, and equally meaningful in this panel. That he later goes on to reference King’s height in a later panel suggests “up to here” was at least slightly ironic, if not intentionally “punny”.
The other ones, though, are much more of a stretch.
*nods* This is true, though don’t forget King is used to being much taller than he currently is. We put it into context, whether or not it’s meant to be a pun is probably only ever going to be known to Rick.
When you can hear and smell as well as dog does, who needs sight.
Oh God, you just reminded me of Monster Hunter’s Khezu. That thing still gives me the creeps. Trust me, get eyes, even if your smell is good enough.
OMG!!! 3 pages in 23 hours! AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!！!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It is indeed King’s terrible ordeal has touched our hearts and effected everyone than any other character here on Housepets!!
Halfway through December and Housepets already has over 1000 votes, incredible for 1.5 weeks. Let’s pull through and take top 30 at least
Yeah hopefully we can it make there before Tuesday night! Housepets Rocks never before has a web comic touched me and everyone else completely an incredible strip of the century and over 1000 votes and growing you know it’s gonna get even bigger!!
Did Rick set up a chat room here?
I wish he did.
New Years resolution: convince Rick to set up a chat room.
Man I can identify with our poor little arc protagonist. Little guys get no respect.
Poor King
Oh Bino, you are an idiot ;__;
i know a few people like Bino…and ive been in a similar situation as king myself. Bino will get is just rewards soon enough. by being ostricized by the rest of the neighborhood dogs (well i think thats what should happen anyway)
poor king, fox sould have at least warned him about bino
I doubt that Fox even considered the possiblity of Bino doing something like that with so little reason. Crazy people are hard to predict.
First time posting, so I should take a moment to thank Rick for this fantastic comic. Very few others have me so eagerly awaiting the next update. That said, I think Bino just lost Fox’s friendship…not that he doesn’t deserve far worse and will hopefully get at least some measure of that.
bloody hell your so good at dishing out the emotion at the right time and right level.
Now I just feel immensely sorry for King
Oh Arf! Just had a idea…(and yes it’s lonely in there) Maybe Pete is TRYING to break up the good ol dog club and turn all the pets against each other, using King/Joel to do so?
Looks like i was totally wrong – i completely missed the point that Joel had a bad experience with pets and i didn’t get that Bino actually made an act of hatred (with a pretty lame reason) not the prank. It kinda confused me cause he was obviously punning on Tiger for his name, but now he is not just having fun (the fall from the balcony sure was painful). Though people with such personalities tend to change to better side if pressured and loose their authority (one of my classmates for example) i think it will be the opposite for Bino as his power craving drove him paranoid. He doesn’t even foresee the consequences of his doings.
As for King taking those two points into account his reaction is understandable. And i can do a lot of guesses on what will happen to King next. Probably he’ll meet someone on the way home, probably the cat-girl, probably Grape, probably come home and have a talk with Pete, probably Fox will follow him, probably someon will leave the GOD Club, probably… you got the point – so much probabilities (and in different combinations) and no way to guess which one will be used…
Oh true, but the guessing is always fun – and occasionally useful to the author, artist, or game master. You never know what will inspire something, positive feedback is generally enjoyable and sometimes useful, and negative feedback is sometimes useful too (if rarely quite as enjoyable).
2nd-to-last panel: My heart was like ‘OHH NOO’ for Fox and King ;_;
Well well, certainly seems like King has some big changes ahead. And I’m not talking about what the griffin might do to him.
PS – on the subject of changing, why do so many people keep changing their avatars to match whatever the latest cute clip in the latest comic is? The whole point of an avatar is to act as an identity. If you keep changing it, what’s the point?
Icon changing is meant to better identify with the comic rather than having the icon being identified with your name. For instance, this comment has the regular icon I use with gravatar, though I’d prefer to use the Zach icon in this arena because he’s the character that I most identify with.
ObKing: he’s taken over the comic! That’s why Bino is mad at him, really. No one should steal his starring role! (Though I think Peanut and Grape really don’t care whether they’re the main stars or not)
Perhaps, but it seems like a lot of trouble to go through for something that’s only going to last a couple of days.
Aww….I feel bad now for King. And fox too, why does Bino have to be a jark somtimes. T^T
Bino is a jerk most of the time, it seems to me.
D’aaawwwww I feel so bad for king, i wanna give him a big hug!!!111!111!!!!!!!!
I think that makes at least three quarters of the readers who’d like to do that.
It would be amusing to see how Joel/King reacts to some human who wanted to pick him up and hug him.
oh wow….
that would be quite an eyeful…
and earful, after seeing how King can react to situations.
Why isn’t my new avatar working!??!!?
I had the same problem, so I just used a new email address.
good idea!
yay!! My avatar finally changed!!
maybe i’ll change it back tho….
I suspect that Bino is going to get viciously mauled by Fox in a minute.
Let’s Get Ready to RUUUUUUUUMBLE!!!!
300 comments WOW!!!! Just in time before tonight’s new update!
New Year resolution: Rick Please set up a friendly chat room!!!
Hm. Lets see…
We’ve had scenarios for Pete at face value – trying to teach Joel/King a “Lesson”.
We’ve had scenarios of gloom, where Pete is simply out to be a jerk and harass Joel/King.
We’ve had scenarios for “I’m all better now!”.
So lets have an over-the-top heroic one:
Pete, in accordance with Tarot’s original prophecy, has come to bring about some horrific apocalypse. To do so, he needs an aide from the universe he wishes to destroy to accept and use his (Pete’s) full power. To ensure the destruction, that aid needs to be someone who is utterly despairing, hates everyone, and wants nothing except all the pain to end.
Joel/King is being groomed for that position.
Tarot, however, now says not to worry – because she is becoming more and more confident that Joel/King will in fact reject such a use of Pete’s power, and will make some changes for the better in the process of sacrificing himself to destroy Pete.
In that version, perhaps Bino will finally learn something, Fox may have inspired Joel/King to save the world, and whatever changes Joel/King made will continue to have repercussions.
Next up, the fully Christmas-themed scenario…
Where I do agree with the Heroic thing I don’t think Joel/King should Sacrafice himself because it would be nice to have him as a Permanent Character in the Series but thats just my thoughts
Oh yes; I’d much prefer him as a permanent character as well; it’s just that the “heroic sacrifice” plot is one of the variants that hadn’t been proposed yet.
Ergo, next variant plot possibility: the sticky-sweet happy ending…
Pete is indeed a master of time travel;
He also turned Fatty loose, but simply dropped him off somewhere, or turned him into a pet and dropped him off somewhere, or whatever – and that’s the escaped prisoner the police are looking for.
Joel, after his experiences as a dog, simply gets dropped off at the same point in the past where he was, and – having never been missing from the point of view of the police and the courts – indeed winds up with a sentence of “Time Served”. Perhaps because Fox recalled enough of his speech in the car to have already testified at this point in the comics continuity that Joel was a reluctant participant.
As a bonus, Pete picks up Joel’s pets in the past, just before the end of his week of being kidnaped by them and brings them forward in time for a happy reconciliation.
Pete and company – possibly with the dog that was never shown who served as a model for King (since so many people like him) move into Babylon Gardens and go to work for the Ferrets moving Ferals into civilization – a task which they now have some qualifications for and which Joel will probably enjoy.
This disruption in the timeline, and, in effect, the end of one universe even if virtually everyone in it is just transferred over to a near-identical one with a few minor historical tweaks – is what Tarot was catching precognitive glimpses of. Not surprisingly, the “end of the universe” would be a bit upsetting the first time you caught a glimpse of it. It would explain why she’s become less worried about Pete and the “end” though; she’s gotten a better look.
The strip continues as usual, with a few new background characters and – perhaps – Fatty the Pet appearing in occasional attempts to persuade all the other pets to run away. Fatty could represent the other side of the Ferret’s efforts and (perhaps) be a distinct annoyance to all the other pets – what Tarot saw as Pete’s “jerkishness” for inflicting him on everyone.
Pete goes off to meddle elsewhere, primarily for his own amusement.
That one may be too happy even for a Christmas arc though… Scenarios are easy to spin, but always entertaining.
Good idea but I was thinking that King reveals to all the dogs that he is Joel then turns on Pete and defeats him then Tarot gets Pete’s power and gives Joel a decision rather to return human or remain a dog which would be awsome because dog Joel/King is awsome = 3
Napoleon complex… wow, what a jerk…
I don’t think King minds at all that he’s short!
Is it bad that I hope Bino gets punched in the face next comic? I mean seriously, POW! Right In the Kisser! RIGHT TO THE MOON!
I think by this point most everyone wants to see Bino get karma kicked. Not that this doesn’t happen *anyway*, mind, but he’s elicited a special form of vengeance seeking on the part of readers including, but not limited to physical violence and Pete turning him into something small and squishy.
Hm. Most comments go straight up, a few seem to be “awaiting moderation”. I wonder what the difference is?
Probably those ‘awaiting moderation’ have something questionable in them either in language (we’re supposed to keep things PG13 or under) or in the form of spam or random websites.
Oh yes – it’s just I couldn’t figure out anything that might be causing it. One of the ones that was on hold was the “sickly-sweet” ending possiblity just a few comments up (it seems to be off awaiting moderation now).
Correction: I have now had TWO posts blocked because I mentioned a particular science-fiction author.
http://epiconeliner.com/rage/
lol i wanna see fox sucker punching fido XD
I can’t believe how fast we’ve gone from breaking 200 for the first time to breaking 300.
You guys are crazy.
We like to talk. It happens.
I’ve had moments like this. I told that f***er off too. Its not funny to joke about someone’s dead sister. The jerk >:(